Page 22 of James

While they waited for the food, general conversation led to talk of IT between Julie and Laura. Julie explained she did freelance web design for small businesses in thearea. “My favorite was for a little boutique in Zona Rosa – Wilma’s.”

“I love Wilma’s,” Laura said, delighted. “She has such great stuff. I haven’t checked out her website yet, though. I’ll have to do that when I get home.”

“Yeah, Wilma’s is great,” Kate agreed. “I’ve gotten some of my favorite dresses there. Wilma is such a wonderful woman. Did you hear about what she’s doing for Christ the King Church, the one damaged in the tornado?”

“I did,” said Laura. “I’ve been a member of Christ the King for most of my life. I’m really disappointed in the church leadership for not having enough insurance. This loss is traumatic enough without finding out we don’t have enough for materials to repair the building, let alone labor. The council is organizing a capital appeal to the membership, but I think Wilma’s idea will get us on the road to recovery much more quickly. Since the church is a historic building, the board of the Holiday Arts and Crafts Festival agreed to add a benefit for the church to the event. What’s your connection, Kate?”

“I’m not part of the church, but I’m on the logistics sub-committee for the Festival. I make sure everyone is in the right space and has everything they need. Wilma is the one behind all this,” the redhead answered.

“Well, I, for one, promise to come to the Festival and bid on at least one item at the auction and I think I can convince Mitch to come, too,” Julie said. “And you can stop smirking, Kate, it’s not serious. Neither one of us wants a serious relationship right now. We’re just friends.”

“As a member of the church, I’ll be there on Saturday, volunteering in one of the children’s tents. I think I’ll behelping out with the face-painting,” Laura said, returning to the previous topic.

When they had exhausted the subject of the Festival, Laura asked Kate what she did for a living.

“I’m a massage therapist. It’s a perfect job for a sadist.” Kate grinned.

Laura poked her tongue in her cheek, while her mind raced to understand the connection.

“What she means,” Julie interrupted, “is that a good massage therapist knows how to apply the perfect kind of pain to release tight muscles. Kate’s deep tissue massages are absolute heaven when you’re all tense. They ‘hurt so good.’”

“Thanks Julie,” Kate responded. “It’s nice to be appreciated. She explained it pretty well, Laura. When I find a deep tissue pressure point, I know my client is hurting, which feeds my sadistic needs. When the knot releases, I know I’ve lessened the tension the client was feeling. It’s a win-win situation.”

“Interesting,” Laura said. “I haven’t thought of a massage that way before. Perhaps I’ll give you a try one of these days.”

“Great,” Kate replied. “There’s a discount for friends in the lifestyle. Call me anytime or message me on Fetlife.”

By this time, they were deep into their salads and Laura felt like she’d known the other women for years. They talked in the way of old friends about anything and everything, until at last, it came back around to BDSM. Laura learned Julie had started experimenting in college, too. In her case, she’d discovered she loved to be tied up. These days, Mitch, the Dom from the munch, practiced his growing talent withshibarion her.

Julie explained thatshibariwas an art form. It was Japanese and involved intricate knots and arrangements of ropes. It could take hours to set up, and sometimes the one being tied would end up suspended in mid-air. “Sometimes it feels really good, sometimes the pain is excruciatingly wonderful, and there’s really nothing better than ‘rope space,’” Julie gushed.

“Spoken like a true ‘rope bunny,’” Kate laughed. “So Laura, what about your one-night stand brought you to BDSM?”

“It wasn’t just that,” Laura replied. “I’ve been reading erotic romances for several years now, and the BDSM ones were always my favorites. I don’t know why, they were just really hot, but I always thought about them like… like the letters section in a girlie magazine, you know? Stories are exaggerated, embellished, or pure fantasy.”

Julie nodded, but Kate just listened with a knowing smile.

“They aren’t realistic, is what I’m saying, but I wasn’t reading them for realism anyway. I never knew real BDSM could really be like that until I met this guy.”

“How did you meet him?” Julie asked.

“It’s really nothing special. We met by happenstance and one thing kind of led to another. He saw the BDSM romance I was reading, and we kind of went from there.”

“Are you still seeing him?” Kate inquired.

“No. Like I say, it wasn’t planned, it just happened, and in the morning, we just… went our separate ways. He didn’t ask for my number,” Laura said, very much aware that she hadn’t asked for his either. “We might bump into each other again, but at this point, I’m almost afraid to. What if he didn’t see it as anything more than a one-night stand? I guess I’d rather just have a fun memory than assume it meant more than it did and embarrass both of us. Anyway, I decided to find out more about BDSM in the real world. I’m really glad I did. It seems I’ve already made two new friends,” she said, making eye contact with the other two women.

“Will you be coming to the next munch?” Julie inquired.

“I’m planning on it,” Laura answered. “It’s the Wednesday after the Festival, isn’t it?”

“It sure is, and we’ll be happy to have you again,” Kate said.

On that note, they called it a night and headed for home.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

“Hey James, I was afraid I wouldn’t catch you.”

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