Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
Freddy
Back at Marquis. It was a good thing he loved this place since in some ways it had become a home away from home.
Heck, sometimes, it felt more like home than his apartment did.
Freddy loved being around people, and his apartment didn’t come with that.
None of his neighbors were overly friendly or interested in doing more than the typical wave or nod as they passed each other in the hall. Friendly, but not friends.
Whereas at Marquis, he felt like he was constantly surrounded by friends.
Great until they kept interrupting his date with Mistress Camille. Shane had taken to glaring at people who saw Freddy and lit up, coming over to say hi. Thankfully, she didn’t seem bothered by the interruptions.
“You sure are popular,” she teased, taking a sip of her red wine.
They’d gotten drinks and appetizers. He hadn’t told her they probably weren’t going to be charged for any of it, since it was Shane on duty.
Freddy had seen Olivia pass through and whisper something to the bartender.
He was surrounded by matchmakers and interruptions.
“I have a lot of friends, and the subs know I’m always here to talk with if they need someone.” He shrugged. It didn’t really mean he was popular, more that he was in demand, which was fine. He liked being there for them and making sure they were taken care of.
“What about when you need someone?” she asked, tilting her head at him curiously.
Freddy opened his mouth to answer… then closed it as something a little painful tightened in his chest. It wasn’t that he didn’t have a lot of friends. He did. Of course, he did. He always had. But who did he call when he needed someone?
“Lexie,” he said after a moment. “She’s a good friend.
” But not his best friend because he didn’t have one—or, at least, she might be his best friend, but he wasn’t hers, which was fine.
He’d learned a long time ago to be happy with what he got.
He hadn’t had a best friend in high school or college, but he’d always had a lot of good friends.
If he was in serious trouble, he always had someone he could call.
It wasn’t quite the same as having a best friend but more than some people had, and he’d made up his mind to be grateful. Camille’s question still pricked that old wound.
“Freddy’s one of those people who gives and gives and has trouble asking for anything for himself,” Shane said, sliding a plate of burrata Caprese salad in front of them.
Freddy gave him a dark look, Shane easily ignored.
“Any given weekend, you’ll find him in here, listening to someone else’s problems.”
“I’m not always listening to someone’s problems,” he argued.
“No, but you’re almost always here in case someone is having one.”
“I just like working here. It’s less lonely.” Shane’s words were striking a chord. There were other places he could go work where he would be less likely to be interrupted. But he liked being here, where his people were… where someone could find him if they needed him.
Crap.
Shane might be on to something.
“I see.” Camille smiled sympathetically at him as she moved some of the burrata and tomato to her plate. The finely chopped basil decorating it stuck easily to the food. “I’m more of an introvert myself.”
“I am definitely an extrovert.” He smiled at her, noticing that Shane was making himself scarce now that he’d said what he felt he needed to say. Meddling bartender.
Meddling Dom is more like it.
That was exactly what it felt like… a well-meaning Dom telling on him to his Dominant—annoying and yet heart-warming.
It felt odd to have someone looking after him.
The Dominants around the clubs tended to assume he had his shit together and often treated him similar to one of their own outside of scenes.
It also felt really nice, especially since Shane was putting Mistress Camille in the position of being Freddy’s Dominant.
It might be a little presumptive, but that was also why they were here. That’s what Freddy wanted her to be and, hopefully, what she planned to be for him.
“How often do you come here on the weekends?” she asked.
“Most Saturdays,” he admitted. “If I don’t have other plans.”
She raised her eyebrow at him.
“How often do you make plans for Saturday mornings?”
Sheepishly, he shrugged his shoulder. “Ah, not often.”
It didn’t take her long to pry more information out of him, information he was reluctant to give because the more he talked, the more he realized Shane was right. Not only that, the more he had to start looking at some of the choices he made and examining the reasons behind them.
Was he actually happy not having a best friend?
Or did he just keep people at a distance because he was afraid of being rejected?
Or of ending up having someone he considered a best friend but who only considered him a friend…
again? And how much did that play into his desire to be there for everyone else?
Camille
Although they’d hit it off with the chemistry and the sex, and she’d seen his professional side at work, this was an unexpected and seemingly vulnerable side of Freddy.
She was glad Shane had said something. She wasn’t sure she would have noticed Freddy’s quirk of personality on her own, though she liked to think she would have picked up on it, eventually.
He'd described himself to her as a service submissive, but it was sounding like he didn’t hold himself to that just for his Dominant but for everyone in his life.
The more they talked about it, the more uncomfortable he became, a bit of distress showing in his expression, and Camille decided it might be best to change the topic to something lighter.
“So, other than Marquis, what’s your favorite thing to do in D.C.?”
Freddy’s eyes lit up, both with happiness and relief, and she was glad she’d changed the subject.
They’d come back to it, eventually, especially if they started a relationship.
She wouldn’t let any sub of hers wear themselves out—the way she wore herself out, if she was being perfectly honest—but it wasn’t something that was going to be fixed with one conversation. He needed a break.
“The cherry blossoms. I love the festival but also just walking around.”
“Oh, man, I haven’t been to see them since before I lived here,” she said wistfully.
More than once, she’d driven from Baltimore to walk around the pink-lined Tidal Basin or through the street festival.
One year she’d even run in the 5k, but it had been literal years.
Once she’d moved to D.C., it had gotten harder to get herself together enough to go.
Before, it had been a fun trip to take with friends, whereas now she would have been going on her own, and she hadn’t had the energy. Especially when no one was relying on her to go with them.
“Well, if you’d like an escort to them this year…” He winked.
“I would like that.” Maybe it was foolhardy to make plans for several months in the future, but they weren’t real plans.
They were more like plans to make plans.
If something happened, and it didn’t work out between her and Freddy, no harm no foul.
She just wouldn’t go see the cherry blossoms. Or she’d go on her own.
Or maybe see if Julie wanted to go with her. Olivia, too.
She had options, which was more than she could say for herself a year ago, but she really hoped things would still be going well with Freddy then.
“What about you?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” she answered honestly. “I feel like I haven’t been to half of the things I want to go to.
Even though I’ve lived in Maryland pretty much my whole life, I spent most of my time on the other side of the state, and when I got here…
well, I meant to get out a lot more, but somehow, it didn’t happen.
” She hadn’t had the energy or motivation.
“I really liked the Museum of Natural History and made the effort to go to the African American Museum, but that’s about it. ”
He chuckled.
“If it makes you feel any better, I haven’t been everywhere, either,” he admitted.
“I’ve lived right outside D.C. my whole life, and I still haven’t been in the Washington Monument.
Although that’s not entirely my fault because it was closed for repairs a lot by the time I was interested in it.
Maybe we could do that together sometime. ”
“That could be fun.” Her tone was noncommittal. Heights weren’t her favorite thing, and she wasn’t sure there was much else going on with the monument. “Do you have a favorite museum?”
“The Air and Space Museum,” he said immediately, grinning widely. “Especially the IMAX theater. And, of course, I have to get some dehydrated ice cream from the gift shop on my way out.”
Shaking her head, Camille shrugged.
“If you say so. I don’t think I’ve ever had dehydrated ice cream.”
“It’s more about the nostalgia than the taste or texture, so I can’t promise you’d enjoy it, but you should absolutely try some. You never know. It might be your new favorite thing.”
Laughing, Camille shook her head, but she already knew she would end up trying it.
They talked about all the things Camille had wanted to do around the area but hadn’t gotten the chance to do.
She could practically see Freddy taking mental notes, which warmed her, but she was understanding even more about what Shane had said.
They were going over all the things she might want to do.
What about the things Freddy wanted?
Freddy
Tonight was one of the best times he’d had in a long time, because this was more than a scene, this was a date.
And talking to Camille was even better than he’d imagined.
The conversation carried easily, though some of her probing questions made him inwardly squirm.
He hadn’t realized how often he got people talking about themselves rather than sharing anything about himself until he realized how uncomfortable he was with the way she’d turn questions around on him.
It felt like stretching a muscle that didn’t get used very often.
They stayed long after Happy Hour was over, eating their way through almost every appetizer on the menu and eventually getting dessert, until they finally, reluctantly, gave up their seats, and Freddy walked her to her car.
“I had a wonderful time tonight.” The time had passed way too quickly as far as he was concerned. “Maybe… we could do something this weekend? Go see one of the museums you’re interested in?”
“How about you show me around the Air and Space Museum?” She grinned at him, though her shoulders hunched in as the bitter chill of winter wind blew past them. Some of the streets in D.C. basically turned into wind tunnels, and she’d parked on one of them.
As much as he wanted to keep talking, he didn’t want her to literally get cold feet because he was keeping her on the street.
“I would love to,” he said honestly. As much as he wanted to scene with her again, showing her around one of his favorite places sounded as good as hot sex. A real date. A planned one, not impromptu like tonight. “We could get lunch, too, though the best food is at the Native American museum.”
She laughed.
“I’ve heard that. Maybe we could do both? The Native American museum in the morning, have lunch, then the Air and Space Museum in the afternoon? Or is that too much?”
He wasn’t sure if she was asking whether there were too many things in the museums for them to have time to do it all or if she was asking if that was too much of her, but either way, the answer was the same.
“That’s perfect. Just make sure you wear comfortable shoes.” He grinned, then his smile broadened when she reached out and pulled him against her.
“As much as I don’t want tonight to end, I’m freezing and getting in my car.
I can’t wait for this weekend.” She didn’t wait for him to answer before planting a hot kiss on his lips.
He angled his head to deepen it. They kissed for a long, wonderful moment before she pulled away, leaving his lips warm and tingling in the cold air. “Good night, Freddy.”
“Good night, ma’am.”
With a sweet smile, she got into her car and started it.
Stepping back, Freddy watched her drive away before he headed down the street to the garage where he’d parked.