Common grounds

”Sir, I’m going to ask that you sit back down.”

Her hand was lightly on my shoulder. It wasn’t gripping it. It wasn’t a show of strength, more like a show of soft power.

If I disobeyed her and kept rising out of my seat, I had no doubt that it would turn into a grip and get at lot tighter.

She was something. Every inch of her demeanor just shouted “a professional you don’t want to fuck around with”.

“Excuse me?” I said, feigning complete confusion.

“I believe miss Gloria just went to the bathroom. We are going to wait for her to return at this table. Okay?”

“Is this a fucking joke?”

“No, sir. Please sit down.”

Oh God. She was deadly serious. I didn’t see any chinks in her armor. This was a tough bitch indeed.

The people around us weren’t even paying attention. All they saw was a man halfway up from a chair, with a woman resting her hand on his shoulder. Maybe if this continued for another minute or two it would get more suspicious.

“I have to go the bathroom. My bladder is bursting. You better let me go right now.”

“In that case, let’s discuss,” she said, while softly pushing me down back to the chair.

Reagan took Gloria’s seat, opposite me. She was still wearing her sunglasses, making it harder for me to read her face.

“You have two options, mr. Dingle. Either you leave this restaurant and try to find a public bathroom nearby. It shouldn’t be hard, there are multiple cafes in the area. Option B is that I go to women’s bathroom and tell Gloria to hurry up. That is of course the more rude option.”

She leaned a little bit closer.

“The option that both of you visit these bathrooms at the same time is not possible. For the understandable reasons.”

Shit. Well, it made sense now. Only way Maria could allow this date was that this woman was chaperoning it. Because she was made of steel.

“Which one is it, mr. Dingle?”

“You know what? I can wait.”

“Okay then.”

Then the painful silence.

Gloria wasn’t coming back, I knew that. The horny brat was waiting for me in there.

This situation… seemed unwinnable.

I gave Reagan an awkward smile, but she just kept her eye on the premises.

Only way to get through this was subjugating Reagan as well, right? I had zero clues how to even begin doing that.

There was only one viable option left. Go fishing.

“So, they just let you inside this swanky place? Just like that?”

“I’ve been here with miss Diamanti multiple times. They know my line of work.”

“Aha. Well, looks like my date is taking her time. Mind if you keep me company?”

I could sense some slight hesitation in her.

“You wish to talk? I’m fine with that.”

“So… how long have you worked for Maria?”

“Roughly around six years.”

“How is it working for her? What is she like?”

“I prefer not talk about my employer, mr. Dingle.”

Okay, not a good route. Let’s try another one.

“So you have worked as Gloria’s bodyguard all that time?”

“Yes, sir.”

“You’ve known her ever since she was a teen?”

“Yes, sir.”

“So… How long has she had this cute petname for you?”

Reagan didn’t answer immediately.

“Roughly? About five years.”

“When and how did it start?”

Reagan glanced behind her. It was if she was making sure that Gloria wasn’t in hearing distance.

“It was an incident.”

I waited for her to continue, but she didn’t.

“Come on. Do you think I’m satisfied with that? Keep going.”

Reagan shifted in her seat a little bit, as if debating with herself whether to talk about this or not. She seemed to make up her mind, and removed her sunglasses.

“She… Well she was just in her teens. And out partying. She had somehow slipped my sight. She was way too young to go to parties with ****. So… I found her, and I had to remove her from the festivities. She wouldn’t come silently. When I had to drag her away, she just kept calling me a ‘retard’. It wouldn’t stop. People at the party were laughing. I assumed they were laughing at her, but I believe she came to the conclusion that they were laughing with her. And ever since then… Well, you know.”

I was about to ask another question, but Reagan suddenly continued.

“That’s why, especially when she has company over, she calls me a retard. In fact all of her friends too as well. I guess you could say it has turned into an inside joke. A meme. They find it funny anyway.”

Well she sure turned talkative all of a sudden.

Was she letting out years of hurt on me? A complete stranger?

Maybe she had no one else to talk to about this?

“But she still respects you as a bodyguard, right?”

Finally, some emotion from Reagan. She let out a small, scoffing laugh.

“The rich have their own circles. I’m just an annoyance, and obstacle to her. I’ve spent six years of my life making sure she was safe, and I can’t honestly mention a single moment I’ve felt she has appreciated it.”

In that moment, I think Reagan realized she was being a bit too open. She put the sunglasses back on her face.

“But this is my job, sir. And I’m a professional. Personal feelings don’t enter into the equation.”

She definitely had an axe to grind with Gloria.

This was it. This was the one way I could make this date work.

What I was about to say was a gamble, but it was going to be worth it to at least try.

“Do you know why Gloria hasn’t returned yet?” I asked her.

“You’re right. She’s taking an awfully long time. Perhaps I should check on her.”

“Because I do.”

Reagan shifted in her seat a little. A small silence.

“Then why, mr. Dingle?”

“She is currently waiting in there, expecting me to come and spank her ass raw.”

Silence.

Reagan was calculating me with her eyes a little more intensely now.

“Last Tuesday I went over to your mansion, and beat her ass with a riding crop.”

Still nothing from Reagan. A bit scary, if you ask me.

“And you know what? She loved it. Afterwards we made love. It was beautiful.”

“You mean…”

“Oh, you didn’t know? Miss Gloria is no longer a virgin.”

It was as if Reagan slumped in her chair a little bit.

“Where were you, by the way? The whole house seemed to be empty.”

Reagan was facing the floor now. She was either disappointed or depressed.

“I don’t work everyday. Only when she goes out,” she said with a monotone voice.

“Oh right. And since she pretended to be sick that day, that meant a free day for you as well… In any case, as you can see, our relationship is truly blossoming. It’s taking a nice S&M path as well.”

“I… really don’t need to know all this…”

“Hey, look here. I want to ask you a question.”

Reagan slowly lifted her head.

“Do you believe the bitch deserves to be spanked?”

I entered the women’s bathroom. I know we didn’t agree which bathroom we would do this in, but it seemed hardly reasonable that she would be waiting all this time in the men’s bathroom.

There she was. Leaning against the sink. Looking excited to see me.

However, she raised a finger to her lips, signaling me to be quiet. I could hear a toilet flushing in one of the stalls.

I quickly hid in one of the stalls as well, as the woman who had occupied the other stall washed her hands and left the bathroom.

As I emerged, Gloria was right in my face.

“We’re alone now.”

“Good, bitch. Now listen. I want to do something different this time.”

I pulled up a table napkin cloth from my pocket. These were the thick and long types, which was going to be a very useful thing.

I placed the cloth around Gloria’s eyes, and started tying it up behind her head.

“Oooh! You wanna blindfold me? Oh my God… cool…”

I didn’t answer her. I was fairly certain her field of vision was cut off now.

I signaled Reagan to enter the bathroom.