The Request

Anna almost did a spit take. With trembling hand, she hurriedly put down her cup of coffee before she dropped it and looked incredulously at her partner. "What?" she said.

Theo just looked at her with her usual, maddening, all-knowing smile. "You heard me," she said.

Anna had but she couldn't believe it. She also couldn't believe that Theo would say that in public. She hadn't yelled it, in fact she'd kept her voice rather low, but still. Anna looked around worriedly to see if anyone else in the café had heard them, but it didn't appear so. Luckily no one else was seated near them and the street traffic prevented easy eavesdropping. If anyone had overheard, they were doing a good job of pretending otherwise.

"That's not funny," Anna said, taking another sip of coffee.

"I'm not joking," Theo answered.

Anna fought the urge to slam her cup down on the table. "You can't be serious."

"I am."

"You can't mean it."

"I do."

"Then the answer is no," Anna hissed through closed teeth. "Not now, not ever."

"C'mon."

"I said no."

"Say yes instead." Anna could almost hear the laugh in Theo's voice.

"This isn't funny."

"Just think about it," Theo said. Her smile hadn't slipped a bit.

"No," Anna said, "and screw you for asking." She hurriedly finished off her coffee and took a last bite of her croissant. "I'm ready to go. What's up first this morning?"

"I thought we'd take the boat tour first. Supposed to get cloudy this afternoon."

"Fine, let's go."

It was a fine day in the city as Anna and Theo walked from the café to the riverside. It was still somewhat early in the morning, but the streets were crowded all the same. It was fairly easy to tell the tourists from the natives. The tourists were generally smiling, taking photos, pointing out various sights to their partner or families. The natives were generally frowning, ignoring everything around them except the tourists that they had to keep avoiding as they hustled to wherever their jobs were.

Anna stewed about Theo's request during the walk, as they got their tickets at the dock, and as they took their seats on the boat. On the one hand, she wasn't too surprised that Theo had brought it up. She'd hinted at it before from time to time, hints that Theo had found funny and Anna had done her best to ignore. And Theo certainly didn't have any reservations. About anything. But even so, Anna was still surprised, even a little shocked. She'd never thought Theo would really go there.

They sat in the back of the boat, a few rows away from the other tourists and the tour guide. Theo had her arm around Anna's shoulders as usual. Anna tried to concentrate on what the tour guide was saying as the boat sailed languidly down the river, but her mind kept churning over Theo's words. She couldn't stop thinking about it.

"God, I can't believe you said that earlier," Anna said, keeping her gaze firmly on the water and not on her partner.

"I don't know why not."

"Even if I wanted to -- which I most certainly don't -- it's not like we can. We didn't bring anything like that with us and we're not going to buy anything like that on vacation."

"Oh, I already took care of that. I brought one in my case."

"You did?"

"Yeah, bought a proper one just before we left, just for the occasion."

It took a moment for the realization to fully dawn on Anna and when it did she spun around in her seat. "Wait a minute," Anna said, "you bought one already?"

"Yeah."

"You bought one already and brought it with you ... before you'd even asked me?"

"Yeah," Theo said, grinning.

"God damn you!" Anna said. She didn't care anymore if she was overheard or not. "That's just like you! You always do whatever you want, however you please, and I have to always go along with it. And when I don't want to, you push, push, push until you get your way. I'm sick of it. I told you no and I meant it. Not as in maybe later, not as in I'll think about it, no as in no." She got up, slid past Theo, and sat a couple of rows away from her. Theo didn't follow her, instead they spent the rest of the boat tour sitting apart. After it was over and they were docked again, though, Anna resumed her place at Theo's side, as she usually did.

"Where to next?" Anna asked, eyes downcast.

"The cathedral," Theo said as if nothing at all had happened, and the two set off there.

The cathedral was old and grand. They walked the aisles and took their time exploring the large apse, taking in the various relics. Anna looked at the representation of the female martyred saint in the stained-glass window, on her knees, hands pressed together, eyes looking toward heaven. Anna wondered if she'd had second thoughts over what she'd been asked. She wondered if she'd even been given a choice. Somehow Anna doubted that she had.

"Maybe I can do something else for you," Anna said. "You know, instead of...that."

"Like what?" Theo asked, not turning her head from looking at the stonework.

"Like..." Anna started and then hesitated. Fact was, she couldn't immediately think of anything she'd want to do that Theo hadn't already coaxed her into doing over the course of their two-year-old relationship. "Um, maybe, we can do it somewhere public."

"Oh, I like the sound of that. We can search for a spot for that when we get back home. But tonight we're doing this."

"But why? Why do we have to do it?"

"Because I want us to."

"Have...have you done it before?"

"Yeah."

Anna tamped down on her jealously. She knew that Theo had had past lovers, but she usually tried not to think about it. "And?" she said.

"I liked it," Theo said. "So will you."

"I don't know. I don't think I can do it."

"You can do it."

"I won't like it."

"We've done lots of things that you didn't think you'd like at first, but you like them now."

Anna blushed. "This is different," Anna said.

"No, it's not."

"It's unnatural."

"No. It's not."

They'd finished their circuit of the cathedral and walked out, stopping only to light a candle each and leave a donation. The sun was still out but increasingly obscured by the clouds. Theo reached out to take her hand. "I know it seems like a big deal but it's really not," she said to Anna. "I know you'll be great at it."

Anna snatched her hand away. "Please, let's do something else tonight."

For the first time all day, Theo's smile faded. "Why do you have to be like this," she said.

"What?" said Anna.

"You always put up this act, like everything I want is such a big deal."

"Because in this case it is a big deal."

"Everything always has to be a fight with you. This is something couples do. We're a couple or at least I thought we were."

"Of course we're a couple. Don't we live together? Don't we do everything together? Don't we do everything you want?"

"You know, people who are committed don't have to talk about how committed they are."

Anna shook her head. This was going nowhere and they both were just getting more upset. One or two people were actually noticing as they walked by and Anna could easily imagine what they were thinking. She took a deep breath. "I need some space," she said. "I'm going to go back to the hotel room."

"We were going to hit the museum next."

"You go. I just want to be alone."

Theo hesitated and then said, "Okay." The two women went their separate ways.

Anna walked back to the hotel. She passed street vendors hawking old books and postcards. There were vintage black-and-white photographs showing nude women, several showing women posing together. Anna looked at those and wondered if any of the couples were real and if they were if they ever argued or were they always perfect as in the photographs.

The expected clouds had rolled in by then, leaving only the gray sky for Anna to walk under. She thought back over her time with Theo. She remembered their first meeting at the college library, how Theo came up to her and commented on the book that she'd been reading. Theo was the leader, the direct one, Theo was the one who took charge. It was Theo who'd pursued her, who'd talked her into dating. That first date Anna kept telling herself that she couldn't believe she was doing this. She even blurted it out at one point. Theo had laughed and said, "You'd better believe it."

It was Theo who had taught her everything, who showed her everything. Their first night together had been exhilarating. It had been when they'd first said "I love you" to each other. They'd been in bed, Anna on her back, soaked in sweat, her lips still wet from Theo's cunt, Theo kneeling between her legs, holding one of them up high as her other hand played freely.

"Do you love me?" Theo had asked, her fingers inside of Anna.

"Yes," Anna had panted.

"Say it," Theo had said, pistoning her fingers in and out.

"I love you!" Anna had screamed along with her climax. When she'd reopened her eyes, Theo had said, "I love you, too." Anna had had trouble believing how great it was at the time and she'd never been able to stop thinking about it since.

She stopped on the way back to the hotel to have a drink, not giving a damn if it was too early in the day or not. There was a nice little bar, clean and well-lit, and she nursed a single glass of white wine. The bartender, an older woman, trim and bony, had smiled at Anna when she served her, and then proceeded to brazenly look her over while putting away glasses. Maybe she should let the woman take her, Anna thought, just to get back at Theo. Maybe the bartender would use her roughly. She imagined following her into a back room, the woman stripping her, sitting on her face, fucking her from behind while slapping her ass and calling her an American slut. That all would serve Theo right. But it was only a fantasy and Anna knew that she'd never go through with something like that. She finished her wine and left, feeling the bartender's eyes on her ass as she walked away.

Anna was the one that Theo had introduced to her dad. It was Theo that she took to meet her parents. It had been Theo who'd talked her into moving in together. Their first night in their first apartment, they'd danced to 80's pop in their empty living room, jumping back and forth, singing along to the music out of their phones. Then slow dancing to love songs before Theo started kissing her, before stripping her, and then taking her on the floor of their new living room before taking her to their new bedroom and taking her there. "We need to christen the apartment," Theo had told her, and they did, in every room, in every position. And when they'd both saved up enough money and had enough time off from work, they'd taken their first trip together. Everywhere and in everything Anna had followed Theo. Well, with one notable exception, Anna had been the one with the idea for the trip and for this city. That was one point for her, she thought.

Anna arrived back at the hotel and made her way to their modest yet exorbitantly expensive room. She threw herself on the sofa and looked at the window at the old buildings across the street that comprised her view of the city from their room. Maybe she really was over worrying, she thought to herself. Maybe it wouldn't be as bad as she feared. Yes, Theo kept pushing her boundaries, but Theo had never hurt her before. Truth was, she really couldn't believe that Theo would ever hurt her.

Outside on the ledge, two pigeons took turns looking back and forth at her through the window and at the city before them. "What do you two think?" she asked out loud. "Should I say yes? Am I just a complete pushover?" If the pigeons had an opinion on the matter, they kept it to themselves. Anna sighed and thought that maybe, deep down inside, she'd known how she was going to answer all along.

Anna was reading a book when Theo returned. "Hey," Theo said.

"Hey."

"Nice walk?"

"Yeah. How was the museum?"

"It was nice." Theo walked into the bathroom and washed her hands. When she looked up, she saw Anna in the mirror, standing behind her.

"Okay," Anna said.

"What did you say?" Theo said.

"Okay."

Theo turned around. "You mean it?" Theo asked.

"Yeah."

And with that, like flipping a switch, Theo's radiant smile was back. She stepped forward and took Anna in her arms. "I love you," she said.

"I love you too," Anna said, and they kissed. She was happy that Theo was happy but as for herself she was still nervous as hell.

That night, the lights were low, and Anna lay nude in the middle of the bed, on her belly. She'd been fully prepped, which Anna had found humiliating in and of itself. Theo was affixing the toy to her harness. Anna looked at its conical shape, smaller than what they used at home, but not small enough for Anna's liking. She thought about getting up and saying that she'd reconsidered. But then Theo was climbing on top of her, stretching her tall strong body over Anna's and it was too late to go back.

The tip of the toy nudged between her cheeks. "Say you want it," Theo said.

"Oh, Theo."

"Go on." The tip began pressing inward.

"Oh, I want it. I want it, I want uhhhh..." Her statement became a chant, her own personal mantra, as it entered her.

Theo said all kinds of things to her during it, like how hot it was, or how much she loved it, or how much she loved Anna, or how Anna was her girl. Anna didn't reply, Anna couldn't reply, she was too busy grunting, base animal noises that she couldn't stop herself from making.

Afterward they laid together in bed. Theo held her from behind, her arms wrapped around her, kissing the back of Anna's neck. The room was quiet but for their breathing and the sounds of the city at night outside. Anna was sore. She wondered how long she'd be sore for. But she had come, Theo had seen to that. Theo always saw to that.

"You'll enjoy it once you get used to it," Theo whispered in her ear.

Anna sincerely doubted that she would get used to it, but she knew there would be more of it. She knew that she'd always say yes.