Rough Rider Ch. 5

The 7-11 across the street provided a quiet breather while she ran everything that had happened in the last few days through her mind. Well, it provided a soda pop and a pack of Camels, anyway, which she stuffed in her purse unopened, along with a sheet of paper with the address and directions to the place. The phone book had provided the address; the store clerk had been so kind as to tell her how to get there, shooting her a disgustingly sly glance when he realized where it was she was headed.

For a long time she sat in the car, the door opened, and the radio turned down low while she slowly drank the Pepsi. She absently pulled the Camels from her purse and beat them on the palm of her upturned hand, then pulled the silvery wrapping from the top. It was one of the few bad habits she had yet to break completely. She only smoked from time to time, but often when she bought a pack, she couldn't help but finish them off completely before discarding the habit for a month or two, then she was right back off the wagon with them.

She pulled the first one out, flipped it upside down, then pulled the second one out and lit it. That habit was one that had started when she was young, and had only started smoking because it was so 'cool' at the time. It was childish, turning over a Lucky Smoke, but it was kind of comforting holding on to that last comfort from her younger days. She pulled off a long slow drag, and then let it out slowly, smiling a little as she did so. That first puff always felt so damn good!

She sat there a while longer, one leg hanging out of the open car door, one hand planted firmly on the steering wheel – why, she didn't know, and the other clutching tightly to the cigarette. Two cigarettes later, and three quarters of a soda, she closed the door, buckled up, and pulled from the parking lot, glancing once at the directions on the small slip of paper on the seat beside her.

When she finally pulled into the store parking lot she was frazzled, and more than a little shaken. She hadn't realized how terrible it could be, battling downtown traffic this time of day. She rummaged through her purse before she found the breath mint she was looking for, then reluctantly stepped from the familiar territory of her car, and headed for the door.

She was very surprised, when she stepped inside, to find the place so cheerful and upbeat – looking. She didn't know quite what she had expected, but this was definitely not it! The clerk – a blonde woman who looked much too young to be working in a place like this – offered a cheerful 'Hello', and a 'I'll be right with you' before turning back to the customer in front of her.

The first half of the shop seemed to be devoted to more intimate things, lotions, oils, books; and it seemed it got a little more risqué the farther one got from the front door. Beyond the first few shelves she could see dildos and vibrators, and a few rows farther sported leather and latex. Even farther than that, against the wall, chains and things she couldn't even pretend to know what to do with!

It's not that she had a problem being in a place like this – of course it was completely natural for one to enjoy sex; she just wasn't so sure about all the leather and cuffs she could see dangling from hooks against the wall! They seemed to have a huge selection of things, and she was curious why she hadn't stumbled across this place before. But the cute blonde heading toward her quickly interrupted her thoughts.

"Sorry about that, is there something I can help you with?" She seemed very sweet and girl-next-door, but Debbie found herself betting that the girl could hold her own with any of these toys! After all, how could you work in a place like this and not be familiar with it?

"Well, I sure hope so! I'm supposed to be looking for a man named Rick…" She let the sentence trail off as she looked around, realizing for the first time that she hadn't seen anyone that might be a 'Rick'.

"Oh, well, you just missed him. He stepped out a moment ago. He should be back soon, if you'd like to wait for him?" Debbie nodded quickly, and turned to better examine all that lay before her. She quickly made her way to the back wall, and was in the middle of examining the long soft tails of a particularly heavy flogger when she was startled by a hand on her shoulder.

"I heard you were looking for me, can I help you?" The voice was soft, but undeniably masculine, and she turned slowly to stare up into a pair of jet black eyes. A small shiver went through her as she watched him, then tried in vain to find her voice.

"I…," her voice quietly gave out, and she coughed, trying to clear her throat, then began again. "Are you Rick?" The man nodded silently, and a hint of a smile crossed his lips, but it was gone a second later, and she wondered if she'd even seen it at all.

"I was supposed to talk to you. But I don't know what about." She laughed nervously, then hurried in a jumbled rush. "Jake sent me!"

He nodded again – if one could call it that, rather his head dipped once, then he turned with a quiet 'Follow me, please,' and walked quickly back toward the counter.

"Marie, this nice woman here belongs with Jake, would you get his order from the back?" At 'this woman' Rick had half turned to gesture toward her, yet his eyes had never rested on her; speaking of her, but never acknowledging her, and it left her feeling more than a little awkward. She grasped her hands behind her back, not quite knowing what else to do with them.

But the situation had advanced – Marie had smiled a soft, almost envious smile before walking quickly and quietly to the back of the store, and disappeared behind the curtain. She was left with this rather large – more than a little handsome man as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other, nervously keeping track of the time it took Marie to return with Jake's "order".

"Quit fidgeting, you look ridiculous." His voice startled her out of her thoughts, and she quickly corrected her posture, pulling her shoulders back and trying to stand still, not knowing even at the moment why she listened to this gruff unyielding man.

"Here it is!" Marie's sweet voice rang out from across the room. She walked quickly toward the duo by the counter, and slid the small square box across the tile. Rick caught it smoothly before turning, and offering it to Debbie.

"You're not to open this until tonight, is that clear?" His voice was still just as menacing as before, but his eyes had shifted the tiniest bit, and Debbie thought she caught a hint of kindness in them. She nodded slowly, her eyes not leaving his, and for a moment he really did smile at her.

"Good. Now get, or you'll be late making that phone call." With that, he turned back to the counter, dismissing her just as easily as Jake had done so a night earlier. In long anxious steps, she hurried from the building, grateful for the burst of cool air as she opened the door, and almost ran to her car. It had been suffocating in that place! Standing next to that man – what was his problem anyway?

For a long time she sat in the still car, thankful for the chance to let her heart slow down to a normal pace again, then she slowly brought a fresh cigarette to her lips, lit it, and took a long relaxing drag from it. 'What a relief to be out of there!' she thought to herself again.

The box lay, unopened on the seat beside her, and she glanced at it, willing herself not to give in to temptation and open it. She hated this! Hated knowing it was there, and it was for her, and she just wasn't supposed to see it yet. The suspense was terrible, but she managed to push it to the back of her mind, and instead, picked up the cell phone, and punched in Jakes number on the keypad.

That smooth Southern voice always brought a smile to her lips, and she talked easily with him about her day, and about how thrilled she was with the corset. Of course it inevitably got around to her most recent stop, and Debbie had to confess how uneasy Rick had made her feel. Jake immediately let out a hearty chuckle that only made her smile brighter – she loved it when he laughed like that.

"I see he hasn't changed much. He's always been a little … shall we say – menacing at times. Don't let him scare you, though, he just seems to take this a little too seriously in my opinion."

Of course she was tempted to ask what "this" was that he was referring to, but thought better of it and only gave a soft sound of understanding. But he went on quickly, and she didn't have to worry about it anyway.

"Anyway, you'd better get home, I think there might be something waiting for you, and I'd hate for us to be late tonight. Do you think you can get away for a few hours this evening? I promise not to have you out as late this time."

She smiled at the memory of their time together last night, and nodded her head slowly. "Yes, I think that should be alright, assuming it's late enough… what time did you have in mind?"

"We have reservations for around 8:30, it should work out perfectly with your schedule, and I promise you'll enjoy yourself."

She grinned a little at that, knowing full well that he was right, and that she would love any amount of time she got to spend with Jake.

"Get home, like I said, there should be something waiting for you there. Call me after dinner." And with that he was gone. She quickly slapped the phone shut with her palm, and immediately started the car and pulled out. She was home in just under twenty minutes, and just like he'd promised, there was a long rectangular box propped against the door.

By the time she got inside she was literally bursting with curiosity and excitement, and she almost tripped over her own feet getting to the telephone to call Trina. She loved their gossip sessions, and the fact that she could tell her anything in the world. The laughed and teased back and forth for a long while as Debbie told her about her day, and straightened up the house. She'd left in such a rush this morning she hadn't done a thing to clean, and now the kids would be home soon. They weren't quite old enough to ride the bus to school yet, but the woman across the street would be dropping them off any minute now - they traded the responsibility of getting the 4 kids to school during the year – and she didn't want them to come into a messy house when she was supposed to have had the day off today!

She was actually thankful when dinnertime rolled around, because it meant she could escape into the kitchen alone with her thoughts and excitement for a while. She was dying to open the boxes and see what it was he had had her running all over Creation to get, and she wondered where it was they were going to go, also.

The kid's evening ritual all but flew by, and she finished their bedtime story with a smile. Quietly, she kissed her babies' heads and closed the door, thoughts of Jake heavily on her mind. Not more than twenty seconds later she had the door to her bedroom closed and locked, and the phone from the bedside table was in her hand, her thumb punching in the numbers as quickly as she could. That thick melodious voice greeted her and she smiled as she bent down to retrieve the packages she had hid under the bed. She was sure this was going to be an interesting night.