But that night, as he was trying to go to sleep, he began to think about her ‘bad luck’. The die had been locked in the chest for twenty-four hours. They each had their own key to their own lock so that neither one of them could look at the die or manipulate it. But Leslie had supplied both locks and a lock normally comes with two keys, doesn’t it? Even after she gave him his key, she must have had the second key for his lock still in her possession. She wouldn’t have gone back when he was asleep last night and turned six-face up on the die to give herself the maximum challenge this morning, would she? Surely not.
By the dim glow of the streetlight filtered through the bedroom curtains, he could see a small smile on his wife’s sleeping face. A week ago she had confessed that sometimes she needed to be made miserable to be happy. Tonight, she looked happy.
Surely she wouldn’t have cheated to increase her chances of being made miserable. Surely not.
THE END
Afterword
This is a work of fiction. Readers have often asked if I have experienced scenes like these in real life and I have to disappoint them by telling them that I have not. There is a caution in this. Nothing that I have described here has been tested in practice. The activities in these stories may not be as safe in reality as in my fantasies. If you’re going to play, then play safe, sane, and, above all, consensual.
I enjoy hearing how readers react to my writing. If you wish to comment, favorably or not, I can be reached at: [email protected].
Ashley Zacharias, 2010
A Lady Pays Her Penalties Page 26