I first met James at the Battersea munch back in January. If appearance were any guide to age, I would have guessed him the youngest of the nine people who had turned up that chill rainy evening at the Rose & Briar some fifty yards south of Battersea Bridge. In his mid-20s perhaps? But I'm not very good with ages.
This had been my first time at the munch, and so I knew no one. I had been cursing myself for not having first made contact by phone or email to say that I was coming and to ask where in the pub they would be meeting. I felt suddenly uncomfortable at the thought of approaching a group around a table with a ... but what would I ask? ... "Hello, are you the Battersea BDSM group?" And it would have been just my luck to have thereby hit upon the local church bazaar fund-raising group out for a quiet tipple. I remembered that on the Battersea BDSM home page the writer had referred to "experienced pervs" ... no, I had to think of some more tactful way of enquiring.
But it was 7:15pm when I entered and, perhaps also due to the weather, there were few people in the pub, and only one group, the rest being couples, one small cluster of three, and one lone drinker in a dark suit and tie that suggested he had dropped in for a drink on his journey home from some obscure merchant bank somewhere in the City. I bought a pint at the bar and, glass in hand, walked towards the group and, although I could not be certain, thought I recognised one of the faces, an oriental girl, from the group's Fetlife profiles. There were other parts of her body displayed in her profile pictures, but these would hardly have helped me recognise her in the decorous surroundings of a public house.
"Hi, there! I'm wondering if you might be ...? I mean, I saw on the website you were meeting Monday night ...", addressed to no one in particular in the group.
But before I could finish the sentence a middle-aged woman in the group chortled "I recognise you from your profile! You're with that Lady-whatever, aren't you? I always look at new Battersea group members, wonder about them. Nosey, me. Come and grab a chair. What's your name, dear?"
"I'm Christopher. And hi, everyone. Pleased to meet you all."
Greetings and names exchanged as I joined them at table, sitting now between Sandra and James, their earlier conversation quickly forgotten, the talk now focussed on me, the newbie. "So how did you find us? The group, I mean", asked Sandra.
"I just searched for 'Battersea UK' in Fetlife and there you were. I followed the link from the Fetlife group to your web page, and saw you were meeting at the Rose & Briar. So why not, I thought: I'll go meet these people".
"Well, we're glad you did, Christopher. Welcome to the group!"
I'd been chatting with Sandra for a couple of minutes when James tapped me on the leg. "Another drink? What are you having?"
"Oh, thanks, James. Pint of Bombardier, please. Need help carrying?"
Melanie had declined a drink, but everyone else had ordered, so I walked with him to the bar to carry a tray.
"You're a bit flush, aren't you? Buying a round for everyone? I thought everyone got their own drinks in these hard times".
"Oh, I run my own media company, which is doing pretty well at the moment, so I can afford it. They all know that. Just relocated to Battersea from Trowbridge. Bombardier, you said?"
James was perhaps older than he looked? Boyish face, a thick head of auburn hair, one might have thought him perhaps 25 years old or thereabouts. Unless he was one of those teenage prodigies who had made his fortune at 19 from some dot.com business.
"No, I'm 35, mate. Just lucky with the looks. I started the company ten years ago, after drifting around a bit for a couple of years in dead-end jobs when I left university. Last place was a media company specialising in corporate videos, corporate communications, so I picked up the skills, quit, and set up my own firm. Corporate's big money, and I've got the steady clients."
His accent, though, was London. Typical South-Londoner, one would have said.
"Yeah, born in Streatham, but went to uni in Bath, and just hung around that neck of the woods after graduating. But it's good to be back in London, and better for business."
Not tall, nor even particularly well dressed, James nevertheless had an imposing presence, a man sure of himself. A Dom, I guessed.
"No, a subbie, mate. More fun. Let's face it, when you're farting around with all these big corporate clients all day, it's good to let yourself go, let someone else call the shots."
But he then confessed that he didn't really have the whatever-it-is that subs are supposed to have, and had not had a Mistress for more than three years. "I think they can see right through me. I'm too bloody cocky." A hint of that cockiness nevertheless smirked through the resigned disappointment of his wry smile.
I'd wanted to tell him about my attempts at D/s with Lydia; that I too hadn't quite clicked seamlessly into role. Maybe tell him another time. I picked up one of the trays and walked back with him to the tables.
~ $ ~
"Hi, James, it's Christopher. Monday night? The newbie?"