Investigation and Explanation

A couple minutes pass as Andre takes the sobbing woman over to the couch. Katrina tosses some clothes and the woman’s items down the stairs while asking again to come down and join them, but Wes flatly denies her appeal. He is still amped up and, under no circumstances, will he allow this **** thief anywhere near his beloved girlfriend. Wes turns on the lights for the 2nd floor and puts on the provided t-shirt and shorts. After Wes finishes getting dressed, he quickly checks the backpack for any weapons. Finding nothing but bondage gear, condoms, and lube, he takes a few steps toward the couch and stops in a place that is halfway between the woman and the stairs. He tosses the backpack so that it lands next to the woman with a loud thump.

Wes shifts his grip on the handgun clasped within, while keeping the muzzle pointed toward the floor. He looks both the woman and Andre once over. The woman is wearing an unzipped sweatshirt over a tank top, sneakers, and yoga pants, whereas Andre is wearing a white wifebeater and khakis. Despite sitting, Andre slightly sways on the couch giving away that he is clearly still ****. The woman begins wiping away the smeared eyeliner and mascara around her eyes to stop it from stinging as it runs near her eyelids. Wes sneers as his condescending eyes are locked onto the teary-eyed woman. “Alright Andre, let’s hear it. I’m very interested to know why you invited a **** and a burglar into our home.”

“I didn’t **** anyone! I thought you were the one that hired me!” The woman tries to extend her right arm, probably intending it as an accompanying defensive gesture, but suddenly jerks it back as a sharp twinge of pain emanates from her tenderized shoulder blade. “Fuuuck that hurts!” Her other hand reaches for the sore spot and tries to fruitlessly rub the ache. The pained expression on her face is clearly evident.

Andre runs a hand over his buzzed hair, letting it rest on the back of his neck as he starts his explanation. “Its true Wes. I hired her; I don’t know what happened. I was down here drinking and waiting for her, the next thing I know, I’m suddenly in my bedroom and awoke to hear yelling and screaming. I fucked up man, I’m so sorry.”

“Okay, so you were looking to get laid, but how did the whore end up in my room and not yours?”

The woman interjects, “I’m not a whore! I’m a dominatrix and my name is Domeno, with an ‘E’ not a ‘I’.”

Wes retorts, “Sex in exchange for money makes you a whore and fucking the wrong person makes you a dumb one, Domeno with an ‘E’ and not a ‘I’.” Domeno narrows her gaze in response to the mocking tone of that last part. She is trying to maintain something resembling composure while still rubbing her injured shoulder. “Hold on.” Andre says as he pulls his phone from his jean’s pocket. “I remember the hiring part but not much after.” He scrolls through is phone to the relevant text messages. “Here, services requested, pricing, address, and… oh.”

“Oh.” Wes parrots. “Oh what? Now is not the time to be shy Andre, let’s hear it.” Andre starts off with an extended “uh”, clears his throat, and then begins reading the message. “Almost forgot, my roommates are home so please be quiet. I left the front door unlocked; my room is opposite the stairs.” Confused, Andre adds “Why the hell was I not waiting down here for her?”

“Good question, but I can surmise the increased bottles of **** strewn about since I was last down here might have had a minor impact on your decision making and critical thinking skills.” Wes says with a sarcastic flair as he arcs an open hand at the bottles on the floor near the couch. Pointing at Domeno, he continues his inquiry, “One question solved, now onto the next part of this insane story. And, no, I’m not even going to bother asking why you agreed to just waltz in the front door of some stranger’s house. We can skip to the part where you enter into the wrong bedroom.”

Domeno begins explaining, “I entered the bedroom that was opposite the stairs like it says in the message. How was I supposed to know it was yours man? You even had money on the nightstand, couldn’t have been more obvious that I was correct.”

Wes begrudgingly agrees “Fair point. Andre’s bedroom is on the opposite end of the hallway from the stairs while mine is directly in front of it. Due to the ambiguously worded instructions in addition to the rent money I had laid out, I can see how that could be… misconstrued. Next question. Didn’t the presence of my girlfriend sleeping next to me not alarm you at all?”

Defensively, Domeno jumps in to answer the instant Wes’s question finishes leaving his mouth. “I didn’t see her, it was dark, I probably thought she was a body pillow or something. Not unexpected considering the lonely guys who seek these kinds of services.”

Wes rubs the bridge of his nose and lets out a long sigh. “Whatever. Next questions. When you noticed I was asleep, why did you not take the money and run? What on Earth possessed you to bound a sleeping guy and not wait for him to speak before gagging and fucking him? Consent is a two-way street you know? Domeno hesitates before answering. “Well… I’m new to that website, I didn’t want a bad review.”

“Bad review?!” Both Wes and Andre blurt out while briefly turning to look at each other with an incredulous expression across their faces. Domeno looks at Andre and continues “I did as I was instructed, you, the client, selected the options available on the site. The client picked they want to be tied up and gagged, and I did so. Besides, he was clearly enjoying it and we both came really hard. The filled condom is proof he wasn’t faking it, go look in the trash can up there if you don’t believe me.”

Wes explains through his gritted teeth “I thought it was my girlfriend surprising me in my sleep. Which is something I always wanted but nev- Wait, trash can? There’s no trash can near the bed.” Domeno clarifies “Um the squareish thing next to the dresser looked like one. Oops.” Wes grunts out an ‘argh’ and he simply states “That is the laundry hamper… Nevermind, one last question and I will probably regret asking this, but surely there are a million other websites to hook from. Why do you care about your reputation on this one?”

Annoyed at being referred to as a hooker, Domeno responds “Because I’m not a whore or a hooker and there aren’t really any other Dom matching services available in this area. Look man, I need the money for my own rent. Just pay me and you’ll never see me again.”

Wes angrily begins shouting “PAY YOU?! For what?! For fucking me when I didn’t consent, with kinks I didn’t pick, next to my girlfriend who also didn’t consent?! How about I give you some hollow points instead you **** whore!” Domeno attempts to plead her case “Please, I-”, but is cut off. “Get the fuck out of this house bitch!” Wes clicks the weapon-light back on. “NOW!”

Domeno grabs her backpack and runs down the stairs and out the door, leaving it wide open. Wes walks down the stairs, closes the door, locks it, clicks off the weapon-light, and heads back up to the 2nd floor.

Andre starts apologizing “I’m sorry W-” and is interrupted. “Save it Andre, you’re still drunk and I’m too angry to listen at the moment. Get some sleep and we’ll talk tomorrow.” Wes doesn’t break his stride and leaves the dejected Andre behind. As Wes begins climbing the stairs, he notices Katrina seated upon the top step still in just her nightgown. “I take it you heard everything?” Katrina nods. “Let’s just go to bed then, we can talk about it tomorrow as well.” Katrina moves in for a hug once Wes reaches the top step. Wes reciprocates but only with his unoccupied arm as the hand holding the pistol is tucked behind his back to keep it pointed away from her. After a moment both head into their bedroom.

Wes walks up to his nightstand to find the money and phone almost in the same spot they were before he went to sleep. Clicking on the lamp, he picks up the holster from the still ajar drawer and inserts the handgun back into it, a faint click confirming its secure. He wiggles the drawer a little bit to ensure it is on its track and shuts it gently. Wes sits on the edge of the bed and reaches for the lamp before he notices a pattern of redness on his hand. Inspecting it for a moment, he recognizes it as the embossing the textured polymer frame left behind from gripping the pistol so securely. He clicks the lamp off and lays down without bothering to remove his clothes or pull the covers over him.

Katrina clicks off her lamp and shuffles over the bed to snuggle up to Wes. She reaches towards the foot of the bed to grab the covers and pulls it over both of them. Wes is staring up at nothing, just feeling Katrina’s head resting on his right pec and her right leg entwined with his. He continues staring off into nothingness and listening to Katrina breathe until sleep finally claims him.