LifeMates Ch. 04 - The Take-Off

Two hours later, though it seemed much longer -- Petra came to fetch us. We went with her back to the training room. Then, as she'd been instructed, she left us alone with the client.

"What did you think of her?" Myrna asked.

"I liked her," our client answered, "and I think she took to me. I'd like to give it a try, and I think she'll say the same."

"Well, let's find out," Myrna said, gesturing for me to bring her back. As instructed, she was waiting in the kitchen, so it took no more than half a minute before the four of us were again together. Petra knelt at Abbott's feet -- but at a proper distance and facing Myrna, not to be presumptuous.

"Well, Petra," Myrna began, "I don't think I need to ask you what you want now. With your body language, you're making it pretty clear."

"Please, Mistress, Petra replied, I will be sad to leave you, but would like nothing more than to serve Mrs. Abbott, if she will have me."

"Then I'm not your Mistress any more. Save that title for your new Alpha, and kiss her hand. Use 'Ma'am' for me and all women other than your fellow submissives. Mrs. Abbott has already told us that she wants to take you on a trial basis."

Petra, remaining on her knees, moved close to our client, took the hand that was offered her and kissed it as she was bid -- with body language somewhere between respect and love. "Mistress Jane," she murmured, meeting her Alpha's gaze as she did so. "Petra, dear," Mrs Abbott replied.

Signing a trial contract took just a few more minutes. "Very well then," Myrna said. "Congratulations, and our best wishes to you both. Richard says the same," as I smiled at them and nodded. "Petra, what would you like us to do with your things?"

"Just have them sent to my home," out client answered. "I'll pay the charges. Petra will come with me now."

Myrna looked at her former trainee and secretary. "There's nothing there that I need to pack myself," Petra said.

"You guys have it all worked out, I see," Myrna said opening her arms to Petra who kissed her and thanked her for everything. Then Petra kissed and thanked me. "Good bye for now," Myrna told them. "Keep in touch."

"We will," Mrs. Abbott said. "I'm going to take her with me to Europe for a few weeks, collecting background for my next book. We'll call you when we get back. Good bye for now, and thanks."

"Come dear," she said, taking Petra's hand. They left. Myrna and I smiled at each other, and she kissed me.

* * * * *

We had another interesting client in that period: two young men, twins, one of whom had survived an explosion which left him totally blind. The other twin could not bear to leave his brother alone like that and insisted on living with him and helping him. Their parents were very wealthy, so money was no problem for them. But they were two young males living together, with no time or desire to get involved with anyone else. They needed a sex life, and came to us. For privacy's sake, I'll just call them Peter and Paul -- Peter being the blind one, and Paul his devoted twin. They made an appointment, and came in. Myrna and I interviewed them together.

After the introductions, Peter spoke first: "Neither of us was gay before, and we were never into BDSM, but we've decided that for living together, we either need a submissive girl to take care of us both or a D/s relationship with each other."

Then Paul spoke: "He needs me, so I will be the submissive. But I must have some training for that role. And my brother will need training to make use of me. We've always been close and wanked together many times, but we only started making love after his accident, and it feels awkward. Can you help us?"

"To be honest," Myrna replied, "I have no idea if we can. We've never done anything like this before, and I don't know of any similar cases. We can try to work with you, but it depends mostly on you. The D/s shouldn't be a problem. If you guys are devoted to each other, the formalities don't matter. You either will or will not come to enjoy acting submissively and getting spanked. We can help you get some practice. But how do you feel now when the two of you make love?"

"As my brother said, it feels awkward," Peter answered.

"Well, you've told me that the sex works," Myrna said. "Off the top of my head, I only have one idea. Forget about making romantic love, and think about simple human kindness and gratitude, which are also forms of love. You, Paul, are being extraordinarily kind in sticking by your injured brother. And you, Peter, can work to repay that kindness by becoming an extraordinarily skilful lover and masseur -- which rely on touch, but hardly at all on eyesight."

"Around those skills, we can offer training. And we can offer attitude training too in a peculiar kind of D/s relationship in which each of you are both. Paul is serving you, Peter, as a 'seeing-eye person,' which makes you the Dominant. But serving Paul sexually will make you the submissive and him the Dominant. And you can take sexual submission as far as you like, and as Paul's sexual Dominance develops with experience."

The two grasped this idea quickly, told Myrna that she was a genius. I agreed with them, but said nothing.

"My suggestion is this," Myrna went on. "Why don't you go home and try this out for a few of weeks or months. Then, if you decide you want some help or training, come back to us, tell us how it went, and we'll take it from there."

They thanked Myrna profusely, and offered to pay her something. She refused. "That was just a first idea," she said. "It's not worth anything until we see how it works."

The twins left. I turned to Myrna and said, "Mistress, I agree with them. You really are a genius. But you gave them that idea for nothing, and we need the money."

Myrna answered only, "They'll be back."

* * * * *

Back at work on the Montreal scene, we faced the problem of marketing LifeMates. I set to work researching and writing the Esquire article that would become iconic for us -- the piece that everyone remembered us by. It was based on a conversation that Myrna and I had had early on. and its title was: The Power-Settled Marriage. Its central idea was that the three most familiar models of marriage were now obsolete and that a fourth was still unclear in people's minds: Marriage is no longer an alliance between extended families; nor does it work well as an arrangement for mating, childcare and housework where the husband is breadwinner and the wife is a full-time home-maker and mother. And it can rarely be an equal partnership, because children cling primarily to their mothers, and because the earning powers and assertiveness of two individuals are rarely the same. Today, marriages modelled on the 24/7 D/s relationship might be smoother, happier and longer lasting -- with a Dominant spouse promising to cherish and a submissive promising to obey. Though there is feuding today about whether marriage should be male-led or female-led, the question of which gender dominates is less important than having the power issues settled up front, by mutual agreement -- preferably explicit.

In its conclusion, the article suggested that our lifemate model of consensual Dominance and submission was an appropriate basis for the modern nuclear family.

This article helped us significantly. Speaking frankly about the power dynamic in a modern marriage with both spouses working, it caused its readers to think realistically about power and D/s as a fact of life that could not be wished away. Also, it made the point that there is honour and value in the submissive role. Once people started thinking along those lines, the connection with LifeMates and its services was obvious to everyone who heard of us.

* * * * *

Meanwhile we continued to search for matches for our remaining current clients and for the new ones who signed up. Among these was my friend Joe Morelli, who had been taken with Guido that evening when we had him to dinner, and also by Mistress Myrna and my position with her. He had slipped Guido his phone number; Guido had followed up; they had had a few dates when Guido could take a day off; and they had already discussed a lifemates arrangement. Myrna and I knew of this courtship as Guido, knowing that Joe was my friend, had discussed it with me while I, with his permission had mentioned it to Myrna. We were pleased. Myrna had liked Joe, and thought that Guido was more than ready to be offered as a proxy. She had been thinking of several possibilities and, from her perspective, Joe was as good as any. I was delighted. Joe had long been a good friend to me; Guido had become a friend while we were training each other. I was sure this would be a good match for both of them, and one that would make it easy for me to stay in touch with both of them.

* * * * *

Bruce phoned us from time-to-time, and we followed their activities in the newspapers. For several months, their relationship did very well. Then, what usually happens to public figures with secret lives happened to them. A political opponent hired private detectives to collect dirt on the MP and his family. A greedy house cleaner figured out that his employer was a homosexual with a secret lover. Looking for evidence that he could sell to a newspaper, he found some. The paper assigned an ace reporter to the story, who scraped around, put two and two together, and soon published an article about LifeMates and this client couple. The MP and Bruce demanded to know the source of their information, but the paper refused to reveal its source. For a few days, the couple blamed us for the leak. But Mistress Myrna hired a detective, and soon learned what had happened. A large payment to that cleaner came to light; the cleaner was sacked; and Myrna received an abject phone call from the politician, apologizing for his accusations of treachery and pleading for advice and help with damage control. Myrna advised him to come clean, and offered to hold a joint press conference with him and Bruce at LifeMates, explaining the nature of the relationship and putting their own spin on it.

The politician thought it over and agreed that honesty was his best bet -- that further attempts at concealment would fail and hurt him worse. The press conference was held. The politician introduced Bruce as his old friend and lover, explained that their affair was like a marriage, and that that they would have been married long ago, if not for fear of what was happening now. Together with Bruce, he announced that they would be married as soon as the ceremony and celebration could be arranged. Then he introduced Myrna, who gave a speech, explaining how the lifemate relationship was a kind of marriage, and introducing me as her de facto 'husband.' Cleverly, I thought, she did not try to conceal the D/s power exchange element, but casually described the combination of intimacy with accepted subordination as appropriate for a politician and his press secretary, and for many other work relationships. She left the focus on her clients, promised to answer further questions if the reporters were curious, and left it at that.

With this press conference and a show of honesty, the MP and Myrna between them had turned disaster into triumph. Bruce and his Alpha did indeed get married, holding a lavish celebration for their family and close colleagues. Except to doctrinaire traditionalists who still loathed the idea of gay marriage, demands for the MP's resignation just looked self-serving and silly; and he easily kept his seat in the next election while LifeMates got a huge amount of good publicity -- national publicity -- from our role in the affair. Thereafter,we did not lack for clients seeking lifemates nor for applicant submissives. Thereafter, our main problem was to earn our fees and deserve our reputation by providing excellent matching, training and support. Beyond our most optimistic hopes, LifeMates had taken off.

* * * * *

Early October is the loveliest time of year in eastern Canada. Working with the two brothers had put Myrna in mind of her own family. One day she told me that we would be driving to Quebec City in a few days to visit her mother and older sister. I asked her why she was taking me along. "Well," she said, "it's a three-hour drive each way, and I want your company for the trip. And I want to introduce you to my family. They keep nagging me to get a boyfriend, and don't believe me when I say I have one."

"Is this a promotion, Mistress?" I asked her. "Up till now, I've just been your submissive lifemate."

"With benefits," she joked.

"Definitely with benefits, but still. . . 'Boyfriend' puts me in a new category with privileges, I never thought I had."

"What privileges?"

"As your boyfriend, I could aspire to become your husband. As your husband I would be the father (or stepfather) of your children."

"But I don't have any children."

"So much the better. As your husband, I could open a conversation about making some."

Myrna went silent, and we drove on for awhile without talking. Then she said, "No, that's one conversation, you can't open. One of the conditions that Mistress Amanda imposed when she put me in charge of LifeMates was that I not have children until the company had repaid her investment. We're doing well, but she spent a lot of money setting us up and we're spending more to build it. We're just beginning to turn a real profit. As of now, Mistress Amanda and KI would have done better to put its money in a saving account. Or under her mattress, not earning any interest at all. I'm 38 now. Getting too old to be starting a family. I'll be in menopause by the time we repay the Keyholders loan."

Though it was not my place to comment or even think about such matters, in this way I became aware that Myrna's bargain with life was less than fully satisfying to her. In joking about my 'promotion' to boyfriend, I had touched a sore spot and given pain. Gratified as she was by her achievements as a skilled Dominatrix and businesswoman, she felt deficient as a woman, grieved that LifeMates was the only 'child' she would ever have. I said nothing to her at the time, for I had nothing to say. But I knew now that she was in hiding a grief that would demand expression at some point.

Myrna's father had died six years ago, so it was only her mother Sarah, her older sister Mary, and the sister's husband Vincent and their three children, whom we were visiting. Myrna introduced me as a colleague manager at the company she worked for, dodging questions about the nature of that company as best she could. To questions about our plans, she would only tell them how busy we were. She played happily with her niece and nephews, bought them presents and enjoyed them to a maximum while dodging most of the hints and pressures from her mother that she should start a brood of her own.

I was welcomed warmly as a presentable catch, while Myrna drew smiles and tacit congratulations for having caught me. When the pressures to start a family produced no visible result with her, the mother and sister started in on me, seeking clues to my desires and plans. These, of course were irrelevant, though I could not explain this to them. All I could do was deflect their curiosity with vague statements about Myrna's wishes.

In this way, the visit went smoothly enough until the sister confronted Myrna about the mysterious company she worked for. This happened late one evening when the children were asleep, and the five adults were sitting in their living room, trying to make conversation while staying off the sensitive subject of Myrna's future. The mother had long perceived that Myrna was being evasive about something, but was wise and discrete enough not to press a daughter who was obviously doing well and having a good life. But at this point, the big sister could stand it no longer: "You're hiding something," she finally insisted. There's something you're not telling. Are you doing something illegal? Something you're ashamed of? What is this mysterious company that's keeping you both so busy? Why is it more important than having a life?"

Myrna was calm. "There's nothing illegal, and nothing I'm ashamed of. But you and Vince are good Catholics -- or trying to be -- and there are things you may prefer not to know."

Now Vince came into it. "If you're not ashamed, maybe you should be. Why don't you tell us and get it off your chest?"

"I'll tell you all about it, if you really want me to," Myrna said to her sister, but I value our relationship, and don't want to embarrass or shock you. If I answer your questions, you may not want me for a sister."

"I'm not worried about you, Mom," she continued. You know me too well and are too wise to be shocked by who I am now. But I am not going to lie; and Mary and Vince will not be happy if I tell the truth. Maybe you can convince them to leave well enough alone."

"You over-estimate my influence." her mother replied. "Children become who they want to be. You became who you are; and Mary became who she is. All I can do is love you both."

"All right, then," Myrna said to her sister. "If you insist, Richard and I will stop evading. If you ask your questions, we'll give you straight, truthful answers. I'll just say once more that you'd do best, for the sake of our family connection, to respect our privacy and your own. There's nothing in my affairs that will be helpful for you to know."

Mary answered, "We'll be our own judge of what we want to know. So tell us, what is this company you work for, and why is it so important to you that it prevents you from having a family?"

And Myrna told them. "It's a company called LifeMates. Richard and I don't just work for it. We run it. I am its CEO and Richard is its vice-president. We are committed to paying off a large loan that was used to get it started, and cannot distract ourselves with children until that loan is repaid."

"What does your company do?" Mary persisted. "Why is that going to shock us?"

"We help to organize and train people for Dominant/submissive relationships."

"Is that like BDSM, where people tie each other up and whip each other?"

"BDSM is a lot more complicated than that. Bondage and whipping are only one aspect of it. Dominance/submission is the 'DS' part of 'BDSM.'

"Richard whips you and you let him?"

"No. I'm the Dominant; he's the submissive. When any whipping happens between us, it's I who do it."

"That's perverted," Vince said to me, and Mary nodded agreement. "You let her whip you, and that excites you?"

"That's a very small part of our relationship, but the basic answer is 'Yes,'" I told him. I love that there is obedience and discipline in our relationship, and that your sister is in charge of it."

Vince said, "Well, you should be ashamed of yourself, even if Myrna isn't. A man is supposed to be the head of his family -- not let his wife boss him around."

I started to say "She doesn't boss me around . . ." but Myrna interrupted. "Don't argue with them, dear," she said. "We promised to answer their questions, and we're doing that."

Then to Vince and Mary she continued, "Is there anything else you'd like to know? We'll answer your questions. We're not going to argue with you or try to teach you to see things our way. Let's just agree to disagree." And then to Mary she went on, "You're still my sister and I still love you, even if we don't agree with each other's ideas. Can't we just leave it at that?"

Vince said, "You speak as if morality was a matter of opinion. For us, it isn't. For us there's God's law on one side and evil on the other. It's not a matter of opinion; and there's no relativism between them."

That was pretty much the end of it. Mary seconded her husband. Myrna's mother stayed silent. Myrna repeated, "You're still my sister and I still love you." After that, we said good night and went to bed. After that conversation, Myrna half expected Vince to make an issue of us sleeping together another night under his roof. But fortunately, he didn't.