Alicia's Long Weekend

Watching and Waiting

Maxine had no intention of pushing that button. A combination of curiosity and worry had led her here; It had been sheer coincidence that she had been enjoying dinner not five minutes away from Alicia's little bungalow and she had been able to watch the last part of Alicia's system initiate itself.

As for the back door key - well, she'd found the key and made a copy months ago, even before Alicia had moved in. After finding Alicia in bondage she wanted a margin of safety.

She hadn't told Alicia. Maxine felt that in some cases it was better to beg forgiveness instead of asking for permission.

It wasn't that she really had a problem violating Alicia's privacy. What she didn't want was for Alicia to realize that Maxine worried and would make sure her contraption would work.

Not that she actually needed the key, but she absolutely didn't want to explain how she'd gotten in without it! Alicia's back door lock was not the sort that you could pick with a bobby-pin. A power drill or a sledgehammer, perhaps. Her windows were not glass, but blast-rated plastic. With external bars. Just in case someone thought that an RPG would be a good way of gaining entry, Maxine thought.

But that was silly, of course. It was purely psychological - that was clear from the fact that the deadbolt had a keyhole on the inside. And no key. No doubt Alicia had put it someplace as part of her escape. What an intricate kink this was! And what interesting energy.

Her ability to "taste" that energy was affected by distance. She wasn't actually in need at the moment, so letting most of it escape wasn't a problem - but it definitely felt like having to let the dim-sum cart go by untouched.

No, she had to get inside for another reason, because of a precaution she hadn't gotten around to yet.

She hadn't actually been inside before. She hadn't needed to; simply parking in the street and pretending to take a call had shown her everything she had needed to know.

That had let her know about the computer, but some things needed fingers. In this particular case, she needed fingers to insert an encrypted cellular dongle into one of the USB slots in the back of the tower.

She took out her tablet and tapped buttons - and now she was connected. Full access. Perfect. She shut it down. Like the key, it explained the otherwise inexplicable and it was an extra level of fail-safe. Watching wasn't really part of it at all.

Well, that's what she told herself. But she had trouble believing her...

She decided to watch as Alicia completed her dance of solitary bliss. She wanted to see what Alicia had in mind as entertainment to while the hours away.

Her eyes widened as a cursor moved and a file opened. It was the infamous Master's thesis!

Maxine quickly scanned as Alicia worked - clearly polishing the final draft. The mildly erotic had transformed into something akin to watching paint dry.

And as Alicia involved herself in the writing process, the sexual energy that captivated Maxine and Harlequin faded into a faint background glow.

She didn't understand a word as the document scrolled back and forth; it was written in such dense jargon as to be intentionally incomprehensible. She smiled and tiptoed out.

Unlike Alicia, she had a rough idea of how long the clock would run. Given the visible rate of flow ... about two days. She tiptoed out and closed the door behind her.

Meanwhile, Alicia was finding her groove. She'd reluctantly front-loaded this mindbogglingly tedious task. It was the only way she could make herself face it!