inside. Professional services? No, it couldn’t be what she was thinking it might be. This wasn’t right. Surely this couldn’t be a real business card. But then again.
Maybe Lorraine wasn’t so far off the mark after all. Just when she thought everything with her and Clem seemed hunky dory again she finds what was looking like a smoking gun. Maybe she was over-reacting. No, that card was pretty clear. She had to confront Clem about this. She wanted some answers. God, what a shock to her system this was, especially after the events of the previous evening. Tara slammed on the brakes and pulled over to the side of the road. She rummaged through her bag for her cell phone and placed a call to her best friend.
“Lorraine?”
“Hey, honey. How’d it go last night?”
“We have to talk. Are you at the club?”
“Yeah, come on down.”
Tara waited in the café of Bodyworks Fitness as a spandex clad Lorraine walked towards her carrying two large protein smoothies. She was anxious to learn how Tara’s evening had gone.
“You caught the sonofabitch red-handed, didn’t you?” she asked a pensive Tara. By the expression on Tara’s face, Lorraine figured she knew what Tara was about to say. “I knew it.”
She sat close to Tara to comfort her. “Here, try this -- Blueberry with whey protein. It’s good for you. Full of anti-oxidants.” Lorraine handed Tara one of the enormous purple drinks.
“I’m very confused.’
“Dammit, who wouldn’t be?” Lorraine commiserated.
“I felt like a complete idiot last night. I walked in on Clem like a crazed jealous wife and he’s there with some sweet, older gentleman having a business meeting.”
Lorraine was taken aback. “Really? Then why are you so pissed off?”
“Because I found this .”
Tara handed Lorraine Mistress Krystal’s business card. Lorraine studied it.
“Ooo, kinky. Where d’you get it?”
“It was in Clem’s jacket pocket.”
“Clem’s into kinky shit?” Lorraine asked rhetorically, keeping her voice low as club members mingled about them.
“What does that card say to you?” Tara asked looking straight-faced at Lorraine. “And that’s Clem’s handwriting on the back.”
“Oh, fuck. Like I said, it says to me that Clem’s into kinky shit.” Lorraine handed the card back to Tara.
“This is one of those dominatrix people, isn’t it?” Tara asked her more sexually experienced friend.
“Well, I’m guessing she ain’t a babysitting service but I could be wrong again.”
“Who else could this person be? I mean – this card…” Tara continued.
“Honey, if that card is genuine, then someone’s due for a whupping on Tuesday at five o’clock. That’s what that cards says.” Tara suddenly lost all interest in her protein shake. “Hey, I got plenty of ex’s who deserve an ass whupping,” Lorraine quipped.
“Why would Clem want to go to someone like that? That’s disgusting.” Tara seemed shell-shocked.
“Fucked if I know. But there are a lot of creepy guys out there.”
“You’re saying Clem’s a creepy guy?”
“Honey, most men are sex freaks. So many of them are damn perverts who just get off on this kinda sick shit. Masochists, sadists, gangbangers….y’know, men in general.”
Tara felt repulsed. “Clem’s not a sex freak.”
Lorraine was back on her soapbox talking about her favorite topic and she wasn’t listening to Tara anymore.
“Yeah, that kinda porn is all over the internet. Fetish stuff. All kinds of crap like you wouldn’t believe. Some guys like to wear diapers. They get off dressing up like a baby and sucking on a bottle for Chrissakes! I don’t get it.”
Tara was horrified by the visual imagery Lorraine had just put in her head. “So after this Mistress Krystal whacks her clients do they have sex?”
“Beats me!” laughed Lorraine, enjoying her own zinger though Tara didn’t see the funny side.
“I don’t know who I’m married to anymore,” Tara mumbled.
Lorraine
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