The Pleasure Boy 13
My guess was right. When Mom discussed her plans with Mistress Lotte, Lotte had mentioned that she had a good apprentice named 'Lisa,' starting an internship, who needed a mistress other than herself. She then suggested to Lisa that she could practice her lifestyle D/s skills on me, and sat back to let events play out as they wished. The essence of a geisha's profession, I would later learn, is knowing how to do nothing at all after the briefest possible intervention. Portions of the
Tao Te Ching
were on our reading list in philosophy, and discussed in Master Jake's class.
In this case, my Mom had had Lisa's virtues praised to her both by her friend Lotte and by her son. When I had talked about Lisa wanting to meet her, Mom assumed that it was about the internship and was annoyed that Lisa was dealing through me instead of phoning up and requesting an interview by herself. When Lisa did phone and introduce herself, my Mom knew right away what it was about; and she gave Lisa points for explaining that although she was my friend and apprenticing mistress, her wish for an internship was a wholly separate matter. "Mistress Lotte," Lisa had explained on the phone, "just mentioned that you would soon be seeing clients again. When I asked Jim about this, he told me he' believed those were just long term plans. When I repeated Lotte's information to him, he said I should give you a call at once, instead of waiting for him to introduce me."
My mother was gracious, and invited Lisa to meet with her for lunch. After that interview, Lisa knew more about Mom's plans than anyone else, because Mom
did
take her on as an intern, and asked her to keep their plans and doings confidential. While Mom spoke freely to Dad and me about her plans, Lisa was close-mouthed on the subject even with me. When I asked her once why she refused to answer a question about their doings, she replied, "Ask your Mom. She'll probably tell you, but it's not my place to talk about it."
In the event, it was my father who later told me how Mom had overcome his resistance. "The thought of her dominating clients made me jealous," he said. "She explained that what she had in mind was primarily a mentoring service for couples who were experimenting with lifestyle D/s, and that she'd be doing little if any active play with clients, leaving most of that to her assistants. She'd mostly be a mentor now, not an active Dominatrix."
"Second," Dad said, "She sweetened her intentions for me by offering a return to their old D/s relationship - on lifestyle terms, as you were no longer living with us and were in geisha training yourself. Twenty years age, when I proposed to her, she said she couldn't be a Domme and a wife and mother at the same time. She agreed to marry me, have you, and introduce me to another good Domme who would take care of my needs. She did that, and I used that lady's services from time to time; but she wasn't nearly as good with me as your mother was; and occasional D/s foreplay in our mostly vanilla sex life was enough to keep me happy."
"What your mother offered now," he continued, "was a 24/7 D/s relationship on any terms I liked. She would even submit to me in a disciplinary marriage, so long as her professional life was excluded. Of course, that was no way what I wanted. What I asked for and got was a loving Dominatrix-wife who runs our home and marriage as she sees fit - everything accept my electronics firm. She wants a bit of domination herself sometimes, and when she commands that, I give it to her. In practice, that means she sometimes prefers that I make the decision, or that she be the submissive in bed."
"This is too much information," I told him. The terms of your marriage are none of my business."
"If you weren't in training as a geisho, I wouldn't talk about them with you," he answered. "As it is, I don't think I'm telling you much that you won't see for yourself. Also, after what went down between us in connection with university, I don't want you thinking that I'm keeping secrets from you. This is no longer just a father-son relationship, any more than you have a normal mother-son relationship with your Mom. It's been established that she's your colleague and teacher in the pleasure business, who knows more than she wants to about your sexual interests. It's established too that you and I are fellow submissives - you to Lisa now, and I to your Mom. That's just the way it is."
"Fair enough, Dad," I replied; "and we left it at that.
When I asked Mom about her plans, she answered freely, but with a request for confidentiality. "You can talk about my plans with Lisa now and also with Lotte and Mitch," she told me. "They know what I'm up to. Otherwise, please keep my business arrangements under your hat. At some point soon, before we can really get started, I'll have to make a presentation to the Guild, and to my Montreal colleagues; I don't want them discussing me before I've done that."
"I'm not much interested in spanking people now. Nor in BDSM just as a sex game. I've been there, done that, and had a lot of fun with it. I'll still do it - and enjoy it - when there's a reason for it. But what interests me now is the mentor's role, in connection with the D/s lifestyle. I want to help people who are just experimenting with, or starting out with a 24/7 relationship, to make it work - and to get pleasure, meaning and nourishment from their power exchange."
"Nourishment," I repeated. "That's an interesting word. What do you mean exactly?"
"I mean
existential
nourishment, or
spiritual
nourishment. 24/7, lifestyle D/s is like a marriage. If you're going to build your life around a D/s relationship, with BDSM a part of it, then physical pleasure is only one part of what's involved - and a minor part, at that. Even safety is just one precondition for a good relationship, not an end in itself. So what does a mentor have to teach? To help lifestyle newbies ensure that their D/s is life-furthering, and not diminishing: that the Dom does not become a tyrant; that the sub does not become a worm - or a real slave. Make-believe BDSM slavery and real slavery are very different things. The first can be pleasurable and conducive to growth, insofar as stoicism, detachment, obedience and pleasure in service are real human virtues. It takes strength of character to be a good submissive - all the more in a 24/7 relationship. But abject dependency, mindless obedience and real slavery are always evils - harmful to master (or mistress) and slave alike. Even in playful power-exchange relationships, power can corrupt. As a senior geisha now, I want to help beginners achieve the first and avoid the second. And I want everyone in BDSM to understand the difference."
"Where does Lisa come into this? How are you using her?"
"Lisa is only a year or so older than you. No offence dear, but to a middle-aged woman like me she's still a kid. As my intern - later, if it works out, as my employee - I mean to teach her what I know about working as a professional dominatrix. As your apprentice-Mistress - I want to make sure she understands, practices and teaches the lifestyle values that I've just explained to you. Of course, as an apprentice geisho, I want you too to understand and practice those values. I'm glad you asked what I meant by 'nourishment' in the lifestyle."
"As for how I'll be using her: at the outset, as an executive secretary - to work with me on the Guild presentation, and to handle our corresponÂdence and filing. When we have clients who need experience as dominants, she'll be a professional submissive. When they need experience as subbies, she'll be a role model for them or an assistant Domme with me. Sometimes, she'll be the Domme of the situation - at first, with my supervision, but then more independently, as I come to trust her. There will be lots of work for her, and she'll get lots of training and experience, as I intend to be menÂtor and instructor much more than Dominatrix.
"As Lisa's collared subbie, where do I come in to this Mom? If anywhere, I mean. This thing is getting a bit weird, and it's Mistress Lotte's doing. She suggested that Lisa collar me. She suggested that you take Lisa as an intern. And in the first place, she took me on as an apprentice, partly because she knew that I'm your son. What is she up to?"
"I don't think she's up to anything. I don't think she has any personal stake in this. She took you on because, just like me, she saw your potential as a geisho in her field - in some branch of BDSM."
"She suggested your relationship with Lisa because she saw the fit. As she observes, if you stick with it, you have the makings of a great submissive. I agree with her, by the way. And Lisa, who has the makings of a fine Domme, needs experience in handling a really good lifestyle sub. She's already got the technical knowledge and basic skills for impact play, bondage, CBT and so forth. She'll learn more and get more experience as she goes along - from me or from someone else. She passed Lisa to me because she knew I was interested in lifestyle D/s and mentoring. She saw me - correctly, I think - as the teacher that Lisa really needs - is capable of learning from. And she knew that, coming back into active practice, I could use a good assistant."
"Lotte has a good eye. The fit is there. What she's suggested works for everyone. But I agree with you: It's more than a little weird. Metaphorically, at any rate, the three-way relationship is downright incestuous."
"Being told by my own mother that I have the makings of a great submissive! I don't know how I feel about that."
"You can be proud of it. I know lot's of people misunderstand submission. But how could everyone be a leader? How could anyone be a good leader without some good followers. Most 'leaders' are just wilful people who are stuck on some idea, and on their own importance. Followers recognize and go to work for good leaders (hopefully too, the ones with good plans and intentions), and make their ideas work. Good followers get to choose whom they follow; they follow leaders capable of forming a good team and taking it someplace they want to go. Believe me, dear. To be told by a seasoned Domme like Lotte or me that you have the makings of a great sub is nothing to be ashamed of."
"I know that, Mom. I am proud to be working and training under three fine Dommes like you and Lotte and Lisa now. But it does feel incestuous, and I'm still getting use to it."