Chapter 25

My heart was beating hard when I walked into Mama Mia’s. I was fearing the worst, such as Sonia calling the police on me and having Sue Ellen fired to boot. I knew that wasn’t going to happen, but I couldn’t stop feeling that way. I’m an easy-going guy, and I’m not used to have someone burning with hatred towards me - even if I knew she couldn’t really hate me that much, given what happened yesterday.

As it was, my arrival wasn’t as bad as that. But it wasn’t good either. I’d done some errands first, to make sure that Sue Ellen was working there already, so I’d at least be assured of a friendly face. But that turned out to be the worst part, because Sue Ellen took one look at me and practically burst into tears. Instead of greeting me, she turned away and went back to serving a customer.

I couldn’t blame her for that, especially since I’d arrived at what looked to be the peak of the lunch rush. Plus, I knew she was just hurting about the fact that the total sex ban was in full swing. But it bothered me just the same.

I didn’t want to sit in her section, since that would only cause more grief for us both. Instead, I picked the most distant booth from her section that I could find, to make it easier for her to ignore me if she wanted to.

I did that before I even knew who the other waitresses were and who had which section. I assumed that whoever I got would at least be okay, since I was getting along pretty well with most of the other waitresses lately.

Unfortunately, I wound up in Paula’s section. Paula, the supervisor, the “right hand woman” of Sonia’s who seemed to hate me even more than Sonia did at her worst, despite the fact that we had yet to say a single word to each other.

Our lack of communication changed shortly after I arrived. I was waiting for my laptop to start up when she came by and gave me a look of undisguised hatred. She hissed, “You! You have a lot of gall coming here again!”

I totally ignored that, and said, “Hi, my name is Dan. You must be Paula. Nice to meet you.” I stood up and held my hand out for a handshake.

She looked at my hand like it was a cobra. “Don’t try to be friendly with me! I’m going to go tell Sonia that you’re here. Hopefully, she’ll tell me that I can kick you out on your ass!” She walked off in a huff towards the back rooms.

Well that was unpleasant, not to mention uncalled for, I thought to myself, sitting back down.

It was one thing to be hated by Sonia. In retrospect, I realized that there had been both a sexual chemistry and a sexual tension between the two of us from the very start. Maybe that was why I’d always felt strangely cavalier about all her insults - I could feel the lust she was feeling for me on some level. It’s an intriguing kick when you’re hate-lusted by someone as sexy and beautiful as Sonia. But with Paula, it was just hate, and she wasn’t even a looker.

I decided to sit elsewhere (assuming I didn’t get kicked out!) and looked around to see who the other waitresses were. I saw Dolly, whom I’d never spoken a word to either. She was a real babe, but she was also scared shitless by me for some inexplicable reason. I figured it was better that she should initiate contact with me, if she ever wanted to do that.

That left just one waitress. It turned out to be Josie, who I liked to think of as a fun and friendly punk rocker type. That was good news. I was hoping to see either her, Lori, or Laura, since those three actually liked me. I immediately moved to Josie’s section.

Josie came by my booth right away. She was smiling and seemed happy to see me. “Hey, Mr. C! That’s my new nickname for you, by the way. I can’t stay and chat since we’re in the middle of a rush, but maybe later. Can I get you something to drink?”

I replied, “Hey, good to see you too. Can I get a vanilla milkshake?”

“Sure thing.”

“Oh, and by the way, I should warn you. Sonia might go to war with me today. It’s hard to tell. And Paula has it in for me too. She just ran off to talk to Sonia, to see if she has permission to kick me out. So you might want to wait on the milkshake. I might not be here long enough to drink it.”

Josie smiled. “Nah. I’m not worried. Sonia hates you, but she kind of likes you too.”

I thought, Now you tell me! I wish I would have known that before yesterday. I wouldn’t have been so stressed out!

But I kept that thought to myself since I wasn’t about to even drop the slightest hint about what happened between Sonia and me yesterday. Instead, I asked, “What do you mean?”

She shrugged. “I don’t really have time to explain. I don’t know if I could if I did. It’s just a feeling I have, based on how she talks about you. Like, you’re the Devil incarnate. But if you were really that bad, why doesn’t she just ban you from her restaurant? So that must not be the whole story. Anyway, I’ve gotta go. Later!”

Once Josie was gone, I thought, So it sounds like she doesn’t have any actual evidence of Sonia liking me. Bummer. She doesn’t know about the bet I made with Sonia, so of course the fact I don’t get kicked out seems strange. I wonder if Sonia thinks that bet is still in effect. Or does it even matter at this point? She’s not going to kick me out, right?

I soon got an answer to that question. A couple of minutes later, Sonia herself came out to talk to me, after Paula no doubt tried to talk her into getting rid of me.

As Sonia walked closer, I was disappointed to see that she was wearing her usual clothes: nearly all black, and not particularly sexy or revealing. In fact, it was her worst outfit I’d seen her wear yet. I was hoping she would dress up a little bit due to the high likelihood that I’d be back. Probably she was trying to make a statement to me that I didn’t affect her in any way.

However, I was strangely glad to see her glaring at me with serious hostility. I figured she couldn’t really hate me as much as she let on if we’d secretly fucked. Besides, her angry face was pretty close to her lusty face.

She walked right up to my booth and stood above me with her hands on her hips. She growled nastily but quietly, “Look what crawled up from the sewer! Daniel fucking Cooper! The bane of my existence!”

That was such an opening that I couldn’t resist walking right into it. I spoke quietly. “Sit down, please. I have something to tell you, and I don’t want there to be a big scene about it in front of your other customers.”

She looked around and saw how busy the restaurant was. Most of the booths near mine were occupied. She sat down, but on the opposite side of me, about as far from me as she could get.

I said, in a near whisper, “It’s funny you used those exact words, because you repeat yourself. I remember very clearly yesterday when you said, and I quote, ‘Daniel fucking Cooper! The bane of my existence!’ But you didn’t stop there. You added, ‘I hate your guts so much that I can’t even say. But I will NOT be cowed by you or your incredible cock! I’ll show YOU!’ And then you slowly impaled yourself all the way down onto my dick! Remember?”

Sonia immediately blushed and looked away. She was so gobsmacked that she was momentarily struck speechless. It was adorable in a curious way, since she remained pissed off as well. As an astute observer of people thanks to my writing, I could tell that she was reliving that moment in her mind now that I’d brought it up. Her wide-eyed shock seemed to go on and on, due to thinking of that moment instead of the here and now.

Finally, after regaining her composure, she hissed, “I thought we were to never speak of that unfortunate incident again!”

I replied, “Yesterday we were both sensitive about bringing it up, but neither of us ever said we couldn’t mention it, and I’m not going to agree to that. I don’t see why we can’t mention it between ourselves in private, like we are now. It happened. It’s real. It’ll be a part of our relationship forever.”

She clutched her head with both hands, frowning in dismay. “There is no relationship! Paula was just trying to get me to kick you out. Maybe I should!”

I said, “Look. I’m not here to cause you trouble. And I’m not going to throw what happened yesterday in your face.”

“You just did!”

“Come on. You said the EXACT same words you said seconds before you mounted yourself onto me.”

She winced, and shifted in her seat, as if she was in danger of being impaled again.

“How could I not bring it up? You were all but asking to be teased about that. Do you remember that moment, and did you repeat yourself on purpose?”

There were flames of irritation and defiance flicker in her eyes. “I most definitely didn’t say that on purpose! It’s just that you are ‘Daniel fucking Cooper’ and not ‘Dan Cooper’ in my eyes, and you ARE ‘the bane of my existence!’”

I teased, “Fair enough. I suppose that whenever you think of me you can’t stop think of fucking, so you’ve added it to my name.”

Her blush deepened. “I do NOT! I haven’t thought of that at all! It never happened, as far as I’m concerned.” She went on the offensive, pointing a finger at me. “And don’t you DARE try to seduce me again! If you do, all bets are off! I will do everything in my power to make your life miserable!”

Of course, I was anticipating fucking her again, hopefully soon. The memory of her incredible hips and her general fucking prowess was highly inspirational, to say the least. But I had to play it cool and wait until she was ready - assuming that ever happened.

I held my hands up defensively. “Whoa! ME? Seducing YOU?! That’s not how I remember it. In fact, I distinctly recall innocently giving you some compliments about your undeniable beauty. And then you said, and I quote, ‘Oh yeah?! If you really think I’m so fucking beautiful, then prove it!’ Then YOU kissed ME on the lips! I dare you to deny it, because you’re smart and I know you remember that!”

Her blush deepened, and she suddenly found something very interesting to stare at on the table between us. She started to say, “That is ... the thing is...” Then she apparently tried a different approach, “Okay, maybe so. But only because you tricked me!”

She looked back into my eyes, full of anger again. “You ARE some kind of mental rapist! And you’re a hypnotist too! Somehow, you tricked and deceived me with your flowery comments and handsome face and general bullshit! You’re the devil too! Look at what you did with poor Sue Ellen and so many others! You’re an honest to God sex slaver!”

I rolled my eyes. “Do NOT call me that. Ever! A sex slaver buys and sells people. You know I don’t do that.”

Her eyes flashed with emotion. “Do I? Anything is possible with you. You’re completely incorrigible and evil! You probably have some kind of mind control powers! That’s why I fell for your, your ... well, YOU! In a moment of weakness! But if you ever try anything like that on me again, you’ll regret it! I have mace! And I can scream!”

She was showing so much passion that I wanted to stand up, pull her over the table, and fuck her brains out! Right then and there! She probably had a point about me being “completely incorrigible” though. I’d started the conversation with my penis flaccid, but seeing her like this made my dick fully erect.

I had to hide the effect she was having on me and act normal though. Thankfully, the table was in the way. I shook my head sadly. “Sonia, listen. I don’t want to argue about all that. I know you’re upset with me right now. And I’m probably not making it easier on you because I can’t resist reminding you what we did. But the thing is, what happened happened. We have to deal with it, and deal with the fallout. For instance, you just said that you can scream. And that’s true, you sure can. I remember you screaming your lungs out while you churned on my shaft with your incredible hips!”

Her embarrassment doubled. She quietly hissed, “SHUT UP!”

That probably was a bit uncalled for, but I simply couldn’t resist provoking her. I think a part of me loved to see her angry.

However, I held my hands up defensively again. “Hey! I’m not just bringing it up for fun. I mention it because you screamed so loudly that a couple of the waitresses heard you. I know, because Lori told me about it.”

Sonia reacted as if I’d revealed to her that the last meal she ate was made out of human flesh. “OH! ... NO!”

“And that’s not all. Paula must have heard your screaming too, because she tried to keep Lori away from the office area. I think that’s why Paula was so upset to see me today, and tried to get you to kick me out. She knows we had sex, and she’s trying to protect you, in her well-meaning but misguided way.”

Sonia just stared in shock.

I went on, “But it’s not all bad news. Luckily, Lori told me about that yesterday, not long after I talked to you. She asked me about the screaming coming from your office. I didn’t want to lie to her, but I tried to give her the impression it was just you and me arguing. I told her I’d talk to her about it later, but in the meantime, she should definitely not talk to anyone about the screaming, period. She agreed, and I believe she’ll stay quiet. She’s a good person. And Paula, of course she’s not going to spread gossip about you. She’s got your back. So your secret is safe.”

Sonia held her head in her hands, covering up much of her beautiful face. “For now! So you say. And what about your wife Mindy? And one of your floozies? What’s her name, Cindy. I’m sure all your floozies will talk, and it’ll spread from there. And what about Lori? You’ve only held her off for the moment.”

She looked back up at me, suddenly pleading while still angry. “LIE! If you have any decency in you, just up and lie to her! Tell her we were just yelling at each other!”

I said, “I would do that for you, if I could. I try hard not to lie, but I’ll admit that sometimes a white lie is for the best. Unfortunately in this case, that’s not going to work. She made clear it sounded to her like sexual screaming. And think about it. It’s a very different thing. One is all about yelling words, and the other is mostly or entirely incoherent noise. Don’t you remember what happened? You were screaming your head off. It sounded nothing like a loud argument.”

She sighed heavily. “Fuuuuck! You’ve ruined me! You and your big fat fucking cock! Making me cum over and over again, making me lose my mind! Do something about it! Fix it! Use your evil charisma to talk her into staying silent. But do NOT fuck her! She’s a happily married woman, and I don’t want to see you ruin her life too!”

Once again, I was highly inspired and aroused by her angry passion. I could easily imagine her sitting on me cowgirl-style and grinding down on my erection while screaming “You’ve ruined me! You and your big fat fucking cock!” And I was getting the distinct impression that she was feeling aroused too, just as those words suggested.

In fact, even though she was sitting up stiffly with no obvious signs of arousal, I was nearly certain her pussy was getting wet from recalling what we’d done. She was absolutely determined not to let that show.

Still, I had to play it cool. The tension between us had to build until she was practically ready to explode from sexual need. Plus, I had to deal with her accusations.

I shook my head in frustration. “First off, I don’t have ‘evil charisma.’ And don’t worry, I wouldn’t so much as flirt with her. The sanctity of marriage is a very scared thing to me.”

“HA!” She laughed heartily, before looking around and remembering to lower her voice. “Are you trying to be a comedian? So says the married man who has his own stable of fucking sex slaves!”

I was glad that at least she looked around and lowered her voice still more before saying “fucking sex slaves.”

I winced. “Okay, point taken. But it’s different when your spouse approves and even encourages it. Remember that Mindy is a cucquean.”

“Ugh! Don’t remind me! She’s a disgrace to all women, letting you fuck around. Your whole family is mentally deranged!”

“Calm down, please. Besides, you didn’t seem to mind me fucking around yesterday!”

Sonia got red-faced again. “Shut UP, already! Stop bringing that up!”

I decided to let that slide, and said, “Yes, Mindy and Cindy know what happened. I told them, just as I said I would. But that’s as far as it goes, so far. They can be trusted with that secret. Sue Ellen doesn’t even know yet. Don’t you think it would show if she did? She wears her heart on her sleeve. She would interact with you differently somehow, I’m sure, although I don’t know exactly how.”

Sonia considered that. “True. Although I only said hello to her in passing today. But I suppose I have to believe you on that one, since it would be so easy for me to talk to her and see if you’re lying. Which I’m bound to do at some point today anyway.”

I nodded. “Right. Look. I’m not trying to humiliate you.” (I thought to myself, Well, maybe a little bit!) “I want to keep this a secret as much as you do. I had to tell my wife and mistress about what we did for reasons that I explained to you yesterday. Plus, Sue Ellen is going to find out sooner or later, I’m sure. How could she not? Somehow, something will give it away. Probably you’ll act differently around her.”

“I will not!”

“Sonia, please. Don’t just say the opposite of whatever I say. I’m really not a bad guy. I don’t want to cause you trouble. If you think you still hate me in general, that’s your right. But we should work together on this one thing, keeping what happened a secret. I could be an ‘ooga booga dumbass caveman’ as you called me yesterday, and go around boasting about fucking you, if I’m as bad as you say. But I’m not going to do that, because I don’t want to be mean to you. I’m trying to do the opposite, and get the people who know to stay silent. I keep telling you, I want to be your friend.”

She huffed, “Huh! Some friend! First you fuck me with your huge cock, and then you humiliate me by constantly reminding me about all the stupid stuff I said when you made me scream in total ecstasy!” She looked a bit abashed as she realized what she’d said.

For the sake of her pride, I let that slide. “I’m sorry, I can’t help but tease you a bit. I might keep doing some of that, I don’t know. You seem to bring that side out of me, because you’re so teasible, for some reason. Maybe it’s that you’re so very uptight, yet you shouldn’t be. I’d like to see you let your hair down and lighten up. If I tease you, tease me back instead of just insulting me and staring daggers at me.”

She responded, “What am I going to say? You continually confound and annoy me!” She sighed in frustration. “I’ll admit you don’t have mind control powers, but it’s easier for me to imagine that you do, because yesterday shouldn’t have happened in a million years! I shouldn’t be talking to you now. None of this should be happening! It’s like an endless nightmare!”

She dramatically clutched her hands up in the air and looked up as if trying to plead to God for divine help. “What is it going to take to get you out of my life?!”

She realized she might be getting too demonstrative. She looked around and saw a few people in nearby booths staring at her. I’m sure that only embarrassed her more.

She turned her glare back on me, lowered her voice, and went on, “And now you say Lori knows, Paula knows, and Sue Ellen is likely to know. You’re probably right about Sue Ellen, by the way. If I’m honest, I probably will treat her differently somehow, although I don’t even know how. My emotions are all a jumble, and that’s going to show. Help me put this genie back in the bottle! How can this be undone?! Already, I’ve lost the respect of Lori and Paula forever. I can never get that back!”

I asked, “Have you? Have you really? I don’t know about Paula. I don’t understand her at all. Today’s the first time I so much as said ‘boo’ to her, and that didn’t exactly go so well. But I’ll bet Lori and Sue Ellen will look at this very differently than you think they will. Remember, you’re known as ‘the Bat.’ Basically, everyone who works for you thinks you have a two-by-four stuck up your ass. You act bitchy pretty much all the time, and they think it’s because you have next to no social life, and therefore no sex life whatsoever. You put all your blood, sweat, and tears into this restaurant.”

“That part is true,” she sighed, exasperated. “I have no choice! If I didn’t do that, this place would have gone under and I’d have been left with nothing!”

“Maybe so. But I think the point is, most if not all of the other waitresses would love to hear that you got laid, period, let alone that it was ‘good enough for you’ to have you screaming your head off in your supposedly soundproofed office.”

She winced, then hissed, “Please stop reminding me about that!”

I simply went on, “We’re talking about other women here who would rather be proud of you than feel sorry for you. Despite the way you treat them, I think they want to see you happy. I’m sure they know that you’re lonely and unhappy with how you’ve been treated by the men in your life.”

“Which now includes you, unfortunately,” she pointed out tartly.

“We’ll see. Our relationship is in its very early stages.”

She groaned loudly and clutched her head with both hands. “‘Our relationship?!’ Fucking stab me straight through with a pitchfork already to put me out of my misery! There is NO relationship!”

I grinned and winked. “I think you’re starting to warm up to me.”

She groaned even louder, and with greater agony. Then she looked around and saw that a few of the customers were staring at her in confusion. She dropped her hands from her hand and put on an “all is normal” face.

I couldn’t help but smirk. It was too much fun winding her up.

I got the discussion back on track by saying, “Anyway, about your waitresses. I think you’re underestimating them. I’ll bet they’d think of an event like your getting laid as a positive, not a negative. Maybe then you could take that stick out of your ass.”

She growled at me, “And what? Replace it with your huge dick up my pussy?”

Or your ass, I thought impudently. I’m not picky. Are you? The sudden surge of stiffness in my groin area at the notion made the necessity of steering my fantasies away from that line of thinking even more imperative than usual.

She complained, “How is that any better?! It looks like I’m either metaphorically or literally fucked!” She looked around carefully after that outburst. Luckily, the customers weren’t paying attention due to her keeping her voice down.

She went on, “And you don’t understand! I get the ‘she needs to get laid’ sentiment. I can even see some truth to that. The problem is, it was with YOU! The ultimate humiliation! You’re my worst enemy, the man I’ve cursed as the spawn of Satan, the textbook example of the worst the male half of our species has to offer! Everyone knows how much I hate you! So if it comes out that I got fucked by you, I’ll lose all respect! Especially if it gets out that I got so royally fucked that I screamed ... well, too much! Hell, even I can’t stand to look myself in the mirror!”

My erection was throbbing almost painfully. It seemed clear that she was very impressed by the intensity of our sexual encounter. I just needed to be patient, and her desire for a repeat performance would grow so strong that it simply couldn’t be denied. That was my hope, at any rate.

I said, “Sonia, look at me.”

She looked, grudgingly.

I asked, “Am I really that bad? I think you got the wrong impression about me from day one, and things spiraled from there. Due to your misunderstanding about my relationship with Sue Ellen, and then misunderstanding even more about my other lovers. What if the polyamorous life isn’t a bad thing, but just a different thing? Turn the clock back fifty years. Would you be feeling the same way if you found out one of your waitresses was lesbian? Would you be disgusted at their so-called sexual deviancy?”

“That’s totally different!” she complained.

“Is it? Really? Look me in my eyes and tell me that’s not how the typical restaurant owner would have reacted fifty years ago.”

She grudgingly admitted, “Well, maybe so on that. But that’s a red herring. Just because society turned out to be wrong on homosexuality doesn’t mean that just ANY sort of sexual relationship is okay. Am I supposed to approve of incest now too? Or bestiality? Or necrophilia? You have to deal with these things on a case by case basis, and your relationship with Sue Ellen is WRONG! Full stop!”

I noticed that she had strong feelings against incest. Not that I expected anything different from her.

She lowered her voice even more. “You made her your motherfucking SEX SLAVE! How is that morally right in ANY universe?! It’s not! And all your relationships with the rest of your floozies are like that. Which makes you a very bad person!”

I said, “First off, don’t call them ‘floozies.’ You’ve met Mindy and Cindy. Are they bad people? Do they deserve to be insulted?”

“Fine. Whatever.” She waved a hand dismissively.

I went on, “Secondly, you’re judging things you don’t understand, I think almost entirely due to your misunderstanding of the words ‘master’ and ‘slave.’ Do you know anything about people who have dominant and submissive relationships?”

She didn’t reply, which I took as an affirmative.

“It’s a pretty common thing, you know. Millions of people take part in some version of that. Some want to be in charge, some want to be told what to do. Sure, in some cases it can be totally fucked up, but in other cases it’s just people having fun in the bedroom to the harm of no one. Are you categorically against all of that?”

She grudgingly replied, “Well, no. It’s not my thing AT ALL and never would be my thing. I can’t claim I understand it, and I doubt I ever will. I put it in the same category as, say, people peeing on each other. I don’t get it at all. But hey, there are a lot of fetishes out there, and I don’t really care. As long as it doesn’t involve me and it’s not something illegal like underage sex, then ... whatever. Let people get their kicks.”

I said, “Good. I like that attitude, and it’s the same for me. I feel the same about peeing, by the way. I don’t understand it at all, but if two people like that and it works for them, I try to have a live and let live attitude.”

She nodded.

“So why does it suddenly become different if the words ‘master’ and ‘slave’ are used? Why do we suddenly become monsters? You know that’s not meant literally. This is not like Civil War slavery at all! People use extreme language to try to express the intensity of their emotions. For instance, if I were fucking you and you screamed ‘Make me your whore, ‘ I obviously wouldn’t take that literally. I would mark that up to you getting really carried away in the moment. And depending on the people and the situation, maybe that would turn you on, or turn me on, or both. No harm done. It’s just words.”

I was trying to be sincere, but I was probably pushing it a little bit. I tried not to take the master and slave thing that seriously, especially at a time like this, but I couldn’t say the same for some of my slaves (heck, probably all of them!).

She said, annoyed, “First off, try to use examples that don’t involve you fucking me, okay? I’m having a hard enough time putting those traumatic memories out of my mind as it is! But besides that, it’s not ‘just words’ if the people well and truly mean them! The problem I have with Sue Ellen is that she doesn’t just SAY she’s your slave, she obviously completely 100 percent believes it! She’s actually proud of it! Not just as some sexually exciting thing to say in the bedroom, but because she’s convinced you ARE her master! You literally OWN her!”

I carefully asked, “What gives you that impression? Did she say that to you?”

“No, not in so many words. But it’s obvious in everything she says and does. She’s so into you that it’s ridiculous! Not to mention disturbing! You’re warping that poor girl’s innocent mind with the power of your ... your...” She waved in the direction of my crotch without looking, even though the table between us shielded her from the sight of my rampant erection.

Then she did a double take when she realized what she’d just said, even with her never saying the final word. Her blush had faded, but it came back fast, thanks to that telling comment.

I held a hand up. “Don’t be embarrassed. I get what you mean. I have had some great sex with her, and that can be a powerful emotional bond. Which it is between her and me. Right now, she’s fallen head over heels for me, and I’m deeply in love with her too. Since she and I have a relationship that involves dominance and submission, and uses that language, she takes that to an extreme to convey the power of her feelings both to herself and everyone else. But it’s not this terrible thing that you think it is. Isn’t she still the same lovely and adorable person she’s always been? And isn’t she even happier than before? Much happier, even?”

I mostly believed that, too.