Hope

This is not a story about sex. I wanted this to be a glimpse of a relationship, and a conversation between two people. If you're looking for sex, then please don't read this story, because it will only disappoint you. If you're looking for an interesting read, this might be up your alley. I am trying to improve my writing skills, to keeping unnecessary words out of my work. Please let me know if you think that this story is less "wordy" than my other work, so I'll know if I accomplished what I was looking for. Thank you - Chicklet

I saw her on the streets, selling herself for money to buy god only knows what. Her eyes were sunken, her body slumping and ugly in the cheap clothes she wore. Shaking my head, I tried to put her out of my mind, continuing down the streets and ignoring her as she offered services to me.

Diana was already sitting at a table in the diner. Scooting into the seat across from her, I surprised her by rubbing my foot against her leg.

"Oh," she exclaimed, looking up at me.

"How are you, pet?" I asked, smiling warmly at her. As usual her cheeks flushed as I said the words of greeting. She had been in my service for months now but still got a special embarrassed sort of excitement by acknowledging me in public.

"Good, Sir," she said, softly.

"What was that?" I asked, not allowing her eyes to break contact with mine.

"Good, Sir," she said, a little louder this time.

"I'm glad to hear it, pet," I smiled again, rubbing my foot more insistently on the inside of her ankle. Tapping on her feet I indicated that she should spread her legs for me, and she did. "Did you pass the prostitute on the corner as you walked here?" I asked, indicating my head towards the direction the woman was working.

Diana nodded and a strand of her blonde hair came loose from her ponytail. With long, slender fingers she brushed the stray strand behind her ear, all while keeping her eyes with mine.

"She looked sad, didn't she?" I asked, a bit softly. In Diana's presence I usually kept my voice deep, commanding, the voice I knew she expected from me as her Master. Her eyes showed some surprise at my soft tone.

"Yes, Sir," she agreed, her own voice dropping. "She did look sad."

The waitress came by and I smiled at her as she poured my coffee. When she was gone I looked back at my Diana.

"How would you feel, pet, if it were you out there?"

Diana shifted uncomfortably in her seat, a shiver visibly traveling through her body. "Ashamed, Sir," she said.

"Why is that, pet?"

For the first time since I had sat down Diana's eyes left mine, shifting a little bit before she spoke.

"I'm not quite sure, Sir," she said. "It seems shameful, what she's doing. Selling her body to get by."

I nodded, picking up my coffee cup and taking a sip of the strong brew. "I know what you mean," I said.

"Do you think…" Diana broke off. She probably thought that I would be cross with her for speaking without being spoken to, but I was not.

"Go on," I said, kindly.

"Do you think that she is ashamed?"

"I don't know," I said, shaking my head. "It is probably the only way she knows. She is trapped there, on that corner, without a way to escape."

"It would seem that her predicament is worse than any sort of bondage," Diana shivered. I smiled at her analogy. "There is no way for her to escape. She doesn't even have a safe word, she can't get free no matter what."

I didn't say anything in reply, only sipping more of my coffee and looking out the window behind Diana.

"Sir," she said silently. I looked up and nodded for her to continue. "Do you think that there's anything we could do for her?"

"I don't know," I mused, looking at the swirling liquid in my cup. "I don't think so."

"Could we try, Master?" she asked.

I was a bit surprised when she said it. At home, during play or private dinners together, she called me Master, but in public she'd never gone further than "Sir." I looked into her face, at the pleading expression in her eyes, the pursing of her lips. She seemed serious about this.

"I don't know how we could, pet," I said. Her face showed disappointment. I thought that maybe something in her was changing towards me. To her I was all-powerful at times, the upper hand directing her on the right path. Almost like a parent is to a child, and I was telling her that I didn't know the answer to her plea.

"Neither do I," she said sadly. Our breakfasts came and we ate in near silence.

"What would you do if I asked you to go out on that corner," I asked her, trying to lighten up our conversation.

"How do you mean, Sir?" Diana asked, but I saw a sparkle in her eyes that told me she knew what I meant.

"Think she would like some competition?" I teased, tickling her foot under the table with my own.

"Probably not, Sir," Diana said, her lips in a frown. I winked at her, and her frown eased a bit.

"Would you ask strangers to use your body?" I prodded, moving my foot up towards her inner thighs. She shivered, her eyes closing as she let the sensations of my foot on her skin wash through her.

"If it pleased you, Sir," she said. She had agreed, but her voice was shaky. It told me a lot, those shaky words, and I smiled.

"It wouldn't please me, pet," I said, and Diana visibly relaxed. "I want you to know that no matter how deep we get into the play, you are always freer than that woman out there. You always have the right to choose escape, to leave, to say no. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Sir," Diana whispered. I saw the smile on her lips, the look in her eyes that said she would never leave me, and it warmed me up inside.

"Let's finish up here and go back to my place," I said.

"Yes, Sir," Diana whispered again, and I could hear the hunger in her voice.

Outside, the prostitute had moved past the window, her arm around a middle aged man. I wondered if there was hope of escape for her.