Discussing Business

The inside of the room looks like a cheap break-room for a low-rent diner. There's an unattractive old oak table, and a set of eight mismatched chairs set around it in no particular order. A dry-erase board on the far wall blocks the window which would normally show the street traffic below, and the lighting is blinking on and off as the flourescent tubes slowly heat up to operating temperature. There are coffee stains near a small table and a filing cabinet; a small portable coffee machine drips slowly, the glass cracked. Pulling out a chair, Kate sits, motioning for them to sit as well.

"You know, if you'd gotten here sooner, we'd have more time," Kate complains. "I've got an event in less than an hour."

"We were busy," Tommy giggles, and presses herself into a chair next to Aden. She's gripping his thigh again, as if she's trying to reassure herself that he's still there, that this is still real. "What sort of an event?"

"The current owners are using the place. They'll show up with their slaves and subs, and play with what gear we still have."

Her frown tells a story. Aden senses Kate is tight, angry, frustrated. "What do you need?"

She sighs. "What I need is a way to convince a total bastard to sell. What I WANT is for you to look over a prospectus I've prepared and tell me if you'd be willing to invest." She stands and goes to the filing cabinet, opens a drawer, and pulls out a glossy preparation package. She's obviously put a lot of work into it, and he takes it from her and looks at the cover. It's a computer-modeled picture of the hotel, fully fixed up and renovated, new paint and fixtures. There's a bright club on the bottom, and the front of the booklet is emblazoned with THE PHOENIX in seductive red and black trim. He drops it onto the tabletop, and Tommy picks it up.

There's a soft knock at the door, and Kate calls out for the person to enter. A young redhead in a sexy maid's uniform steps inside, carrying a silver tray with three cups of tea and a bowl of sugar. She places it in front of Kate, her movements self-assured and subtly sexy. Aden notices Tommy's cheeks flush again as the girl's pert tits almost brush her face. "You wanted me, Mistress Kate?" she asks in a posh British accent.

"Yes, Tara," Kate answers, her voice silky smooth suddenly. "Be a love and pour us tea. When you're done, go and prepare two guest badges for my friends. And ready the blue room for a demo, would you?"

"Rope, chain, or steel, Mistress?" Tara asks, gracefully preparing tea for each of them. Without asking, she puts the right amounts of milk and sugar in each cup, and manages to rub her right breast against Kate's hand as she places tea in front of her. Tommy's face turns an even deeper shade of red.

"Rope, please," Kate answers, reaching out and brushing an imaginary crumb from Tara's stocking. Aden catches the micro-tremors of desire between them. As Tara leaves the room, he looks at Kate and raises an eyebrow.

"You're doing the thing again, aren't you?" she asks, mock-exasperated.

"The thing?" Tommy asks, taking a sip of the tea Tara placed in front of her and cooing her approval.

"The thing," Kate explains. "Nick is always observing people, checking their actions and words, and the way they breath, or move, or the tone of their voice. He's computing the appropriate responses."

"It keeps me alive," Aden says, mildly.

"It's gotten worse," Kate starts, then stops short. She watches Tara leave the room as quietly as she came in.

He shrugs. "It is what it is. You know I don't know anything at all about money."

"Take that to a lawyer or financial advisor, and they can explain it."

He smiles at her. "Why don't you explain it, Kate?"

She nods, and looks briefly over to Tommy. Aden nods that it's okay to talk in front of her.

"Short form, this place got bought out by a local group of BDSM freaks who had a bit of investment money. There was a grand plan to renovate and remodel, but the issue is that two of the seven board members are, quite frankly, idiots. There's a contract that states that, in order to make any changes or sell the property, at least six of the seven owners have to agree."

"And the two idiots won't sell?" Tommy says, flipping through the prospectus, chewing on her lip as she reviews it.

Kate nods. "One is simply unwilling to give up her interest in the place. She's in love with the other idiot, and does whatever he says."

"And that idiot?" Aden asks.

"He calls himself King Rick, and he's a shallow sadistic sonofabitch who gets his jollies being obstructive and controlling."

Tommy taps the prospectus. "This says you owe over two million in back taxes, unpaid bills, and property adjustments."

Kate nods, scowling. "It gets worse. if you flip to-"

"Page 17, yah," Tommy cuts in. "I see it."

Kate looks interested, smiling. "You know something about property?"

"Accounting." Tommy reaches across the table and picks up a pencil stub near a half-filled out crossword puzzle. "I did two years of college before I...stopped."

Aden grins at her. "Glad to know my sugar baby has other uses."

Tommy sticks her tongue out at him. "You really owe more like four million, once you take into account the declining property value of the building itself, and the taxes on the land. Plus another four or five million to actually pay for renovations. And the buy-off clause."

"Buy-off clause?" Aden asks.

Kate shrugs. "When the so-called Cambridge Hotel Owners' Association incorporated, someone managed to get a special clause inserted into the paperwork. If, by some miracle, we did get six of the seven owners to vote to sell, we'd have to pay the seventh owner a cool two million extra as a consolation prize. All told, it's about fifteen million total to do what I want to do."

He nods. "So you called me."

"After college, you offered to give me ten million tax-free, remember?"

Tommy whistles, and leans forward conspiratorially. "Wanna tell a girl what to do to get that kinda present?"

Kate laughs out loud. "Be his first girlfriend, his first fuck, and the girl in his first threesome."

Tommy pulls a fake pout. "So that horse has already left the barn. Crap."

"Guess you'll just have to get my money the old fashioned way," Aden smirks. "So if I give you the money, Kate, can you get either of those two hold-outs to change their minds?"

"I'm working on that, but I'm not exactly sure," Kate admits. "I'm hoping I'll be able to leverage the fact that I've actually found a buyer." She leans back in the chair. "For the record, here's what I'm proposing. You give me the fifteen million to buy and renovate the place. We reopen it as a high-end BDSM club, play to the straights and the curious with a glitzy dungeon-themed club downstairs, members only up here. I use my contacts through the lifestyle to spread the word a brand-new hot-as-Hell bondage hotel is open for business. You let me run the place as the on-site manager, and I cut all profits with you, fifty-fifty."

Aden strokes his chin, thinking. Could this work? Would people pay to come here and play sex games with each other? He's not sure if this is a good idea or not.

"Fifteen million dollars is a Hell of a lot of money," Tommy breathes, shocked at the overall scale of what Kate is suggesting.

Both Aden and Kate share a moment, then both burst out into loud laughter. "Honeychild," Kate moans, catching her breath. "You seem really sweet, and Nick obviously is heavily into you. But fifteen million isn't even a drop in the bucket for him." She stands and places the tea cups back on the tray. "He wouldn't even know he'd given it to me."

Tommy squints at Aden, inspecting him. "What did you say you did for money again?"

"I didn't," he answers, and nods his head. "I want to meet the owners before I make a decision. I need to be sure there aren't any hidden complications."

Kates nods in agreement. "That's fair. If you want, I can get you guest passes for tonight's event."

"In a real live sex club?" Tommy squeals excitedly. "Yes, please."