DITW 12-5: Requital

Kimmy watched Hyun escort Sophie to the lobby doors of Meyer’s building, sitting in Hyun’s passenger seat, the sunshade dropped to obscure herself from Meyer—and Josh, if Josh came down with Meyer to meet Soph. But there was nothing she was guilty of; only a worried woman wanting to confirm her husband’s location. Hardly a crime. Anything to confirm Devlin Stone hadn’t corrupted Josh’s mind somehow. One thing came into clear focus during Josh’s multi-day punishment: she would have to confess the truth to him before he heard it somewhere else. No longer could she string him along; she’d extended and extended and further extended the time she would walk the line, riding out the nefarious fun they were both having with mute abandon—until now. The path she’d traveled had narrowed and narrowed, and these last two days showed for sure she was walking a tightrope over a deathly descent.

Sophie carried her pink plastic travel bag with her, and Hyun carried an extra. They mounted the steps and, at last, the lobby doors opened, the parking lot’s reflection disappearing from its mirrored face, and in the slash of dark stood Meyer. No Josh. She moved her head side to side, eyes narrowed, trying to see if Josh lurked in the background, hanging back. Josh and Meyer could live like vampires when they were together, filling themselves with junk food and enduring epic Xbox and action movie binges without ever coming out for sunlight. Maybe Josh hung back because the light stung his skin.

But she didn’t see him, not even a shadow hanging out in the back.

Now Meyer and Hyun were talking, all smiles and friendly chatter, Hyun passing over the extra bag to Meyer. Hyun seemed even robuster than usual, talking fast and using her hands. Probably explaining to Meyer how she and Kimmy were going out for dinner tonight. How they were going into the city. There: Sophie turned and waved to her Aunt Kimmy, and Meyer and Hyun looked over and waved as well. She waved back, flicking the visor up, no more need to hide.

Transition over, more waves, and then Hyun was returning to the car. When she got in, Kimmy said, “Everything good?”

“All good,” Hyun said, fixing her hair in the rearview.

“Any sign of Josh?”

Hyun screwed her mouth up and looked over. “No. No sign of him.”

“And you didn’t mention him, right?”

“No. I said nothing.”

“Okay,” Kimmy said, small and quiet, rubbing her knees. “Call Sophie later tonight. She’ll tell you if he’s there or not.”

#

Two girls—no, two women—out for a fun night in the city.

After dropping Sophie off with her father, they’d stopped at the apartment. Tonight, they would go to an excellent restaurant. They would eat fine food. They would dress up. So Kimmy put on a jacket and pants and high-heeled shoes and Hyun tried things on from Kimmy’s closet that might fit her. When they couldn’t get a good match—and Hyun showed signs of dismay because of it—Kimmy had said they would go shopping first. For both of them.

They traveled into the city in casual wear, stopping at Bayview Village, where Kimmy had once bought a jacket she’d loved. That would have been back in the days before she worked for Devlin; but the coat had been a fine purchase and a favored item in her closet. The boutique was called Cyrano, and she and Hyun poked through every item they had. And they had fun doing it.

They tried many things on and waited for the other to show it off. From the beginning, Kimmy had said the shopping and dinner would be her treat. Hyun was on a tight budget; she was a single mom working part-time and going to school. Kimmy didn’t want her to worry. The only thing was, Hyun kept trying on things that were closer to her own budget, and Kimmy had to push finer things into her gentle hands, press her to try them on. Then she would show Hyun the pleasure from her viewpoint, complimenting her on her fit, on the way her body looked. It had been more fun than she’d anticipated. Kimmy chose for Hyun a steel-colored satin blouse, a long wool cardigan in caramel-chocolate, trousers in gray flannel. For herself: black tapered trousers that ended above the ankle and an unstructured blazer in black; a white poplin shirt and patented black leather Oxfords set on a chunky sole. Hyun got the same shoes in a luxurious oxblood. Hyun’s cheeks reddened at the total when Kimmy paid, and when they were out in the shopping center’s galley, she held Hyun’s neck and kissed her mouth. She’d said, “I wanted to see you in them. I think you’re so beautiful.”

And now they were all dressed up (and attracting attention), having dinner in the city, enjoying twenty-dollar cocktails at the Auberge du Pommier. Kimmy’s was made with non-alcoholic gin and strawberry and lemon and basil; Hyun had the Papillon: gin and lavender and lemon, and blueberries in with the ice. It was thrilling to introduce Hyun to these finer things. Hyun appreciated them. Appreciated them in the way one would when they’d coveted them for a long time.

Together, they looked elegant. Accomplished. Kimmy ordered the butter-poached halibut and Hyun ordered the Hudson Valley duck breast with Swiss chard and caramelized onion jus. She’d called ahead and used the Stone Brokerage name to get an emergency table. She told Hyun she had to pretend she was a Korean mining executive, and Hyun said she had no idea what that might look like. Kimmy told her to look rich, and they giggled as Hyun tried out all sorts of facial expressions, looking for the right one.

They ordered dessert. Kimmy said, “I’m getting you a glass of champagne. I love the pink on your cheeks when you drink.”

Over a shared Crème brûlée, Hyun with a flute of bubbly Taittinger Brut Réserve, they smiled at each other in strange and surrendering manners, and they laughed at the strange circumstance that they found themselves in.

Kimmy checked her watch. “Shoot,” she said, setting her fork down. “Hyun, it’s eight.”

Hyun looked puzzled.

“It’s eight. Call Sophie. Call Sophie and ask her.”

Hyun gave one curt nod, wiped her mouth with her napkin in a small dainty move, then set her chair back. She produced her phone and called Meyer.

Kimmy listened to them make small talk, an uncomfortable wedge forming near her esophagus, hearing the words of a failed marriage, of a union parted. Their patter filled her with dread. But still she waited. Urging Hyun with a steady gaze, her eyes commanding her to ask the question. Get Sophie on the phone. Josh wouldn’t engage Sophie in games of subterfuge; Josh wouldn’t ask Sophie to say he wasn’t at Meyer’s.

Then Hyun was talking to Sophie. “Are you ready for bed? . . . That’s good. What did you have for dinner? . . . Aw, you love that. And what did…? . . . Uh-huh. . . . Oh, he is? Oh, that’s good.” Her eyes flicked up, and she nodded, a sly smile on her innocent face. She moved her face from the phone to mouth the confirming phrase: “He’s there.”

“Yes,” Kimmy sighed, and then bowed her head. She sank back in the comfortable chair while Hyun talked with Sophie.

All that worry for nothing. The guilt had weighed on her like a Mack truck.

The enormous weight lifted now, and she felt lighter than she had in days.

“I’m having dinner with your Aunt Kimmy.”

Kimmy moved to the table again. “Say hi for me.”

Hyun told her Sophie said hi back, both of them smiling. The relief had her fingers tingling and a lightness in her stomach the champagne couldn’t have provided.

When Hyun finished the call with Sophie, Kimmy reached across the table to hold her hand. “We have to get out of here,” she said.

“We do?” Hyun looked as light and happy as Kimmy felt.

“Yeah, we do,” she said. “I want to show you off.”

#

They drove not too far away, to a place near her office. She parked the car three shops down from the destination, worried if she parked out front, she would never get Hyun out of the vehicle. As luck would have it, Hyun was talking a lot and talking fast, and Kimmy took her hand while they walked the shopfronts in the old drive-up plaza on Yonge Street. Hyun paused at last, realizing something was up. Kimmy nodded her head to the side, indicating the threshold they would cross.

“Oh, no, Kimmy,” Hyun said, her happiness shrinking toward terror.

“Oh, yes, Hyun,” she said, taking Hyun’s hand in both of hers now, warm and comforting, her face showing amusement.

“Kimmy, it’s... It’s...” Hyun’s face showed fear still, but her eyes sparkled with curiosity.

“It’s where we have to go,” Kimmy said. “To find the things we need. . . . Where did you get yours?”

“Online,” Hyun said. “Like a normal person.” Her eyes roamed the storefront over Kimmy’s shoulder.

“Are you going to be brave for me?”

She knew Hyun would submit, but for now let her go through the act. Hyun looked aside and found her excuse: two Persian men watching them from a shiny black pickup truck parked outside the shawarma place two storefronts down.

“Okay, let’s get inside,” she said.

#

It was a riot watching Hyun from afar as Hyun walked with timid interest up and down the aisles of the sex shop Kimmy had bought her extra-large dildo at. Hyun looked better than Kimmy had ever seen her, and she wondered if Hyun had always looked like this and she’d just never seen it, or perhaps the wonder she felt was inspired within. Maybe it was the way she wanted to see Hyun now.

Hyun kept her hands in her pockets like a good kid who would never want to be accused of shoplifting, moving from display to display. Her posture eased after a few minutes. There was a pure beauty in her innocence. The clothes Kimmy had gifted her brought something out in Hyun. She was stunning in her own way. Of average height, of average build, but the beauty was in her perfect face, her irreproachable charm, the bottomless marveling in her dark eyes. Soon, Hyun’s hands came out of her pockets and touched things that interested her.

And now, more perfection to this corrupting moment: at first she’d been disappointed to see only one person behind the cash at the store; an unfamiliar face. Not the previous women who’d slighted her when she’d been here last. Not the manager and the trainee. Some blue-haired, heavyset college girl. But then, the front door opened and someone came in, and not a customer. It was the manager, holding in one hand a cardboard drink tray and two sugary drinks from the bubble tea shop, paper straws sticking out the top.

And tonight Kimmy was six-feet-plus in her chunky and expensive Oxfords; she wore red lipstick, she wore a black suit. She made steady eye contact with the manager and smiled. The manager nodded in return, moving past her to the cash counter, looking back once with an unsureness that Kimmy hoped would lead to an eventual remembering.

“Hey,” Hyun said behind her in a mouselike call, and Kimmy turned to find her standing close, bringing something for Kimmy to look at.

Whatever it was, Hyun had brought a display model, and the sealed package, passing over the display model. Kimmy took it. It looked like underwear with straps; a wide, soft leather belt that one would tighten with velcro, straps that would go around the legs, and a thong back and black triangle front. Hyun held up the sealed package that showed a photo of the item in use. A strap-on harness that supported an inserted dildo.

“Wow,” Kimmy said, not acting shocked or surprised, but with calm assessment. She held it to her own waist like she was testing out a pair of shorts before heading to the fitting room. “Yeah, I like it. You want this?”

“What do you think?”

Kimmy held the harness up again, looking it over. “I think we should get two.”

“You do?”

“Well, we don’t want to keep exchanging the same one back and forth in the middle of fun.”

Hyun sucked her lips between her teeth, then let them plop out again, speaking now more breathlessly. “Okay, yeah, that’s a good idea.”

Kimmy ran her fingers over the display model’s crotch, where there were two sections with cut-outs meant for other attachments besides the fake dick that would push through the circular cut-out in the black triangle’s front.

Hyun’s brow lowered. “What’s that for?”

Kimmy said, “I think you can put a vibrator in here probably, you know, for yourself. Front and back.”

“Back?” Hyun took a second to comprehend, then put a hand on her own hot cheek. “Oh, my gosh.”

“Let’s get two,” she said, passing the display back to Hyun.

Hyun took it, thinking ahead and saying, “We can use the big one you like.”

Kimmy smiled devilishly. “You mean Devlin’s?”

Hyun turned up her nose. “I don’t like it being his.”

Kimmy saw the point and smiled warmly, putting a hand on Hyun’s neck. “It’s not. He’s not in my life anymore. I mean it.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure, Hyun.”

“You have to name it something else.”

Kimmy said, “I’ll throw that one out.”

Hyun looked surprised. “You will?”

“Yeah, consider it done, Hyun. I don’t want you to think about that.”

“So, do you want to get two?”

“You know what I like about them?”

“What?”

“You can kiss me while we use it, and I can put my arms around you.”

Hyun’s eyes widened and the pinky color on her pale cheeks brightened. Kimmy smiled and bit her lower lip, cocking her head. Hyun swooned.

“You can go pick out a dildo for both of us. How about that? They have to fit the harness.”

“Okay,” Hyun said, face serious, having been assigned a very important task. Kimmy touched her cheek. “Get anything you want.”

“Okay. Okay,” Hyun said, eyes lost in thought. Then: “You want a really big one, right?”

“I’ll like whatever you pick.”

Hyun nodded. “I’ll get you a really big one. Oh...”

“Oh, what?”

Hyun scrunched her cute nose up. “I don’t like it to be flesh-colored or with, you know, veins and stuff.”

Kimmy chuckled, her heart soaring with adoration. “I told you to get whatever you want. Whatever it is that makes your motor purr, baby.”

Hyun’s eyes shone, and she took a deep breath, soaking in Kimmy’s affection. And then she was heading back to the section that would host suitable toys that would work with the harness, now Hyun’s timidity gone and replaced with a subdued yet fervent purpose.

Hyun was wonderful. She was wonderful, and Kimmy couldn’t wait to kiss her right in front of the manager.