Chapter 31

Claude the executive chef at the club went back to the kitchen and we had the rest of our delicious dinner. The club manager, Gary Levy stopped by and said hello. He said that sign ups were on schedule so far. After dinner, Melinda wanted to look around, so we went to the roof and I then gave her the tour floor by floor. When we came to the private floor, Sophie said, "They didn't show this to us the other day."

I replied, "The rest of the club is open for all members to enjoy, but sometimes it's nice to have someplace a little more private to relax. As you can see, at the moment, it's empty, but if I wanted to meet with someone or your boss, the senator, wanted to have a quiet, off the record chat with another senator, they could accidentally bump into each other here and no one would know about their discussions. We also have other meeting rooms down the hall that could support discussions that are even more private. You never know what might happen in there."

Sophie said, "I'd rather meet with someone on the roof. It's so pretty up there."

Melinda said, "I think he meant meeting for sex."

"So was I," was Sophie's reply.

After dinner, I made it home alone and Shawna and Jim were watching TV. I sat down and talked with them for a little while, telling them how nice I thought things were going. Shawna said a little pointedly, "I'm not a member. I wouldn't know."

"Of course you are. You just haven't been by to get your card yet. You're on my account, and I put Annie on the account as well. You even have founding member privileges except for voting."

"Really? Can I go by tomorrow and get my card?"

"You should invite your lunch group and have your meeting there. I can go with you to make sure there are no problems, and show you around." I said.

"I don't have a lunch meeting tomorrow. This town is emptying out with the holidays starting next week."

"You should invite Jim anyway, and we can get you all set up."

"If you want me to join you, I'm certain that I can get away," said Jim.

I left them to discuss their plans and went up to my suite to relax. I took Shawna over around eleven. I got her set up with her membership card, and gave her the tour. I introduced her to Claude the chef and Gary the manager, both of whom said that they'd look after her. When Jim arrived, I wished them both a good lunch and went up to the bar to have a quiet lunch. At the bar, I ordered a burger and fries with a small salad. Two other chiefs of staff, who I didn't know, but worked for different congressmen, joined me and we talked. They were both in town taking care of business while the congressmen were back in their home states. I asked what they thought of the club and they both said that they loved it.

Bill Randall worked for a congressman from Houston. He said, "Most of the time, I don't have time to find a parking spot and then wait for a table at a restaurant. This is so close that I can simply walk over. It has a buffet that I can grab something quick or if I have time, I can order off the menu. The price is right. Given the prices though, I'm not sure how it will stay in business."

"My name is Britt. I work for a trucking company. We pay a lot of money to fund this club. We're in partnership with the pharmaceutical lobby, the banking lobby as well as insurance and defense. When you come to this club, you won't find yourself bombarded with questions or other issues, but, from time-to-time, especially if there's a bill or a concern we'd like to discuss with you or your boss, we may want to sit and have lunch with you."

"I think that seems fair. If you come by our office, we talk with you anyways, so why not do it in a more comfortable place."

"I know, we always show up at your office with our agenda and you have ten other things going on. Today we can talk about the burgers or if beer is better in a glass or the bottle. Tomorrow we can talk about federal fuel taxes and infrastructure maintenance."

Dan Davis, from Alabama said, "They're all important topics worth discussing."

"Yes, they are. Do you talk with others in your position? I know we're hoping that more people continue to join."

Dan said, "I came over the first day. I usually bring another COS with me for lunch, dinner, or drinks most days. They all sign up before we leave."

"We should have a contest. You could win a prize. Would you want a TV, a trip, or what?"

"I just like the free beer. The prize might motivate others, but I like what you're doing and I talked to a guy from defense the first day. As you said, it was casual and much more relaxed than back at the office. I'd prefer to talk about the right balance of taxes over a beer instead of get my ear chewed off by the teachers union, with them sitting between me and the only door into or out of my office."

We all raised our glasses to that. Bill asked, "Is there anything you need for the trucking business?"

"We're meeting after the holidays with the Port of Los Angeles longshoreman's union. Senator Cranston is setting it up. If it goes wrong, I may need some support with a bill that unions can't keep non-union workers from doing their jobs. I think that the unions have tried to get into my company from the bottom up, but they can't seem to get any traction, so they're just trying a different angle."

Dan said, "I think that unions have done a lot for this country, as far as working hours and benefits, but they didn't stop there and now they're hurting our competitiveness."

"We should send the unions to China and Korea, so that we can compete again." Bill replied.

I said, "I think that all employees deep down want to take pride in what they do and be successful at their jobs. The unions seem to step in and sometimes are against doing what's right."

"What do you mean?"

"The head of the teachers union said, "We don't care about the kids, because they don't pay dues." I know that almost all teachers really care about the kids, but when the teachers union negotiates, the students aren't very high on the priority list."

"I heard that quote too. It makes it harder to get support when the education department wants more funding year after year."

"What about the guy working at the factory that wants to work harder or faster or smarter to get ahead. They tell him to work at the union pace and when someone dies, only then will he get promoted, because it's all about seniority and not about hard or quality work."

Bill said, "We built a new stadium with tax payers money, but because of the union and the owners, most of our tax base can't even afford to take their family to a game. They keep raising the prices."

"I like watching on TV better. I can lie down and they have replays."

"I agree. I think that today, unions go too far, but they had their benefits back in the day. Reagan took care of the air traffic controllers last year. They didn't want to work, so he hired people who did," Dan said.

"It wasn't a good idea for them to take the country hostage, so they could get paid more," I said.

We all finished our lunches and I told them that it was nice meeting them. They went back to the capitol to keep the government running. I stopped by Gary the general manager's office and told him about Dan bringing people over and them signing up. He told me that Bill had signed up today.

I said, "We should take some money and put together a little contest. When someone signs up you can ask who or what brought him or her in. If it was the flyer or the post card, we can tell which type of advertising is working. If it's a person then we can keep track of the name, and either give the person with the most referrals a prize or it may be better to simply put their name in the hat, once for each person they bring in, and have a drawing for the different prizes at the grand opening party in January."

Gary said, "I like the idea and that way someone who brings in only one or two people still has a chance at winning. Someone that brings in twenty people will have a better chance. What kind of prizes do you think will work?"

"A big screen TV is always a big deal and maybe a week-long cruise. That would cover first and second. For some of the other prizes, we can give away smaller electronics or services. I think that we should allow a shoeshine person to set up in here and maybe even consider a masseuse. It would be very important for us to talk to the founding members whether we want to subsidize the services, but if we set them up, we could give away some of those services to get the businesses some attention."

"I'll put it together and have a sign made for the lobby. At a dollar a year, it's only a matter of time before everyone signs up. We had our first inquiry today from an outside person. They were a lobbyist from the National Home Builders Association. I told them that we were open by invitation only, but that if he wanted to leave his information, that we'd bring up his name at the next meeting and we'd discuss his interest."

"That sounds perfect. When is the next meeting scheduled?"

"It's always on the third Tuesday at four o'clock."

"Thanks, Gary. I'll have Beth put it on my calendar."

"She already did. I speak with her about once a week. She's a sweet lady. I'd love to meet her next time she's in town."

"Now that you're open, I'm sure that you will."

Shawna left on Saturday morning and went home for Thanksgiving. I invited Sophie over for some fun on Saturday night. We went to the club first, sat in the bar, and had a few drinks. I was trying to get in the habit of stopping there to meet new people and make sure that things were running smoothly. When we arrived there, I told Sophie about the contest and she said, "I have three tickets in the hat already. It's amazing how I'm really enjoying a place that I can get to for a quick lunch or a quick meeting away from the office. I even took some time sitting in the library the other day and read over bills for two hours. It was quiet and I got a lot more done than I'd have in the office."

"Have you been hunted down by any lobbyists?"

"Yes, I ran into Shawna and we talked about you. I ran into the guy from the banking lobby in line for the lunch buffet, but he just said hi and told me to 'have a nice day'. So far there hasn't been anything too intrusive."

Sophie and I went back to my place. We went up to my bedroom, where I tied her to the bed, that was followed by great sex. She got off, but I think that after being with her a few times, that what gets her most excited is the possibility of someone catching her or the humiliation associated with being found out. That could be dangerous if she stepped over the line.

We were in bed resting when I started the conversation by saying, "Sophie, I think we need to talk. It wouldn't be good for us to do anything that could harm you or your career. I think that you really got off when I took you on the roof, because both of us had fun. Initially I thought that it was the idea of me tying you up, but the more I thought about it, I think the fear of someone catching us or the feeling so much humiliation, amplified it greatly. It's important that I make this enjoyable for you, but in this town, that can end up being a dangerous game. What do you want me to do to make you happy?"

"You're right. When you had me blindfolded and tied up, I was afraid of someone catching us. It was the best sex I've ever had. I like being tied up and I like your big cock because it fills me just right. I don't know what to do about the other part."

"I will always try to make it so that we don't get caught, like the other night on the roof, but there will always be a chance. You'll have to trust me. I may let someone catch you, but not likely by someone who'll know who you are. Maybe it will be a group of boys that would never see your face because they were too busy looking at your naked body."

"Oh, that sounds hot."

"Who else do you trust? If Melinda caught you giving me a blow job would it turn her on, or make her tell someone who might come back to bite you later."

"I've brought her with me for the last three congressmen I've worked for. We've never seen each other naked, and we don't talk about our personal lives too much, but we're friends."

"That's what I wanted to know. We may get caught at some point, but if we do, we will run like hell and deny everything, deal?"

"Deal."

Shawna was gone, but we were both comfortable with Jim and Sophie, so on occasion they both stayed the night. Sophie spent the night. Sunday we read the paper and had breakfast before she went home, and I then read over some stuff for work. During the week, I took it easy, and called both of my parents to wish them a good holiday, and even spoke with Darcy. It turned out that she was working hard, but doing well with the symphony, and was playing with the ballet as well. Currently, she had a roommate and a small apartment in Pacific Heights from which she could see the Golden Gate Bridge. I tried to reach April, but just got her answering machine.

To make sure that we had a great bird at Thanksgiving, I bought a new Weber grill to sit beside my gas grill. My days fell into a simple routine. Every day, I ran hard and swam, but I found that I was getting bored and stir crazy by the time Thursday came around. Both Melinda and Sophie showed up at ten in the morning, and we started to put the meal together. I had made the cheesecake the day before, so it could have plenty of time to slowly cool. In the center of the Weber grill, I built a large pile of coals and lit them. When they turned gray, and were ready, Melinda stuffed the bird. I put a drip pan in the middle and moved the coals to form a ring around the edge of the grill. The bird sat in the middle and started its slow transformation.

It was just after we finished phase one of the cooking, when Melinda walked into the living room where I had the Macy's parade on the TV. She asked, "Is that a real Van Gogh?"

I told her it was, and then spent the next forty minutes giving her the guided tour of my art collection. She was very impressed and happy to see it. When we finished, she asked, "I thought that you were a photographer, where are your pictures?"

I replied, "I need to go check on the bird. Sophie, can you show Melinda the photography? You know where it is."

I could see her turn red and her knees go weak. She quietly said, "Yes."

I saw her take Melinda's hand and lead her to the stairs. I checked on the bird and to make sure that there was enough heat, I added a few more coals, after which I got the veggies ready for roasting. The cranberries, apples, brown sugar, and pecans were in the baking dish and ready for the oven. Everything seemed in order, so I poured myself a whiskey on the rocks and went in to watch the parade for a bit.

Melinda and Sophie came down and Melinda said, "Those are some interesting photos."

"Is that good interesting or bad interesting?"

"I'd say good interesting. I liked the one on your dresser the best. It looked familiar, like the roof on the club. I couldn't tell who the strung up woman was, but I could see her excitement and that someone had just spanked her. From behind you could readily see that she was wet."

"That was a fun night. She was very excited. Did the wetness look like her own or was there cum running down her leg?"

"It looked like it was all her. Sophie and I looked closely."

"Sophie did you like that picture or was one of the others more to your liking?"

"I like them all, but that one was kind of special."

"I'm glad you liked them. I'm having a drink. Can I fix either of you something? I have some wine, liquor, and soda. Recently, they had come out with diet coke, and that's all Shawna will drink now. Since it isn't too bad I drink it as often as I drink regular coke."

Sophie said, "I could use a drink. Whatever you're having is fine."

"I'm having Jack Daniels on the rocks. Would you like some coke or ginger ale with yours?"

"Jack and Ginger sounds good to me."

Melinda said, "If you don't mind, I'll have one as well."

After I got up to get the drinks and brought them in, Melinda wanted to talk more about the pictures. I went on to explain the dominant and submissive role-playing that was in the pictures and that I wasn't into pain, except when it excited the other person. I continued to explain that some of them liked being humiliated. Some got off on the fear or the excitement about someone catching them or finding themselves exposed following a command.

Melinda said, "I don't think I'm into being submissive. I think I'd enjoy being the dominant though. What do you think Sophie?"

"I wouldn't mind being the sub because I wouldn't necessarily be responsible for something that someone else forced me to do. I now spend all day being in charge and making decisions. From time-to-time though, I think that it would be exciting to switch roles and be the other side."