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"Did you miss me?" Paul asked with a smile.
"Not much," Louise lied glibly. "So where have you been anyway?" She had been worried in case he had found another woman, but had tried to dismiss such thoughts as unfounded paranoia.
"I went to see some past acquaintances of yours."
"Do tell," Louise said, puzzled. Paul briefly recounted his meetings with the mechanic, the estate agent and the photographer, omitting most of the intimate details that they had imparted. He did not mention his visits to the church and the man at the university.
"So did you learn anything from them?" Louise asked. She was quite surprised that Paul had gone on his mission, filled with subterfuge, just for her sake.
"Not a great deal, admittedly. But maybe just enough. Anyway it's been a long day - let's just go to bed."
Louise awoke with a start. It took her a few seconds to realise why. When she tried to move, she felt the bite of metal on her wrists and ankles. It was dark around her, despite her eyes being open. She realised that a silk hood had been placed over her head. She was able to breathe without trouble, but her view of the world was heavily obscured.
"Hello?" she said nervously, wondering who could be there.
"Morning." Louise sighed relief when she heard Paul's voice.
"What are you doing?" she asked, still too shocked to be angry.
"I have a confession to make. I didn't tell you about all my trips yesterday. I met with some more people as well. And now that I've been honest with you, I want you to be honest with me. Can you do that?"
"Yes." Louise's mind was already racing, wondering what Paul had discovered.
"Have you ever been tied up before?"
After a pause, Louise answered.
"Yes."
"Did you give another man a blow job only days after giving one to one of your early boyfriends?" Louise hadn't expected Richard to tell Paul that, but her reaction was hidden by her hood.
"Yes, I did."
"And did you or did you not have a threesome with one of your boyfriends and his friend?"
"They told you that?" Louise asked.
"Yes he told me that he tried, but he wouldn't tell me if you went for it or not." Louise paused while she considered her answer.
"I did go for it."
"And finally - for now - did you once get asked to appear in porn by a previous boyfriend?"
"Yes."
The room was silent. Louise felt alone, unable as she was to see Paul's expression.
"You must think I'm a slut," she realised.
"No, I don't. That's just it. I don't care if you're a slut, I would be ok with that. It's that you lie. You seem to always end up lying."
"What do you mean?"
"One of the other people I met was a man from a church by the university. One that you used to attend. He told me about some of the things you used to tell him. Mainly about a man named Vincent. Does that sound familiar?"
"Yes."
"Well, what you probably didn't expect was that I tracked down Vincent once I'd spoken to everyone else. He told me that you were never involved with him in the slightest. You had a crush on him but he wasn't interested. Is that right?"
"Yes." Louise had a feeling as if the whole world was spinning around her. Her blindness did not help to alleviate the feeling.
"The fact that you lied about that got me thinking. So I'll ask again. Did you give that blow job?"
"No."
"Did you have that threesome?"
"No, I didn't." Louise thought back to the moment that she had been told that her boyfriend's friend had come over to have his part of her. She had outright refused, and dumped her boyfriend on the spot. Had he really expected her to say yes? She still could not believe that he had tried it.
"The tying up - was that true that you've been tied up before?"
"Yes, that was true."
"And the guy asking you to be in the porn film?"
"Not true."
"Do you think that it is fair if I punish you for these lies?"
"Punish - have you talked to Ted?" Louise asked, suddenly realising that Paul must have.
"Yes, I have. He had some suggestions for punishment but I think they might not be very effective as punishment. After all, punishment is meant to be something that you don't enjoy." For a reason that Louise could not place, that remark stung her.
"So what are you going to do?"
Paul said nothing, but instead helped Louise off the bed and marched her over to the chair in the corner of the bedroom.
"Stay there," he said. "I'll be back in an hour and I don't want to find that you have moved." With that he was gone.
Louise did not want to call out, caught between the worry that he would not respond and the fear that he would respond - with disappointment. Instead, she waited. She sat still.
Louise waited. She thought about Paul. He had found her out, in every sense. He had literally walked away from her. She was alone. She hoped he would come back.
Louise waited. When Ted had inflicted pain on her, she had found herself able to take more than she had expected. Whatever he dared to do to her, she could stand. Physical endurance was easy. Pain was fine. Being abandoned was hard. Harder than it should be, she reasoned. Paul had said that he would only be gone for an hour. What was an hour in the grand scheme of things? She did not know how long was left. Half an hour could have passed, or only five minutes. He would be back soon - hopefully.
Louise waited. If she called out loud enough, he would come. But then she would have failed. Failed him. She would not call out.
Louise waited. She could do nothing else.
Paul went back into the room. He was pleased to see Louise sitting exactly where he left her. "Good girl," he told her as he tugged her to her feet. "Now for the tough part." He removed her hand and leg cuffs, then gently pushed her back into her seat. "I'll be back in an hour. Same drill as before; don't move."
"What's keeping me here?" Louise asked in surprise and then instantly regretted the stupid question.
"That's for you to work out," Paul said with a smile that she could not see. He turned to leave but paused in the doorway as she called out.
"Paul!" Her voice quavered slightly. "Do you still love me?"
"Of course I do."
Waiting was easy. Paul would be back soon.
An hour later, Paul returned and found Louise in exactly the same place. Her hood was untouched and she had not moved, despite being free. She tried to blink the light away as he removed her hood.
"No more lying?" Paul asked.
"No."
"Good. Do we have an understanding then?"
Louise smiled. "I think we do."
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