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"Excellent, excellent. I'm so happy you enjoyed your experience with MSA," Astraeya rattled on.
Natalie was twisted around her chair to watch me, and my irritated pedicurist was glaring at me, her small chin perched in her hand.
"Can I ask…if your partner was unavailable at the time you needed, would you be willing to partner with another?" Astraeya asked slowly.
My heart leapt into my throat, and my head was shaking uselessly. "I—No, I can do any time. I…I only want Khell, please," I whispered over the line.
"Excellent!" Astraeya said, much louder in my ear this time. "Give me just a moment to, um…check the calendar and I'll—Hold, please!" she all but shouted.
I pursed my lips and let out a slow breath, turning my back on Natalie and letting my eyes fall shut as the waiting music played lightly in my left ear. But this wait was much longer than the first, and all my slow breathing couldn't stop the worried racing of my heart or the furrowing of my brow. Was Khell really so booked up they wouldn't be able to find a place for me? He'd been available on short notice the first time. Or had he left the cottage and told MSA not to pair us together again?
My stomach turned queasily and I opened my eyes again, searching for the clock on the wall and watching the seconds tick by.
A minute went by. It wasn't going to happen. I'd given into the impulse to schedule just one little night of bliss, only to run into a scheduling conflict?
Two minutes.
My skin was breaking out in clammy goose bumps, heartbeat slowing as reality set in. Five days. All I was going to get, all I had, was those five days. It was time to move on and—
"Sonya! Hi, sorry for the wait." Astraeya's voice in my ear made me jump in place, my free hand slapping over my lips to cover my gasp. "You and your partner are all set for a night at the cottage this Friday. You can arrive at our office as early as three pm, and we'll get you over there by four!"
"Khell? Khell's my partner?" I asked, trying not to sound as though I'd just run a marathon, as though I was taking full breaths for the first time in three weeks, as though my entire nervous system had just lit up in excitement, my limbs tingling like they were waking up from a deep sleep.
"He sure is," Astraeya chuckled. "He's looking forward to seeing you again."
I blushed but dismissed the words. "Thank you. I'll be there."
Astraeya said a few more things, and I was fairly certain I answered her questions without sounding insane, but later I wouldn't recall another word of the conversation. I hung up at last, tasting the air in my lungs—sharp with the scent of the nail spa's chemicals, suddenly my new favorite smell.
Natalie and I were both beaming as I turned around and floated back to the massage chair.
"Sorry," I said gently to the young girl waiting on me.
"Forgive her," Natalie said with a nod. "You know how it is when you gotta book the good dick in advance."
I snorted out a giggle, and my pedicurist huffed and hid her smile, ducking her head and returning to her work.
"Is there anything specific you're hoping for with this session?" Astraeya asked as I sat in the same desk chair across from her.
I bit my lip and tried to keep from jiggling my heel, watching the clock. It wasn't even three-thirty yet. I wasn't getting to the cottage any sooner by watching the clock.
"Umm…" Touching Khell. Kissing him. Being pressed to the bed under his weight. Riding his lap as he told me I was his.
I didn't care if he chained me, chased me, or just fucked me nonstop for the sixteen hours we were together. All of the above, please.
"It's totally reasonable to say ‘partner's choice,’" Astraeya said, smiling at me. "He knows your preferences and your dislikes."
I sighed and nodded, smiling. "Partner's choice."
Astraeya grinned back at me, glancing down at her tablet briefly and pressing her lips together. "You know…" she said slowly, before hesitating and glancing up at me. "Well, Khell is really looking forward to working with you again."
Maybe it was true, but the words made my smile fade a bit. It just sounded like something a business would say to keep a customer returning.
"He…retired from MSA recently," Astraeya added, watching my face.
The news struck me hard, turning off the pitiful and familiar spiral of a moment ago and wiping my expression clean and blank. "What?"
"He's no longer one of our available partners. I brought him in for you as a freelancer."
