The Best Laid...Plans...

Had our plans held true, Saturday would have been a fun, yet fairly mellow day. Miss Pamela and her hubby, Bill, were going to come to town sometime in the late morning or early afternoon. Pam and I would go to the Bondage for Beginners class while Bill hung out with his friends. After class, we’d catch up with them and The Dulcinea for dinner and a cocktail or two before Pam and Bill headed back to Milwaukee. That was the plan. But, as they say, the best laid plans…

Pam had emailed me on Friday saying that she was sick but would still make it to Madison. Hearing this, I figured that it would be even more mellow than expected. She’d written that she’d be at my house around noon. Well, noon came and went and it wasn’t until about quarter to one that she appeared on my doorstep - sans Bill. I knew that he works on various weekends so I presumed that this was one of them. It was a nice, sunny day out and Pam wore dark shades. I had her come in whereupon she presented me with a bag. Moving into the kitchen, I examined what she brought me. First was a 6-pack of Devil Duckies, one of which is now atop my pen at work. Second was a box of her favorite brand of chai. (I’d emailed her previously asking which she prefers.) In turn, I handed over a rather larger order of chocolate from Gail Ambrosius.

Pam had pointed out the existence of this confectionery to me a couple weeks previously so I placed an order for her and myself which I would give to The Dulcinea. We hoped to be able to pick up the orders on Saturday together but Gail wouldn’t be around. So I grabbed them on Friday during my lunch hour. Although Gail’s store is fairly close to my house, I wasn’t sure exactly where it was located so I attempted to look it up on the Internet. My flaky PC, however, would have none of it. I kept getting “Page Cannot be Displayed” when going to Gail’s site. I couldn’t even bring up one of Google’s cached copies. I knew from having poked around her site before that her chocolates are sold at A Woman’s Touch, where Pam and I would be taking our class. So I called down there and they gave me directions. I made it there no problem. Entering the store, I found a gorgeous brunette in her mid-20s manning the store. Chocolate and eye candy. Having paid for the orders, she told me to grab a sample. On the counter was a glass cake display stand hoolie lined with maroon doilies. There were only a couple samples left and I eagerly nabbed one of them. Oblivious to the hoolie on top which indicates what flavor it was, I took a bite – it was just marvelous! As I wrote to Pam a short while later, I nearly creamed my Dockers®!

Anyway, back to Saturday. Pam and I finally hugged and chatted a bit. Bill indeed was at work and she was still feeling sick. Life in Milwaukee was the same as it ever was and she & I both were looking forward to spring. We then decided to head out for some lunch before class.

I drove us in my freshly-cleaned car over to the Gateway Mall which is where is located in addition to a few restaurants that I’d never frequented. We ended up at Mekong, a Thai/Vietnamese place. Surveying the menu, I found countless dishes I had never heard of that sounded quite tempting while Pam found many a meal that conformed to her vegetarian ways. Oddly enough, we both ended up ordering pad thai with tofu. I love pad thai and, although I was keen on something very spicy, I didn’t want to be stuck in glass with an aching belly. I also got a bowl of a shrimp something-or-other soup which was very tasty. The pad thai was excellent. In fact, probably the best I’ve had in this town. And a spot of tea was the right thing for my tummy which had been subjected to coffee all morning. For her part, Pam attempted to kill off whatever germs ailed her with a lager – Capital Amber.

We chatted as we ate and Pam told me that her paternal grandmother had died recently. It served as a poignant reminder that I need to get a hold of my grandmother, something I’ve neglected for a couple weeks. Her throat sore, Pam ordered some warm sake. I’ve not had much sake in my time so I snatched a couple sips of it – good stuff. We were lost in conversation when Pam looked at her watch to discover that class started in 2 minutes! I grabbed a couple more bites of pad thai and washed it down with some more tea before flagging down the waitress. We didn’t want to miss one minutes of bondage instruction. Fortunately, we needn’t have worried.

At a brisk pace, we walked into A Woman’s Touch and were greeted by our instructor. She was still waiting for everyone to arrive - we hadn’t missed anything. Pam took the opportunity to powder her nose while I bought a small box (2 pieces) of Gail’s chocolate to prime us for class. Well, that and I had a sweet tooth. Pam returned and we followed the instructor (I think her name was Sarah) to a room across the hall where class would be held.

Inside, we settled down on a mattress-less futon frame and surveyed our classmates. A couple who looked to be in their mid- to late-30s, another couple about 10 years older, and a couple frauleins. The instructor sat down on the floor and introduced herself and then we went around the room doing the same. The womyn opposite us were friends of Sarah. One exchanged a haircut for bondage instruction while the other was from out of town and checking out what our fair city had to offer in kink. With intros being done, I glanced at the floor behind Sarah and saw a few plastic bags filled with rope…