Good Girl

by Wright, Susan

  Should I say something? Would it sound awful if I did?

  Yes, it would.

  Selina turned and saw Kali standing there. “Kali, sit down! I want to know what you think.”

  Reluctantly Kali sat back down, irritated when Hunter looked amused. She was squirming on the bench. “I don’t know…”

  Hunter grimaced as Selina looked back up from the watercolors. “What? You don’t like it?”

  Kali’s heart was beating faster, and her palms were sweating. She didn’t know what to think or what to do. Why was she so flustered by one joking word? He was just teasing her. The way teenagers teased each other. So why did it bother her so much? She felt like she was overreacting, and that made her feel even worse.

  “Kali, I asked you, what’s wrong with it?” Selina insisted.

  Hunter’s blue eyes were pleading with her now. He was half-turned away from Selina, so she couldn’t see him, but Kali could. From his expression, Hunter knew she was upset, and he felt bad about it. With his obvious remorse and those full, anxious lips, how could she hurt him?

  “It feels good,” Kali said. “I like it because it’s different.”

  Hunter gave her a grateful look. “I designed it so your hips tilt forward slightly, like an exercise ball. It’s a very comfortable position.”

  Satisfied, Selina wandered on and soon called Hunter over to the model of the sundial that was placed in the center of the table. Kali stayed sitting on the bench, feeling flushed. She wanted Hunter to come back and talk to her again, but then again, she was afraid of what he might say.

  He shouldn’t have teased her in front of her boss. But she couldn’t stop thinking about his hands, and the way he moved. The intent way he looked at her, as if he was searching inside of her. She had never felt so confused in her life.

  ***

  Hunter felt bad about ordering Kali to sit. It served him right that she almost blew it for him by complaining about the bench. He had never asked her if she wanted to play, which was the first cardinal rule of kink. He had put her on the spot, but she’d gotten her own back, that’s for sure.

  He was so stupid. Why was he messing with her like this? Self-destructive didn’t begin to describe how bad it was. He was going to ruin the best thing that had come along in a very long time. What if Kali told her boss what he’d done? If she told anyone, she sure as heck wouldn’t say that it turned her on. It was exactly the kind of thing that got bigger and uglier with the telling of it. They would think he was a sexist pig and they wouldn’t hire him.

  So here he was doing damage control. That meant pleasing the boss. Selina Stern was the kind of woman who needed to be stroked and admired. He was willing to do it because he knew his design would win on its merits, all else being equal.

  He wasn’t sure what type Kali was. At first he thought she was the “new-to-NYC and on the man-hunt for a good husband” type, but she hadn’t made any special effort to spruce up for their meeting. She wasn’t wearing lipstick anymore, as if it had rubbed off during the day and she hadn’t bothered to fix it. And with the sinking sun streaming through the giant window, her hair looked more red than brown, a deep true auburn. He could swear that sparkling fall of many shades of color didn’t come from a bottle.

  The fact that Kali could put up with such a tyrant for a boss showed she had some inclination for submission inside of her. But then again, there had been no spark of recognition each time he had said those words to her. Only outrage and arousal. The best combination in the world, as far as he was concerned.

  Only, he really should ask her to play first. He refused to go down the road that Selina took—getting his sadistic kicks out of ordering people around who couldn’t say no. Those were the kind of people who ended up being rude to wait staff at restaurants. Or worse, ignoring a girl’s safeword.

  It was only a few minutes later that Selina announced, “I have to run or I’ll miss my flight. Thank you for showing me your work, Hunter.”

  “It’s been my pleasure.” His glance slid from Selina to Kali to include her in his compliment.

  Kali wasn’t looking his way. She hadn’t said a word since she gave her opinion on the bench.

  Hunter walked them downstairs. Most of the live-in artists in the building were very young, and he didn’t want some rude kid leaving a lasting impression on them that would hurt his chances. But luckily no one was hanging out on the stairwell or in front of the building.

  Hunter gave Selina’s hand a final shake, which she managed to make last a few seconds longer than usual, before she stepped into the limo car. Her last words for Kali were, “Write this up for me so I can send out the memo on Monday.”

  They both watched the car drive away. Hunter had the feeling that Kali could hardly look at him. He felt a pang again at the way he had played with her without asking first.

  “Which way is it to the subway?” Kali asked.

  Hunter glanced at her high heels. “It’s five blocks away. I think I should call you a car. It’ll only take a few minutes to get here.”

  She was looking down the block. “You think so?”

  He felt for his phone but he’d left it upstairs. “I’ve got the number in my phone. I’ll be right back.”

  Kali protested, “Really, don’t bother.”

  He smiled in spite of himself. The perfect submissive response. “Why don’t you come up, so you won’t have to wait down here alone?”

  “That’s okay. It’s a pretty evening.” She looked up at the sky visible through the low buildings.

  He was surprised. He couldn’t remember the last time he had asked a girl up to his place and she refused. Not that this was a date. But it felt sort of like it because he had played with her, even if she didn’t know it.

  He couldn’t do that again. He had to keep it professional. So he went upstairs to get his phone. He called the car company on the way back down and gave them his address, all the while wondering how he could make it up to her without ruining his chance at winning the competition for the plaza.

  When he got outside, Kali was gone.

  It was like a punch in the gut. He had expected her to be there, had been thinking of what to say to her, how to apologize for what he’d done without making things worse.

  He ran up to the corner, but he couldn’t see her in either direction. “Crap!”

  It was like his vision narrowed. He had to find her. What if she went in the wrong direction and crossed into the barrio? It was only a few streets away. The women he usually dated could handle themselves in his neighborhood, but he wasn’t sure about Kali. There was a fresh-off-the-barn feel about her that worried him.

  “Crap…,” he muttered through gritted teeth.

  He ran, first up the street and then crossing over several streets. There were people getting home from work, some walking and even more riding bikes. He ran all the way to the subway. At the entrance, he didn’t see her. He felt like a tool, breathing heavily, but then he saw a bunch of guys loitering just outside the stairwell. So he kept on moving.

  He ran down inside the subway and leaned over the turnstile. Kali wasn’t on the platform. He didn’t see how she could have beaten him there, but he had to check.

  Back outside, the homeboys were looking him over, pointing him out to each other.

  What if Kali had gone in the other direction, into the barrio towards the next subway station? It was about five blocks away from his studio, but in the other direction.

  He set off towards Flushing Ave at a fast clip. It was his fault that she had gone off alone. He had made her feel uncomfortable. A rank novice, and he had messed with her at her job. He deserved to lose this gig. But most of all, he didn’t want Kali to get hurt or scared because of he had been an asshole.

  He had to find her.

  Hunter was running across a street, when out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kali. She was almost to the corner, and couldn’t help seeing him. He skidded to a stop. In a few steps he returned to her side.


  “There you are.” He tried to say it lightly but was too out of breath to pull it off. But he couldn’t stop smiling, it was such a relief.

  Kali was surprised. “Did you run after me? Seriously? You thought I couldn’t walk to the subway by myself?”

  “I called a car for you.”

  “I only live a few stops away. In Williamsburg.” She stepped forward. “And the entrance is right there.”

  Hunter could see the homeboys still hanging out in front of the subway. “Let’s go.” He made sure he was walking on the inside, between her and where the guys were standing.

  She noticed the group of young men at the same time. Or maybe it was the sudden serious tone in his voice. She stopped protesting and warily went along with him.

  Hunter tried to take it easy, but the guys had just seen him run up in some kind of desperate funk looking for someone. And now here he was walking with a pretty girl who was obviously keeping her distance from him.

  Several of them started hooting at them. “Yo, you have a fight, man?” “I’ll take her off your hands.” “Yeah, you know that…”

  Hunter could feel himself swelling up in the chest, ready to bash heads if any of them took a step towards Kali. He glared at them and flexed his muscles a bit, letting the warning in his eyes speak for him.

  It was like throwing gas on the flames.

  The comments got louder as they pushed past them at the entrance. Kali moved closer to Hunter as they went down the steps.

  The homeboys followed them down inside the station, but they paused on the steps just out of sight of the bored MTA employee sitting in the bullet-proof glass booth reading the NY Post.

  Hunter hesitated only a moment, then swiped his card through the slot so Kali could go through the turnstile. He swiped again and followed after her, but stopped her from going further up the platform. They could still see the MTA booth from where they stood.

  The gang didn’t follow them through the turnstile. They didn’t want to pay another two bucks each to get closer when they could taunt him from the stairs. They also couldn’t come closer into the narrow lobby or the MTA employee would order them to leave.

  Under the eyes of the homeboys who continued to make comments, Kali turned away to look out at the platform.

  Hunter felt like he’d won. They were stymied and he was standing on the platform with Kali. “That takes care of that.”

  “Thank you for finding me.” Her eyes met his frankly for the first time since he had ordered her to sit down on his bench. “I didn’t realize it wasn’t safe.”

  He kept watch on the gang on the stairs. She had her back to them, trusting him to look out for her.

  “They’re just assholes with nothing better to do,” Hunter said.

  The gang may not have caught the words, but his attitude was clear. Their jeering picked up. Even the MTA employee looked up from his Post for a second.

  Kali moved even closer to him. “There’s a train coming.”

  Her hair was blowing in the incoming breeze as a subway rushed down the tunnel towards them. “Good, it’s almost over.”

  “You can’t go back out there.” She put her hand on his arm, looking up at him. “You don’t know what they’ll do.”

  He stared at the gang openly now, as if judging them. “They’re all bark, no bite.”

  “Don’t be like that,” she insisted. “Come with me, even if it’s only to the next station.”

  He thought he had seen a couple of the guys around before. This was his neighborhood, his subway station. He wasn’t going to be run off by a pack of goons. Now he had to defend his right to be here, and that’s not what he wanted. There was always a cost to not fitting in. But he had never fit in. He had always been the new kid, moving around as his dad changed trucking jobs. He knew how to watch what was going on around him and react the right way, so he wasn’t noticed.

  So how did this situation get so out of hand? There was Kali, her eyes fastened on him. His deep down spinal reflex was to jump those mother fuckers and see how many he could take down, scaring off the others while doing it.

  He wiped his hand across his face. What is wrong with me?

  With a squeal of brakes, the subway train pulled in. Hunter was already walking forward with Kali, still watching them so he knew it almost before they did. Several of them leaped forward, going for the turnstiles.

  “They’re jumping,” he told Kali, hustling her inside the subway car and down to the end.

  The conductor tried to close the doors when he saw several guys come flying over the turnstiles, but the doors had to open all the way to close again, and three of them managed to wiggle into their car.

  “Oh, no…” Kali breathed.

  Hunter put his arm around her and could feel she was trembling. With a lurch, the car started. “It’s okay,” he said. “Come on.”

  The guys were laughing at their success at the back end, while Hunter and Kali passed through the front door onto the rocking platform outside the car. Kali looked through the window behind them. “They’re coming after us.”

  “Let’s get to the conductor car.”

  The subway going into the city was fairly empty this time of evening, while trains passing the other direction were packed full. They passed through two more cars until they reached the conductor’s box blocking the doorway at that end. There wasn’t a window on the inside, but Hunter knew he could rap on the metal door to alert the conductor if things went really crazy.

  He took up position in front of the door. Kali looked scared, and he took a moment to assure her, “It’ll be fine now. They won’t do anything with the conductor right here.” He was stroking her arm. “Now get behind me. If anything happens, bang on that door until he comes out.”

  He shifted her so she was standing behind him, her hands trembling on his back. He was ready to do whatever it took to keep them from getting to her.

  The scattered people in the car knew that something was wrong even before the homeboys arrived. Hunter’s adrenaline was pumping. He would have backed away from any guy as hopped up as he was right now.

  It was a bad moment when the guys came into the car. Hunter lifted his fist to pound on the door if they made another move. They knew conductors, and this conductor had just seen three guys jump the train.

  They stayed at the back end of the car, talking and cursing loudly, making arm motions to punctuate their words. Everyone was watching them intently, with a few of those closest getting up and moving away. At the next station, almost everyone poured off, and he could see the passengers getting back onto cars on either side of them. Someone called out a warning to the conductor that he better watch out, but nothing happened. A couple of the passengers stayed, obviously eager to see a fight.

  Hunter half-turned towards Kali, more to try to defuse the situation than anything else. She looked up at him imploringly. “Why are they doing this, Hunter?”

  He felt a deep pang. It was his own fault. But he couldn’t admit it. She would have been fine if she had walked to the subway on her own. Oh, they probably would have made comments about the “fine little mama” as she passed by, but that was par for the course out there. He was the one who had caught their attention with all of his running back and forth, frantically searching for her.

  Then he had gotten all defensive over her. He knew better than to come back at a gang like that. But from the first moment, he had been ready to fight them all. He hadn’t felt this way since he was a teenager confronting a friend who stole a girl away from him.

  He let out his breath with a long sigh, realizing this wasn’t going to stop until he let it go. He was reacting like a caveman protecting his woman. And he didn’t even know her!

  Hunter forced himself to calm down, to take deep breaths and slow his pulse rate. He no longer wanted to look back at the homeboys, and they jeered louder, feeling like they’d cowed him enough to claim victory.

  “My station is next,” Kali said. “Wha
t if they follow us off?”

  “Just do what I say.”

  As the subway car began to slow down, Hunter told her, “Don’t move,” as she started to shift. “I’ll tell you when.”

  She stayed perfectly still as the car squealed to a halt. The doors opened. He waited a couple seconds to time their exit just before the doors closed, then grabbed her hand. “Come on.”

  As soon as they hit the platform, Hunter turned to finally look back at the guys who had chased them down. Then pointedly he looked at the conductor’s window. Right beside him, the conductor was in the window watching the stragglers board the train. Hunter hoped that if the conductor saw a fight start, he would keep the train in the station and call the cops.

  The guys almost jumped off, but when Hunter made no move to talk to the conductor, they contented themselves with yelling curses at Hunter, pointing their fingers at him as if they were weapons.

  The doors of the subway pinged closed, and Kali let out a relieved breath. Hunter waited until the train pulled away, watching their moving mouths through the window.

  “Oh, my God,” Kali murmured.

  He almost admitted it was his fault. But she was finally looking at him with breathless admiration, the way he wanted her to look at him. It almost made it worthwhile.

  He took her arm and walked out of the subway with her. It wasn’t until she reached the top of the stairs that she realized what he was doing. “You don’t have to walk me home, Hunter.”

  “After that? Do you think any red-blooded man could let you walk home alone right now? I’m getting you there safely.”

  She didn’t protest, and Hunter felt like he’d said too much. He was just as confused as she had looked in his studio. His defensive reaction was so intense and sudden. And he didn’t know why. He could still feel her hand in his as they waited on the platform, staring down the gang. He had felt invincible because he had to be, for her.

  They walked in silence the two blocks to her apartment building. She didn’t chatter nervously about what had just happened, and he was glad about it. He needed time to get hold of himself.

  Kali lived in an old tenement building with three floors, and he knew from experience there would be two railroad apartments on each floor. This neighborhood was mixed industrial and apartment buildings, so it wasn’t as bleak as his own neighborhood. Plus the main drag of Williamsburg where the subway station let out was always crowded with people. Her apartment was probably half the size and cost more than his studio. But she had restaurants and boutique shopping right around the corner, just like Manhattan used to be before it got too expensive for anything but chain stores and luxury brands.