Chapter 27
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Camille
Sunday morning and Freddy was in her bed after a wonderful night at Stronghold. Even the memory of their interrupted dinner couldn’t entirely kill her buzz, though her worry about the consequences of Junior’s threat was higher today. No more distractions.
“Good morning.” Turned out Freddy was awake, too. “What are you thinking so hard about?” Facing her, head on his pillow, his brilliant blue eyes were both curious and slightly worried.
“Junior and work but also how happy I am to wake up with you here. That definitely outweighs any worry.” She grinned as he smiled, delight lighting up his expression.
“Happy to be here. Would you like me to go get started on breakfast? Or… started on breakfast… I’d be happy to distract you.”
Oh, well with that kind of offer on the table…
Camille was perfectly happy to let Freddy have a first breakfast in bed.
As a distraction technique, it was a lovely one.
Instead of starting her morning off worrying and letting her anxiety grow, she started it off with Freddy’s blond head between her thighs, his wicked tongue eliciting louder and louder moans, until all of her tension was released in a glorious orgasm.
Then they went to the kitchen where he made crepes.
If this wasn’t living her best life, she didn’t know what was.
“So, what’s your plan for dealing with Junior?
If you’re okay with talking about it,” Freddy said, sitting down next to her with his own plate of crepes.
He’d made them each one savory and one sweet, and there was more batter if they were still hungry afterwards.
“If you’re not, please let me know if there’s anything I can do to help. ”
“Honestly, I’m not sure what I’ll be able to do until I find out how he spins this to the other partners.
I’ll tell them the truth, but I’m sure he’s already told his dad, and it’s spreading around today.
I suppose I could reach out to some of them before him, but they’ll probably take that as an admission of guilt.
Like I’m making a big deal out of it because I have something to hide, not because Junior is. ”
“Whereas, if he’s the one calling around, it’s clear he thinks it’s a big deal, but you don’t and therefore, you’re not treating it like it is.” Freddy nodded. “I can see that. Though it could backfire since he’s going to be coloring their thoughts before they even ask you what’s going on.”
“Yeah, but there’s nothing I can do about that except hope they’ll be reasonable, even though he got to them first. If they’re not willing to listen to what I have to say because of when I say it, that says an awful lot about them.”
“Hmm.” He didn’t answer right away, and she thought maybe he was savoring a bite of food, but when she looked over, he wasn’t chewing, and his eyes were unfocused, as though he was thinking hard about something.
“What?” she asked.
“Just thinking about how that’s applicable to Noelle last night,” he admitted. On the ride home from Stronghold, he’d told Camille about Noelle’s request. She’d bristled at the idea of bullying happening and had absolutely agreed he needed to look into it.
Privately, she’d thought he was maybe being a little too hesitant to give Noelle the full benefit of the doubt because he was starting off from a position of bias against her, but she could see what he was saying.
Especially as it applied to herself. Since she didn’t know anyone involved in the situation, she was more willing to entertain the idea that perhaps some of the people Freddy was friends with at Stronghold were being unkind to the woman.
However, was she being influenced by the fact she’d only heard Noelle’s allegations and that she’d heard them first?
Definitely something to think about.
But a different scenario since she already knew the partners would be biased against her and treat Junior’s account as the whole truth.
Since there was nothing she could do about that, she was trying not to let it ruin her day.
She thought attempting to get to them first would make some of them view her even less favorably.
“I can see that,” she said. “It’s a good reminder not to go in thinking you have the whole story when you’ve only heard one side of it.”
“Which can be hard to remember when you’re constantly representing only one side of something.” He chuckled. “One of the hazards of our job.”
Camille laughed. “Yeah, but sometimes there really is only one side worth considering. I can tell you right now that you did good work with Mrs. Alexander. She deserved much more than she got from that asshole.”
“Probably, but I’m not always one hundred percent on the side of the angels, as much as that’s where I want to be.
When it comes to people I like, whose lives I’m invested in, I don’t want to believe they’d behave badly, but that doesn’t mean I’m right.
” He made a face, as if it pained him to make that admission.
“So, you think there’s a possibility she’s being bullied?”
“I don’t know that I would call it bullying,” he said slowly.
“The more I think about it, the more I think even if people aren’t friendly with her or choosing not to scene with her, that doesn’t mean that it’s bullying.
It’s not like we force everyone to be friends or hang out together at the club.
She didn’t say people were actively harassing her or anything, but I’m going to look into it all the same.
“That’s all you can do.” She’d keep an ear out and check in with Julie and Olivia. Both of them would know better than Freddy what the gossip among the Dominants was and if any of them were avoiding scening with Noelle.
Not that there was much anyone could do if they weren’t by their own choice.
If they were being told not to, that would be different, but she was having trouble picturing that happening.
Even Dominants who liked to follow the rules didn’t like to be told what to do outside the necessary structures of the scene.
There would always be a few who would buck being told what to do and do the opposite.
Sometimes, Doms looked an awful lot like brats.
Not that she’d ever say so out loud.
Her phone dinged with an email, and she glanced over automatically, freezing when she saw the sender. It was from Murdoch.
“Who is it?” Freddy asked.
“Murdoch… hold on a sec.” Dropping her fork, she scrambled to pick up her phone.
She had to read the email twice before the message really sank in, then she let out a whoop, throwing her hands in the air—though she kept a tight grip on her phone because she didn’t want to accidentally throw that too. “I got the job!”
“You got the job?!” The question was rhetorical and delighted. Freddy jumped to his feet, which inspired her to get onto hers as well. He twirled, showing off his cute butt in the apron, and she did a little dance of happiness, letting it buoy her as she truly celebrated.
Coming close enough to grab him, she pulled him in, and his lips met hers in a joyful kiss. The lingering tension from the night before was gone. It didn’t matter what Junior told the other partners now.
Pulling away from the kiss, she didn’t let go of him.
“I need to sign the acceptance and get it back to them, then type up my resignation for Donaldson. I got the job!”
“You got the job!”
Both of them laughed, and she squeezed him tightly, resting her head against his shoulder as she fended off relieved tears. It felt good to lean on him, knowing he was here for her and feeling his happiness for her. Having someone to celebrate with was amazing.
Opening up her life to him wasn’t easy, neither was being vulnerable and admitting to her feelings, but she wanted him to know how much he was starting to mean to her.
She was so glad the job offer had come in while he was around to celebrate with her.
Not that not sharing the news would have taken away from how happy it made her, but having him by her side made the moment feel even more complete.
“I’m glad you’re here,” she admitted, her voice muffled from where she was pressed against his shoulder.
“Me, too.”
“Wanna come meet my mom this afternoon?”
He squeezed her a little tighter.
“I would be honored.”
Freddy
Meeting Camille’s mother was both a joy and a sadness.
He was so glad she wanted him to, but he could also see that the visit made her sad because of how her mother’s memory had been affected.
Whether Mrs. Sinclair would be able to remember him the next time he came was up in the air, but he was still glad to meet her.
He could see why Camille’s job had been so important to her. It was clear the care Mrs. Sinclair was getting was exemplary, and with a disease like dementia, it was important to slowing the effects.
Excusing himself to give them a little privacy for the last bit of Camille’s visit, Freddy went down the hall to a small greeting room.
No one was using it, so he didn’t feel bad taking over one of the armchairs and making a few calls to some of the people who would know if there was any truth to what Noelle said.
Lexie was at the top of his list, followed by Kate, Gina, and finally Sam. He saved the person in Noelle’s actual group of friends for last, figuring he’d have more information by then. Unfortunately, he didn’t have any.
None of the first three knew of any rumors being spread about Noelle.
There had been the initial flurry of discussion when she’d first joined, especially because she’d apparently said a few things in her Introduction Class that had people talking about Iris, but that had all been shut down pretty quickly.
Iris, on the other hand, had asked everyone to give Noelle a chance.
Kate and Lexie admitted that neither of them was particularly keen on giving Noelle a chance, but that wasn’t surprising since they’d both known Iris for a long time, even if she wasn’t part of their inner circle.
He’d called Gina because she wasn’t part of that group, either, and he figured she would have more of an outsider’s perspective, but she’d been surprised.
She’d never heard anything about it. She did mention a few Doms who weren’t interested in scening with Noelle but only because of what they’d heard from Doms who did scene with her.
She was getting a bit of a reputation as someone who liked to play at submission rather than truly submitting, and while some of the Doms were fine with that or even considered her a challenge, it turned others off. Nothing wrong with any of that.
Amy was the first person who had any kind of information for him from Noelle’s side of things.
“Yeah, she said it’s been getting weird for her at the club lately,” Amy said, a note of worry in her voice.
“She doesn’t think Iris is behind it, but she worries about what Rae and Domi are saying.
I don’t think they’d be trying to influence anyone, but I know they’re also super protective of Iris. ”
That was true. There had been an incident when he’d had to shut down some nasty talk between the two of them about Morgan, but as far as he knew, they’d never tried to talk to anyone else about her. Afterward, they’d both regretted their words and mended their ways.
He knew some of the issue had been the fact that they didn’t know about Morgan’s past, so they’d had a very skewed view on why the Doms showed so much interest in her.
Didn’t help that Rae had been wildly jealous of how much attention Master Brian paid attention to Morgan, even if she wasn’t willing to admit it.
They’d never said anything directly to Morgan or even where she could hear.
It had been pure chance he’d overheard one of their conversations.
That had been over a year ago, and as far as he knew, they’d never said another mean word about her or any other sub.
They’d also started working on reaching out and making new friends, which was how they’d become friends with Iris and another sub, Avery.
It didn’t hurt that Domi’s fiancé, Mitch, had a large group of friends they’d been pulled into as well.
He didn’t think they’d make trouble for Noelle now but couldn’t entirely rule it out.
“Do you know what they’re saying?” he asked. “Noelle didn’t want to get into specifics.”
There was a long moment of silent hesitation, then Amy sighed.
“I’ll be honest, I don’t know that they’re saying anything to anyone.
She says they don’t like her, which is true, but it’s not like they’re going around shouting it to the rooftops.
She seems really paranoid about it. It doesn’t help that Marissa and Caroline smother her in sympathy every time she talks about either.
I don’t think she realizes that they have their own axe to grind with that group. ”
“Are you doing okay with all of it?” he asked. “I know you spend a lot of time with Zach, and he’s good friends with Mitch…”
“Oh, yeah, they aren’t treating me any differently.
I don’t really spend time with Zach’s friends, you know.
” Almost the moment she finished speaking, Freddy could hear a masculine voice in the background.
He couldn’t understand what the man was saying, but he sounded angry.
Amy’s fiancé? “Shoot, Freddy I’ve gotta go. I’ll talk to you later.”
She hung up before he could respond, and he frowned. If that was her fiancé, it sounded like trouble in paradise. He hoped he hadn’t caused it by bringing up Zach.
“Hey, you ready to go?” Camille appeared in the doorway, a tired smile on her lips. She raised her eyebrows at him. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah. Sounds like Noelle’s unhappy, but I can’t find anyone who has anything concrete about her being treated badly or even differently, so that’s good news.
” He didn’t bring up the end of his call with Amy.
He wasn’t sure why she’d had to go so quickly and didn’t want to spread her business around if she was having trouble with her fiancé.
“Anyway, what do you want for your celebration dinner?”
“My celebration dinner?” She laughed as he met her in the doorway, dropping his lips down to hers for a quick kiss.
“Of course. A new job deserves a celebration.”
“Alright, you’ve convinced me.” Smiling up at him, he could see the pure happiness in her expression.
Fuck, it was no wonder he was falling so fast.