Chapter 12: The Message

It was the 4th day since her husband had left for his business trip in Europe. She had not been able to join him because of a prior commitment to open the village fete. She had filled her days well enough, but the evenings were long and the nights empty without his body next to her.

After dinner, she asked for her coffee tray to be taken to her bedroom. She slipped out of her clothes in her dressing room and pulled on a loose robe. Settling herself comfortably on the sofa by the fireplace in their bedroom, she poured herself some coffee and opened up her laptop. Connecting to the net, she found a new message in her mail box.

"Nothing to read on my way home," was all it said.

She laughed to herself and typed back her response, "Stand by!". She enjoyed a long soak in the bath and went to bed early, closing her eyes to allow thoughts and memories to provide her with the beginnings of an idea.

She rose early and had typed for an hour before Donna arrived with her morning tea. She showered and sent for breakfast on a tray, then returned to her keyboard. By ten, she had finished typing and sat back to enjoy her cold toast and coffee.

She took the silver key from the box on her dressing table and let herself into their secret playroom. She opened the wardrobe where they kept special lingerie and play-clothes. She made her selection of outfit and took it back to her dressing room for later. Dressing casually for now, she rushed through her domestic tasks and had a light lunch on the terrace. Watching the time carefully, she judged when he would be arriving at the airport. When the time approached, she went bounding up to her room, returned to her laptop, retrieved her work and clicked to send the email. Sinking back on the bedroom sofa, she smiled to herself, imagining him reading what she had written.

Settling into the car, he poured himself a glass of wine and rested it in the holder by his side. He opened his laptop and, in excited anticipation, checked for mail. Opening the message, he read, "Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin." This was followed by an attachment icon labelled "Send her to me!" Intrigued, he took a sip of his wine, then clicked on the icon to read his story.