I knew as soon as I saw the taillights in front of me; I was screwed. I had a very short window of time during which I could get home from work, or else I would be in a lot of trouble. And when I hit any traffic at all it became a nearly impossible task to accomplish.
Today the traffic got really bad and I was particularly late. Once I arrived, I sat in my car outside the house for a few minutes before gathering the courage to unbuckle and go inside. I knew it wouldn’t help my predicament at all, but I needed to clear my head between work and what I was sure to follow.
I finally decided it was time to go in. I unlocked the front door and took off my shoes as soon as I reached the foyer; hearing my heels on the tile as I was over an hour late would just aggravate my fiancé more that he already surely was. I slowly crept towards the bedroom to change when I saw him in his normal armchair. Only he was already in his evening clothes, that’s how late I was. He wordlessly watched me make my way to the bedroom to drop off my things.
When I walked in the room my heart sank… most of his clothes were in the hamper as they belonged. But sitting on the bench by the door was his silk necktie, waiting for me. I could only stare at it a moment before he called for me. “Darling, please come out here”.
I went up to his chair, and sat on the arm; he didn’t move.
“So, I had quite the surprise today, ” he said.
“Oh really? And what was that?” I was almost too afraid to ask, but I knew it was what he wanted me to do.
“Well, love. I came home to an empty house. No dinner on the table, no fiancée anywhere to be found. See, I was quite confused by this. I had thought we had agreed you would be home by 6 o’clock each night?”
This we had. I quickly tried to make excuses, but he hushed me and shut me down at each. I finally accepted my guilt and apologized to him.
“Well my dear, I accept your apology. However, we need to make sure that this does not happen again, don’t we?”
I could barely muster a “yes, sir” I was shaking so badly imagining what was to come.
In one swift motion, he moved me from the arm of the chair so that I was bent over his lap.