tbd happy birthday

Clarissa’s birthday is the seventh, mine is the twelfth. When we were kids, often our birthday parties were the same weekend (we tried to avoid having them at the same time so that we could go to each other’s). I remember when we turned thirteen, we even gave each other the same gift, a Swiss- Army knife.  The point is, Claire and I, we can exchange birthday gifts at the same time; sometimes she’d let me know exactly what she wanted, (or I could tell her exactly what I wanted) sometimes we’d go out for a nice dinner. This year I wasn’t sure if she was telling me what she wanted as a gift or giving me mine, or both.

I got home from work and was welcomed by an empty, dark house; which I thought was unusual. I found a note on the hall table:

HAPPY HAPPY Birthday!

Happy birthday to me! All us girls are out clubbing for my birthday. We’ll be home late.

Happy birthday to you!  You get an evening at home. I know you’d find clubbing tedious. Dinner is in the microwave, come upstairs for dessert, (and a present) .

Xoxo

-C

                I went into the kitchen and enjoyed some reheated meatloaf for dinner, then went upstairs to find out what was for ‘dessert’. I looked in my room and found nothing out of the ordinary, so I looked in Claire’s room.

                The lights were dimmed low, candles were lit, a woman was perched alluringly on the bed. Her hands were behind her, accentuating her curves. A theatrically large ‘Happy Birthday’ gift tag hung from the satin bow tied across her bust. It was the same shade of pink as her lipstick, and the only stitch of clothing she was wearing. She seemed vaguely familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on exactly who she was.

                “Claire, what were you thinking?” I mused under my breath. I directed my next comment to the woman on the bed. “I don’t know what exactly is going on, but you can go home now.”

She smiled but didn’t speak. She shook her head ‘no’. She had a pretty smile. She then motioned with her chin for me to look to the left. I looked over. There was an IPAD and a "Go-Pro" type video camera set up on top of the dresser, pointing at the bed. Yellow post-it notes with “Press Play” and “Turn me on” were on each, respectively.  I shook my head and pinched the bridge of my nose as I started the video on the IPAD, Claire smiled at me from the screen:

                “I told you there was a present upstairs, I’m sorry that I mislead you and implied that it was only for you. Happy Birthday to me! You’ve briefly met my friend Julie before, but she’ll forgive you if you don’t remember, a lot was going on that day. For my gift from you and Julie, I’d like a video for my collection. I’ve set up the camera, I want a video of you two playing a little game.  You just need to hit the red ‘record’ button on the 'Go-pro'.

 Here are the rules; try and figure out what she especially likes. I’ve emptied my toy box on to the nightstand, so please don’t rifle through my drawers, everything you might need or she might want is in in plain sight. Julie has agreed not to speak and to keep her hands tied so she can’t ‘tell you’ the answer, or make it too easy for you. Pretty simple, right?

 Before you get your shorts in a knot, I’m your wife and I arranged it, so you’re not cheating. I have precedents to cite: case closed, court dismissed. And, yes, I know, the video stays ‘in house’, nothing goes online. Please try and stay in frame and avoid looking directly at the camera, the final product is better that way. 

Stop shaking your head, I literally gave you a written invitation and tied her up with a bow!  Consider this calling in all my favors and adding a couple to the other side of the balance sheet if that helps. Please, please, please, please, please do this for me.....

Hey Sherlock, don’t forget to hit the ‘record’ button, have fun. Now, get busy. Bye! “

The playback stopped, replaced with an icon of an arrow pointing to the left that flashed/alternated with a message that filled the screen:

 “PLEASE press record button”

As my hand hovered over the record button, I laughed at Claire’s Freudian slip. The camera was powered on and ready, her note on the Post-it, “Turn me on”, was a personal request, not an instruction for operation of the camera. I paused, a sense of déjà vu jarred my brain, something about what Claire said in the recording using lawyer drama lingo…

I turned to Julie and asked: “Do you still work with Erin at the airline?”

She nodded happily, apparently glad I remembered her.

“I haven’t started the recording yet; we don’t have to do this.”

She tilted her head, the non-verbal equivalent of “???”

“I mean, if you owe somebody something, or you don’t want to do this, I can tell Claire whatever… that I accidentally turned off the camera, you did whatever she expected to film. You and I could go downstairs and have a cup of tea and laugh about it.”

She shook her head: ‘no’.

“I could tell her that I refused.”

She pleaded with puppy dog eyes.

“I don’t know what you mean, do you want me to tell her that I refuse?”

She vigorously shook her head: ‘please, no’.

“Did you lose a bet?”

She shook her head ‘no’ as she proudly pulled he shoulders back.

“You won a bet?!”

She nodded once: ‘yup!’.

“Thank you for indulging me, I couldn’t do this if I doubted, even a little, if you wanted to.”

She nodded slowly once: ‘you’re welcome’.

“The safe word is ‘stop’. I’ll stop whenever you say it. Under the circumstances, I think a simple safe-word is best. It is NOT OK with me for you to hold back on this, if something is about to happen that you will not like, you must say ‘stop’, otherwise I am not playing this game.”

She broke her silence: “I understand. The safe word is ‘stop’” she said.

“Okay then, let’s have some fun”

I pressed the red button on the camera, from that point on what we said and did was being recorded. “It appears I was issued a challenge; I am to determine what you especially like, the implication is that when I solve the puzzle, our mutual reward is doing whatever that is. “

Julie nodded: ‘yes’.

“And your lips are sealed?”

She grinned mischievously, gazed briefly towards her lap, looked back at me and pantomimed biting, then shook her head, ‘nope!’.

“But you won’t speak?”

A brief nod: ‘correct’.

“Your hands are tied, so you can’t indicate your preferences that way either?.” I noted as I surveyed the room, other than the camera, and Claire’s toys, nothing appeared out of the ordinary.

Another brief nod: ‘also correct’.

“Hmmm, I think the bigger mystery is why the universe keeps throwing beautiful women my way.”

She shrugged. Demurely hiding her blush. 

“Claire kindly left out her toys for us” I noted as I walked over the assortment of oils and 'marital aids' and other things on the nightstand. “I’ll need one of these, or maybe one of these” I said, grabbing a couple of foil squares. “I suspect that the rest is a distraction…Just so we are on the same page regarding the rules of our little game. You and Claire agreed on what guess of mine will count as 'winning' the game. The two of you set up this scenario”

She nodded: ‘yes’.

 “If the answer to the puzzle was an easy to think of kink, S&M or something like that, I could just solve it by trial and error. However, that risks doing things that you dislike, plus, I think it would be boring. The game is for me to be Sherlock Holmes, so there must be some clues.”  I recalled looking around the room, was anything else out of place? I also played back in my mind the message Claire left on the IPAD, word for word, she may have planted clues there? She had said 'in plain sight', could it be that simple?

“Okay then, I think I’m close enough to guessing to proceed”

The way I recalled the old Sherlock Holmes movies, the best part was when Basil Rathbone revealed the extraordinary logic and deductions that he used to solve the case. I decided to do my best imitation, not of Basil's British accent, but to lay out my reasoning in a Holmesian fashion.

 “Claire had a hand in this, so the filming I suspect is for her, at least you don’t mind, but it isn’t for you.  Therefore, the answer isn’t that you’re an exhibitionist. I deduce that the toys were misdirection; as they are Claire’s. You had won a bet to have your fantasy fulfilled…” A gentle tug untied the bow, I gathered up the length of pink fabric that was used to ‘gift-wrap’ her. “…whatever objects aid in that would be yours” I held up the fabric in my hand. "This is pretty much the only thing you brought. What could we do with this? I could tie you up, but you are already bound. I could rig a noose, but that'd be a little dark, and I think that doesn't align with clue that Claire let slip."

She didn’t move, I noticed her neck and upper chest were red. She was breathing heavier than before.

I continued “You’ve been kneeling this whole time, your hands behind your back. A position of surrender, of submission. And the bow, you’re a gift. How about we enhance the experience?” I used the strip of fabric as a blindfold on her. “You’re excited by the unknown, you especially like the idea of giving yourself up, and not knowing what I will do with you. I think your fantasy is to seduce a stranger, or have him seduce you. You then surrender yourself to him, submit to him, give yourself to him. That’s my guess anyway. “I moved to whisper in her ear. “Am I right?”

She swallowed, and nodded once, and spoke “yes!”

I embraced and caressed her while we kissed. When we stopped to take a breath, she said: “You solved it, I’m yours”

“Scooch back, so you can put your hands under your knees...” She complied. “…now you should be able to get your hands in front of you…”  She nimbly tucked and flipped her hands to her front.  She stifled a squeal when I then scooped her up into a bridal carry, her arm now looped behind my neck.

 My back was to the camera, I told her quietly enough that I hoped the microphone wouldn’t ‘hear’: “I’m taking you to my room, when we get there we’ll lose the blindfold and untie your hands”

                “But.” she started to object.

                “I choose to see your face and feel your embrace. You can end the game if you want, but you don’t get to tell me how to play. You’ve given yourself to me, tonight, you are mine. So we're going to do things according to my preferences” She practically purred as she buried her head in my chest. As I turned to exit the room with my prize, I threw a last comment to the camera:

                “CUT!”

*****

         I was disappointed when I awoke alone. Julie left a note with her contact information and thanking me for a wonderful evening, and apologizing that she had to go, she was 'on call' and had work, as another flight crew was delayed in Dallas. I got out of bed, put something on, and went downstairs for breakfast. The smell of bacon had successfully lured me, I decided I didn't care how disheveled I looked, I was hungry.
        "Good morning! I made things I know you'll like. Eggs and bacon and pancakes and O.J. and coffee and..."
        "Thank you Trixie my Pixie! I love you!"
        "So, you've worked up quite an appetite, hmmm?" Ava asked.
        "I have. whatcha' doin' after breakfast?"
         "You."
        "Before or after I shower?"
        "Both, during."
       "Ambitious."
       "Don't dawdle."
        "I won't deny you anything, but you will have to wait for me to enjoy my breakfast."
        "I have been waiting for you, you know how I get, please hurry up." She whispered to me, I detected the urgency in her voice.
       "I refuse to rush. I'll be savoring every bite of this breakfast that my Pixie lovingly prepared for me. And doing so in a leisurely fashion. Go on upstairs and wait, but don't start without me." I told her as I delivered a playful smack to her backside.
       "You're a tease."
       "I love you too"
       "You are a tease." Claire said, as she passed Ava at the threshold to the kitchen.
       "What are you talking about?"
       "You didn't record the good parts!" She pointed to her IPAD, the frustration clear in her voice.
       "Was there a technical issue? I tried to stay 'in frame'. I recorded everything you asked me to."
        "You didn't!"
        I reached for her IPAD and played back her instructions. "You asked me to record the game, not the reward. If you wanted that on tape, you should've coached Julie to say her fantasy was to be a porn star or something instead of agreeing to whatever I said. I know you rigged the game to try and get me to reveal my fetishes on camera. There was no way for me to guess so easily what she 'especially likes' given the setup. Don't worry, we both fully indulged our respective appetites once I carried her to my room."
          "You did? Tell me, what was it? What does she especially like?"
         "Nunya. So much nunya, I could hardly take it. She said she had a wonderful night"
         "Nunya?"
         "Yes, nunya business, I don't kiss and tell. But I will tell you what I especially like." I added in a conspiratorial whisper.
          "Tell me!" Claire practically begged.
          "Knowing that you're frustrated, teasing you. Tell you what, tonight I'll do to you whatever you want. Think about it. Be creative, there must be something you've been wanting to try."
           "Anything?"
           "Almost, I don't think I could bring myself to actually injure you, but sure, anything else; but, I have a condition. You have to save yourself for tonight, no touching before then."
           "But tonight, whatever I want?"
           "Yup. The anticipation is delicious, isn't it? Gets you all frothy betwixt you nethers, doesn't it?"
           "I don't know if I can wait that long!"
            "Happy birthday, remember my condition. If you break the rules, I won't play with you."
         "Jakey, you are terrible, take me to bed now. Don't make me wait."
         "No cutting in line, Ava's been waiting sort of patiently to shower with me." Then I said to Trixie, as I put my plate in the dishwasher, "Breakfast was great. Would you like to be my cuddle-buddy later? I'll make us a picnic lunch, then we can take a nap under the elm tree"
          "Sounds nice"

    What a wonderful birthday we had.