A two part story of a young reporter getting her big break in being assigned to do a feature article about real life Female Led Relationships
As Erica approached the destination for her appointment in the upscale middle class neighborhood she had to admit to being a bit nervous and unsettled. Nervous because this was her big break, her first solo feature article. Over the past several years she had worked her way up from very local weekly papers, to being a cub reporter on the large daily newspaper, again assigned to the local news scene, to finally being promoted to a position as researcher and writer for the Life and Social section of the paper. She had participated and had been given a fourth, and even at times a third contributing reporter byline on a number of major articles, but this would be the first feature that would be hers alone. Her editor had even indicated that if done well it might even be the lead article in the Sunday section.
As big an opportunity as this was, she was unsettled because of the subject matter. Her editor wanted her to investigate and explore a social phenomenon that had apparently been gaining a lot of buzz on the internet and blogosphere, what was being referred to in a variety of forums as Female Led Relationships (FLRs), or Wife Dominant Marriages (WDMs). Erica couldn't help but initially notice how close the latter acronym was to the more commonly used and understood WMDs, and she wondered idly if the two might share some common thread. Her editor had been adamant however that she wanted a serious examination of the topic, not how it might usually be comically treated in the mainstream media, but how it might actually exist in real life, as the web suggested was occurring more and more frequently. What were the participants like, what did it all entail, how did it work, and to what level and degree? Her editor believed that the time was long past due for a legitimate look at a subject and lifestyle that seemed to be growing and developing in the shadows, and she felt the Erica was just the reporter and writer to bring it to the light of day in a fair, interesting and thought provoking way.
Despite her own self confidence in her abilities, and flattered by her editor's selection of her for such a choice assignment, Erica was not as sure. She had covered and written about topics where she had strong personal opinions that were in variance with the subject, but she had always prided herself at being a professional able to put those aside and be as objective as possible. But she wondered if she would be able to do so as effectively in this case. She just didn't understand, or get in her gut, the underlying concept. Oh, she could understand on an intellectual level the episodic sexual thrill some might derive from this particular kink, even if it did nothing for her, but how anyone could build a solid sustaining relationship and lifestyle around it seemed beyond her. Real relationships were about give and take, compromise, and acceptance of equality between the partners. Sure, there was always struggle and stress to achieve and maintain this, but that was the only way that she could see how any relationship could work, even as it took real work to do so.
Not that she had been overly successful in her own life in maintaining relationships with men. She had had a number over the years but none had ever advanced very far. Maybe it was her inquisitive, always asking questions nature, which was inherent in her personality yet vital to her occupation, that had proved to be too much for the men she had been involved with in her life thus far. She hadn't lost faith however that there was a Mr. Right out there, who was strong enough to accept her and love her for who and how she was.
That perhaps was the basic difficulty which she had in understanding and potentially dealing with, even on a superficial professional level, these so called FLRs and WDMs. It wasn't just the inequality implied. She supposed that in many otherwise successful relationships one of the partners could be more of the take charge person, even if it wasn't always the man. But that wouldn't mean absolutely ruling over the other person, as seemed to the case and desire in these WDMs. How weak must such a man be to allow his partner to walk all over him in every facet of their relationship. What possibly could be the attraction of such a man, except to a woman who reveled in humiliating and even causing pain in someone else, even if the recipient liked and desired it. Erica didn't think that she could relate to either type of person.
But this assignment was too big an opportunity to blow, and she resolved to bury her biases as best she could and dedicate herself to writing as fair and as interesting an article as she was able. Not knowing quite where to start she turned first to the web, where her editor had apparently gotten the idea. She began perusing and familiarizing herself with the surprisingly innumerable sites that dealt with sadomasochism (SM), bondage and discipline (BD), and domination and submission (D/s), which seemed to be the basis and core of the subject at hand. She had never before had any inclination to sample what she came to believe had to be predominantly male viewed venues. But she had a job to do, and after immersing herself for a time in these sites, she once again not only couldn't see the attraction, she also came to realize that these sites, for the most part, only dealt with fantasies. She supposed that some people might actually want to dabble in them for a kinky experience, but she strongly doubted that anyone could realistically live them on a full time basis. This really couldn't be what she was being asked to explore.
With this avenue of investigation thus seemingly fruitless except for her own 'educational' purposes, Erica began to search for related blogs. She once again discovered far more of them than she had expected, including a fairly large number purportedly posted by women, as much as one could trust the web in that respect. She again thought that most of the blogs also seemed to be designed for titillation rather than information, but she did come across a few that did appear to be trying to present an honest view of the lifestyle which the bloggers claimed to be living.
She began to read these few blogs far more extensively and in depth, and with one in particular she began to take advantage of the reader comment section to pose questions that she hoped would spark some meaningful and informative discussion. Unfortunately, when anyone would respond to any of her queries, which wasn't very often, it was only in the most general and unsatisfactory way. Though she had been given a three month deadline for her article, she began to feel that she wasn't making the necessary connections for the type of personal commentary which she felt the story needed. Not knowing how else to proceed she took a chance, and in the comment section of the same blog she went on to identify herself , by name, as a reporter who was very interested in writing a serious and in depth article on the D/s femdom lifestyle, and would welcome a discussion with anyone involved who would like to share their experiences. She left her email address for responses.
While she hadn't been sure of what type of reaction her straightforward invitation might generate, she wasn't quite prepared for the deluge of almost universal condemnation that resulted. Among the many different negative attacks were those accusing her of betraying a trust on the blog, and others of her simply being a voyeur. No one seemed to believe that she had any intention of producing anything more than a one sided media hatchet job.
Erica was stung by this onslaught, and although she thought the critics were being far too defensive and unfair, she did have to concede that her own underlying opinion on the whole concept was substantially negative, and that maybe there was more than a germ of truth in their concerns. Just as these mainly antagonistic posts began to peter out, and she was beginning to truly despair that she was not going to be able to effectively and fairly gather enough real and personal information to present the in depth and enlightening view that the assignment demanded, she received one last email. It was from a woman named Amy, who indicated that she and her husband were indeed living in a 24/7 D/s femdom relationship, and that she might be interested in relating her thoughts on the subject to the outside world. She did have two conditions before proceeding however. The first was that she had to verify that Erica was whom and what she said she was, and the second was that if so, any subsequent article written would change their names to protect their privacy.
Erica immediately posted back agreeing to both conditions and gave both the name of her newspaper and her editor, leaving it to Amy to independently make the appropriate inquiries. She then sat on pins and needles until two days later her editor let her know that Amy had indeed contacted her by phone through the newspaper, and had seemed convinced of Erica's legitimacy. A day later Erica received a new post from Amy proposing a meeting for the interview and it was rapidly set up for a week later at Amy's home. It was to this arranged appointment on a mid Saturday afternoon that Erica was driving.
Her GPS brought her to the lovely cul-de-sac, but without Amy's emailed directions she would have had difficulty finding the driveway to her house. It wound down and around about fifty yards before coming to a modern and somewhat eclectic appearing two story home. Though clearly in a neighborhood with other homes in the distance, it was set apart in a small valley surrounded by a wide variety of trees which afforded a very pleasant bucolic ambiance, and a significant degree of privacy as well. Gathering up her equipment, and to some extent her courage as she clearly didn't know quite what to expect, she proceeded to the front door.
Moments after ringing the chimed doorbell she was met as the door opened by a smiling, strikingly handsome man. Standing about six foot two, he was athletically built, and Erica judged him to be in his mid to late thirties. He was wearing a black crew neck sweater with a gray collared shirt beneath, and black slacks and shoes. She took all of this in with her reporter's eye in the few seconds it took for him to greet her.
"You must be Miss Erica." he greeted her enthusiastically. "Come in, please."
"Um, yes ... Erica Brown." she responded, taken a bit off stride by the appellation as she was ushered in. "I guess you were expecting me."
"Yes, of course. It's a very great pleasure to meet you. My name is Raef, and anything that I can do for you while you're here please don't hesitate to let me know."
"Well, thank you ... Raef."
"It would be my privilege. Now, Miss Amy is dying to meet you as well. Let me take you to her in the living room."
Following him through several immaculately clean, well appointed yet cozy rooms, they finally came to the living room where she was again slightly confounded. While she hadn't really anticipated a larger than life, leather clad, booted, whip wielding femme fatale, she wasn't quite prepared for the petite, almost pixie-ish, vivacious seeming woman who was seated in an easy chair when they entered, but who bounded up and over to greet her. Erica judged her to be no more than five foot two, slim with wavy brown hair that reached just above her shoulders. Undeniably pretty and cute, she certainly did not exude the severe, elegant appearance that one might have been expecting. She was wearing a powder blue silk blouse with a pleated navy blue skirt that extended just below the knees of her bare legs. Her feet were adorned with a pair of open toed pumps.
