Chapter 12
CHAPTER TWELVE
On Wednesday, Laura went to work and was unusually productive despite spending all day mentally preparing herself to go to the munch. She went to the ladies’ room a dozen times to check her clothes in case she had accidentally spilled something on them during the day. She practiced smiling in the mirror and friendly greetings with her coworkers until one of them asked if she was okay. Her nerves jangled as the hours ticked by, but when her shift actually ended, a strange calm fell over her. With a wave at the doorman, she left the building and took some fortifying deep breaths as she walked to the bus stop.
The munch was at the Smokehouse, which wasn’t really in her budget, but she could get by with an appetizer and water. She was too nervous to want to eat anyway. Once she stepped off the bus, the butterflies she’d had off-and-on all day started up again, and she almost climbed right back on the bus. But she had decided she wanted to know more about BDSM and what the people involved were like, so in she went.
The first person she noticed was a woman about her height with gorgeous auburn hair. She walked up to Laura as soon as she caught sight of her and said, “You must be HoneyLamb42. I’m Kate and I’m playing host this month.”
“Hi Kate, I’m Laura. How did you know who I was?” Laura inquired.
“It was pretty obvious since we didn’t have any other new people RSVP this month.” She must have read the panic in Laura’s eyes, because she added, “Sometimes half the group is new to us, sometimes it’s just a few. Personally, I like when it’s just one or two, so I can give them individual attention and answer questions. Come on in, I’ll introduce you around.”
Laura wasn’t quite sure what to make of this. Obviously, this was LadyKatetheSadist, but she looked so normal. She was wearing jeans and a nice sweater, but there was nothing special about it, nothing even slightly saucy.
Laura glanced at the woman’s face, noticing a glimmer in her eyes.
Her tone laced with a touch of humor, Kate spoke, “Munches are strictly vanilla affairs. I leave my floggers and cuffs at home.”
“Oh,” was all that Laura could manage in response.
Giving Laura little time to feel embarrassed, Kate introduced her to the loose crowd of people around the bar. “This is Laura, she’s new, both to us and the scene. Laura, over here we have Mitch and Julie, who are something of an item right now, although both insist it’s just for play. Peter, Janet, Scott, and Sonja. I know it’s a lot of names to keep straight, but most of us aren’t good with names either, so don’t worry if you forget.”
Mitch was wearing jeans and an old sweatshirt from Mizzou. The vivacious Asian Julie was in jeans and a t-shirt that said, My password is the last 8 digits of π .
Laura felt a little over-dressed in her work clothes. As a rule, she wore a skirt and nice blouse so she would look professional, even if some of the men showed up in jeans and t-shirts like Julie’s.
Sonja, at least, had a dress on, but she looked pretty relaxed. No one looked scary. Janet was as overweight as Laura had been before she slimmed down, and Peter was downright fat, but neither appeared self-conscious. He looked like a laughing Buddha with his bald head and protruding belly, and she was cute in a babydoll dress and glittery tights that emphasized, rather than hid her curves. Laura started to realize people who were into kink and BDSM could look perfectly normal. There was nothing obviously odd about any of these people.
There was already a large platter of appetizers and small plates on a table by the bar which Kate told her was for the whole group, so when the bartender strolled over and asked what she would like, Laura splurged and ordered a glass of white wine, hoping it might help her relax.
“So, Laura–” Mitch's voice took on a tone of genuine interest. “— how long have you been in the scene?”
“I’m pretty much a complete novice,” Laura confessed. “I met a guy recently and we had kind of an impromptu one-night stand and I was intrigued. I’ve read a lot of fiction with BDSM in it, but I didn’t believe it happened for real until I met this guy.”
“So, who’s the guy? Is it anyone we might know?” Julie leaned in slightly, her almond-shaped eyes fixing on Laura.
Laura’s face burned. Remind me why I mentioned that night? “He’s just someone I ended up with one night. Neither of us wanted to be there, so we decided to make the best of a bad situation. It ended up as one of the better nights of my life, as a matter of fact.”
Kate leaned in, and even with a smile and without raising her voice, managed to exude such authority that they all shut up. “You don’t have to answer any questions that make you uncomfortable. And you two, you know better than to grill a first-timer! How would you feel if she started quizzing you about your personal lives?” Turning to Laura, she added, “Since you’re new, you probably have lots of questions. What would you like to know? Aside from details about Mitch and Julie, that is.”
Laura had so many questions, she wasn’t sure where to start. “Your profile on Fetlife says you’re a sadist. What does that mean in real life?”
Kate’s eyes shone like emeralds. “Being a sadist means I like to inflict erotic pain, and sometimes a bit more than erotic pain. It rather depends on who I’m Topping as to what I do. It’s all a matter of negotiation between the Dom and sub or the Top and bottom, depending on how you define yourself. And listen, this is important.” Kate tapped the countertop, giving extra weight to her next words. “Any Dom who tries to tell you they know what you’ll like without negotiation is someone to run from, far and fast. A good Dom won’t do anything with you without your consent and proper negotiation, and he or she has to consent to do what you want, too. Consent is a two-way street and good communication is key, whether you’re interested in pick-up play partners or in a serious relationship.”
Another man came into the bar, zeroing in on Kate and Laura at once. He was handsome in a low-key way, with a stubble beard and an easy smile on his face.
Kate’s face brightened at the new arrival. “Hi Chris, I didn’t think you were going to make it. James isn’t with you?”
“Nah, I couldn’t talk him into coming. He claimed he needed to go over the books, but the books are fine. Hi,” he said, turning to Laura. “You must be the new girl I heard would be here tonight.”
Laura’s butterflies got going faster when she heard James’s name. Could this be the friend James had mentioned? Yeah, right. Because there’s only one James in the whole wide world. Go ahead and embarrass yourself by asking .
“Hi, I’m Laura,” she said, politely holding out her hand to shake.
“Chris.” He took her hand and gave her a firm shake, but not a painful one, careful with his obvious strength. “Nice to meet you,” he said with a smile.
She already liked him, and the corners of her mouth lifted.
“So what brings you to our little munch?” Chris let go off her hand and settled on a bar stool.
Laura looked down and swallowed. “I’m interested in learning more about BDSM and according to Fetlife, this is the best kind of event to start with.”
Kate’s eyebrows, a shade darker than her hair, arched with curiosity. “Did your one-night-stand get you interested in kink or were you into it already?”
“A little bit of both,” Laura admitted. “I’ve been reading BDSM romances for a while now. I know they’re not realistic, but they sure are hot. When I had my night, I realized I was more than a little interested in the real thing, so I got on Fetlife. How did you get into it?” she asked, turning toward Kate.
“I got started experimenting in college. A boyfriend wanted to tie me up. I learned quickly I’d rather be the one doing the tying. After more trial and error, I discovered I liked tying up both men and women, and then doing other, more–” A smile flashed over Kate’s gorgeous face. “— interesting things with them.”
“I learned about BDSM from a friend in college, too,” Chris interjected.
Laura smiled at him politely, but couldn’t help feeling he was flirting with her and as cute as he was, she wasn’t looking for that tonight. Noticing the young woman in the funny t-shirt had moved over in their direction, she waved. “Julie, isn’t it?” she asked, happy with the distraction. “I love your top. Are you into math?”
“Thanks, Laura. It’s one of my favorites. It’s scary how few people get it. I got my degree in math, but now I do mostly IT. I’m freelance,” Julie explained. “Let me introduce you around some more. Given the chance, Chris will try to keep you all to himself.” She stuck out her tongue at Chris, who threw back his head and laughed as she led Laura to the dining area.
As they moved away, Laura overheard Kate say, “It’s too bad James isn’t here. I think he’d really like her.”
Laura heart leapt as Chris replied, “No, he’s …” the rest of his sentence got lost in the crowd and her own pounding pulse as she and Julie walked into the room to meet with other attendees. It meant nothing. James was a very common name after all.
The rest of the evening was both eye-opening and amazingly normal, with conversations varying between serious debates on paddle crafting, boasting about who could edge the longest, how the hell the Royals could drop from the World Series to the bottom of their division in only three years, and the woes of puppy teething.
The last members of the munch arrived, and Julie brought them around to meet Laura. Margie and Andy, who were around Laura’s age or a little older, and their daughter, Eileen, who couldn’t be long out of high school.
“Wait, you’re here with your daughter?” Laura asked, blushing at the thought of bringing her father even to this casual public gathering. “How does that work?”
Eileen turned to her parents with a crooked smile. “Yeah, Mom. How does that work?
Margie giggled like a much younger girl and answered, “Eileen is how Andy and I found out about kink. She had a boyfriend we didn’t like when she was a senior in high school, and we kept a close eye on her phone. When we saw some of the texts they were exchanging we realized their relationship wasn’t… well, we’d say vanilla now, although at the time we thought of it as ‘normal.’” Margie grinned and continued. “We let her know we weren’t happy about the boy, but questioned her about the texts. That’s how we found out about BDSM. We’ve been having a wonderful time ever since. I’m a serious masochist and Andy is just the sadist I need. We also discovered we’re both into poly. That’s the beauty about this community and Club Indigo, everybody is open-minded and accepting.”
“Club Indigo?” Laura lowered the wine glass she had halfway to her lips and blinked.
Margie nodded. “It’s a private club, invitation only. Most of the regulars to this munch attend the club. In fact, most of us will be going there tonight. That’s one of the big benefits of holding a munch. We get to meet people, have a safe place to negotiate, and then go to the club and play.”
Laura filed that information away to ask about later, but she soon got distracted by the conversations around her.
The rest of the evening passed in something of a blur. She talked to most of the attendees, but found she liked Julie and Kate the most. Chris flirted with her some more, hinting that the night was young and they could get to know each other better at Club Indigo, but she merely smiled at his blatant come-ons. She gave Julie her Fetlife name and promised to respond to a friend request. “Maybe we can get together sometime soon,” Julie said, as Laura was getting ready to go.
“That sounds like a great idea,” Laura replied.
Julie asked if she had plans the next week and Kate walked up as they were talking. The next thing she knew, the three of them were going to have dinner together the following Friday.
In a rush to catch the last bus, Laura hurried off, her pace quickening into a jog as she pursued the approaching bus. Thoughts and snippets of conversations swirled in her mind. The munch had been a resounding success in her mind, and she was eager to meet Kate and Julie next Friday. She realized they might even be friends. She had stepped outside of her comfort zone, and even if nothing else came of it, she had met people she liked, who seemed to really like her. She had opened the door to a whole new way of life, but more than that, for the first time in her adult life, she had made friends.