Saving Sunni (6 page)

When Sir cleared his throat, we both jumped a little, we’d been so absorbed in our own thoughts. We looked up expectantly, and he smiled at us.

“You are both such good slaves,” he started out, and I, for one, relaxed a little. This didn’t seem like it was going to be bad news. I smiled back.

“I think,” he went on slowly, his smile fading a little, “that it wouldn’t be a bad thing, especially considering the fact that sunni’s ex-husband is in town, for you both to get a little training in self-defense.” He stopped and looked at me, then at sage. Her mouth had dropped open and her eyes were huge.

“Self-defense? Are you serious?” I couldn’t believe she had just said that to Sir in that angry tone of voice.

His eyebrows went up and his voice took on a warning edge. “Yes, sage, I am quite serious. Do you have a problem with that?”

I could see she was struggling to keep from saying something that would no doubt get her in serious trouble. Her jaw worked a little, but she swallowed hard and looked down at her plate.

“Sir,” she said, her voice shaking a little. “I’m not sure I could handle something else right now. I’m feeling a little overwhelmed by my classes.”

He considered her. “It will be good for you to get a little exercise,” he said, and she flushed. I could tell she was taking it as a comment on her weight. But he continued, “It will improve your circulation and help you concentrate and focus on your schoolwork. Besides, the physical exertion will be a great stress reliever for you. If you have too much to do this semester, we can look at dropping your course load a little next time. But for now it is important to me that you can both defend yourselves if anything happens.” He looked back at me. “Is that clear?”

I thought about it. I actually didn’t mind the idea of a self-defense class. It was one of those things that you always mean to do and never get around to.

“What kind of self-defense?” I asked, going back to my food. sage looked like she might cry. I would talk to her later and assure her that it wasn’t going to be that big a deal. She might really enjoy it.

“There’s a jujitsu school not too far away,” Sir said. “That would be a good option to start with to see if you like it. I will call for information and get the schedule.”

That night after dinner, Sir took sage into the bedroom and they had some private time. I knew she needed it; she had been stressed lately.

I took the flower bouquet out to the Dumpster, but instead of throwing it in, I put it on the ground in case someone else wanted to grab it. It would have been a shame to waste such a pretty arrangement, even if Randy had sent it just to cause trouble.

Walking back to the building, I heard a car door slam behind me. I nearly leaped the eight feet to the door in a single jump; I must have been much more shaken up by the Randy incident than I’d thought. I tried to make myself stop and move slowly, but the sound of the car starting up broke what was left of my nerve, and I ran for it instead. When I was safely inside, I forced myself to look out, mortified by my display of cowardice. There was nobody chasing me or even visible in the parking lot. A car pulled out of the far exit, but I couldn’t see what kind it was or who was driving.

I was just happy neither Sir nor sage had seen me racing into the building as if I was being attacked by killer bees. I laughed a little as I went into the apartment. I didn’t feel like watching television by myself, so I turned on the computer—at the risk of breaking it—and tried to do some research.

I was still trying to figure out how to search for human puppy products when Sir came out and sat down to help me. It went a lot quicker then, and we had quite a stack of resources printed out within an hour. I felt incredibly productive and professional as I put them on the table by my purse to take to work the next day. Sir told me to get drinks and come and sit with him on the couch for a while before going to bed.

While we cuddled, we talked about the puppy club. I was too wound up to sleep, anyway, so I was more than happy to discuss my ideas for it.

“I’ve been thinking about a name for the club,” I said excitedly. “I like ‘Puppy Love.’ What do you think?”

He laughed. “It sounds great.” He squeezed my shoulder. “I’m glad to see you’re finding things to get involved in. I contacted Toby, who set up the puppy play party the other night, and he thought starting a puppy club was a great idea. He’ll help you compile a contact list of the puppies in the area. It’s something he had wanted to do, but he doesn’t really have time to organize events. I thought you might want to take that over.”

I wiggled in ecstasy. “I’d love to! Can I do that, Sir? Please?”

He laughed. “As long as you don’t get carried away with it. You still have obligations around here, and you are working now, too. Are enjoying your job so far?”

“I think so,” I said, a little worried again. “The other girls aren’t very friendly, and Geri is kind of a spazz, but I like working there. The clothes are really fun, most of the people who come in are cool, and if we could start carrying puppy stuff…”

I trailed off, partly dreaming about a store full of puppy supplies and partly hoping that he would follow that direction of the conversation instead of where I was afraid he was going.

No such luck. “I’m a little concerned about it,” he said, and my heart dropped. “It worries me that Randy can come in and bother you, or catch you outside when you’re leaving, and I’m not around to protect you.”

I sighed. “I know, Sir, but I’ll be careful. I promise. I can start carrying Mace or something if you want. I don’t think he’ll hurt me, though. The only time he was ever violent was when he was drunk.”

Sir thought for a minute. “What about Geri? Why didn’t she call the police?”

“Because he left when she asked him to…sort of,” I said. “I don’t think he’ll come back in the store. And she’s going to personally walk me to my car every night.”

“I think I need to come in there and meet Geri,” he said. I wasn’t sure why, but I felt a definite sense of foreboding.

He came in over lunch the next day. It was a good twenty-minute drive for him to come from work, so I knew he was serious about checking out the situation. I was cleaning the front window (which I was convinced hadn’t been done in several decades) while Debi had one foot planted on the counter as she painted her toenails black. I saw his car pull up and had a crazy urge to run through the store yelling, “He’s here! Everybody look busy!” but I forced myself to stay where I was and wait for him to walk up the sidewalk and come in.

There were no customers, so I met him at the door. After glancing around, he pulled me to him and we kissed for what felt like a long time. As we started walking through the store, a rush of pleasure and pride went through me. He really was a good-looking man. I snuck sideways looks at Debi to see her reaction.

She stared, foot still on the counter, nail polish brush poised frozen above it. Sir caught the scent of the polish and turned to look at her, eyebrows raised. I could tell he was thinking, “If you worked for me…” and I think Debi felt it too. Her foot vanished, and she hastily started tidying up the register area. I thought I even saw her face start to get red, but she was carefully looking in the other direction.

I gave Sir a quick tour of the store, then we headed over to Geri’s office. She met us at her door, nearly running to Sir and throwing her arms around his chest (which was as high as she could reach) in a hug. I’d never seen Sir look so surprised. He stared down at the top of her head as if he wasn’t sure what species she was and why she was attacking him.

Geri was talking, but most of it was muffled by Sir’s chest. When she pulled away from him, she was saying, “—good to finally meet you. You must be Sir Rune? I’ve heard
so
much about you.” She took his hand and pulled him into her office. He looked at me incredulously as they went, Geri calling over her shoulder, “Debi! Could you bring a pot of hot water in here, please?”

The three of us crowded into her small office and sat down. Geri went out and returned in a minute with mugs, tea bags, and sugar. Debi came in behind her, one bare foot with black nails and one plain, and set a steaming kettle on Geri’s desk. She gave Sir a quick glance and then, looking back at the floor, scooted out and closed the door quietly behind her. I watched her, confused. Her normally sullen adolescent look had been replaced, but I couldn’t quite read the new expression.

Sir shook his head a little, probably at the thought of allowing employees to paint their toenails on company time. He took the cup of tea that Geri handed him, refusing the offer of sugar.

“So,” Geri said, setting back in her chair and pulling her feet up into the lotus position. “You are sunni’s master? I’m very glad for the chance to chat with you, Sir. I haven’t been actively involved with the leather community in Denver for some time, and I think sunni is going to be really helpful to me in finding new products to appeal to them. She tells me you helped her compile this list last night?” She waved the stack of papers with possible puppy supplies and looked admiringly at Sir as if he’d singlehandedly cured cancer.

His face was stiff as he sipped his tea and nodded. “I did,” he admitted, but he didn’t sound happy about it.

She sighed rapturously, flipping through the pages before putting them back on the table. “I can’t wait to get sunni doing puppy and kink displays. I can tell she’s going to be a wonderful addition to our family. But—” she suddenly looked serious and leaned over her crossed legs toward him “—we are going to have to be
very
careful about that ex of hers. He is not a nice person, not at all. He has a terrible aura, and I am convinced that he is capable of very great violence. He is not at all to be trusted.”

I wondered briefly how Geri knew that from the brief conversation she’d had with him, but I dismissed the thought. Most women automatically assume that all ex-husbands are evil. And I had admitted that he had hit me on occasion. I supposed it wasn’t that unreasonable of an assumption. Besides, maybe she really
could
see auras. You just never knew.

“Yes,” Sir said. “I wanted to talk to you about that. sunni tells me you have a Taser. Are you fully trained on its use?”

She looked surprised. “Of course,” she said indignantly. “I have never actually used it on anyone, you understand. I
hate
violence. But I have gone through the class, several years ago now. And I am quite prepared to use it on that—that
monster
—if he dares to step foot in here or tries to talk to sunni on the premises.
And
we have two very big, strapping boys in the back room most afternoons that would be very happy to protect our little sunni.” She beamed at me and finally turned to dump several teaspoons of sugar and a lemon slice into her tea.

As she stirred and sipped experimentally, she started prattling about how close her “little family” was and how much she adored all of her employees. Sir listened politely, but he looked like he was trying to figure out how to tactfully ask her if she wouldn’t, maybe, be happier in an institution somewhere.

“Well, I’m afraid I must get back to work.” Sir apparently had heard all he could take. He put down his tea mug and stood up, holding out his hand. Geri ignored it, jumping to her feet instead and reaching as far around him as she could in an enthusiastic hug.

“I’m so
glad
sunni has you to protect her,” she said when she let him go and he started backing toward the door. “I feel so much better now. Oh, sunni, that reminds me. I have a little present for you.” She turned and rummaged in a box on her desk. She finally drew something out with a flourish and presented me with a large black cotton scarf imprinted with silver dog paws and pink hearts. I stared at it, awestruck, for a moment. I heard Sir draw in a long breath. Was he was going to forbid me on the spot to accept it and order me to go straight home? When he didn’t say anything for a few seconds, I put out a tentative hand and took the scarf from Geri.

“It’s…beautiful,” I said. “Thank you.”

Geri beamed, not noticing the horrified look that I was sure was on Sir’s face. She flung the ends around my neck and adjusted it artistically over my shoulders.

“There!” She gave Sir a huge smile. “Doesn’t she look fabulous?”

Sir let out the breath. “She certainly does,” he said, squeezing my shoulder, only a tiny bit too hard. I looked around apprehensively, but he just smiled.

“I need to get back to work now,” he repeated, carefully nodding in Geri’s direction. “It’s been very nice to meet you.”

She let us go, calling after him to have a
lovely
day, and I walked him to the door. He kissed me again, looked around without speaking, shook his head, and walked out, staring hard up and down the street before getting in his car and driving away. I looked down at the scarf. What would tonight be like?

Chapter 6

I was ready to walk out the door that afternoon at five when I saw Randy standing on the sidewalk. I muttered, “What now?” and went to open the door. I couldn’t have him standing out there, and I didn’t want Geri to call the police. Surely if I just explained that I was happy now, and in a good relationship, he would go away.