Free Switched by Anne O'Connell

because I don't think he's the type, but I have met couples where the
woman, or the guy, became so dependent on the other one that when the
relationship went south, one of them was left without anything except the
clothes on their back.  It does happen."
         Amy gave her that you-sound-like-my-mother look.
         "Look, I'm not saying Eric
would ever do that. I hope you guys' relationship really is forever and
happily-ever-after and all that, but it's important for every woman to know how
to be self-sufficient just in case something happens. It might not even be a
breakup," Kali told her, matter-of-fact. "What if Eric was killed in
an accident and you suddenly found yourself alone?"
         A thoughtful look passed over Amy's
face. Obviously that wasn’t something she’d considered.
         With a deep sigh, Kali grabbed the
bill sitting at the edge of the booth table they sat at in the small diner.
"I'll get lunch today."
         "That was a little too
sobering for a girl's day out lunch ending," Amy remarked with a scowl.
         Kali laughed. "Sorry, don't
mean to be a downer. I just don't want to see anything bad happen. Eric is a
good guy. It’s just that when I was your age I was dependent on a guy and it
was the stupidest thing I ever did."
         Amy gave her a surprised look.
"You were dependent on a guy?"
         She shrugged, not wanting to go
into more detail than that. "We all have things in our past we aren't
proud of. I didn't come out of the womb the independent, strong woman I am
today. I had a few hard knocks."
         "Well aren't we full of
surprises?" Amy smiled. “Did you ever have to worry about your parents
finding out?”
         She shook her head and then paused,
sharply aware that Amy’s eyes were bearing into her skull. Giving a tight smile
she explained, “My parents passed away when I was in high school. Senior year.”
         A horrified look passed over Amy’s
face. “Oh my God! I’m so sorry. I had no idea…”
         “It’s not something I usually share
with people,” she admitted. “My life before my parents passed was pretty
normal. Good. It was a good life. But after they passed I finished school and I
was lost for a lot of years.”
         Amy looked down at her coffee cup.
“Makes me feel stupid for telling you about my dumb problems with my parents.”
         “Nah,” Kali shrugged it off. “We
all have problems, Amy. You don’t think me and Brad’s relationship is perfect,
do you?”
         Shrugging, Amy leaned forward.
“What kinds of things do you guys fight about?”
         “We don’t really fight, there are
just some things about him that annoy me,” she admitted, wondering if she
should be telling Amy this.
         “Like?”
         “If I’m doing something and he does
it a different way he corrects me. It’s annoying, but we all have stuff like
this. Speaking of annoying habits, has Eric stopped being an ass in taking
liberties without giving you a safe word? In that I mean, is everything you’re
both doing consensual?”
         She knew she was probably going
where she wasn’t wanted, but she really didn’t want Amy to find herself in an
abusive relationship. She cared about Amy too deeply as both a friend and
lover.  Silently scolding herself she bit her tongue. After all, she’d never
known Eric to be mean, just presumptuous and perhaps too brazen for his own
good.
         Her friend fixed her newly blonde
pigtails. “What ever do you mean? Of course I have a safe word and it’s all
consensual.”
         “Brad and I always laugh when we
talk about the time Eric stuck you in the cage as punishment for sneaking
around. Didn’t you think warning, crazy person , when he did that?” Kali
laughed and took a sip of her iced tea.
         With her cheeks turning crimson,
Amy smiled. “You’re right. It’s a good thing Eric isn’t a mass murderer because
I’d be dead. That was