Chapter 13
Arnie
I had tried to call him back when he dashed off in the direction of his work, but he ignored me, his mind elsewhere. I didn’t think it was my place to push it, so I waited until he was inside before going around to see Mags.
I wasn’t sure what I had done to scare him off or why he ran.
He signed the agreement. He knew what this was when he arrived at my home on Saturday morning.
When some are new to the dynamic, they worry after their first scene that what they did was wrong or that they need time to collect their thoughts.
I was sure I had taken care of Jamie in the right way after what happened in my office. He seemed his usual self, if not sassier and more open with me than he had been on the morning he arrived.
I had no idea what kind of 180 happened.
It had been days of radio silence. He was ignoring my emails, my texts, and according to Simmons, he hadn’t shown up for class or even told them he would be absent.
At that point, it grew into genuine worry that something else had happened to him.
In a panic, I drove to see Mags on Tuesday afternoon after Jamie failed to meet me at the library again.
“Can’t you just ask Simmons for Jamie’s address?” Mags asks as he brewed us both some tea.
The club was closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, but Mags was around to oversee deliveries or do admin in the office. He knew his fancy mango tea would help calm me down; it always did.
He placed the glass teapot and two glass cups down on a tray in front of me. We are sitting on the red velvet armchairs in the far corner of the office. I watch as the dried tea leaves and mango settle to the bottom, stewing, just like me in my thoughts of Jamie and his well-being.
“No, it’s against policy even if he has access to it. I’m worried something bad has happened, Mags. He didn’t seem like the type to ghost someone. He even seemed upbeat in the car until a point, and I know for a fact he enjoyed that kiss,” I say as Mags watches me.
“Look, Arnie, I don’t wanna be a bitch, but it could just be that he isn’t interested. Didn’t you say that he was straight or straight-adjacent? Maybe he experimented with you, then decided it wasn’t for him. The ghosting could be because he’s a rude boy and not because of anything else.”
Mags knew how to make someone feel better.
“I mean, why not kick me more when I’m down, Mags.”
I half-laugh as I shake my head at him, knowing that he did mean well. I knew he was wrong, though. I needed to talk to Jamie and confirm he was okay, despite the potential end of our relationship, because he wasn’t like that. I told him I would support him, and I meant it.
The tea is pleasant, but I couldn’t enjoy it as I thought of a way to get to Jamie. An idea comes to me on how I could at least make sure he was alive.
“Hey, is Cheeks open tonight?” I ask as I run my finger around the lip of the cup, trying not to sound like a stalker.
“Yes... Arnie?”
I look up; Mags had put his cup back on the table and is watching me with a careful expression. I knew where this was going.
“It’s not like that, Mags. I know I have a saviour complex because of my parents and foster care and blah, blah, blah.
But I am concerned for Jamie regardless of what happened between us.
I know he ran away from home to study here and has zero contact with his family. What if something awful happened?”
Mags studies me for an extra second before nodding, his lips pursed together as he swipes his hands down his pastel shirt to straighten it out.
“I’ll be back in five, Arnie. Man the club, will you?” He stalkes out of the office, and I can hear him take the stairs two at a time before the bang of the emergency door slams shut behind him.
What the hell? Man, the club? There was no one there. I laughs to myself.
Mags was good at helping me feel better, but there was just something eating at me about this whole thing with Jamie. I refused to get him out of my mind and move on until I had him in front of me. I have to see for myself that he is okay and if he needs me.
But why would Jamie need me? I gave him rules, punished him, then kissed him without asking.
Maybe I scared him off. I wasn’t used to acting like this; it was unfamiliar ground. Maybe I had been too much, too quick.
Running my hands through my hair, I wait for Mags. My tea long forgotten. I'ms pacing, wearing a hole into the polished, dark floor at my feet.
This had never happened to me before. I was a Dom without strings attached.
I have never pined after a guy that I had only done one scene with before.
I mean, maybe I would have chased them a bit for one or two more scenes if they were hot, but it never went as far as kissing and dropping them off at work.
Or forcing my best friend to go get the guy’s address through desperation.
What happened with Jamie is so left field I don’t know how to deal with it, and not being in control is driving me round the bend.
If I found out he was just dodging responsibility and pissing his life away, then I would tie him to my Saint Andrew’s cross as soon as I got him back to my attic, and he would get an unthinkable thrashing.
Mags appears 10 minutes later than his promise of 5 minutes, and his sleek bun, which he had when he left, is now askew. Hairs flying out from every end, he looks rumpled and flustered.
He places a torn piece of paper in front of me and collapses into the office chair opposite, a huff coming from him as he melts down the seat.
“You owe me, Arnie,” he coughs while still catching his breath.
He furrows his brows and pouts his lips. He’s unamused when he sees me laughing at his attempts to intimidate me.
“What the hell happened to you? How did you get his address that quickly?” The piece of paper just had one word with a number next to it.
It was the dorm name and room number for Jamie.
I was hoping he didn’t fight someone for that, but it didn’t seem like Mags’ style. Despite his pointed, glitter nails I’m sure could take an eye out or two.
“Gerry and I.... uh, well, we indulge play others at times,” Mags admits while looking anywhere but at me. The curtains to match the armchairs seem interesting to look at suddenly.
What? I shake my head in slight disbelief that after all these years, my best friend could still surprise me.
“You and Gerry? Play with others that include, and I’m roughly guessing here, the owner of Cheeks? That’s how you got this?” I ask, waving the paper in front of him with two fingers.
I can’t help the obscene grin I'm sporting as Mags looks mortified; his face is redder than before.
“You kinky little bitch. You know all about me and my sexual proclivities. But this is how I find out about you?” Shocked is not the word for finding out my best friend of all these years had been hiding a sexy little secret of his own.
“Yes, well, it helped find your Jamie, didn’t it? So, let’s drop it for now or forever. Go find him. Make sure he is okay. Beau said he didn’t show up for work after that meeting, and his messages aren’t even going through. They were ready to send someone over tonight if he still hadn’t shown.”
He sits upright in his office chair, making shooing gestures with his hands at me.
“Fuck. I think it’s serious, Mags. I need to go.”
I kiss the top of his head and thank him for the address. I'm already at the bottom of the stairs when I hear him yell for me to keep him updated.
I would. Just as soon as I knew Jamie was okay.