The Gazebo

Warning: mature themes

"Nobody believed in me. That was their first mistake."

As she entered the gate to the back yard, Glenna Lee thought again of the man she had called earlier that day. During their phone conversation, he had felt the need to casually drop those two sentences into the conversation, explaining that he was a self-made man from a poor family, who'd worked hard and become prosperous.

Glenna moved slowly and gracefully up the stone steps into the gazebo. The spring day was sunny and warm, but the trees surrounding the gazebo kept the dark brown metal roof shaded. She seated herself in the aqua chair in the middle of the gazebo, settling back against the cushions. She tried to relax by thinking of her sweet male kitty at home, the one she'd named Snow after Jon Snow on Game of Thrones.

Dr. Russell, her vet, had laughed. "Is that irony, naming a black cat Snow?"

When she'd explained, he laughed again and said, "I'm more into Lord of the Rings or Chronicles of Narnia than Game of Thrones."

Glenna was dressed in a lilac short sleeved sweater and Merino wool pants in pale gray, with a black clutch purse and black pumps, amethyst stud earrings. Gazing at the huge white house, the spacious yard and kidney shaped swimming pool, Glenna mused that Chuck Black must be a rich man. He was a stranger, she'd answered his ad and made arrangements to visit. Now all she could do was wait.

She saw a man in his late forties approaching, holding a bottle of wine, with a boy about ten or twelve following him, carrying wine glasses. He strode up the stone steps and gave her a searching look, placed the bottle on a stone pedestal table next to her chair, then leaned down to kiss her cheek. The boy put the glasses down on the table and bowed to her.

"You must be Glenna. I'm Chuck Black and this is my son Blaine." He tousled the boy's red hair and pointed towards the house. Blaine nodded, gave Glenna an impish grin, and took off running to the house. Chuck winced and shook his head as they heard the door slam.

Chuck was in a collared white shirt, khakis, and brown boots. His skin was pinkish, he had a bulbous nose and high forehead, with wavy dark hair falling almost to his collar. He dug in his pocket and drew out some bills, handing them to her. "You're lovelier than I expected. I was intrigued by the fact that you did not post a facial photo."

He poured her a glass of wine and Glenna accepted it, although usually she didn't drink. "I don't want to be fetishized for being Asian," she said after taking a sip.

Chuck gulped down half a glass of wine. Glenna counted the money and saw he had given her hundred dollar bills. "This is more than we agreed on," she protested mildly.

"Keep it," he said flatly, then smiled in apology. "Sorry, I'm tired. Been working too hard. That's why I placed an ad for some companionship. Did you bring the hairbrush?"

Glenna tucked the money away in her clutch and brought out a new cobalt blue hairbrush. She looked down as she put it on the table. Chuck put down his glass and stood behind her. "Not to worry, I'm not going to turn you over my knee and spank you with the hairbrush." He bent and blew in her ear. Her body shook.

He finger combed her hair and said in a husky voice, "Tell me about where you grew up."

"I'm half Korean, I grew up in Hawaii. I moved to the mainland about a year ago to live with my aunt."

He twirled her hair with thick fingers. "Tell me why you left Hawaii."

"It's--it's so expensive to live there," she faltered.

He flicked the top of her head with his finger. "I think there's something you're not telling me. The agreement was that you would tell me the naked truth."

Glenna reminded herself that she really needed the money he'd given her. "I had a big fight with my best friend. I just wanted to get away."

"Tell me a sexy secret about your best friend." He picked up the brush and began brushing her long black tresses that cascaded down past her shoulders.

"We were inseparable. We moved in together after we graduated from high school. One time I'd had too much to drink and fell asleep on the couch. She came home with her date and I pretended to still be asleep. I even faked snoring. They made out in front of me. I watched them. I saw everything."

Chuck laid down the brush on the table and stroked her hair with both hands. "Tell me about the fight."

Glenna took a deep breath as Chuck began braiding her hair. She hated talking about Melinda. The one person she'd thought she couldn't live without, the person who turned out to be someone different that she appeared.

Melinda and Glenna had fought about more than one thing. Glenna had a new, sweet, gorgeous boyfriend. Instead of being happy for her, Melinda had snapped, "I hope he doesn't break your heart." In the end, the boyfriend hadn't actually broken her heart, they'd just grown apart.

Melinda and Glenna had also argued about Melinda declawing the cats against Glenna's express wishes. She'd done it one day, taking the three cats to some vet Glenna had never heard of. Melinda later shouted at Glenna, "I just want to be able to have nice things in my home!'

"Nice things are more important to you than your pets?"

Glenna didn't tell this part to Chuck, but the real argument was over Payton, a mutual friend from high school. Assigned male at birth, Payton had decided to transition during her first year of college. Glenna would never forget that night that Payton came by to tell them about the transition.

Payton had shown up wearing makeup, her nails manicured, in a woman's teal blouse and women's jeans, wearing sandal heels. She had been glowing with happiness, her eyes sparkling with excitement. Melinda had brought out several high school photos showing Payton in pre-transition days, had deadnamed Payton all evening, and had said loudly to Glenna while in the kitchen, "This transition is just being done for attention."

Payton had been in the living room. Glenna had stuck her head out of the kitchen and saw Payton's white face and trembling lips. Glenn whirled around to face Melinda. "How can you even think that? Do you really believe anyone would go through everything it takes to transition...just for attention?" Glenna didn't bother to lower her voice.

When the two rejoined Payton in the living room, Payton stood and said her goodbyes in a subdued voice. That had been the last straw for Glenna. She started moving out that night. Later when Glenna had made the decision to move to the mainland, she called Payton.

"If Melinda can't be supportive of you, then she's not the fun and loving friend I thought she was," Glenna said to Payton.

"Thanks." Payton sighed. "I was so hoping she was just having problems adjusting."

"She's got problems, all right," Glenna said grimly. "Of her own making. If you ask Melinda how she's doing, she'll launch into some long drama about everything wrong in her life. By the time she remembers you're also a human being and asks how you are, you don't even want to talk anymore."

Chuck undid the braid after hearing what she'd said about Melinda. He pulled her hair aside, dropped a quick kiss on the back of her neck, then buried his hands in her hair. "Tell me a secret about porn. Don't tell me you haven't indulged. Anyone who will watch their best friend getting laid has watched porn. Tell me something no one else knows."

Glenna hesitated, wondering how far she would be willing to go to please this man and his need to hear her darkest secrets. He had seemed bored by her account of her friendship breakup with Melinda. If she didn't tell him dark private things, he could easily take back the money. And she was so tired of scrimping and saving.

She thought of something about her past pornography habits, something she hadn't thought about for years. But when she told him, Chuck suddenly pulled her hair, jerking her head back.

"That's disgusting! Get out of here! I never want to see you again!"

The next day was a Friday. Glenna still felt uneasy and upset after her bizarre encounter with Chuck Black. But Snow had a vet appointment for his yearly exam and shots. She walked into the Russell Animal Clinic just before nine the next morning.

"Hi, Ms. Lee," the receptionist, Aurelia, said. "There's some bagels and cream cheese left if you'd like some. Dr. Russell brings in bagels for us every Friday morning."

"That's so nice of him."

Aurelia leaned forward and lowered her voice. "He gives us an extra long lunch every Friday too. Everyone who works here just adores him. I can't believe he's single."

"Probably married to his job," Glenna said absently.

She took Snow out of his soft-sided carrier once they were in the exam room. He sat up on the exam bed and looked around. The assistant, Hunter, who she'd met before and liked, spoke to her, but her mind was miles away.

She was staring at the floor when Dr. Russell repeated her name in a tone of concern. "Ms. Lee? Are you okay?"

Glenna lifted her head. Dr. Russell, in his mid-thirties, was not conventionally handsome, he had blunt features and a blond crewcut. But his blue eyes were kind. She remembered the piercing gaze from Chuck Black, seeing into her soul and feeling contempt for what he saw there.

"I'm fine."

Dr. Russell conducted the exam in silence, which was unlike his usual cheerful habit of making silly, gently self-deprecating jokes. After he'd pronounced Snow to be healthy, he set the cat down on the floor and sat on the edge of the exam bed. Glenna saw the nervousness in his broad face as he kneaded the edge of his wrinkled blue-green scrubs.

"May I call you Glenna?"

She nodded.

"Glenna, you've been coming here for a while. I admire you for adopting a black cat from a shelter, which not everyone would do. You love Snow deeply. I see how happy he is with you, how peaceful he feels. I'm going to miss him, he's an awesome cat. But I have to ask you to find another veterinarian."

"Why? What have I done wrong?"

He looked away, then directly into her eyes. "I don't want to hurt your feelings. You've done nothing wrong."

She was still puzzled. The doctor added softly, "It's me. I'm very attracted to you. I like you a lot. It's not ethical for me to continue as your vet."

"So I have to go to another vet."

"Yes, I'm sorry."

Glenna thought for a long moment. "Would it be ethical, Dr. Russell, if I chose another vet and we got to know each other better?"

Snow was done sniffing the floor and nuzzling the cat toys. He was ready to go home with his mom, and showed it by jumping up on her lap. Dr. Russell smiled. "At least he didn't get up on top of the cabinet this time."

"I was worried Hunter would fall when he climbed up on top of the exam table to get Snow down. I've been careful ever since to keep Snow away from the cabinet." Glenna looked down and stroked her cat. "You didn't answer me."

He gazed at her and thought how beautiful she was, inside and out. "Oh, yes, I'd like that a lot." He held a hand out to her and they clasped hands. "Please call me Reed."

Glenna let go of his hand. "Before we exchange phone numbers, there's something you should know."

She told him about her experience with Chuck Black the day before. He sat there, expressionless, as she spoke of answering an ad that just asked for a chance to brush long beautiful black hair, no nudity, no sex. He focused on her, listening carefully. Glenna got to the part where Chuck had asked her about porn, and Reed frowned.

She held up a hand. "Hear me out. I told Chuck I'd always loved to read. So when I got interested in sex, I read porn, I didn't watch it. I had a book I hid from my parents in my room. I think I was somewhere sketchy with Melinda and picked the book up. I threw that book away years ago. I don't remember the title or who wrote it, but I remember the plot lines in it."

Reed came closer and sat on the floor in front of her. "Please go on."

"There were no pictures, no photos. It was printed decades ago. Scenes of a man on his knees in front of a woman, kissing her feet. Later scenes of the same man putting on a leather neck collar and signing a contract to be the woman's sex slave. And--"

"I don't need to hear any more," he interrupted, his voice gentle. "You were just a kid, full of curiosity. Sex education in our society is woefully inadequate. You had no way of knowing what was in that book when you picked it up."

"But I kept reading!"

Reed looked thoughtful. "I assume you haven't tried to bring any of these scenes into real life. You haven't had made any man kiss your feet."

"No."

"You haven't forced anyone to become your sex slave," Reed continued calmly. "These were just fictional stories that someone imagined and you read about. There's a difference between fantasy and reality." He blushed. "I'm glad you have a strong sex drive and a good imagination."

Glenna shook her head, staring at him. "You're so understanding. I don't think we'll ever argue."

"I hope not." He stood up, they exchanged phone numbers and he gave her a brief hug and a kiss on the forehead.

After a few years of dating, they got married. On their wedding day, there was a tornado during the wedding reception, but that's another story!

Posted Apr 26, 2026

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