The rest of the trip to West Seattle was uneventful, but it left Tom a nervous wreck. Suzi could sense his unease and wondered where his sense of adventure went. He didn’t breathe a calm breath until they had pulled into Suzi’s garage and the door had rolled down behind them. He opened the door and got out of the car, waiting for Suzi to follow.
Suzi pulled off her sweater and threw at Tom through the open door. He felt the sweater hit his legs and reached down to grab it off the floor. He looked up and saw Suzi still sitting in the driver’s seat, now completely naked.
“How about if we take the car for another spin now?”, she asked, shaking her hair, thinking it would look even sexier.
“I’d rather just carry you up to the bedroom,” he said running around the car and pulling her door open.
Although she was glad that he had relaxed within the safe confines of her house, she wished he could have enjoyed the ride as much as Gretchen had the other night. When he lifted her out of the car, she felt his strong arms and muscular torso through his dress shirt. Her own arousal showed her that she still wanted a man in her bedroom, for now. Tom tossed her on the bed and pulled off his work clothes to join her. They made love and then spooned together, until Suzi remembered her latest piece of art.
Suzi squeezed Tom’s hand and whispered, “Do you remember the ten commandments?”
“Which ones?”
“How about the tenth?”
“I don’t have a clue. Is it ‘don’t take the lord’s name in vain’?”
“No, it’s the one about not coveting what your neighbor has,” she said, rolling over to face him.
“I haven’t been coveting anything that I can think of,” he said.
“I was just asking if you had that tidbit locked in your brain,” she said, poking his forehead.
“Is this regarding your neighbor’s car?” he asked, remembering how much she liked the sports car that the guy on the corner had.
“Nope, in this case, it’s about a french fry,” she said wriggling out of his arms and sliding her feet onto the floor. “Get dressed. I want to show you something.”
Suzi bounced into the bathroom where she threw some clothes on. She came back out and watched Tom put his slacks and dress shirt on, stopping him when he went to pull on his socks.
“Come on, you don’t need your shoes or socks,” she said grabbing his hand.
She led him out of the bedroom and over to the kitchen where the stairs led down to the basement.
“Now, close your eyes. Put your hands on my shoulders and follow me down the stairs,” she said spinning around to lead him.
Tom was a good sport and didn’t peek the entire way down the rickety wooden stairs. He smelled the familiar smell of glue and other chemicals that would fill the basement when Suzi was doing her taxidermic art. Suzi told him to stand still as she lifted his hands off her shoulders and went to the light switch.
“Open your eyes!” she said in the darkness.
“I can’t see a thing. It’s pitch black down here,” he said, playing along with the show.
Suzi started raising the dimmer switch, slowly increasing the amount light that shone from the halogen track lights above her workspace. Tom saw the bird taking shape in his vision and then realized that it was posed in mid air, reaching for a french fry that seemed to float in front of it.
“How did you do that?” he asked, the wires invisible in the low light.
“Watch,” she said, bringing the lights to their fullest power.
With the lights shining he could see the delicate wires that allowed the bird and the french fry to float above the driftwood base. He walked around the piece admiring it. He thought it was much better than the series of desiccated reptiles that Suzi had completed the month before.
“I like it a lot,” he said, clapping his hands a few times.
“It’s The Tenth Commandment,” she said proudly.
