Exclusive Enterprise Pt. 02

Exclusive Enterprise: Taking Over the World

**Author's Note: In this story, we do something that we don't normally do. This story is devoid of any sex. It is purely narrative that we are using to connect parts 1 and 3 and set up a larger piece of lore and some set pieces for our world. If you're looking for a quick, sweaty romp, this isn't it. If you're interested in the stories that follow from this, however, we'd ask that you read on. We promise that this won't happen too often. ~ TwinSoulFlames**

~~ Minneapolis, Minnesota, March 2068 ~~

The munch was a beautiful success as the ones that Annabelle planned usually were. He mingled with his guests, the mix of Masters and slaves was heavier on the Master's side, but that was to be expected. Annabelle joined his side as he listened and talked. His ears perked up slightly as one of the slaves commented about a club they visited, how it was fun but wasn't as safe as the munches. It started the wheels turning in his mind and the idea percolated there.

At work the following Monday he was going over papers to hand off to Juniper, Brandy's latest trainee. She was a sweet girl but extremely quiet and shy. The idea slid through his mind again, clubs, but VIP for people that qualified, and had the money to put it up. He noted down 'Clubs for MAsT? Ways to secure it? Research it.' He set the piece of paper to one side, then focused on smiling at the picture of his wife with their second child. He rose to go to the next meeting forgetting the paper on the stack for Juniper.

Juniper came in to collect her latest assignments. She quickly grabbed the packet and left. She felt uncomfortable in his office when he wasn't there. Once in her small office, she started going through the marketing workload. Her brow furrowed at the top document, then set it to one side. Research meant a time investment. The following two hours were spent going through the other documents and completing the work. Most of that was just typing up the changes and sending them over to Brandy for her to double-check.

After she finished she stared at the remaining document for a long, quiet moment. She wasn't sure. Was this a test? An accident? She knew she could ask Michael but she hesitated, what if it was a test of her initiative? It was instructions and she didn't want to disappoint him after his being willing to give her a chance. She chewed her lower lip for long moments, then sighed and nodded. She would do it, and if it wasn't right, then no harm no foul, but maybe he'd smile at her and invite her to one of his munches.

The next two weeks she spent on research and preparing a presentation for Michael. Finally, on Thursday, she rapped on his office door and peeked in at him. "Master Michael?"

Michael looked up from the computer. His eyebrow lifted and he smiled. "Juni? Come in. What can I do for you?"

She blushed slightly, then eased into his office, "I... uh..." she paused and swallowed hard, "I finished the club presentation you gave me... but there was no due date so I wanted to check when you wanted to see it." She darted her eyes from the floor to his face, trying to look at him like Brandy insisted they do.

"Club presentation...," he trailed off, his brow furrowed. He had forgotten about the note since it had vanished before he could file it or attach some follow-up items to it. He shook his head. "I'm sorry, Juni. You're going to have to handicap an old man here. What club presentation?"

Her eyes turned hesitant and her fingers pushed together, "The... there was a note in my papers, it said to research ways to secure clubs for MAsT and... I thought... you wanted me to... work on it?" She swallowed and looked down at the folder she was holding and pulled out the note to show it to him.

He blinked. The note he'd written. He'd meant to put it into his calendar software for follow-up later. "OH! I...," he trailed off seeing an interesting opportunity. "Please. Let's take a look at it."

Her face brightened, "I'd be delighted." She paused, then pushed her fingers together, "Would you like me to set up the conference room or just in here? I made slides."

"Let's go into the conference room," he said, standing from his chair. "Present it to me like I were a board of investors."

She blinked up at him, a faint squeak escaped, and then she nodded, "Yes, Master Michael." She turned to scamper to the conference room to set up before he got there.

He shot a quick message to his executive staff and admin that he was in the conference room with Juniper and was not to be disturbed for the next hour, and then gathered his planner and walked there. It was large, with a sturdy table and extremely comfortable chairs. A powerful computer, with a seat of CAD software on it, was hooked up to a large television that dominated one wall. This was the room that they used to host customers for design reviews and sales meetings and such. But it was just the two of them. He closed the door and sat in one of the chairs, opening his planner to take notes. "Whenever you're ready, Juni. There's some water there in the fridge if you need some. No worries. Just walk me through it."

"Yes, Master Michael," she pulled out a bottle of water, then hesitated before pulling out a second and setting it beside him before she moved. She took the clicker and pressed the button to lower the lights slightly.

She got started, her voice got stronger as she presented, but was still quiet. She didn't go through everything she had researched, instead focusing on the things that would work best for the plan. "While I initially thought of starting with the club, instead I focused on the people. Since it was going to be a safe space and place for people to relax and enjoy themselves and each other." She clicked a button, "V.I.P but to a separate extent. Instead of a list, the patrons would be given a card. Similar to the specialty cards that you get from a credit card."

She clicked a button, and it showed a picture of a black card. "Then, identifiers, with the movement growing in MAsT you can't always tell at a look if someone was a Master, Mistress or Daddy, nor if someone was a slave, pet or little. So when they apply for the card, they can check off boxes to identify themselves." She continued through the various security plans, including having a not insignificant cost for them to join as a protection for the clubs and to cover the cost of the yearly background check.

The next step she went over was the doormen. "The card that is issued will be swiped to ensure the patron is in good standing, obviously if they are not, they are denied entrance. I also thought allowing them a single guest to investigate would be a good idea and a way to drum up more business. The next step would be the identifier bands. While the card tells the club who they are, it would be easier to identify someone at a look with a band. It would be identified by 'looking' in green, 'taken' in yellow, and 'investigate' in red, of course for those that are color blind, the words would be written as well. The second person would also be able to mark on the band what their 'delineation' is. Such as if they are Master, slave, or other."

She clicked the next slide, this time it was a picture of the bar, "To keep track of patrons drinking, instead of worrying about how much someone has drunk or if they're inebriated, each time they get an alcoholic drink, they get a punch and the bartender's initials on the end of the band. Two punches and they're cut off. Obviously, we wouldn't keep track of non-alcoholic drinks. The bar would also be able to enforce restrictions such as if they are given drinks from other patrons."

She kept going, through the idea of private rooms stocked with Moorwind Specialty toys, such as their custom line of Saint Andrew's crosses. Security for the private rooms, then cleaning and sanitizing each room. The entire presentation was carefully thought out and answered most of the questions he would have thought of. She wrapped up the presentation with a five-year projection of cost and return for each club then bit her lip as she looked at him hopefully.

Throughout the presentation, Michael had been taking careful notes, of things that he wanted to add that were springboards from her concepts, potential questions that investors might ask that she wouldn't have known and such. He looked up at her and smiled. "That... was an excellent piece of work, Juni. Great job. You can bet Brandi is going to be hearing about this. I'm going to have to have her start broadening your job scope. I think you need some more challenges in your life."

Her mouth dropped open and the soft squeak from earlier escaped, a noise of nervousness, "I... yes, Master Michael, thank you, Master Michael."

He stood and nodded, turning to walk out before stopping. "Hey, we've got a get-together at our place in a couple of Saturdays. It's a MAsT munch. Would you...," he trailed off for a moment. "Would you be interested in attending? As my personal guest, and under my protection of course..."

Her head nodded quickly, and another squeak escaped, "Yes, Master Michael, I would be honored." She hugged her folder to her chest, "Thank you, Master Michael. I would be happy to bring something if you or Miss Annabelle would like."

He waved his hand. "I let Annabelle handle all of that. She's on our messaging app. Go ahead and text her to work out the details," he smiled at her and nodded. "Good work, Juni. Email me the presentation when you get a second. Thank you." He walked back to his office smiling. Several cogs fell into place and the gears in his head continued to turn over the idea. He had some calls to make.

Juniper quickly cleaned up the room, then took her files and headed back to her office. She sent the email to him with the files, then curled up in her chair to vibrate in happiness. She had done well. He was pleased and invited her to a munch. She pulled her phone out and fidgeted for several moments, then swallowed and sent Annabelle a message, "Miss Annabelle. I'm Juniper Levorate. Master Michael invited me to the munch on two Saturdays from now and I was wondering if I could bring anything to make your life easier."

The reply was almost immediate. "Oh, my dear girl. That's wonderful. It's really not all that formal of a thing, but if you wanted, I wouldn't turn down another finger-food-type dessert. Something that can be 'split' many ways? Cookies, or cake, or pie, or something?"

She chewed her lip, contemplating, then sent a message back, "How about pie in a cup? Little samplers of pie filling in cups. If you let me know how many are expected I could make them up?"

There was no response for a moment. Then her desk phone rang. When she picked it up, a soft and kind-sounding female voice asked, "Juniper? This is Annabelle. I figured that this would be easier than texting back and forth all afternoon."

Juniper let out a soft squeak of surprise, "If it pleases you, Miss Annabelle. I am happy to converse."

"Oh my dear, you are just too adorable. I can see why he'd take notice of you. Now about the pie cups. I love the idea. But the number of people varies. I don't think we've ever had more than about twelve, though. Maybe fifteen? Is that too much?"

"No, ma'am. If I make thirty that means everyone could have two, or there's extra if other people show up. Maybe a mix of flavors? Chocolate, maybe some peanut butter and chocolate, some fruit pies. I like cherry and apple but not pumpkin, squash does not belong in pie." She paused then squeaked softly at her rambling. "Sorry, Miss Annabelle."

"Don't worry about it, dear. So. Tell me. What happened?" she prodded, sitting down at the kitchen table with the phone as her and Michael's children played on a break from their homeschooling.

"Eh?" Juniper questioned, "Oh, today? Well, two weeks ago I went to pick up my projects from his desk, and on top was a note that mentioned clubs for MAsT, so I thought he wanted me to do some research and put together a presentation as a test. So I did... but I think he was surprised by it. So I did the presentation and he told me I did a great job and he'd tell Miss Brandi and then invited me to the munch."

Juniper thought she heard a soft squeal of delight from the other end of the line. "Oh, that's wonderful! I needed another girlfriend in my life. Brandi will be there with Gerald, so you'll already know them and I can get to know you better. Oh, this is so exciting!" she gushed. "Master is going to get extra cuddles tonight for being so forward-thinking."

Juniper sighed wistfully, "Thank you for being so welcoming, Miss Annabelle. I look forward to getting to know you. Miss Brandi speaks quite highly of you as well."

"Brandi is adorable. I just love her to death. I can't wait to meet you Juniper. One can never have enough girlfriends. And please, call me Annabelle. We'll look forward to having you in two weeks, then. In the meantime, feel free to message me. About anything. I mean that," she replied.

"Yes, Mi... Annabelle," she responded with a soft squeak. "I look forward to it. Have a good night." She hung up the phone, then a soft squeak escaped as she blew her hair out of her face, "Oh... my... God..."

++++++++++

~~ August 2068 ~~

The conference room at Hotel Ivy in Minneapolis was lush. Michael Moorwind had rented it out for three days. Seated around the table were himself and Annabelle, his slave. Tanner and Juniper Nelson, and a fifth that few except true film aficionados would recognize, William Blakesly, his wheelchair tucked up to the table in place of one of the chairs. Standing at a large television screen was Brandi Foxwell and she was going over a presentation that had been revised from the original created by Juniper Levorate, her understudy, who was sitting back in the corner, almost hiding.

The presentation itself took nearly forty-five minutes, and Tanner, Juniper, and William were taking notes rapidly as they tried to absorb what was being presented to them. It was a business opportunity, one that they all realized was big enough that it would change their lives forever if they participated but interesting enough that they could not ignore it.

"And, as a bonus," Brandi said as she started to wrap up, "My understudy Juniper will be taking this next part. She created a mockup of a club, and what a patron would experience from beginning to end. Juni, please take the floor."

Juniper made a soft squeak noise, then stood up and walked over to join her, she clenched her hands behind her back to focus, then started. The slides shifted and the lights went down. Each slide she showed was a different scene inside a club. "A friend of mine let me use her studio to create these since we wanted to keep it hush-hush."

She began talking about the club scenes, her voice soft, but projecting nicely. She explained from beginning to end how it would work, and what would happen as a patron. She was focused more on the slave aspect though, but she also explained that a Master, Dom, or Daddy would have a similar walk-through. The projected ROI for the initial opening was decent, but she also showed a steady upswing in profit as the clubs became known.

Tanner spoke up first. "Can you go over what kind of screening you are referring to?" he asked.

Juniper glanced at Brandi, who gave her a thumbs up and an encouraging nod, "Yes, Master Tanner." She took a deep breath, blowing some out with a soft squeak, "I was thinking standard information at first, things like arrest records, incidences of domestic or financial abuse or violence. Matters of public record. Also things like jobs," she paused to swallow, "Such as if someone like Master William were to enter a club, he wouldn't want to deal with someone of the media or paparazzi. So everyone would be required to sign an extensive NDA with hefty financial ramifications."

He nodded, thoughtfully. "I see. And what about people who are adept at hiding who and what they are? Criminals like the cartel for example. Or the foreign mafia," he murmured.

She blew out a soft squeak, "I... I don't know Master Tanner, I'm not in cybersecurity so I would probably recommend someone in that industry to be employed or brought in. I know enough about computers to be dangerous." She stepped back slightly, looking at Brandi to get another nod and thumbs up. Glancing at Tanner, she saw only a warm smile and a nod of encouragement.

"Cybersecurity...," Anabelle murmured. Turning to look at Michael, she murmured, "What about... Red's husband. He's in cybersecurity, she said..."

"The author you've been writing to?" Michael asked.

"Yes, she's a sweet one. I was going to invite her out for a munch. Let me text her," Annabelle pulled out her phone and quickly sent off a message, it came back a few minutes later, "Vince Fulbright, he owns a club and runs a cybersecurity firm in California. He was doing computers in the military."

Tanner looked at Michael and nodded. "Bring him out. We can come back when he's available."

Michael looked at William then. "Thoughts?"

"Hey, I'm just the guy writing the checks, yeah?" he chuckled, a little ruefully.

"William... You know you're more than that to me. To us...," Michael said softly, gesturing between him and Annabelle.

Juniper made a soft squeak and a soft, "You're important and among friends, silly." Then blushed and ducked her head and stepped back further into the shadows, practically hiding behind Brandi.

William looked at her and smiled softly. His voice was gentle when he spoke next. "I know little one. Sometimes I just wish I were more... useful. In other ways. You understand...," he replied. "No, I think I want to take a closer look at your projections in the next day or two. If I'm going to be putting up most of the money for these clubs, then to be equitable, the contract needs to return that. But if we end up forming a corporation to do this, names redacted, of course, I'll put a portion in that will seed reinvestment so that we can expand."

She made another soft squeak noise, this one almost sounded of frustration, "You exist, therefor you are useful. You're Master Michael's friend, and he doesn't suffer fools lightly." She made another squeak, "And if you wanted to be useful outside of 'writing the checks' then maybe you could help with screening the people who want to open the bars. I mean, the computer is great and all, but actually meeting people will help decide if they're someone you want for your brand." She made another squeak and tucked back in behind Brandi again.

William's jaw dropped open slightly and he blinked in surprise. He sat in stunned silence for several moments before murmuring, "Come here, little one."

She carefully creeped out from behind Brandi and approached, her fingers twisted in front of her and she stared down at the floor. "I'm sorry, please don't be mad."

He waited until she was next to him before he spoke again. "Lift your head and look at me, little one."

She made a soft, nervous squeak and lifted her head to look at him, her fingers twisted together, "Yes, Master William." Her eyes were filled with nervousness, "I'm sorry for snapping at you, Master William."

"Your name was Juniper, correct?" he asked, his voice still soft and gentle.

"Yes, Master William, Juniper Levorate. Everyone calls me Juni though."

"Juni. I like that. Juni, do you realize that no one has talked to me like you just did in longer than I can remember?" he asked.

She blew out a breath that moved her bangs, a soft squeak accompanied it as she thought about it, "Ahh, No Master William? I just... I only said what I thought was right." She bit her lip, "When Master Michael hired me he told me that we're only as useful as we choose to be, that nobody is useless unless they're lazy braggarts and he doesn't like lazy braggarts and none of them are allowed to work here. And you're... Master William," she wrinkled her nose, "William Blakesly, the voice of Teshan Tin in my favorite anime."