(Joshua's POV - Mon. 14 October 2013)
"What was that about?" Allan asks as he settles at the round meeting table in my office.
"What?" I ask him in return, although I have my idea. I will need to cut this conversation short again...
"All this blushing on Liam's face, like I interrupted something..." he answers with a knowing look.
"You didn't interrupt anything, Liam was about to go back to his desk after our morning meeting. I guess you just surprised him with the knock on the door," I explain naturally.
"Yeah sure... Just be careful..." he advises, looking at his computer.
"What do you mean?" I ask nonchalantly, focusing on my own screen.
"You know what I mean, Josh. I've known you for long enough to have my guess about what is going on..." he says casually.
"And what is your guess?" I ask defiantly, although I know I should stop this now. He looks up from his screen and folds his arms across his chest, leaning back in his chair.
"Josh, you are my friend and, as a friend, I've never meddled much into your private life, or at least the part you never told me about; but I've seen a few of these guys you called your boyfriends and I know that they were not really that. And I have my guess on what's hiding within Aaron's club too. I don't judge you because I don't know much about... all this... and honestly I don't really care... to each their own after all. You could be involved in a sect or do anything that I don't approve of, you would still be my friend... well to a certain extent of course... but anyway, if what's going on with Liam is what I'm thinking about, that's not my business and I can only advise you to be cautious in the office." Well, I guess that had to happen at some point...
"Don't worry, I'll be careful," I simply comment, looking back at my laptop.
"You know that some people have spiteful tongues here... and I'm not sure that picking someone that is your employee is the best idea, but if you think that you can deal with this, that's fine."
"It will be fine," I reaffirm. "And I trust you to keep this secret. Hadn't it been you, I would have kicked you out for suggesting things like this. I'm sorry I never told you before, but I never wished to discuss this with people who don't belong in this lifestyle; they mostly wouldn't understand it."
"Josh, I'm not asking you to tell me about it, don't worry... I always knew you were some kind of kinky guy!" he guffaws. "Just saying, be careful with Liam. This is a different situation for you... Anyway... let's review this agreement with Cole..."
With that, we set to work on the agreement and spend the whole morning there. I notice Liam go to fetch my lunch around noon and go out again a little while later. I thought he would have stayed at his desk and look at the contract while having his lunch, eager to see the details, but he only comes back at 1:00 and sets back to work. My own afternoon flies by between conference calls and the visits of Derek who presents me the final budget for the new division and Connie who confirms that she's interviewing Derek's friend tomorrow. She also informs that she worked with Liam to accommodate two more interviews on Thursday in my calendar for the function of Manager of the new division. Hopefully one of these two will provide a good fit because I will need this person to work urgently on the project and doing interviews is not really my favorite task. As usual, I have glanced at Liam as often as I could throughout the afternoon; he has been focused on his work, worrying his lips all the time and looking nervous for the past two hours. I wonder if this is from the stress of work or due to the contract he is about to read. At 6:00, I see him tidying his desk and warily walk to our meeting room, carrying the white envelope I gave him this morning. I chuckle at the fact that he needs to hide to read it, more than certainly conscious that I can see him through the windows.
I like his shyness and modesty, although I intend to make him work on this further on. I like this character trait but I will need him to feel at ease and comfortable around me at some point. I was quite surprised by his request yesterday though. I really thought that he would want to wait for a while longer before we have sex, but when he asked, I wondered if he really meant it or if it was merely to please me. However, when I looked into his eyes, which are so easy to read for me, I only saw sincerity and lust so I yielded to his request.
The foreplay took a long time because I wanted to make sure he wouldn't suffer too much from his first time being penetrated. I positively did my best to stretch him but he was still so fucking tight; it was almost painful for me too in the beginning but I didn't make it last for longer than necessary. For one, I needed him to keep a good memory of his first time, and then, myself having not had sex in a long time, I wouldn't have been able to hold it for very long anyway. I am usually able to hold back and make sex last for much longer, but after so much time without sex, I couldn't expect myself to be that tough. It was hard enough to keep it going for a few minutes when I felt like I was going to explode already as soon as I was settled inside him.
Half an hour later, as I am replying to some emails to wrap up the day, I see Liam return to his desk. His face is flushed as he sits down and cautiously tucks the envelope in his bag. He starts to write down some notes on a little piece of paper and I chuckle at how he is poking his tongue out in concentration. Seeing that it is almost time to meet Tony downstairs, I pack up my things and meet Liam at his desk. I am awfully curious to know what these notes were about, but I don't ask him and we go to take the private lift.
"Are you nervous?" I ask once we are comfortably settled in the car.
"N..no... I'm fine" he whispers. You're fine my ass... Why would he blush like this when I have carefully avoided to touch him at all times since we left our floor?
I grab his hand in mine to squeeze it gently but the rest of the ride remains silent, until we reach the Chicago Stock Exchange Building where the Everest is settled on the 40th floor. Mark would probably hate me for going to one of his most serious competitors, but Le Marais is closed on Mondays and the Everest offers one of the best views in Chicago. A waiter leads us to our table which, as I requested, is against one of the windows that looks down on the city. The sight is wonderful with all the city lights, and as much I like my countryside-like town and its quietness, I have to admit that this is beautiful and Liam seems to appreciate it too.
"Wow... the sight is impressive," he whispers as we open the menu books in front of us.
"It's romantic... this is going to tame the effects of our upcoming conversation," I whisper back with a wink, making him blush some more. "What would you like to eat?"
"Hmm... I don't know..." he says, looking at the offer of dishes. "Would you choose for me again?"
"Sure... this is French cuisine, but they specialize in dishes from the East of France. You should like it too."
"You have a thing with French cooking... Have you ever been there?"
"Yes, I like French cuisine, but I also like Italian, Mexican, Chinese and probably anything that can be eaten anyway," I chuckle. "And yes, I have been there quite a few times. I visited Mark there while he was studying in Paris and I also took some vacation in the South of France a few years ago. This is a beautiful country. Have you ever been there yourself?"
"Hmm no... but that's one country I'd like to visit if I have the opportunity to..." he admits. I make a mental note of that. "I'd love to see Paris..."
"It's a very nice city overall. It has its bad areas like any big cities, but there are beautiful things to see indeed."
The waiter comes back at that moment to take our orders and I choose the marbré of duck and the smoked salmon as starters, then the steak with béarnaise sauce and the filet of sole meunière for our main courses; I'll let Liam choose what he prefers once the dishes are served. Liam is now lost in the contemplation of the sight to his left. It is good that he has his back to the rest of the dining-room, this way, he will feel less conscious of other people while we talk. This is also why I chose this restaurant: the tables are all quite distant one from the other which gives us some privacy.
"So you have read the contract?" I finally ask very gently, making him look back at me.
"Hmm yes..."
"And...? What do you think? Do you have any questions or comments?" His eyes look down and he starts to fumble nervously with the napkin in front of him. "Liam, this is merely a conversation for now, and I need you to speak openly and honestly; you have to tell what you think exactly. Why are you so nervous?"
"Oh... that's not really the contract... well it is... a bit... but..." he stutters.
"But what...?"
"That's..." he sighs, "I realized that... yesterday was your birthday... I knew it and I completely forgot... and I'm feeling bad because I should have remembered... and you were the one to offer me lunch yesterday... and I didn't even wish you a happy birthday... didn't even get you a present and ..."
"Liam, Liam... stop..." I interrupt his babbling. Is it really why he has been looking so nervous this afternoon? "Don't worry about my birthday, please. Even my own mother forgot it, though... that's another subject."
"But I could have gotten you something... I can still do it, it will just be late..."
"You did offer me a present, Liam," I whisper, smiling at his blinking eyes. "You actually offered me the most beautiful present," I insist.
"What?" he asks, but when I wink an eye at him, he finally gets what I mean and blushes. "Oh you mean... my..." he trails on without finishing his sentence.
"Yes, I mean your virginity. That was the most precious thing you could ever give me and it means more to me than anything else in the world," I say with the deepest sincerity.
"I... I hadn't thought about that..." he says with a small smile as a waiter brings our starters. After some hesitation, Liam chooses the smoked salmon so I get the duck.
"Now, will you tell me about this contract?" I ask again once we have started to eat.
"Sure... I actually have a lot of questions..." he says sheepishly.
"Go ahead; this is what we're here for," I encourage him.
"I didn't think there would be so many... rules... Do we really have to keep them all in the contract or... can we at least change some them? Or is it something that's final...?"
"I told you already: the document I gave you is a draft and it includes what I believe is ideal for me. However, the relationship between a Dominant and a Submissive has to be consensual, which means that both of them have to feel comfortable with this frame. There are some of the rules that I wouldn't change unless you have a real good argument for me to do it. There are others that we can compromise on of course. The best would be for you to tell me first if there are some rules that you absolutely disagree on."
"I can only think about one... one that I absolutely can't agree with. It's the one about you deciding who my friends should be or not..." he says with determination in his voice.
"I see... the idea is only to make sure that you don't have friends that would get you into trouble or have a bad influence on you," I explain.
"I understand that, but I have only one friend and there's no way I would break up our friendship... no matter how good or bad it is. Shannon is the only friend I've ever had and he needs me as much as I need him," he whispers firmly, obviously shutting all doors to compromise on this point. I have vaguely seen the boy he is talking about and my first impressions were not too good back then. I mostly remember that he was the one to let Liam in the hands of this guy at the club, not really caring about what could have happened to his friend since Liam wasn't even able to find him when Aaron sent him back home in a taxi. I could be wrong, but this is how I see things happened in my point of view. Now, I already know that he is Liam's only friend - he had told me about him before - and I can definitely not take him away from his sole friend.
"Okay, we'll discuss this one later."
"Isn't the purpose of our discussion tonight to find some final compromises?" he asks bluntly.
"It is indeed. I just need to find a way to put this clause differently, but don't worry, I'm not going to ask you to break this friendship. What else? Are there other rules that you wish to discuss?"
"Well... yes... all of them in general... I totally understand the concept, but why does there have to be some rules... it feels like you want to control my whole life..." he says.
"That should have been your first question," I say warmly. "In a way, you're right. I'm willing to control your life and this is why there are rules that you have to obey. First thing you need to remember is that you will have a say in the things I decide; the decisions I will make will always be because I believe they are the best for you and this is where you need to trust me. My goal is to make you blossom and open out; to make you get some self-confidence too. All these rules go in that sense and you have to respect them. Tell me what bothers you in them."
"For example... the one about sleep... or the one about working-out... I've never been a great fan of sport... couldn't we leave that out?"
"That's two questions in one... or in three actually. This is all part of the healthy habits and you should know my answer if you have read the information on the websites. I will need you to be full of stamina, and I am not only talking about sex. I'm also talking about everyday life and the professional life, and in this respect, you need to have a healthy lifestyle. This starts with good nights of sleep."
"But I'm not used to sleeping that much... I usually don't sleep more than five or six hours..." he argues.
"You'll get used to it and, believe me, you will need it. I'm willing to take the sleeping hours to seven on week days and eight over the week-end. Would that sound better to you?" He thinks it over for a few seconds and nods. "Good... Anyway, you will soon find out that you're going to need all these hours... Now food is also part of the healthy habits. That shouldn't be a problem when you are with me, but when you are at your place, I want you to stick to it and take the time to cook so that you have three meals a day. Do you think you can do that?"
"I guess..."
"And as far as working out is concerned, this is more than necessary. I can understand that you've never been athletic but I'm not asking you to become an athlete either. The purpose is once again to keep you in good health; this is going to train your heart and to make you more resistant. You will soon discover that this lifestyle requires a lot of stamina and some strength as well. I will be very demanding and as you may have seen, some of the positions require some suppleness too. Once you start working out, you'll feel much better and you might ask for more than one hour and a half twice a week, trust me."
"Do you work out?" he asks defiantly, making me smile.
"I do; at least one hour every day..." I wriggle my eyebrows at his blinking eyes.
"When do you find the time to do so?"
"I have a gym at home and I also plan to install one on the second floor of the building for all the employees to use it if they want to. Working out is a good way to relax from the stress of life in general and of work in particular. In the meantime, you could use my gym at home over the week-end and maybe go jogging once on week days," I propose.
"Okay..."
"Don't worry Liam, you can try and we will amend all the clauses as seen fit in time if some things really bother you." I take a brief pause while the server takes our dishes away. "What's your next question?"
"Hmm... well..." he hesitates, his blush making me guess that this is probably sex-related. "There is something about shaving..."
"Yes, you're right. I'm not being original there. A lot of Dominants like to have their Subs fully shaved and this is how I like it too. This shouldn't be too much of a problem for you. From what I have seen, you're not really hairy and would only need to shave your privates and armpits... it's not that much." Liam tries to hide his blush as the waiter brings our main course. He goes for the fish and I take the steak. For a couple of minutes, we just eat in a comfortable silence. "Liam, for all the things that relate to the sex preparation, you can of course ask me for some help, but I know some people who will be more than pleased to help you. But we'll discuss that later. Are there other rules that you would like to discuss?"
"I don't think so... I'm just wondering... about the... frequency...?"
"Hmm...?"
"The contract says I should be at your place at least over the week-ends..."
"That's... the common thing, but this is one point I wanted to discuss with you anyway... I am travelling a lot, so of course I would expect you to be at my place from Friday evenings to Sunday evenings. But in all honesty, I would like to have you more often than that..." I admit.
"More often...? Hmm... I... I think I'd like to keep some independence... at least for now... and I still want to get some time with my friend..." I had seen this one coming...
"What are you going to tell your friend? About us I mean?" I ask. This is something I need to know for different reasons.
"I don't know yet... for sure, I'll have to tell him something... but it's a bit complicated..." he stutters.
"Why is that?"
"Shan has always been convinced that I was... gay... and I always refused to admit it..."
"Why? From what I've seen, your friend is pretty much gay too..."
"He's bi-sexual actually," he chuckles. "The problem is not to admit that I'm gay; after all he saw me at the club with... well you know... The problem is that I'm not willing to tell him about... all this... kinky stuff you see..." he explains, blushing even more.
"I can understand this... this is very personal and I totally agree with you on this point. I don't share this side of me with many people either; with no one actually, apart from my friends at the club. But you can still tell him that I am your boyfriend."
"Can I?" he asks, suddenly all smiles.
"Of course you can. I don't wish you to tell him more anyway; this is part of the NDA you signed, remember?"
"Yes... but I thought you wouldn't accept that I speak of you as my boyfriend either..." he replies sheepishly.
"Why wouldn't I?"
"Well... all this doesn't sound much like a regular relationship..."
"I understand your point. However, contrary to what it could have been indeed, it's more than a Dom/Sub relationship Liam. If that was only that, I probably wouldn't have allowed myself to take your virginity; I wouldn't have had sex with you before your signed the contract; and I would certainly not have chosen someone who works with me either. All this is new to me as well and I really want to make it work. I want you to be my boyfriend too, but I also want you to be my Submissive and I'm sure we can make this work. So about the frequency, how about you spend at least three week-ends with me and some week nights as well?"
"That would only leave me one week-end with Shannon..." he says thoughtfully.
"Maybe you can sometimes do one Friday night with him and one Saturday night with me during one of the other week-ends? Anyway, this is just a frame and we can adapt according to how things go during the week. For example, if you spend more nights at my place during a week, you can spend more of that week-end at your place. How does that sound?" I propose.
"It sounds good... if you say that we can adapt, that's fine..." he replies more cheerfully.
"Of course we can," I reply encouragingly. "Do you have any comments on the club by the way?"
"Will we go there again?" he asks shyly.
"Of course!" I laugh gently at his question. "We will actually go there quite often."
"Really?" Now he sounds a bit worried.
"Yes, really. This club is a huge part of my lifestyle. You'll get to meet some very nice people there, Liam, don't worry. You might even make more friends."
"Mmmh... are we going there this week-end?"
"Nope. I already took you there once as a guest and Aaron rarely accepts twice. He would if I asked him, but the next time I take you there, I want you to go as my Submissive, and for that you need to train first."
"There's a training?" he exclaims, eyes wide open.
"Yes, there's a training, and I'm going to take care of yours. There's nothing complicated really. It teaches you the basic rules of respect as well as some of the positions you need to learn. Once that is done, you will become a certified Sub of the club and since you'll be mine, you won't even go through that part about how to find a Dominant at the club," I explain.
"When are we going to do this training?"
"Well, first things first... tomorrow, I will give you an updated copy of the contract and I will give you until the end of the week to decide if you agree to join me... if you do, I'd like you to spend the week-end with me and we can start the training then."
"Okay..." he says, nodding his head, before he starts biting his lower lip. "Do I have to stay the whole week-end?"
"That would be preferable, why?"
"That's... my friend Shannon has been away for nearly two weeks and he is supposed to be back sometime this week-end..." This Shannon again... I wonder how much worry he is going to be for me...
"Well, we'll see... Has he gone on vacation?"
"Hmm no... he is working..."
"What does he do for a living?"
"He's had... a complicated past... kind of... he dropped off school too early so he lives on small jobs... but he's a great guy... really..." I shouldn't judge this guy since I don't know him, but somehow, I'm not too surprised... I wonder how these two relate.
The rest of our dinner goes pretty smoothly, talking about nothing and everything, and it is barely 11:30 pm when I get back home after we have dropped off Liam at his apartment. As soon as I get inside, I go straight to my study and pull out my laptop. This conversation with Liam has been rather effective and positive; I am convinced that if I loosen some clauses of the contract, he will accept it and I couldn't be any happier because I have never wanted a relationship to work as much as I want this one to.
Published on 21 Sept 2016
I can smell some not so nice comments about Josh coming up already... And this is only the beginning... You will note that I don't leave you with a cliffhanger for once...
Hmm I had to talk about France again... After all, I'm French... The funny thing about that Everest restaurant specialized in dishes from the East of France proposes many things that are not from the East of France... And by the way, they are closed on Mondays in reality, but who really cares?
Btw, the picture shows the back of the house. The whole façade of the first floor is Joshua's bedroom (yeah... It is really huge...). On the ground floor, that's the family room on the left, the middle is the kitchen and the right is the dining room (from what I understood from the pictures of the inside...). The building to the right is a swimming pool. And then there's the terrace with a swing that you will hear about later on...
Next update will come this week-end. For once I have a full week-end (almost) to myself and I intend to work quite a lot on my stories! Till then... Thanks again for all the votes and comments... I can't believe that the statistics show more than a hundred unique readers for this book after each update ^^ I don't know who you guys are, but thanks a lot for reading this story!