Jayden loved being himself. Standing over six feet tall, he was comfortable enough in his skin for any adventure and everyone around knew he was as comfortable as well. If there was an empty space, his personality took over and filled it. He had no problems being the relaxed one to break the ice in about any situation. Though he was in his forties, no one realized it because of his young personality. However, if you listened, you could tell he had more experiences than about any three people combined.
Claire was almost the exact opposite. Where he was tall, she was petite. She was comfortable being herself, but only when by herself. She was quiet in the times where Jayden would be boisterous. As far as age is concerned, she was close to half Jayden's age. Most of the experiences that Jayden has had were in front of her if she chose to take them.
In all honesty, if it weren't for chance meetings at their office, they probably would never have been in the same circles of friends. Luckily for both, they formed a bond that may define logic, yet seemed to benefit both equally.
Jayden was open to talk about anything, sometimes to the discomfort of those around. It couldn't be denied; there was a certain charm about the way he spoke that made people less offended by what he was saying. He loved an audience. He found himself enjoying it more and more when Claire was in his audience than many others and soon it turned to hang out outside of the office together.
Clair was a great listener. Though she might not have agreed with everything that Jayden said, he told his stories in such a way that there was often intrigued. It was often the highlight of her day when he would stop by and offer her tea and hang out for her break.
The breaks with Jayden were the equivalent of a fifteen-minute vacation for Claire. She would ignore or forget the stress of the job that morning and get lost in his stories until reality kicked in and she had to return to the front desk.
Jayden's adventures gave her pause. Of course, she didn't want to have all his adventures or even half. She was going to have her own adventures but wasn't in a place to do so. She had to move back in with her parents after university. It hampered he hopes for a long while as she used the time to save money and pay back student loans. In her mind, it was a necessary evil to begin her life the right way.
In one session of hanging out with Claire, Jayden brought up something he saw on the internet for the first time and thought it was extremely interesting: financial dominance. overall, he didn't believe in paying for sex or anything sexual. However, at one previous lunch with Claire, he pointed out that when he goes out, he is not paying for the food but for the experience and company.
When the topic of financial dominance came up, it mildly interested Claire. In fact, she even commented that she could see that working for a few people. She left it at that, and they moved on to the next topic.
A few weeks after the financial dominance conversation, Jayden's mind wandered, as it often does. It went back to that conversation. He knew that Claire was starting to miss pampering herself in some small ways; wanting to get her nails done, or her hair trimmed a bit or possibly a new shirt or something. It started festering as an idea that he wanted to thoroughly explore.
The following weekend, they decided to get together for coffee and hang out. After half an hour at the shop, he moved in a little closer to her so that he could be heard over the sounds of the other people.
"I made myself fixated on the financial dominance idea. I would love to try it out with you. Now, don't take offense; just hear me out."
"I would like to invite you over for dinner. I don't know if I am going to cook or just order pizza or whatever. But the plan is to hang out and chill for a bit."
"Now, if you are interested in trying this financial dominance thing, we can add a little more to it. You don't have to answer now. In fact, I would prefer you think about this other aspect, as I don't want you to have any regrets."
Claire had a puzzled look on her face. She knew that Jayden was overall a good person and wouldn't push things too far, but this would be a new direction for their relationship to travel.
Jayden paused for a moment and waited for her eyes to meet his. When they did, he continued.
"The financial aspect would be this: you would have the chance to earn $100. The easiest part would be showing up. For that, I will give you $20 to do with how you wish. I have some other tasks in mind, but each would come up with a monetary value. If you don't want to do it, you don't get any more money and we go on about the night, or you can head out, whichever you are more comfortable with."
Jayden sat back and sipped the hot coffee while she thought. He noticed that she seemed less puzzled and taken aback, but he knew that she would not answer before the end of coffee. After a couple of minutes, he went to a new topic of conversation.
Though Claire found the conversation interesting (as she always did), she wasn't paying attention. In fact, so many different facets of his proposal kept passing through her mind, she found that she only caught different comments instead of the flow of the conversation.
Of course, one-hundred dollars wasn't a huge chunk of money, but it would make her life less stressful for about a week; maybe even two. Their conversations in the past left no doubt in her mind that he was serious and would follow through if given the word. The only question in her mind was how far down this rabbit hole she would go for an attempt at the money.
She also knew that Jayden liked to test everyone's limits. It was a bit of a game to him, and one that he often felt that he won. Of course, they had talked about her comfort levels about quite a few things. She knew that he remembered most of their conversations and comments and would find a way to move this to his advantage. She did also know that he wouldn't take things too far and would accept her no as a final answer.
"Give me a day or so to think about it," Claire said. She interrupted what he was saying, but she knew he wouldn't mind. She knew that he understood what she was saying.
A knowing smile crept along his face. "Take your time. You know my offers stand unless I tell you otherwise." He looked at his phone and started to make his exit. "It is a few minutes later than I planned. I hope you don't mind, but I do have a few other things to do before the day is over. We should do this again sometime soon."
He grabbed his hat and sunglasses, and before putting them on, he turned to her and said, "You know, you always look lovely."
Claire sat there and finished her tea as she blushed and smiled, as his honest compliments made her do. She might have said goodbye as he was leaving, but it might have been part of the thoughts lost in her head.
She was tired of her nails. Claire wasn't a prim and proper young lady, but it would be nice every so often to do something for herself instead of saving up to get out of where she was staying or pay off student loans. Looking down at her hands as she finished up her shift at her second job, Claire just wanted to be able to treat herself to something. Just. One. Time.
Claire thought Jayden to be blunt, but honest. She also knew that he cared enough to respect her boundaries when they were brought up. So, in that aspect, she knew that everything would be fine. However, she has heard not only about his enjoyment of all things sexual, but also how thorough he was in his compliments of her.
She sent him a note asking if she could call him. Five minutes later, her phone rang.
