Chapter Six
Marco
"Hi, welcome to The Play Spot." Marco smiled at Ariel as she whispered her introduction. That was a step in the right direction, when she'd first met him she couldn't speak and just made vague motions with her hands.
"Hey, Ariel, how are you tonight?" Marco asked as he pulled out his member card.
"Um, I'm okay." Ariel took the card and scanned it.
"Everyone treating you alright? Customers and Derek?"
"Oh yes, everyone is so nice and Derek is the best boss I've ever had." Ariel's voice grew stronger and Marco smiled again. Anytime Amelia or Derek was brought up Ariel had nothing but nice things to say about them. It seemed Derek had saved Ariel from a dire situation.
"That's good. Is there not a bouncer down here?" Marco frowned as he looked around. This neighborhood was a lot nicer than where the club was previously located but Ariel should still have someone to help if anyone gets belligerent.
"Oh," Ariel blushed, "Um, Levi’ll be back. He just popped to the bar to fill my water bottle."
"That's nice of him. I think I'll stay here until he comes back though."
"Yes, Levi is a very nice man. Almost all the men here are really nice, weirdly enough. Oh, you don’t need to stay with me.
I’ll be alright." Marco opened his mouth but the door in front of him opened and what Marco assumed to be Levi walked out.
He was a tall man with even broader shoulders.
He carried a red and purple water bottle that must be for Ariel.
It had The Little Mermaid stickers all over it.
"I got your water, Ariel. You need to drink all of it during your shift tonight." Levi stopped and frowned at Marco while he handed over Ariel's water bottle. "I thought I told you to lock the door while I was gone, Ariel."
"I can't do that!" Ariel looked so offended at the very notion. "That's bad customer service. I have to be available anytime someone comes. New or member. Derek said that."
"Derek also said that I am to help protect you. I can't do that if you let anyone into the club while I'm gone." Ariel just nodded and bit her lip. Levi sighed but patted Ariel gently on the shoulder.
"It's okay, little one, we'll have a chat later."
"You should listen to your Daddy, Ariel. He just wants you to be safe."
"I'm not--"
"He's not my Daddy," Ariel interjected. Marco raised his eyebrows but just nodded.
"My mistake, I'm sorry. I'll just head up to the Little Room.
" Ariel just nodded and Levi walked over to the front door leaned against the wall next to it. Marco walked up the stairs to the attic. He didn’t usually make that kind of mistake but Levi was acting like Ariel was his Little.
Especially when he called her little one and said they'd have a "chat" soon.
To him that meant she'd be on the receiving end of a spanking later.
Marco shook his head to dislodge his thoughts and came across the door to the Little Room.
Or as all the Little's liked to call it, The Imagination Room.
The door was painted lavender with a big rainbow on it and "The Imagination Room" in cursive letters.
Derek's sister, Amy had painted the door and the walls on the inside.
She was a tattoo artist and was also part owner in the club so Derek had asked her to put her own spin on the decor.
As Marco opened the door and stepped inside he stopped short.
It was like a Christmas shop had thrown up in here.
There were garlands of popcorn around the whole room with lights twisted among them.
The walls were covered with paper trees that several Littles were in the process of coloring and drawing on.
In the corner by the reading nook was a Christmas tree that was decked out with more popcorn garlands, festive lights, and so weighted down with ornaments that Marco was surprised it hadn’t fallen over.
The look was completed with a red bow at the very top, which was the most simple thing about the tree.
Marco chuckled and shut the door before he moved to where he could see Derek watching over Amelia. Derek’s Little was sitting in the middle of the room with a bunch of other Littles coloring happily and talking.
“Interesting design choices,” Marco said with a smirk.
“Amelia had a party the other night with all her friends and they decorated. Marcus, Quinn, and Marshie brought the tree. Apparently they’d found it when they were looking for their own tree.”
“It's very… Christmassy.” Derek laughed and shrugged.
“The Littles absolutely love it. Some have been bringing their own ornaments to add to the tree as well as some presents for when ‘Santa’ comes for the Christmas party.”
“I wasn’t expecting it as the front area isn’t decorated.”
“We ran out of decorations in here. Amelia, Ruby, Marshie, and Amy have a girls trip planned and are going to get more decorations to decorate the rest of the club and the dungeon. Amelia is going to invite Ariel to go with her."
"That's a good idea that'll help Ariel get out of her comfort zone. Speaking of 'Santa' , my outfit should be here next week."
"Oh good, can't have our 'Santa' not looking like Santa," Derek chuckled. Marco opened his mouth to say something but his eye caught something directly in front of him.
Kai.
He was kneeling in front of a book shelf and pulled out a book then sat down on the nearest bean bag chair and started reading.
Marco stopped breathing as he took Kai in.
He was wearing khaki cargo pants, a green shirt with some kind of cartoon on it and his sneakers were flashing slightly as he tapped one on the ground.
Is that all he wore? Where’s his coat? It's way too cold to be without a coat tonight or any night. It's winter!
Go scold him.
Fuck, can't do that. Kai was his employee. What he should do is leave and pretend he didn't see Kai tonight.
"Marco! Did you hear me?"
"Yeah, sure man. Whatever you say. I'll be right back." His feet seemed to be moving on their own as he worked his way across the big room, dodging Littles and their Bigs.
Just say hi, explain yourself then leave. Don't make it awkward.
"What on earth are you wearing?" Kai startled and looked up then scrambled to his feet with a shocked expression.
"Marco! What..."
"It's 40 degrees outside currently and dropping. Why are you wearing such thin clothes?"
Oh, yeah, real casual, not at all awkward. Good job.
Kai's shock was rapidly being replaced with annoyance and he put his hands on his hips with one finger pointed at Marco’s face.
"Now, listen here, Mister! I don't know why you are here tonight, nor do I really care. Just because you are my boss doesn't mean you get to dictate what I wear when I come to the one place I can relax. You are not my Daddy."
"Where is your Daddy? You should be punished for wearing such inappropriate clothes for how cold it is." Marco crossed his arms and glared down at Kai who was glaring right back up at him.
"Excuse me, is it cold in here? There's so many people that it's downright balmy. I drove my car that has heat and I parked right out front so it's not like I was in the cold very long. It's fine."
"It’s not fine, you could get a cold. Where's your Daddy?" Marco looked around. He didn't like the thought that Kai had a Daddy and this man was letting him run around in clothes that were terrible for winter.
Actually, what he didn't like was the thought that Kai had a man at all. He wanted to be Kai's Daddy.
Fuck.