Coincidence

Larry felt the situation to be surreal. Earlier, he was following the trail of footprints almost in a trance, with not a conscious thought in mind. What he found at the end of it should have been enough to awaken him from that hyper focused state - normally.

However, the sight of Alex brought back the afterimages of his dream, perhaps more vividly than the dream itself. He was just standing in front of her, waiting for the strange tugging from the nightmare to take control of his body, since he was unable to move voluntarily.

Alex too, couldn't bring herself to react. Although public play sessions were planned exactly for the sake of discovery, to make the submissive feel shame, embarrassment, sometimes alienation and some anxiety. She had somewhat of a stage fright in the beginning, but she got used to it over the years. Yet, she was utterly unprepared to meet Larry this way.

Both of them were yanked back to the thick of reality by the muzzled man.

"Woof!" He imitated a dog's bark quite well.

"Quiet down, I know him." She told the client.

"Please sit down." She patted the sand next to her, looking at Larry.

There it was, the mysterious tugging in his stomach. In spite of wanting nothing to do with this situation, and right now, with Alex in general, he was unable to deny her request. Despite his better judgement, he sat down. 

The most he could do to lessen the awkwardness is to keep his eyes on the horizon. He wasn't eager to start a conversation either. 

As if his complete opposite, Alex got over her initial brain freeze, and didn't spare Larry any room to clam up in silence.

"A lovely morning, isn't it? What are you doing here so early?" She asked, looking at his profile.

"I have no idea. An early morning beach walk is part of my daily routine, but I don't know how I ended up here." He said honestly. His face didn't show much emotion, as per usual.

"You must live around here then. Or do you drive to the beach for a walk every day?" Alex did her best to keep the conversation going.

"Not too far. A 10 minute walk, maybe." Guessed Larry. Truth to be told, he wasn't really interested in time since his retirement.

"Do you come even if the weather is bad? Even in winter?" She said while patting the man on the leash like a dog.

"Even then, yes. The winter here is not too cold." He said.

"Where did you have your worst winter then?" While chatting, Alex casually took out a tennis ball from her pocket, unleashed her client, and threw the ball for him. 

"Fetch, Spikey!" She slapped the man's ass playfully, then turned to Larry again without batting an eye.

"I had to go to Russia in February once." Larry gave a short reply.

"Did you have a chance to think about giving a hand in the lawsuit against Langham? Have you talked with him since then?" Now that the doggy ran after the ball, she steered the conversation more freely.

"No, and no. I tend to ignore complicated things." He said, while trying to imagine why would anyone pay for Alex for these activities. 

The man ran on all fours - not on his knees, but on hands and foot, raising his rear side higher than his head. He held the ball between his chin and chest on his way back.

"What about therapy then? That is quite complicated and hard." She pointed out.

"Hard, that I don't mind. But complicated, indeed. I was looking for a reason to stop anyway. Didn't make much progress." Confessed Larry. 

The muzzled man arrived, dropped the ball at Alex's feet, and waited for her to throw again. Alex did not disappoint.

"Good boy, you are such a good boy, Spikey! Fetch again!" She switched to an overly sweet, gushing voice, ruffled the dog's head, threw the ball, then continued normal speech with Larry. 

"Did Langham not contact you at all?" She seemed concerned.

< Her ability to multitask is something else. I bet she could do the same while juggling or spinning plates on a stick. > He thought, and a smile spread on his face.

"Why would he? We didn't agree on a new appointment the last time I saw him." Even in these comical circumstances, Larry found it easier and easier to talk with Alex.

"From his position, I can understand he wants to lay low. The way he handled you is highly unethical. Regardless of the NDA violation with me, you have a valid reason to sue him too." She informed him.

"Nah, too complicated." He shrugged.

"If we coordinate, we would have the odds in our favour, if the cases get into a courtroom at all. Knowing him, he'll cut off an arm and a leg to avoid a full-blown suit. We can push him to settle." Alex offered. 

Spikey returned with the ball, she threw it again, without comments this time.

"So you are a psychiatrist, a dominatrix and a lawyer? People usually stop at one lucrative job." He joked, finally taking his eyes off the water.

< He has such a pure smile, takes years off his handsome face. > Alex caught herself smiling back at him. 

Their moment was broken by the sound of a phone notification. Alex muted it, then stood up, and called for Spikey. 

"I'm not a lawyer, but I have strong connections." she winked at him " If you have more time, how about we grab a coffee? I don't want to waste this coincidence. Give me a minute to wrap this up."

Without waiting for an answer, she joined Spikey halfway on his way back. Took off the muzzle, pocketed the ball, ruffled his hair again, and returned to Larry. 

"Is it okay to just abandon that poor puppy on the beach like this?" He joked again, mellowing out as the minutes passed.

"You are coping way better than I expected. I almost rewarded you just now." Alex jabbed back.

"Let's consider the coffee a reward - for both of us." He offered, and Alex gladly complied.