Chapter 22
Cal
AIDA (OFF-CAMERA): Why don’t you introduce yourself, just to get yourself comfortable talking to the camera?
ME: [Gives what I hope is a devastating grin] Yeah. Hi. I’m Callum Sinclair. Fuck, I can’t believe I just waved.
AIDA: It’s okay. We won’t use any of this part anyway—it’ll be very tightly edited. And we can also put B-roll over some of your content.
ME: Like the wave?
AIDA: Like the wave.
LIZZY THE DIRECTOR: [Sniggers audibly]
ME: I heard that, Lizzy.
LIZZY: Yeah. Sorry.
ME: Okay ladies, prepare to be dazzled. I’m really ready now. Hang on. [Rakes hand through hair] Okay. Ready.
AIDA: From the top. Just try introducing yourself again.
ME: [Grins] I’m Callum Sinclair, and I’m a co-owner of Alchemy, which is an exclusive sex club in London.
AIDA: I can’t imagine the stories you could tell. Do you have a lot of high profile members?
ME: We do now, baby.
AIDA: Yeah, well. I’m gonna keep a very low profile. Anyway. Sex club owner. What did you do before?
ME: I traded credit instruments for a large investment bank. Mainly credit default swaps.
AIDA: Nice. So once you’d brought down the US housing market, you thought you’d try your hand at selling sex?
ME: [Laughs] Wow. Tough crowd. Something like that, I suppose, though I was way too junior to blame the Financial Crisis on.
I founded the club with three good mates from uni—two guys and one woman.
We dreamed the concept up over too much wine one night, but weirdly we were still into the idea the next morning.
AIDA: What was it about the idea of a sex club that made you tick?
ME: Is that a trick question?
AIDA: [Laughs] Aside from the obvious, that is.
ME: [Sighs] I think it felt… honest. That might sound odd, but we were all playing the same game. Work hard in the City by day, fuck hard by night. We were hooking up in bars and clubs. It was a lot of fun, but it was messy and exhausting.
You’d end up drinking too much and going home with a stranger and staggering into work the next day and changing your shirt at the office. It wasn’t sustainable.
AIDA: So Alchemy is a more sustainable choice?
ME: It’s more of an intentional choice, I would say.
You go there and you know everyone else is there for the same reason.
Even more importantly, they’ve all been vetted.
They’ve had background and health checks done and signed ironclad NDAs.
Plus, we have an extremely strict no-drug policy and a two-drink maximum.
So it’s a far safer place to find a sexual partner than out on the town or on a dating app.
AIDA: Now, the mere concept of a sex club will be absolutely terrifying for a lot of women. I know it is for me. How do you think women in particular can benefit from putting their sex lives into the hands of a place like Alchemy?
ME: I can’t tell women—or men, even—how to feel about sex, because those attitudes will be a melting pot of absolutely everything they’ve absorbed throughout their life, from religion, to culture, to their parents’ attitude toward sex.
But one thing we really stand by here at Alchemy is that most of the shame and guilt we feel around sex is in our heads.
It’s not real.
The whole point of the club is to create a shame-free, sex-positive environment for consenting adults to experiment for their own gratification and that of their fellow members.
End of story. There is nothing about seeking and taking pleasure that should make you feel guilty in that context.
And if that’s a principle anyone takes away in the broader context of their sex lives, then I’ll be thrilled.
AIDA: What kind of people would you say you attract to the club?
ME: A lot of them are time-poor, so it appeals for reasons I’ve just explained.
You can have a great time and then head home alone and get a good night’s sleep.
Obviously, most of the people who apply are sexually curious and adventurous.
They come because we can cater to their needs without them lifting a finger—all they have to do is show up.
It pushes their boundaries—they might come to us for X and end up trying and loving Y.
AIDA: But not everyone who comes to you is necessarily that experienced, right?
ME: Right. That’s really important. It’s far more about mindset than experience. We have people come to us who have no experience at all, and we have a programme that caters specifically for these people in a very tailored, very safe framework if they don’t want to jump in at the deep end.
AIDA: Tell us more about that programme, will you?
ME: [Leans forward] It’s called Unfurl, and we gave it that name because we believe the blossoming of your sexuality is a beautiful, natural process and very much part of the human experience.
I know even among us four co-founders, at the time when we were dreaming up Alchemy, we’d all heard stories of people not enjoying their first time, especially if they were women. It was either traumatic, or uncomfortable, or just plain unrewarding.
So we thought, ‘Let’s design a framework where people can sign up and expand their sexual horizons at their pace, on their terms, according to their, I suppose, risk appetites and kinks’.
AIDA: And it’s not just for virgins. Because that’s the programme I’ve signed up for.
ME: [Shoots her a sexy grin] Yes you have.
And, if I understand it correctly, it’s because you’ve come out of a monogamous relationship with the intention of reactivating your sex life with other people, but you’d like things to be more structured, for you, and also more private, because the last thing you need in your position is to be with people who don’t prioritise your wellbeing or who might betray your confidence.
AIDA: Exactly. But I’d like everyone watching to know that you haven’t actually told me yet what the first session will be. Which is incredibly rude, because I’m supposed to be calling the shots here. This is my show.
ME: I’ll tell you when you’re on this sofa next to me. And remember, when you’re at the club with me, it’s my show, baby.
AIDA: Dear God.
ME: I promise you, I will do everything in my power to make it an amazing experience for you. The only thing that matters is that you come out of that first session feeling like the beautiful, powerful goddess you are. The only thing.