Chapter 51

We arrived a little before nine. The neighborhood was nicer than I remembered it being. When the club was built in an old warehouse it was a run down industrial neighborhood. There were still plenty of freight businesses but the sketchy used car lots were gone and convenience stores didn’t have iron bars over the windows anymore. We parked in a lot adjacent to the club. It had been gravel but was now asphalt with a fence around it. A long line of people dressed up stretched around the building. Two big guys stood up front in suits. When I last was here they would have more likely been in leather chaps. Times had changed.

I parked and stared out the front window.

Melissa squeezed my shoulder from the back seat. “You going to be okay?”

“Yeah, it’s all good.” I gave myself another few seconds of staring out the window. “You know what I’d do if I could do anything in the world?”

“Uh,” Lavi, “like what you’d do right now?”

“No, for a career.”

“You’re going to tell me no matter what I say, aren’t you?”

“I would be an international book thief, stealing electronic manuscripts through a sophisticated series of email confidence scams.”

“What brought this on? Other than having a midlife crisis and already having two trophy wives.”

“An article I was reading. And let’s be real, I’m the trophy husband.”

Melissa squeezed my shoulder from behind. “We don’t have to do this.” She smiled reassuringly. I guess it was obvious I wasn’t getting out of the car yet.

“I thought you wanted to do this,” I said.

Melissa squeezed my shoulder again. “Babe, I want to go on kinky safari and check out the wildlife, not give you new reasons for therapy.”

“Pretty sure this is an existing reason,” Lavi said.

“Lavi.” Melissa’s voice carried a warning.

“Do I seem on edge? I thought I was doing cool and collected. You know, like Nick Carraway.” A week back we had marathoned four film versions of The Great Gatsby so Melissa could write a paper on changing motifs in adaptations over the decades.

“Doesn’t he get completely disillusioned by the end,” Lavi asked.

I held up a finger as if I was making a point. “Yeah, but he was still unflappable.”

Melissa scrunched up her face. “I’d say the vibe was more Hills LIke White Elephants.”

Lavi nodded in agreement. Ouch. I guess they still teach that in high school. I rolled my neck to ease some tension.

Melissa, “Look, yeah, we wanted to come but you’re the one that said we’re doing it tonight so I didn’t think the ghosts in your head would be bad.” I didn’t respond right away and in a quiet voice Melissa asked, “Robert?”

I felt a bit embarrassed. I had gotten caught up thinking about whether ghost or poltergeist would be a better metaphor. “Sorry, wool-gathering. I am un-thrilled about... “ I struggled for words and waved my hands, “the Jordyn stuff but that’s not what is on my mind. These people, okay that sounded bad, this community, always makes me feel awkward.”

“Why?”

“We’ve talked about it before. People who come to the clubs, it isn’t buying a few toys off Amazon and a kinky Saturday night in the bedroom. They invest in the lifestyle, like the cosplayers who spend hundreds of hours making costumes and go to comic conventions all the time. It becomes part of their identity.”

Lavi, “Well, that’s not you. So?”

“Just makes me feel like a fake.”

Lavi, “O-M-G! Do you have imposter syndrome? BDSM imposter syndrome?”

I felt Melissa fall forward into the back of my seat. “My lord who art in heaven, please deliver me from middle-aged sexy emo men. If you can heal him and take the emo out I’d be forever grateful.”

Lavi tittered. “Hey, you two could start a joint LiveJournal account!”

I didn’t see what Melissa did but Lavi yelped. “Ow!” She rubbed her elbow and shot a sour look into the back seat. “But seriously Robert, I get it. We play roles but that doesn’t make you fake.”

Melissa, “Ooh, maybe think of it this way! You can be a beekeeper as a hobby even if some other people do nothing but keep bees.” Melissa was so earnest, it was sweet. “And who cares if some people are just playing D&D with ball gags and nipple clamps instead of dice, it’s still fun, right?”

Lavi, “Hey, there are a lot more endorphins and nudity so let’s not trivialize those things.”

Melissa was leaning forward between us. “My point was that D&D is fun and just because I haven’t gotten to play my barbarian again doesn’t make me a fake D&D player.”

I fought down a smile, “Okay, barbarians aside I’m not trivializing. And I’m having a few butterflies but it’s not like I’m dreading it. I’ve had a lot of fun here and really want to have fun with both of you. The butterflies just needed a little swatting.”

Lavi grinned and clapped her hands. “Then let’s do it!”

“You’re ready to see me in a different environment?”

Lavi, “Oh yeah, I want to see my prince get dirty.”

I snorted.

More seriously Melissa’s voice floated to me, “Robert, I’ve been ready. You know I’m a bit on the submissive side. I’m not going to day-to-day call you Sir or anything. It might be fun to tonight though.”

“So you’re saying...”

Melissa, “It’s complicated, baby, and you’re complicated and I love that you’re complicated and let’s go be perverts, please!” She bounced in her seat.

My other wife joined in, “Babe, I’m not going to start calling you master but I am willing to go around on all fours with a leash and cat ears though.”

I was going to say something but honestly, the image in my head distracted me. “Promise?”

“Oh yes.” She grinned.

I laughed. “I got nothing profound. Let’s go be big damn perverts.” I looked at them but neither seemed to get the reference, which was a tad disappointing.

Lavi rubbed my thigh. “Just wait until you see us in our outfits. They’re going to assume you got enough big dick energy to choke an elephant.” Melissa nodded. Without comment, we got our bags and locked up the car.

We were leaving the lot when Lavi made a tsking sound with her tongue. “Big damn perverts huh? You know, what did Inara ever do for Mal other than give him blue balls?”

Melissa dovetailed, “Inara, Kaylee, and River would have been a good start for Mal’s harem.”

“River was like a kid wasn’t she?”

“Not on the show, maybe young but she would have been legal.”

Lavi snorted. “Legal, where, out on the frontier? Legal was probably like stupid young.”

“Oh my god, only you would take a space western and make it about the sex workers.”

“It’s not like they weren’t in every other episode and that doesn’t even count a main cast member!”

They had gotten it. I’d been had ... again. So I did the dignified thing and before she could reply to Mellie again gave Lavi a stinging slap across her ass. She jumped and before I could turn on Melissa she skipped away giggling. Brat. I gave chase and caught her a dozen feet later. She turned and kissed me and with one arm around her, I smacked her ass too. She showed her appreciation in the kiss. Then Lavi demanded a turn from both of us. We were reminded we had something to do by a club-goer wolf-whistling at us.

Feeling good I led the way. We did not look like we were here to dance. We were all in jeans and t-shirts. We each also carried a gym bag with us. As we approached I walked past the line to get into the club. As I approached the bouncers I slowed down and nodded to them.

“Excuse me, it has been a while since I’ve been here. Is HR still to the left of the bar?”

“There is a private entrance around back for staff now.” He pointed away from the line.

“Thanks.”

I headed that way, the girls in tow.

Lavi chuckled, “Are you putting us to work?”

“Nah, sorry I forgot to tell you about that but it’s part of the protocol outside the Backroom. So around the dance club we are employees to not draw attention. I still find it weird to call it Backroom since it was the original Masquerade.”

I found the door and opened it to a nondescript office. A smart-looking young woman sat behind a large wooden desk in a white blouse with horn-rim glasses. Her hair was short and blonde with purple streaks. Black lipstick and eye shadow made her look like a goth businesswoman.

“Welcome, my name is Brenda. Is there anything I can help you with today?”

I’ve been a lot of people in my life. Robert the lit geek. Robert the dropout. Robert the statistics nerd. Robert the hermit. Even Robert the pool shark one ugly summer. Could I be this Robert again? I took a long breath and realized yes, I could. At that moment everything became easier.

“Pleasure to meet you, Brenda. I ... I have to ask. How many people think they are being clever and reply with some vague innuendo about ‘oh so many things’ when you ask what you can help with?”

“A lot.”

“Troglodytes. Well, I won’t add to it but I will ask for your aid.”

She smiled warmly. “What can I do for you?”

“I used to be a regular but I haven’t been here in several presidential administrations. So, I plead ignorance on all I should do. I’ve kept my membership current and I have two guests.” I passed her my membership card and driver’s license. I had given the girls a heads up and they put their driver’s licenses down as well.

“That I definitely can, and will, help you with.” Brenda spent a moment on her computer. “Now we normally have a limit of one guest but ... wow, you’re a double O. You get some leeway.”

Lavi, “Do you have a license to kill? I’ve got a list!”

“My card number is 008. I’m not James Bond. Sorry.”

She put her hand on her hip. “All the double Os have a license.”

I kissed her forehead. “Sorry, not that kind.” She faux pouted.

Brenda looked amused and returned my cards. “Everything looks good. Wow, it has been a while. We do require that you retake the safety class once a year. I don’t see where you ever did...” Her eyes searched the screen.

“I used to teach it.”

“Oh. Well, rules are rules, sorry. Because none of you have a current certification I am going to require you to wear these.”

She retrieved from a drawer three plastic bands that looked like the kind used for people who can’t drink alcohol in dance clubs. “What are these?” I asked.

“Play limiters. They are a sign for the DMs, dungeon monitors. If you start engaging in anything that is a bit riskier, severe impact, suspension, breath play, that kind of thing, they can step in and stop it. Your waiver is up to date Mr. Carlo but I’ll need some signed by your...” She gave a questioning look.

“Wives,” Melissa said at the same time Lavi said, “fuck toys.”

“Companions,” Brenda finished. She handed two tablets out with pens to digitally sign with. “Now, please read it carefully but there are a few big things you must understand.” She paused and made eye contact with both girls. “One, no alcohol or drugs of any kind on the premises. Prescription and over-the-counter medicine is fine but it must be in labeled bottles so it can be identified. No recording devices of any kind. Cell phones must be left in the locker room. Pagers are fine.”

“People still have pagers?” I asked.

She smirked. “You would be surprised.”

Melissa eyed me. With a whisper, she asked, “What is a pager?”

I replied also in whisper, “Something cavemen used to tell other cavemen to send a messenger pigeon.”

Brenda continued, “You can use whatever safety words you want but the club ones are red and yellow. If you say red everything stops. If you say yellow you mean things need to be backed off. They must be honored. No touching unless it is negotiated and scenes must be negotiated. There is a zero-tolerance policy towards violating any of these rules. There are some more things related to ball gags and other things but you shouldn’t be doing any of those tonight.”

I nodded understanding. “Gotcha. No ball gags, so just ignore the whining of lovely maidens.” I can’t see behind me but based on Brenda’s reaction I’m pretty sure Lavi stuck her tongue out at me.

“Any questions?” I shook my head and looked at the girls. Lavi had signed her form already. Melissa was carefully skimming and then when she was done signed it and handed it to Brenda. “Thank you. It’s still a little early but there are some members here. Go through that door and the locker room is on your left. You are welcome to change there or use one of the bathrooms set up for disabled access if you want some privacy. We only have two though so please leave one open for anyone who actually needs it please.”

“I can change in the locker room. Girls?” They nodded affirmatively as well.

“Great.” She beamed a smile at us. “Well, have fun. Our Dungeon Monitor right now is Willow and so if you have any questions ask. She would much rather have you ask her something than have to stop a scene.”

We all nodded, Melissa said thanks and I stopped. “I do have one question. I was hoping to run into Sister Mary tonight.”

“Sister Mary?”

“Mary, the owner.”

“Oh. Mistress Mary is around. She’s usually doing three things at once but if I see her I’ll tell her you are here.”

“Thanks.”

Before I could turn Brenda turned out to have one more thing to ask. “Now, I am curious, were you tempted to ask what else I can do for you?”

I let myself give a thin smile. “No. I’m pretty sure I know. So I’ll just let that float, implied, between us.”

She tilted her head slightly. “I’m trying to decide if you’re cocky or confident.”

I gave her a soft grin. “Neither, simply a fool like Trinculo lost upon a shore. I was more fortunate in my guide though. Alas, we must part here though.”

She looked directly in my eyes and didn’t waver. “Sometimes after my shift, I visit the club.”

“If you do, I hope you say hello.”

“If I do, I will.”

I gave a shallow bow and headed to the locker room.

Once we were around two corners and well out of earshot Lavi poked me in the ribs. “What the fuck was that? Have you been replaced by a replicant? I’ve never seen you flirt!”

“I told you, I’ve had fun here.” We entered the locker room.

If Melissa was shocked she kept it behind a facade of pleasure. “Keep that up and we’ll both have a good time here,” she said. “I need water, damn.” She was fanning herself and smiling.

We put our bags down on benches. This was just as I remembered it. It was a single large room with lockers taking up most of the three walls. A shower room was off to the side that could fit eight people if they were very friendly with each other and twice that if they weren’t actually trying to get clean. The room was a spartan concrete floor with second-hand lockers. I found mine and it still had my combination lock on it. I had manually set the combination to one I had used in high school and still remembered it. It took a few tries but it opened. One bag was inside. I had kept two bags, one with toys I used with Jordyn, ‘her’ toys as she called them, and another for general use.

She had known my combination and apparently decided that she had a right to the first bag. That was fine with me. I took the other bag out and took inventory - two pairs of floggers, one soft, one rubber. There were some coils of rope, cotton, it looked like. A wooden paddle with an R cut out on it. I smiled, it had been a gift from a friend here who made her own paddles. Safety scissors. Lotion. A first aid kit. Earplugs and an eye mask. A soft blanket. Adjustable ankle and wrist cuffs. A thin bamboo cane. A ball gag, which I wasn’t fond of using, jokes aside. I didn’t like how they looked. A dozen other small items were in pockets of the bag.

Melissa was looking over my shoulder. “Pervert Boy Scout bag?”

“Hardly. I never got into the whole who has the biggest toy bag thing. I would say these are essentials.”

Melissa grinned as she undid her bra.

Lavi snorted, “So we’re doing the prime directive thing? No contact with native life forms?”

I was going to say that wasn’t quite what the prime directive was but Melissa said something first. “I think we should play it by ear but yeah, that’s the general vibe, check the place out and conclave later.”

“Still, a bit of hanky panky never hurts, right?” Lavi’s heavy breasts fell and she went into her bag to get out the demi-cup one she had bought to give them some support while leaving them bare.

Melissa shimmied and pulled her jeans down past her hips. She then sat to take them the rest of the way off. “You’re just hoping there are a bunch of sluts in costumes. Don’t think I’ve forgotten that Harley Quinn you met at free comic book day last year.”

“It was a damn shame her friend wasn’t into it, a threesome with Batgirl would have been awesome!”

“I’ll be your Batgirl baby.”

“You would look hot with red hair.”

Melissa smiled at that. “I’ll have to think about it.”

Lavi pulled her ... outfit out. It had compacted in the bag into a very small folded package. She shook it out and it was still very small. I looked over. So was Melissa’s. Lavi shook her hair out before getting dressed. “I want to see Robert’s outfit. I’m trying to imagine you in leather, babe.”

“You’ll have to keep imagining. No leather, I’m afraid.” My arm felt stiff so I did a quick shoulder exercise. I couldn’t feel the hardware but sometimes imagined I could.

Melissa was dressed and now putting on heels that put her right at six feet. Lavi meanwhile was putting on boots that had the material equal to about twenty of her dresses. I helped her lace up the boots and then looked at both of them.

Melissa was brushing her hair out. Her outfit was completely black and simple but devastating. A short bustier held up her breasts and laced in the front, the ties hanging down. Something too substantial to be panties but too little to be booty shorts provided what might technically provide modesty but the whole effect was bold. Black stockings connected by garters to the ... whatever they were. The outfit was completed with heels. Except for the stockings it was all leather and her body made sure that no one would ignore it. The girls had taught me that clothes could be both armor and weapon with the right person.

Lavi wore a dress. The dress was probably meant to be worn with things under it but other than the demi-cup bra Lavi didn’t bother. It was dark red with lines of shiny red sequins. The shoulders were nothing but a light chain that went around her neck, the material starting on the tops of her breasts. To say it plunged would be misleading. It did nothing to cover anything but her nipples and since it wasn’t secured they occasionally were not hidden. Lavi would reposition the dress when this happened but not with urgency. Between her legs, it was just a thin rectangle of cloth. It wrapped around her hips and provided a slightly wider strip to cover her ass but left the legs bare and drew your eye with the constant possibility of seeing more. It was a real possibility. However, at her knees, two black leather boots started that went down to two-inch platforms.

Melissa smirked. I must have been staring because Lavi rolled her eyes and said, “Fine, you were right, he went catatonic.”

Melissa just kept smirking. “I like it when we do this to him. It’s like his brain can’t make words work so it just has to load something from backups.”

“That is exactly what the presence of the platonic ideals of womanhood do to me.”

“Awww” they said in stereo.

Lavi, “I do have to ask about...” she waved her hand at me. “This. I mean, we’re rollin’.” She indicated their dress. “You...”

“I am practical.” I had on black cargo pants, a black mesh t-shirt, and soft shoes that I could move quietly in and stand in for hours. I slid a few small items into the cargo pants pockets.

Lavi, “I thought doms all wore dramatic black leather vests and shit.”

“That’s a thing that started with gay bikers. Others have adopted it but I always thought it was kind of wrong, like cultural appropriation.”

“Really?” That was Melissa. I just nodded yes. She clearly approved of my choice.

“Besides, if I spend an hour standing and flogging someone I want to be comfortable. Have you ever worked up a sweat in leather pants?”

I realized it was stupid as soon as I asked it. Without even looking at the other they both said, “Yes.”

Lavi however had a follow-up question, “An hour?”

“Sometimes.”

“I’m down to try anything once but I’m not letting anyone beat my ass for an hour. I have some padding but it’s not the whole IKEA mattress collection.”

It was finally my turn to smirk. “Let me warm you up, you might be surprised.” I reached to pick up my bag but Melissa made a throat noise and pointed at my shoes.

“So, what about those says ‘badass dom’?”

“Uh... “ So my shoes were mostly shades of blue with some white and black as Godzilla walked across the Tokyo skyline. “They glow in the dark. Especially his electric breath.”

Melissa had her arms crossed. “Really? Are you fourteen or forty?”

Technically, I wasn’t forty for a few more months. I looked at the shoes. They still made me happy so I looked up at her and said, “Both. They might have been a subconscious rejection of how serious some people take stuff.”

Lavi was suppressing laughter. “I’m seriously doubting it was subconscious. Let’s go glow-in-the-dark Lord Gojira.”

I groaned since she couldn’t see an eye roll as I picked up my bag and the girls put everything up in the locker. I double-checked and made sure it included phones.

The layout surprised me by looking unchanged. The building had been small by warehouse standards. The lights were low and as my eyes adjusted I did notice that the furniture was much nicer. Couches and chairs dominated the center of the room. Cold chests were scattered around that would have water and fruit juices. Baskets had granola and protein bars useful for low blood sugar.

Circling the social area were rooms. The walls had been built with soundproofing but each had extra-wide doorways with no doors. The wide doorways allowed equipment to be moved in and out. There was no true privacy though a small box at each doorway had three large ribbons in it and a peg. If you hung the red ribbon it meant no interruptions, and please don’t come in. Dungeon monitors were the exception. A yellow ribbon meant you could come in to observe but with no interruptions. A green ribbon meant you could come in and interact though courtesies should be maintained.

I explained all this to the girls.

Lavi looked around, “This is bomb.”

“It has that Edwardian kind of vibe,” Melissa added. “Classy but not steampunk.”

“It was more Goodwill random when it opened. I guess the club has done well.”

Lavi’s got to the point, at least as far as she was concerned, “Where are people fucking?”

I was going to answer her but I was interrupted by a young woman approaching us. She was wearing pink high heels. Those were not remarkable. However, her knee-high socks and bikini were striped white and pink in the exact same colors. Does someplace sell matching knee-high socks and bikinis? She had dark skin, black frizzy hair that managed to look chaotic and well-coiffed at the same time, and pink cat ears on her head. Near her cheeks, her hair transitioned to red. All of this was less noticeable than her bright yellow glow in the dark vest like crossing guards wear.

I held out my hand. “Willow, I presume.”

“Goddess Willow.”

She went to shake my hand but I turned it up, kissed it and said, “Cassonade, tout comme une jeune fille devrait.”

She shook her shoulders with pleasure and I let her hand fall away. She asked, “French?”

I gave her a smile. “The only bit I know, assuming I remember it from my college French class correctly.”

“What was it?”

“A little bit from the Rolling Stones’ Brown Sugar. I may not have translated it well though.”

She giggled. “Well, it has been a while I assume.”

“The years don’t seem important when the divine inspires me.”

She looked me over. “You might be worth knowing. You are...?”

“Robert.”

“Title?”

“Robert.”

Melissa skipped to stand next to me and extended her hand to Willow. “He’s my Sir. I’m Honey.”

“And sweet you are.” She looked like she was eating Melissa with her eyes.

Lavi slinked and put her arm around Melissa’s waist. “I’m Kitty.”

“Do you have claws? Please tell me you have claws.”

Lavi returned the same intense gaze. “They only come out when I’m excited.”

“Do tell...”

I heard footsteps behind me. “As I live and breathe. Fetch the fatted calf, the prodigal son has returned!” I turned to find a thin guy in leather pants with rubber strips criss-crossing his chest.

Willow was standing very close to Lavi. “Returned?”

He and I were shaking hands but he looked towards Willow. “You may not know him but you know his name. This is, the, Dr. Robert, of the cabaret!”

Willow’s eyes went wide. “Oh my god, you’re Doctor Robert?”

Melissa looked at me with a question. Lavi looked annoyed at being out of the loop. “My loves,” I said, “Meet Little Bear.”

He extended his hand. “I just go by Chris now.” They introduced themselves as Honey and Kitty. “Wow, I never thought I’d see you again man!”

“I didn’t know anyone from the old days would still be here. Are Lady Tiffany and Lord Richard here?”

“Well,” he scratched the back of his head. “Richard doesn’t come very often anymore. Sometimes if he’s between girlfriends or just is sick of being home he might.”

“Girlfriends? I never thought of Tiff as the kind to share.”

Chris winced. “She’s long gone. That is too long a story and involves her running off with a Swedish businessman who wanted a private domme.”

“Uh... “ that took a second to absorb. “That sounds nuts.”

He waved his hand. “Old shit now.”

Lavi, “I’m still waiting to hear this you-playing-Doctor story.”

It was my turn to scratch at my chin. “I’m not sure how to tell it.”

Chris chuckled, “Oh, I can do this. Seems like forever ago and just yesterday but we had this girl here named Alex. We were a lot smaller then and everyone knew each other. Alex had a kink that’s not on the easy to explore side if you get my drift. She is a vore. You know what that is?” Melissa nodded yes and Lavi shook no. “Let’s just say she got off on zombie movies, and she wasn’t imagining herself as the zombie. So Robert here had a soft spot for Alex.”

“She was sweet.” I might have sounded defensive.

Chris looked at the girls. “She had him wrapped around her finger.”

“Were they ... you know.” Lavi made an obscene gesture.

I stepped in. “She was a lesbian.”

Chris, “Like that ever stopped you. And she may have only wanted to date a woman but I’m pretty sure she wasn’t a lesbian.” I felt myself turn pink but to be honest, this was not the most embarrassing story he could have told so I figured I was best letting it run. “So, Robert here came up with a plan. We all thought he was freakin’ nuts but everyone loved Alex so we gave it our best shot and figured at worst it would be cheesy and make for a good story. The thing is it worked! He wrote up this whole script thing, it was even formatted like a movie script. In it, she got kidnapped, raped, consensually, of course, basted, cooked, and eaten. The basting was done with this stuff he made up that attached like glue to her. It was completely edible and looked like flesh when we tore it off. Hurt like hell and she was on cloud nine. The whole thing was a mad scientist cannibal thing. We started calling him Doctor Robert because that was his character.”

Melissa put her hand on her hip. “I thought you didn’t start cooking until later.”

“I wouldn’t call that concoction cooking. I did get it to taste a bit like chicken the second year. I think I could do better now. Molecular gastronomy has come up with some amazing tricks.”

“Well, we still do it every year, around Halloween. No one plays your role though, we just refer to Doctor Robert, the mad scientist whose horny cannibals must be fed. We call it the Cannibal Cabaret.”

Melissa grinned. “That sounds freaky!”

Me, “Cabaret? So, you didn’t keep the original title?”

Chris snorted. “It was a bit unwieldy. The subtitle had a subtitle.” He may have had a point but the silliness had been part of the point.

“No Fucking WAY!” Lavi looked at me. “I’ve heard of that! You came up with it!?”

Chris leaned in but didn’t whisper. “Not the musical numbers, we added those later. And to be fair there’s not much of the original script left. We had to edit him out and made the lead character less vore-intense after Alex moved. We change it a bit each year, really.”

Words, I should use words but I was still having trouble absorbing this. “It was a really cheesy three-act play with sex and vore. If anything it proved I could never be a writer. But ... there are musical scenes?”

Chris grinned. “I’m particularly proud of Pyg’s ‘The Epicurean Epiphany’. I helped write the lyrics. I just wish I was a tenor so I could sing it. The scenes in between still follow your plot though the specifics have changed.”