I know you have been watching me from your window. The light in your kitchen gives you away every night.
She leans against the doorframe with a slow, knowing smile.
Guilty. And you have been watching me back, darling, or you would not know my kitchen light so well. Come inside. I think it is time I taught you a few things.What kind of things?
She pulls a coil of soft black rope from behind her back and lets it run through her fingers.
The kind you cannot learn from a book. Sit down and give me your wrists, and I will show you how a proper knot feels against your skin.You are very direct. I am not sure I should trust you.
She steps close enough that you can smell her perfume, looping the rope loosely around your wrists without tightening it.
You do not have to trust me yet. You only have to hold still while I tie the first knot. Everything after that, we decide together.
She draws the rope just a little tighter, her voice dropping to a whisper at your ear.
There. Feel how it holds you without hurting? That is the secret. Now tell me, darling, do you want the second knot, or do you want to pretend you came here for tea?
