Page 16 of Malliko
Scrunching up his face, Malliko asked, “Are we talking a male or female dog here?”
“A male.”
“Yes, but how would a human have sex with a dog?”
I smiled. “Oh, surely you have enough imagination to figure that out, don’t you?”
“I’ll have to look it up. Maybe I can find a video that illustrates the concept.”
“No,don’t!” I warned. “If you search bestiality online the feds will be onto you in no time. As far as I know they have alerts on certain search words.”
“But I wasn’t going to have sex with an animal, just study the phenomenon.” With a thoughtful expression, Malliko paused and then he opened his mouth but ended up shaking his head as if he didn’t want to ask his question.
“Anyway, Kenny and I do the reporting to authorities but when it’s kinks that aren’t illegal there’s not much we can do about it. Some people report others for having chatted about kinks and fetishes that they find obscure and gross, but that’sa matter of taste and compatibility. There’s one guy who keeps getting reported because he’s into some very advanced stuff that others find disgusting. The thing is that he’s quite respectful and never violates our rules. His thing is just offensive to others.”
“What’s his thing?”
I bit the inside of my cheek. “He’s the guy I talked about. The one who offers women to be their personal toilet.”
Malliko didn’t have the slightest reaction, so I wondered if he hadn’t understood what I just said. “Most people find that gross.”
“Right, yes. That does sound strange,” he said and smiled. “But also sweet.”
My eyes widened. “What do you mean it’s sweet?”
“Maybe generous is a better word.”
I laughed. “I never thought of it that way.” Laughing, I joked, “Most people give you shit. Very few want to take it.” For a moment we looked at each other and grinned. It was nice to break the heavy atmosphere that came with talking about perversions.
“Having a conversation about kinks and fetishes is uncomfortable for most people, and even for someone as used to dealing with the subject as me, it’s still a lot to think about this early in the morning.”
“We can change the subject if you want to,” Malliko offered.
“Yes, good idea. Let me go over the other categories of reports we receive.” I brought us back on track and was professional in the way I taught him about my job and answered his questions, which seemed endless.
By the time it was noon, Malliko leaned back in his chair. “I’m sorry. I’m draining you, Clara. You seem tired.”
“No, I’m fine,” I lied but the truth was that talking this much and being close to him did tire me out.
“I’m going to leave you now so you can focus on your work, but I would like to come back tomorrow and ask you more of my questions.” Standing up, Malliko seemed even taller than I remembered from when he entered my office this morning.
“I’ll look forward to that,” I said and hoped it sounded nonchalant.
Standing up as well, I sensed that he wasn’t sure how to say goodbye to me. I waited for him to either shake my hand, give me a hug, or just leave with a “See you tomorrow.”
It was awkward as neither of us took the initiative and finally I held out my hand to him. “I’ll see you tomorrow then.”
Malliko shook my hand and smiled. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
After he left my office, I released a deep breath and placed a hand on my rib cage. I hadn’t even noticed that I’d been breathing shallower with him in the room.
I’d convinced myself that I was happy being single but being close to a man like Malliko left a stinging feeling in my stomach. It poked right at the place where desire and lust had been buried under the bitterness from my divorce.
CHAPTER 5
Understanding Humans
Malliko
