My bedroom felt bigger than before, sparse, lonelier. Had I imagined a night of sharing my bed? A sharp flashing memory of a perfect bronzed leg straddling my hips pierced through me. I felt longing desire ripple from my head, through chest and down to an uncomfortable strain below.
“Uggh,” I heard my croaky morning voice leave my mouth involuntarily.
Ripping blankets off my jittery body, I revealed something that had me feeling as though a bucket of cold water had dunked reality over me again.
Dark red skin pressed against a clear plastic tube. Only a hair of space between me and the cage I was encased in.
I stared down at my nearly naked body, pyjama pants around my ankles, probably kicked off in frustration during the night.
I hadn’t imagined it… Amy spent the night draped over me only to leave me alone, confused and locked up in this constrictive contraption of hers. I fidgeted with the padlock at the top, clicking mockingly at me. I had agreed to her requests in the heat of the moment… If it made her feel more comfortable fine but I’d now spent hours in this thing. That can’t be healthy can it?
A rustling of pots and pans echoed from downstairs and through the hall outside.
I readjusted the tight, sweaty tube between my legs and pulled my pants back on. There must be a key around here somewhere, I thought, rubbing my eyes.
Before I’d even hit the floor, I remembered the sparkling tease around Amy’s ankle. She’d still have it. Attached to her like a dungeon master. I thought back to kissing her perfect foot last night in the heat of my frustration, just wanting to make her happy. I felt like an idiot, allowing her to restrain me like this. Her grip clenched between my legs without her even in the room.
Just the thought of the arch of her foot resting in the palm of my hand, her white polished toes glistening up at me sent a punishing punch to my groin.
“Uggh!” I grunted again, this time louder and with a tinge of anger. My hair of space had all but disappeared.
“Breakfast Pauly!..”
I glanced up in a shudder at the high-pitched tone from below. I felt humiliated but if downstairs was where my freedom was, then that’s where I needed to be.
Throwing on a sweater and following the smell of morning sweetness, I felt one with the hard wood banister gliding under my fingertips.
“Morning bud!”
Amy’s beaming smile lit up the kitchen as she tipped the contents of her fry pan onto a plate at the center of the table.
“Thought a fat stack of pancakes might be just the ticket on our first day together, just the two of us!”
Her slick black hair had already been clipped up into a neat bun fountaining at the top with two arching strands framing her gentle grin.
What time was it? I hadn’t even looked in my frustrated fog. It had to be early if Amy hadn’t left for work yet on a Monday. I wanted to peek under the table and grab that damn key but I knew I’d have to play it cool. Had she forgotten?
“Thanks… Haven’t had these in a while… You sick of the sloppy cereal?” I asked coolly in my crusty voice.
“Oh, that’s not really a holiday vibe is it?” Amy chuckled. “Did I mention I took the week off for that trip with your father?”
I didn’t remember any trip but who could keep track with all her scheming and taunting.
“Was such a shame he had to leave last minute, I almost cancelled… Syrup?”
“I… Oh, sure?” I grunted.
Turning, she made her way to the pantry behind her, a baggy grey t-shirt hanging off her shoulders and pulling tighter around her hips. It was one of mine… She must’ve pinched it leaving my room.
“I though why waste the airbnb when you and I could enjoy it! What do you think?”
I was transfixed on her petite form disappearing under the loose fabric, her long legs sprouting down toward the tiles below completely bare except for the sparkling decoration at her ankle. It was so close. I peeled my eyes away from the key to my freedom and slid a pancake onto my plate as a distraction.
“Maybe you could even take Friday off school? Make our way south for the weekend?” she asked perkily, turning to reach the middle shelf, a high stretch for her small stature.
Starting at her feet on their tippy toes, I scanned along her legs before reaching the tight little buns peeping out from the fabric above them. My baggy shirt falling just past her hips had me lapping up the view like a dog at a water bowl.
“Uggh,” I grunted again instinctively, grabbing the hard trap at my lap.
“…There’s that sound again,” Amy sniggered turning back around to place a glass bottle of maple syrup before me.
She remembered everything… And she’d heard me before?
“Don’t stress you’ll be free in no time,” she beamed, taking a seat across me.
Watching her slide breakfast onto her plate, I wasn’t sure whether to acknowledge her encouragement or ignore it.
“I think once you get your head around our new method, you’ll be all the better for it.”
Method? I’d worn this thing all night like she’d asked, what more did I have to do?
She finished chewing and took a small sip of orange juice before clearing her throat and looking up, her big brown eyes peering through me.
“I thought a week to ourselves would be the perfect time for us to try the arrangement my friend Georgia and her boyfriend use… You remember Georgia?”
I remember her boot pressing into my back like it was yesterday.
“I uh… Yeah, sure…” I murmured.
“Anyway, she told me all about something called the RIP method… Curious?”
Picturing all the painful ways Amy could be about to make my life harder I strained against the confines of my tube, clenching and readjusting with one hand, pretending to tend to breakfast with the other.
“None of that, you’ll only make it worse,” Amy scolded.
“It stands for Reward, Incentive, Punishment…” she said casually with a grin.
I stopped, looking over to her in disbelief. Was she planning on keeping me locked up more often?
“How many nights a week do I have to be trapped like this??” I blurted anxiously, without a thought.
Amy put her hand up to her mouth and swallowed, holding in a laugh and her breakfast at once.
“Slow down bestie, it’s not like that!”
Recomposing myself, I turned back to my plate and waited for her lead.
“You only need to stay tucked away in your little kennel while you’re getting your jobs around the house done… And for everything you do, you’ll earn points — won’t that be fun!”
As she spoke, something was grazing against my pant leg under the table.
“Once you earn enough points, you’ll get your big reward at the end of the week…”
The feeling below made it’s way higher and onto my lap. I glanced down at Amy’s foot now pressing into the hard contraption beneath it, her anklet dangling it’s key like a carrot on a stick.
“You’ve been such a good little helper lately, I know you’ll get there in no time,” Amy stated proudly.
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. She didn’t really mean she wasn’t going to let me out of this thing today… It sounded like I was going to be like this all week. I must’ve misunderstood.