Cry to Me

Pulling into his driveway, Sidney finally exhaled.What the fuck did he walk in on? Was she waiting for him? Carly did text her about his visit.No. That was Carly's best friend.Surely she wasn't naked and waiting for him and betray Carly, right?And if that was Dulci’s deal, that was unequivocally the most brazen attempt a woman has ever had at getting him into bed.

But she seemed almost as surprised as he did when they locked eyes. And then her reaction after seeing him said it all. He wasn't supposed to be there and she didn't know he was coming. He was definitely interrupting something.He didn't see anyone else in her home, but then again he wasn't exactly looking. Maybe that's why the door was unlocked, he thought to himself. Dulci was going to surprise her boyfriend.And he ruined it.

He rubbed his face with his hands and walked into his lavish home. That was definitely too much excitement for one night.He could hear the faint sound of music thumping in his basement. Carly must be working out. He took the stairs two at a time to his bedroom and once he got inside, he collapsed onto his bed. The last hour had definitely been exhausting.

He rolled onto his back and scooted himself so he was lying against his pillows on the headboard with one hand behind his head and his ankles crossed. Grabbing the remote, he turned on his flat screen and tried to distract himself with ESPN. Commercials became his enemy. Whenever they began, he could only think of Dulci and what he saw in her bedroom. To start, she was wearing leather cuffs on her wrists and ankles, and that was it. He didn't really think much of it due to the initial shock of the situation. But once he got into her bedroom to get into her en suite, it made sense. She had things lying on her bed that he'd never seen before, well, not in person anyway. The first piece of equipment was a metal circle with four leather straps connected to clips. It was displayed to look like a cross. The second piece was a long black bar, around two to two and a half feet long that had four cuffs equally spread out along the bar. The third piece was leather strap with two wide holes on opposite ends and the fourth looked like black duct tape. He had an inkling what they were used for, but his curiosity got the best of him as he picked up his iPad from his nightstand.

Opening the safari icon, he typed: bondage equipment. Not really sure what he was looking for, he clicked on the first website: bondagefetishstore.com. He instantly felt out of place. Sure, he'd had his share of uninhibited sex and bound wrists with his ties, but had never considered the actuality as a life style. He scrolled through the gear and concluded that the four leather strapped item was a hog tie set up, the long bar was a spreader bar with wrist cuffs in the center and ankle cuffs on the outside. The model on the site was bent over at the waste wearing a thong. It's obviously used for sex from behind. Thank god Dulci wasn't already trussed up in the spreader bar, he thought to himself.What would’ve happened if he walked in to see her face down ass up? The black tape was self-adhesive bondage tape. The last was a thigh sling, which, from what he could tell based on the model, spread a girl's legs out and up around her shoulders.

Sidney was taken out of his thoughts when he heard Carly running up the stairs toward the bedroom. He quickly exited the website and placed the iPad back into his nightstand as Carly entered the room.

"Hey babe. What did Dulci say about Sam?" She leaned in to give him a quick kiss before heading toward the bathroom.

"Umm. She actually didn't look at her," he said rubbing the back of his neck. He knew Carly was going to ask a bunch of questions about their meeting because she's wanted them to meet for so long.

Carly peeked her head out from behind the door giving Sidney a confused look.

"She.. Umm.. She wasn't feeling well when I got there. I told her we'd come back another time," he said hoping his explanation would appease her.

"She works too hard at that clinic. She's gonna run herself into the ground with exhaustion. I hope she's ok." And with that, she closed the bathroom door.

Well someone's definitely running her into the ground, Sidney chuckled to himself as he situated himself in bed for the evening.

-----

"Oh my god! What happened to your face?!?" Savannah asked as Dulci walked into the office. Obviously the makeup wasn't hiding the bruising around her nose and eyes.

"Ugh. Please don't remind me," Dulci huffed as she walked out of reception toward the doctor’s office. Knowing Savannah was close behind, she asked, "What does the appointment schedule look like today? I had a pounding migraine all night." And a really hot guy saw me, all if me, completely naked and the thought of him telling Carly was enough to keep me awake waiting for her wrath.

"Wednesdays are always slow. Do you want me to schedule you extra down time to relax?"

"No. I'd rather stay busy and make it through the day without a minute to overthink. Are we still going for margaritas tonight?" Savannah and Dulci would go for margaritas once a week to do what girls loved to do; gossip.

"Absolutely! But if you're not up for it tonight, I understand."

"Oh, we're going. You wouldn't believe the night I had and you're the only person I can talk to about it."

"Ooo. I'm excited now," Savannah said with a giant grin. "I'll let you know when you're first appointment arrives."

It was 7:55 am and her first appointment wasn't until 9. She pulled out her book, The Night Circus, and tried settling in for the next hour. After about fifteen minutes of rereading paragraphs due to her distraction, she put her book aside and took out her cellphone.

Morning.I was wondering if you’d ask Sidney when he would like to reschedule the meeting about Sam.

Keep it short and unassuming. Dulci didn't know if Carly knew anything about last night. Within minutes, Dulci got a response.

Sure thing!Are you feeling ok?He told me you seemed ill.I hope you aren’t overworking!

He lied to her.He didn't say anything about the actual circumstances of their first meeting.Oh thank god, she said to herself, letting her overwhelming guilt slip away. She knew that if he told her what he’d actually walked in on, Carly would jealously lay into her thinking Dulci was trying to steal him away. Although, in Dulci's mind, there was not physical comparison between Carly and herself.Carly was beautiful and Dulci was mediocre.

I’m ok.Just overworking and overwhelmed like you said.

Well rest up, young lady.We still need to meet for dinner!

Dulci cringed at the idea because she could bet the meeting would be awkward to say the least.

----

A couple hours later, Dulci sat at her desk for her afternoon break to call clients and write her SOAPs. When she was finished, she took her phone out of her desk to check on any texts. She had a missed call and message from a number she didn't recognize. Pressing the play button, her heart started pounding when she heard the voicemail.

Hey.It’s Sidney.Give me a call when you get this.

Why couldn't he have texted her back? It was already awkward enough and in that moment she thought about telling Carly he should see another veterinarian because it would be a conflict of interest.However, the thought of explaining why she didn’t want to see Sidney seemed like a bigger battle than it was worth.She had to face it head on. Pressing the call button, the phone rang and with each passing ring, Dulci thought she may get his voicemail and wouldn't have to directly speak to him. She'd eventually officially meet him, but the memory of her previous night made her flush with embarrassment.

"Hello?"

Fuck!

"Ahem. Hi. This is Dr. Hammett returning your call," she said with a high and unnatural, panicky sounding voice.

"I'm sorry. Who?"

STUPID! She called her friend's boyfriend and introduced herself like she would her clients.

"Uh. Dulci. It's Dulci. Sorry, I'm used to calling myself by my last name at work." She slapped her hand on her forehead. I’m sure you can dig your way out of this by excessively rambling.

Deep breath. “Carly mentioned your dog isn't well and you wanted me to take a look?"

"That'd be great if it’s not too much of a hassle. Would you be willing to look at her at my place tonight? I know it's short notice but the season is starting soon and It’ll be hard for me to go out in public."

"Sure. I should be out of here at six-ish." She silently thanked god he wanted her to meet at his and Carly's place instead of asking to meet at her house.

"Great. I'll text my address. Thank you."

"You're welcome."

After hanging up, Dulci looked down at what she was wearing. She donned a pewter grey cable knit sweater and blue pants with black flats. She either worked wearing business casual clothing or scrubs, and she chided herself for not wearing the latter. She'd change into jeans and sandals before going to Carly's but was thankful her outfit covered her entire body and left little to the imagination.

----

So he saw you naked? Nothing you can do about. Act like nothing happened. Or, since he already supplied an excuse, act like you're getting over whatever illness you had. You can do this.

Dulci was sweating.It didn’t help that she was wearing a thick sweater and was nervous about her current conundrum.After ringing the doorbell, the door flew open and Carly was hugging Dulci into the house. Once Carly was done with her smothering hug, she held Dulci back at arms length.

"Dulci! You've lost weight! You so little." Normally Dulci would take that as a compliment, but the concerned look coming from Carly made her frown.

"Have you been eating? I've never seen you this thin."

Dulci slowly backed away and tried her best to physically hide herself.

"Yes I eat. Just not as much as I should on occasion. Sometimes I don't have enough time to eat lunch so I have breakfast and dinner," she offered as an excuse.She found it hard to make eye contact with Carly because she was always so intense about things.If she didn’t like something, all those who knew her would know.

"Well you look good regardless! I'm so glad to see you! Let me grab Sid and let him know you're here."

Dulci followed Carly toward a door that must've lead to the basement where she listened to Carly announce her arrival. Dulci wandered into the massive living room and looked around to take in the surroundings. She instantly noticed the yellow lab as it trotted over, non weight bearing on her rear left leg. Dulci kneeled down to pet the dog as she rolled onto her back exposing her belly.

"I see you met Sam."

Dulci turned toward the voice coming from behind her to find herself in aroll reversal from the previous night. There he was, in his shirtless sweaty glory, staring down at Dulci with an unreadble look on his face. Her mouth instantly went dry. She could tell he worked out from what she saw last night, but seeing him without a shirt was like dangling candy in front of a diabetic. Before Dulci could respond, Carly came barreling into the room.

"Oh good! You've decided to join us. You really need a shower. You stink," Carly said sweetly as she kissed him and swatted his butt as he walked away.

"He's a total babe, isn't he?"

Dulci gulped. "He's good looking," she shrugged trying to play it off. "You know athletes aren't really my type."

"Yeah yeah. Want anything to drink? Water? Wine?"

"Wine would be great," Dulci smiled. Wine, and lots of it, she thought to herself.

Notes