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"Your father was trying to get a hold of you but you weren't answering your phone. He was worried about you and called me at work. I was so worried about you."
I pulled out my cell, curious as to why I never got any calls. Then I saw that my cell had shut off, the battery dead. "Oh crap," I said showing her. "The battery died." I shrugged.
Then she saw my injury.
"Kate, what happened?"
"I fell," I said, stumbling to come up with an explanation on the fly. "I had to go to the hospital and get stitches."
"Oh you poor kid. How did you fall?"
"I slipped on the way to the bathroom in the dark."
She saw my wristband from the hospital ER and took my wrist in her hand. "St. Luke's? Why didn’t you call me? You should have come to Harlem and I would have stayed with you."
"We're not really on friendly terms…" I said and sighed. "Listen, I'm really tired. I'm going to bed."
I opened the door and before it closed, I turned. I didn’t want to antagonize her.
"I'm sorry I didn’t answer your calls. I didn’t even know you had called. Why are you even here? You've just been sitting in your car?"
"I got off my shift at 3:00 and thought I'd come by and see if you were at home. I was almost ready to call the police. Kate, how are you doing?"
"I'm fine," I said. "I'm over it. Look," I said, wanting to leave. "I have to go to bed. Thanks for being concerned about me but I'm fine. I'll charge my phone and send my dad a text."
I forced a smile and went inside, leaving her on the sidewalk. I just couldn’t lie to her any longer.
Crap. Almost caught.
I didn't sleep the rest of the night, wondering if Dawn would accept my explanation and what Drake would say when he learned I was almost caught. Instead of sleep, I looked over an article I was writing for Geist but in truth, my heart just wasn't into it. That black hole of sadness threatened at the thought that Drake and I wouldn’t be able to spend time together during Christmas, except for a few hours where we might be able to fuck. I enjoyed my time with him – more than I thought I ever could, but I felt as if something was missing. Tonight, Drake's reluctance to just be with me as an ordinary couple having vanilla sex made me sad in a way I didn’t think I'd feel so soon.
I had to face it. He was the hottest man I had ever met or could imagine. I never thought I'd have as many orgasms as I'd had with him. I never thought I could get so deeply into bondage and D/s. But if he'd hoped to keep our personal lives separate from the kinky sex, he'd failed miserably.
I knew too much about him. He was too human to me and not just a mysterious and very hot Dominant. He was someone I really liked.
Regardless, I couldn't have him that way. With another man, I might be able to have those things – going out for Sunday brunch, going to movies, spending time together with family and friends. Living a vanilla lifestyle. I knew I'd never feel with another man in a vanilla relationship what I felt with Drake.
Given a choice, at that point, I chose Drake. There was no hesitation. But I still felt this mote of sadness somewhere deep in my chest. A sense of loss.
I sighed and pushed it back into its dark dusty corner, ignoring it for as long as possible.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Once my phone charged, it blinked on and showed that I had ten text messages and five voice mail messages. I yawned and picked it up, checking to see what my father and Dawn had sent. I just finished taking a shower, a towel wrapped around my body and my head.
My father had texted me first, wanting to know how I was doing. When I didn't answer as I usually did, he called and left a message.
Katie, is everything OK? Call me. I know you're still upset about Drake. If you need to talk…
He called me Katie. He must really be worried about me. Once again, it struck me how strange that my father, the Drill Sergeant, wanted to talk to me about a breakup.
Then Dawn called and asked where I was.
Your father's worried about you. I'm worried about you. Why aren't you answering?
She texted me three times, each one more frantic. At 3:05 a.m., just before I arrived, she sent a final text.
Do I have to call the police to come break down your door? Where are you?
