The Pleasure Boy 19
After my trip with Nouri, the remaining months of my apprenticeship passed uneventfully. My Mom and Mistress Lotte worked well together. Their company, offering support and mentorship to lifestyle couples was now a going concern. Lisa had completed her internship with it, intending to become a mentor herself. Suzanne, too arrogant to be trainable, had been booted out. Mika and Chantal had passed the probation stage and were now full-blown apprentices, coming along nicely.
I had been Lotte's apprentice for nine months now, and the time had come to arrange for my internship doing real work under a qualified Guild master. This was no small step, because if that master liked my work and wanted to keep me around, it could lead to a paying job once I graduated. Internship for me was that master's chance to look me over and decide if I could meet their needs. Why else accept the bother of training an intern?
One evening Lotte called me to her office and waved me to the chair beside her desk. "It's time to arrange your internship," she opened. "As you know, that placement will give you a first area of specialization as a pro submissive, and could lead to a real job."
"This means that you have to make some decisions, and I have to start making phone calls. My question is, 'whom should I call?' You have to tell me what kind of work you want to do. Then I have to find someone who wants to train you to do it. When you started here, you told us you were hoping for steady, part-time work that would pay your way through university. Is that still your plan?"
"Yes, Mistress," I answered.
"Do you know where you'll be studying?"
"Yes, Mistress. I was accepted here in Montreal at McGill before I applied to you. They gave me a year's deferment. So the plan is that I start with them in September, hoping to be a journeyman by then. Or nearly one."
"Very well," she said. "That limits your choices. Most jobs for pro subs are full time. But there are two things that you could do, and my suggestion is that you try both of them. You could work as an escort and gigolo, through an agency that offers such services. You'd be arm candy for clients at particular events, and a submissive playmate (within your specified limits) for those clients who want one. That means you could accept individual short-term gigs with specific clients as your studies at university allow. You are good-looking and presentable enough that there should be no shortage of work. You'll have to arrange terms with the agency and mistress that accepts you, but at the going rates, if you take two or three clients a week, you should make enough money."
"Also, you could do occasional work at a commercial dungeon. Most of the clients at such places want to be submissive themselves. But some want to punish and humiliate a pro sub; and some want a witness and companion in their own submission. I get a few clients like that, but gay dungeons get lots of them. You would also get valuable experience as an assistant Dom. Master Thomas, one of the instructors for your Hedonic Sexuality class, might be someone to talk to. He runs a gay dungeon, and may want a whipping boy for his clients."
"Any questions?"
"Could I intern with you at HanaLot?" I asked her. "Maybe as an assistant to Lisa?"
"Lisa doesn't need an assistant yet. Your relationship with her can continue, but on your own time and hers. Also, you wouldn't get a lot of work in the dungeon here, and training lifestyle couples is not part time work. Remember what it was like with Nouri Saad? You wouldn't need to go travelling with most of our clients, but you'd have to live with them, and be available to them 24/7."
"One more thing. It's best not to intern with your training Mistress, unless there's some special need or reason for it, as there is with Lisa. If you want to end up as a mentor, you should get some experience elsewhere, and then come back to work with us when the time is right. You will be welcome here eventually, but HanaLot is not the place for you now."
"Very good Mistress. Thank you so much!"
"You're very welcome, Jim. I'll make some calls and see what I can do. When I've got some options for you, I'll let you know.
The Sunday after that conversation with Mistress Lotte, I went for dinner with my parents. As Lisa was now living them, she was present at the dinner table, when I asked my mother if she was aware of my upcoming internship, and of Lotte's decision that it should not be with them at HanaLot, their mentoring firm. "Of course, I know," Mom said. "Do you think Lotte would make a big decision about your future without my agreement?"
"We know you're interested in mentoring work, and that you and Lisa had hoped to stay together. But Lotte is right that mentoring at Hanalot is a career choice, not a part-time job. The learning curve for any work you could do with us would be the equivalent of a university course load."
"My advice is, stick to the plan. Use your geisha training to put yourself through college. Get your degree first, and then decide what you want to do with your life. At that point, you'll have more options available to you, and a better idea of who you are."