1. The Starbucks storefront was mostly empty when he walked in at midafternoon. A few people at the tables, two bored baristas behind the counter cleaning up, anonymous light jazz on the sound system. He was looking forward to this first meeting, as he ordered a Grande latte and took it to one of the armchairs, with a view of the parking lot. Her online profile did not give him much to work with, beyond a shadowy photo and a name. He was trying to assess each woman on the sidewalk as they approached, and he was surprised when he heard a voice just behind him.
"I am thinking you are probably Davidβor Graywood?" He looked up with a start, to see a tall woman who had been at one of the back tables when he came in. She was dressed for casual business, like a realtor or a therapist on an afternoon break.
She wore her dark hair smoothly cut, above her neck, and fashionable small glasses with dark frames. She was wearing a charcoal short jacket and pants, probably from some expensive designer he did not know, with a burgundy cashmere sweater under the short open jacket that showed the swell of her breasts. As he was trying to find his voice, a second smaller woman came to her side, carrying two cups of coffee and a large purse. The second woman was paler, and less intense. He had a quick image of ash blonde hair and a plain skirt and blouse under her long wool coat. She was looking down, not at him.
"David, ask us to join you."
He was feeling foolish now, whatever he had expected this was not the scene he had pictured. "Yes, um, please, here, join me, can I help you?" He started to stand, and to push out chairs for them. The dark haired woman sat close to him, taking the coffee but ignoring the second woman as she sat and tried to arrange her coffee, bag, and coat. This meeting had been arranged and then rescheduled several times; leaving him unsure if that too was part of a dominance game or just random changes in ordinary life. He realized also that she had not given him her name.
"Linden, this is David, who calls himself Graywood, you have seen his emails, the ones with his over-intellectualized ideas on submission and how he would serve a dominant female. I think he is going to find it is not what he thinks."
He was surprised the private email had been shared, and was wondering who Linden was, when her purse tumbled open and change spilled across the table and onto the floor. Without thinking, he slid his chair back and crouched to pick up the coins she had dropped. "Linden, see, it's only been a few minutes and we already have this one at our feet" she laughed.
His face was pink with embarrassment when he sat back at the table, sipping his coffee and not sure what to say now. "I think you are seeing that reality is different than you might have thought. Let me be as clear as I can: I have found that I am a person who gets enjoyment from seeing others being used, sort of a sadist but not especially interested in pain, I find the mental rebuilding more interesting, but I may chose pain for others when I want to. Pain per se is more a corrective tool for me. What I want is simply your submission to my will, whether that is in a sexual direction or not. I will enjoy it; you may learn something about your own limits."
"You also need to understand what this is not; I am not your girlfriend, or lover, or Mistress, or some silly term, you will just call me M. You are not ever going to fuck me, get that out of your mind, and I will decide how to direct you as I chose. You can leave anytime, but if so we will never talk again, and if I lose interest in you, same thing. By the way, this is Linden, not really her name, my senior submissive, who has the same rules; I chose to dominate both women and men. Are you ready to go now?"
Without waiting, she slid her chair back and stood, headed for the door. He stood quickly to follow, since she was not waiting for his reply, and he saw the woman called Linden gathering her things to follow. At the door, he caught it and held it as she opened it, but was surprised when she stopped short and turned to him angrily. "This is not date night, stop acting like it is; just leave your car here and get your ass in my car now."
2. He followed without thinking, and at her black SUV he climbed into the rear seat, as Linden slid into the back from the other side. There were no questions he could bring himself to ask, as the car drove quickly over the suburban roads, but dozens of questions in his mind. The afternoon light had turned cold and gray when they pulled up to a stone-faced house set apart from its neighbors. He had to scramble out to keep up as M went to the front door and Linden followed him. As she opened the door he saw a hall with a black and white marble floor and what looked like good antique furniture. She took a few steps in, and then closed the door behind them.
"In my home, Gray, the rules are simple, and Linden already knows them. Speak when I ask you to, only then. You have no choices and no personal space, do as you are told or you will be gone. I will decide what amuses me, and you will do your best to follow instructions. Outside of this hallway, across the line of white tile, you have nothing of your own, only what I chose to give you to use. You may say 'yes, M' to show you understand."