"Geoff. Can't you give this online piece to someone else? It's just fucking weird." I asked desperately, but Geoff, my boss, wasn't budging. He was an ageing, balding, sleaze-bag of a man, but hey, it was hard to get work in this city. Like many young journalists, I had dreams. I wanted to make it big, I wanted to be the one that covered the big, ground-breaking stories. Not this piece of trash piece that he was telling me to do now. After all this Fifty Shades of Grey bullshit, there was apparently a growing amount of people entering the BDSM lifestyle. Bondage, Domination, Sadism and Masochism. It was all a bit too weird for me, wasn't normal sex enough for these people? I wasn't a prude, I enjoyed having sex as often as I could, but all this pain and pleasure malarky didn't interest me.
"Look, no one else wants to do it Penny. You're last one in, so you're lowest of the pile here. Do you have any idea how many smart-ass young girls I have who think they're the next big thing? The next Pulitzer prize winner. Either you go do this piece, going from place to place, meeting people from the lifestyle and interacting, trying a few pieces yourself, or you're out. It won't be hard to replace you Penny."
"Argh, fine. I'll do it." I moaned as I slammed the door walking out. Unfortunately I had no other option. I moved to the big city a few months ago and I wanted to make it here. This was the only place that would take me with my limited experienced, if I could make my name here with some well written articles, video reports and common interest pieces, maybe another media company would pick me up. Then I could shove it in Geoff's face that I wasn't just another replaceable intern. Make the bastard regret treating me the way he had.
Over the next few months, I would travel and meet with people who were from many aspects of the BDSM lifestyle. I was expected to make a web series and report on each of those aspects from a neutral point of view, and even get interactive, to experience some of them myself. If the reports went well, I would get a whole section of the media's website dedicated to my travels and my experiences. It would be eighteen plus, and people would have to subscribe to it. On the plus side, if this did go well, I earned a share of the subscriptions. The only problem, I would have to get naked. I would have to do some of the things that these people do. Of course, I didn't have to enjoy it, and I didn't have to lie and try to sell the experience. I'd try to keep my distaste out of the write ups and the reports for the sake of being professional.
A week later, I met up with my cameraman, footage editor and all round tech know it all, Jason. Jason was an intern, like me. This was his first piece for the company and as we travelled, my first impressions of him was that he was a really nice guy. Friendly, funny, and not too bad on the eyes at all. We drove out the city to a small town on the outskirts until we finally reached our destination, a private estate surrounded by woods and a large wooden fence in the middle of fucking nowhere. This weekend this place held a pony play fetish festival. Apparently people enjoyed being treated like human ponies and all kinds of weird shit. Fuck knows how I was going to get through this without calling out these perverted wankers.
There was a large security gate blocking off a private lane which we had to buzz for access to get in. Once we passed the gate, we drove for another mile or so through a narrow lane surrounded by trees before it opened up into a massive wide open space. The main building was stunning, looking historic, possibly from the Victorian times. Spread away from the main building were several smaller buildings and barns which had probably once been the living quarters for the family's servants.
Outside the main building, we were greeted by a man called Ian. He was a tall, bearded, handsome man, and he was pleasant and welcoming. Something you wouldn't expect from someone who owned a place like this. The event we were here to cover didn't start for another four hours, so Ian gave us a little tour of his grounds, explaining the history of the house. After the tour, he sat us down and had one of his workers make us all a tea and a sandwich whilst he spoke about the evening event.
"How much do you know about what you are filming here?" Ian asked curiously.
"Not a lot." I answered honestly. There was something about Ian that made me feel at ease and inspired me to be honest, that it was safe to do so. "To tell you the truth, I have never experienced or looked into anything like what I've got ahead of me for this web series. It's never interested me, but work is hard to find and my manager wants me to do this."
"That's understandable." Ian replied sympathetically. "For you this will be weird then, and unlike anything you've experienced. You may not understand what people get out of this, but be assured that I have met some of the best people in this lifestyle. Wonderfully interesting characters and friendly. I only ask that whilst you film this and experience it yourself that you do not judge, you do not make my other guests feel uneasy or uncomfortable."
"I can do that. As much as I don't want to be here, that's not yours or your guests fault. I promise you I will act in a professional manner. It's in my best interests for this web-series to go well. Thank you for your hospitality Ian, where should we set up?"
Ian led us outside to near the barn. The area was abuzz with activity, his workers setting up the area and bringing some equipment needed such as chariots and such.
"If you follow me Penny, inside is my partner Mia. She is taking part in the festival herself and if you'd like to watch her being set up, you can record that as part of your report."
"I'd love to, thank you Ian."
Ian led us inside the barn, it was mostly empty but on the walls were hooks and chains and plenty of leather straps and gear hanging. Mia was standing by the wall and when Ian came in, she kissed him. Like Ian, Mia was very polite, and had a great sense of humour. I know I judged these people as weird at the very least in the past, but so far, both of them had been amazing people.