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I grabbed her waist and pulled her down onto the bed and rolled on top of her. It was stupid. I thought it was part of it. I thought she’d like being overpowered, the way she’d liked overpowering me.
“Red,” Vivienne said.
She said it calmly, clearly, the way she’d taught me to say it. I let go of her instantly and scrambled backwards, pulling the blindfold off.
“God. Sorry. Sorry. I thought…”
“I know what you thought.” She sat up and took a breath. She didn’t look frightened. She looked disappointed, which was worse. “The test was whether you’d keep your hands where I told you. You didn’t. That’s all right. Lots of people don’t, the first time. But I don’t switch mid-scene. Not with someone I’ve known for two hours.”
She started unbuckling the harness.
“Are you leaving?”
“The session’s over,” she said, not unkindly. “I’ll stay ten minutes and make sure you’re all right, because that’s the job. Then I’m going home.”
She made me a cup of tea. She sat with me on the sofa while I drank it and felt about two inches tall. She told me it was fine, that it was a learning experience, that I’d been honest about my nerves and that counted for something.
At the door she kissed my cheek.
“Next time,” she said, “try listening.”
Ending 6 of 16: Red Light. Go back and try a different choice for the full happy ending.