2 Emeric
“She’s insufferable.”
“Do I need to remind you Serenity is my cousin?”
I roll my eyes, glad Jo can’t see me through the phone. Arguing with Serenity earlier today already put me in a bad mood, and if she flakes on ordering things for a sensory kit I might just lose it.
I picked up when a call came in from her husband Vinny and immediately tensed. Vinny hasn’t called me in eight years, claiming it’s easier to text, and to my surprise Jo was on the other end of the line. “Cousin or not, she’s not the best fit for the job. I swear she likes nothing about the club.”
“Serenity is more reserved,” Jo agrees, her tone strained. She clears her throat before speaking again. “She’s been a little hesitant since everything that happened with me.”
I frown. I know plenty about what happened to Jo and Vinny, but it didn’t turn me off the lifestyle. “That’s a personal issue. Serenity is just taking the extreme side of things.”
“Be nice to her,” Jo stresses with a sigh. “I’m sure she’s doing her best.”
“Your enrollment numbers are down 15% with her doing her best at all of the office work.”
There’s a beat of silence. “Is she vetoing everyone?”
I blow out a breath, pinching the bridge of my nose. “She’s very… reserved. Things that could just be kinks come off as red flags to her and she doesn’t want to let those members in.”
“There’s nothing wrong with being cautious.”
“Jo,” I practically growl, “she’s only accepted one member since February. February. It’s May. If I didn’t pester her to go back over things you’d be down a lot more than 15%. People miss the owners being here.”
She sighs. “Things are complicated. It’s still going to be some time.”
“So Alastair isn’t playing nice?”
“Emeric!”
I smirk. I know more about Jo and Vinny than most people. I’m certain I know more about Vinny than Serenity does. “Right, sorry. How’s Florida?”
“It’s hell. I knew I’d regret coming back here.”
But I just shake my head, moving back towards the stage. “We open up soon, Jo. I better get ready. New members start again tonight. There was a drop there in numbers for a while.”
“Oh, see? It must’ve been a blip in the enrollment numbers. You’re already bringing them up again.” She clears her throat, a note of uncertainty in her voice. “You can hold things down there if it’s still going to take some time?”
“If we have to.”
She sighs. “I’m doing what I can. We can’t rush this, you know that.”
“Yeah, Jo, I know. But couldn’t you have a cousin who’s easier to work with?”
“Maybe you could help her open up instead of getting under her skin,” she suggests.
“That doesn’t do anything for me when she isn’t interested in talking.”
“Just give her a chance, Emeric.”
“I have given her chances, Jo. Plenty of them. For months. She simply hates the kink community.”
Jo scoffs. “That seems like a bit of an extreme exaggeration.”
I snort. “Clearly, you don’t know your cousin.” I spot Nate jogging up the aisle towards the stage, waving at me. “Doors are about to open. I have to go.”
“Fine, but don’t yell at my cousin unless you have to.”
Rolling my eyes, I slide the cell into my pocket and hop offstage. Nate is already dressed for the evening in one of the uniforms, his dark eyes sparkling with amusement as he approaches. “You know, it’s nice when the host is nearby for newcomers. I hate doing intakes.”
The corner of my mouth lifts. During the holiday season when it’s extremely busy, Jo mentioned using Nate and Callie and a couple other longtime regulars to help with the initial visits for new members. He hates doing it, and I can’t say I blame him. “There’s almost a dozen tonight.”
“Imagine that.” He crosses his arms, bulging muscles pulling at the tight fitted shirt. I’m betting his partner Callie picked that out. No way Nate decided to pick that size, not with the way it strains around his arms and makes me want to laugh. “I can’t believe you convinced Serenity to let new members in.”
I groan. “She’s giving it a try.”
“You’re going to have to get her out on the floor more,” Nate continues, and I shoot a glare his way. “I’m just saying, the club gossips. And I’ve heard enough jokes about her being a virgin.”
“It doesn’t really matter if she is,” I grumble. “There’s a lanyard for that.”
He laughs, patting me on the shoulder. “Yeah, there is. But the general idea right now is she’s either too innocent or too much of a prude to come downstairs. Either one is believable honestly, since she’s rich. People think she’s here because of Jo, not because she cares about any of this.”
It sounds like what I just complained to Jo about, but it’s my job to put up a good front so people stop worrying about the little shit at the club. “I don’t need a summary man.”
“Okay, okay,” Nate says, holding up his hands. “Just have her walk the floors more often. She doesn’t ever come down when she’s the only one here, and those days are starting to get out of hand.”
My brow twitches. Nate means well, but he’s just adding stress to my shoulders. I know Serenity doesn’t ever come downstairs on the days she’s here alone. Friday, Saturday and Sunday we always work together, but I work on Mondays and Thursdays and she covers Tuesdays and Wednesdays, the slowest days of the week. There’s no reason anyone should be getting out of hand with the security teams here.
But if people don’t respect her here, it’s going to cause problems. There’s a lot of applicants with the summer months coming up, and plenty we need to respond to. It’s getting them in the door that’s an issue, and if she’s not going to hold up her half of the management position then it’s going to look bad on the club.
“I’ll talk to her again,” I groan.
Nate laughs. “Good luck with that.”
We reach the main floor, and it’s already crowded as people walk in for the evening hours. I spot Nate’s partner Callie by the bar, nearly bare as normal, and she’s sporting some shiny heels that catch the lights. Callie waves before picking up a tray to start her shift, her long blonde hair hitting just above her elbows and almost obscuring her tattoo. In the background I can see Tyson, another member I know, chatting with another waitress while a second drags her fingers over his waistband.
I do a double take when I spot a group near the left hall. There’s two halls on either side of the main room, which branches off to the theater, and a hall that loops right while the other starts left. They connect around the building behind the stage, so people can do a loop of the building if they please. Or they can climb the stairs to play on the roof, or descend down into the chambers where dungeon play is enjoyed. Towards the leftmost hall, there’s the shop and almost across from it is the door that leads up to the offices. It’s a separate space, where you need to have a code to get the locks to disengage before you climb the stairs to a second door. I think it’s a lot of security for an office, but knowing Jo implemented it, it isn’t all that surprising.
Russell and Anita are near the leftmost hall, the blond man towering above two women, and I’m surprised to see Serenity over there. She’s wearing tall, name-brand heels and a pretty shift dress that’s more appropriate for the dance club than a sex club.
Walking over, the smile on her face slips off. “Hey, I’ve got this side covered.”
“You come downstairs for the first time in weeks and I’m supposed to assume you’ve got this handled,” I ask bluntly.
“We were going to hang out with her,” Russell replies, shrugging. He’s another longtime member of the club, but I can’t say I know him all that well. I did some training with him before I moved, but that was years ago. “Help if she’s got any worries.”
I glance at Serenity again. Her hair is swept to one side in a braid, letting the blonde strands fall gracefully over one shoulder. She’s got on a ton of makeup like usual, her nails done, and even some stunning, probably too expensive, golden bracelets on her wrists.
Her lanyard is gold, signaling that she’s a staff member. Jo and Vinny never wore them because everyone knew who they were, but this is the first time I’m seeing Serenity wear one. Usually it’s just a name tag that says manager stuck to the front of her shirt.
The change is… good. Jarring. “Finally trying to fit in around here, Doe Eyes?”
She whips around, that braid snapping through the air fast enough I bet it stings to be hit with. Those chocolate eyes look up at me as though she”s planning my death. “I need to be more present, so here I am.”
“I”m glad you”re down here on the floor,” Anita says, a pretty Latina that Russell led into the lifestyle. She”s curvy, and from what I hear she likes having more than one partner from time to time. Behind her Russell gives a fake cough to cover his laughter, and she elbows him. “Oh, stop that!”
Serenity rolls her eyes, turning to glare at me. “Too busy to take your clothes off tonight, Emeric?”
I shrug. “If it isn”t a training class, people gotta pay money to see that.”
She blushes. “Then why are you almost always naked when you come up to the office?”
“Perks of working at a sex club,” I tell her, and that blush intensifies. “You’re just down here to pretend to be friendly to the new members.”
“I am friendly,” she gripes. “There’s two people who aren’t coming with current members so I was going to do the walk-through with them.”
I frown, trying to remember who the hell is supposed to be visiting tonight. The guards up front know what to do when someone new shows up and they aren’t with a current member. So far no one’s buzzed us about an arrival. “Serenity, if the new members are male, I’m supposed to do the walkthrough with you.”
She jabs me in the chest, the sharp point of her nail digging into my chest. “Don’t start on that sexist bullshit with me, Emeric. I am completely capable of walking someone through a damn building. Look how many people are here.”
My brow twitches as I glare down at her. “It’s a safety precaution-”
“That Jo set in place,” she growls. “I’m not my cousin. I don’t have her…”
There’s a beat of silence between us, and I lean into her space. She leans back, her head tilting backward to escape me. “Trauma?”
I press my lips together. Jo is her cousin, so it makes sense she would know something about her past. But I’m pretty doubtful that she knows as much as I do. “Don’t need to broadcast that, do we?”
Her eyes harden, and she pushes back on my chest to straighten up. Anita and Russell watch us with curious eyes, but they are wise enough to not comment. “I don’t need the same security measures she does. They’ve already been screened and the background checks done. I’m basically a tour guide. Relax.”
She’s not going to budge on this, and I can’t decide if I admire that or hate it. “Fine. Take one, I’ll walk the other through.”
Serenity huffs, holding up a finger like she plans on arguing again, when the headsets we wear while working buzz. “Hey, I got someone here for a tour.”
“I’ve got it, Eric,” Serenity says brightly, blowing past me. I glare after her, wondering what I should do about all that attitude she’s giving off.
I get not wanting to be followed like she can’t handle herself, but the point of doing the tours together is to avoid something dumb happening.
The headset clicks on again. “Emeric? The other guy is here. Do you want him to go with Serenity or-”
“I’m coming,” I snap, ignoring the curious look Russell sends me as he turns away. I don’t have an explanation for this; I barely know what’s going on myself. But doing the tour will get this out of the way again, and I can get back to figuring out why little miss tight-ass decided to show her face this evening.
~~~
“Kind of a drive from Boulder,” the guy says, and I glance his way once more. For the most part he didn’t have any questions, but he did try to turn us into bros in the first five minutes so I’ve already lost respect for him.
Plus, his name is Skai. I don’t know what to say about that, but he’s made enough jokes at his own expense as we walk around that I don’t need to. He’s harped on the rules the club sends out before admitting anyone for a trial period, and I get the feeling if he decides to sign on he’s going to be a problem.
“Lots of hot ass in here,” he continues, sweeping his gaze around. “I saw the sharing option. Anyone here in a harem?”
Don’t hit the potential new member. It’s not his fault he’s an idiot.
“Harems aren’t something we specifically focus on,” I say with a shrug. “That’s a unique dynamic, one we don’t necessarily cater to. You’d need to find several people who are interested in each other, and that’s a stretch at this club. Maybe some of the members enjoy sharing and group scenes, but harems or reverse harems are more of a commitment.”
He stares at me like everything I just said is gibberish, before his eyes skate away to track two women passing by. They have on maroon lanyards, and I have to blow out a breath to keep from smacking him in the head. “They look like fun.”
“They aren’t into sharing,” I tell him bluntly.
Skai groans, turning to me. “And how would you know?”
I tap the lanyard I’m wearing, a red one for the Dominants. “No orange cord. They don’t want groups or sharing scenes. If you can’t take a hint from what they’re offering, you’re going to be removed from the club quickly. The submissives here are not toys for you to treat like trash.”
He scoffs. “Then what’s even the point?”
I shake my head, shoving a finger over my shoulder towards the door. “If you can’t even show me respect, then you don’t belong here.”
Skai holds up his hands, the short cut of his hair reminding me of a military look though I distinctly remember him bragging about med school. “Hey man, it’s just a joke. I can treat the ladies right.”
“Then don’t sound like a sleaze every time you talk about one.”
His lip twitches, but he doesn’t say anything to that. I sigh and slide my hands into my pockets, waiting to see what else the guy says. I’m not looking to add him to the club, but he does get two trial days to try and clean his shit up. Other than being a douche, he hasn’t said anything I can legally kick him out for quite yet.
But I’d love to. The power of being a manager never looked so good; something about Skai just rubs me the wrong way.
He rubs the back of his head in the silence, watching a group move past before he starts repeating himself. “This is kind of a drive from Boulder.”
Maybe I won’t have to see you that often then. “You made the drive today.”
“Yeah, but, coming here a lot might be hard.” He drags his fingers over his jaw. “It’s a lot of money to not come in a lot.”
“Most people come in once a week,” I tell him honestly. Unless they have easy schedules to work around the club only fills up during the weekend or over the summer, and even that happens mostly on Fridays and Saturdays.
Skai nods, his interest piqued again. “Yeah, yeah! That’s a good point. I could come in on the weekends.”
I try to repress my joy at his answer. “Dandy. You still have another trial visit to decide, so it’s up to you when to use that. You’re free to move about the club for now, but remember you’re still here as a guest. Respect the members or they won’t respect you.”
He nods again, and like a child in a candy factory he jogs off and down one of the halls. I suppose he’ll be fine, and there’s enough security present he can’t really get into trouble.
But that really was exhausting.
Peering around the front of the club, I notice Callie and Nate wandering off down one hall with a group. The petite blonde waves my way before he catches her arm, kissing her wrist, and she’s completely distracted again.
A smile tugs at my lips. I like my friends, and I’m happy they stayed together after all these years. But I’m in my thirties now, and there’s no long term anything in sight. Being able to up and move at a single request from a friend just shows that I don’t have roots anywhere. I’m a transplant, and it was almost painfully easy to forego the life I built in Florida to come back to Colorado.
Physically, it didn’t take much. I drove, brought what mattered with, and I’m used to the flippant weather in the midwest so the drive wasn’t an issue. I can keep using my property down in Florida as a rental when Jo and Vinny are done with it. In exchange for using my place while they are down in the sunny state, I slid into a space they usually rent out but I’m staying for free. If I like it enough I know they will let me buy it if I make the idiotic choice to stay.
I’m doing them a favor uprooting my life to come back. They didn’t want to make it harder, but the truth is I barely have enough sentimental shit to fill a room in the house they gave me. Most of what’s there now is filler that’s always in their rental house.
All my friends have someone to call their own, but I’ve made myself into a solo show. It’s good for my career and bad for my personal life.
My thoughts slam to a halt when I spot Serenity leading her guy back from the opposite hall. The guy she’s touring around the club is a bigger built man, with some soft spots in the middle but some ill-defined muscle in his arms. I lean back against the bar and study him.
He might be strong enough to take my class, but I’m betting he’d exhaust himself in a matter of minutes and need to strip down. Contrary to popular belief, stripping and pole dancing require more than a pretty face. A lot of muscle toning goes into the process to actually be any good at it.
The guy’s hair catches the light, and I swear he has a couple bald spots hidden in there. He’s taller than Serenity, but most people are, and he says something that makes her smile.
I frown, watching the little dimples that pop on each side of her mouth. It’s a genuine smile, and a genuine laugh. I don’t think I’ve gotten much more than a scowl from that girl. I was starting to believe that she didn’t know how to smile with her whole face.
But there it is, and when he reaches out to brush back her hair, she giggles. Giggles.
I scoff and look away, earning a curious look from the bartender that’s taken up Nate’s spot. Why do I care what she’s up to?
They interact for a few more minutes before a woman steps into my bubble, and I turn to glance at her.
Fuck, what is this one’s name?
“Hey Emeric,” she says, twisting a lock of her hair. It’s about as fake as the boobjob she’s trying to shove in my face, and I look at her nametag when I realize she works here. Sadie.
She looks vaguely familiar. Maybe she worked here when I did last, but there’s so much Botox in her face it’s hard to tell. “Yeah?”
She bats her lashes at me, and I’m pretty sure those are fake too. They don’t look as bad as the boobs, but they are unnaturally long. “I was wondering if I could get a private lesson with you.”
I roll my eyes, already over this. “I don’t do private anymore. Join the group classes if you’d like.”
“But I think I need some one on one instruction,” she continues, stepping closer. I glance down at her, noticing her lanyard is swapped from the gold one I know she was wearing earlier. The uniform is distinct, and regular members really don’t walk around like that. “I’ve got my handling down, but I need someone to check if I’m bending the right way.”
“That’s the beauty of the group classes,” I tell her, staring at the silver band around her neck. Silver. She’s looking for more of a Master, less of a Dom. She’s looking in the wrong place if that’s what she wants. “I help as needed.”
I may not be a Master, but I take control of my submissives when they need it and provide some structure and care for her life. That’s what makes me a Daddy Dom.
“Emeric,” she says, like she’s getting tired of me dodging her. “I don’t need the basics. I need someone to give me a complete, hands-on lesson.”
I sigh, pushing away from the bar. “Well, perhaps find a Master who thinks your flirting is witty. Unfortunately, I’m a Dom, and I just think you are just a pain in my ass.”
Sadie sputters, but I’m already headed across the room towards the locked door that’ll lead to the office. I’m getting a headache, and if I’m upstairs I can monitor what I need on the security screens. If I didn’t already know that Emilio is in the surveillance room tonight, I’d head that way.
Near the door, Serenity is still laughing with the new guy. I shoot her a disgusted look at her girly approach, and she flips me the finger behind her back as she continues flirting with him. I told her to be more friendly, not to fall all over herself for some new guy.
Upstairs, her laughter replays in my head like it’s mocking me. I’ve never heard that much joy in her voice before, and I know if she does ever giggle, it has nothing to do with me.