Page 18 of Pierced

“He’s my beta tester,” I continue. “I need to test this whole class thing out first, Pearl. To make sure the Hubs for Subs understand what they’re getting into when they enter the lifestyle.”

“Oh, my God. You just gave me chills. You’re the real deal, aren’t you? I mean, the woman teaching Subs for Hubs seems to know her stuff, but you, Myrtle. You have expert stamped all over you.”

“Thank you again. But as I’ve already stated, I’m not allowed to discuss my qualifications due to legal restrictions.”

“Right, right, right,” she says. “No problem. But… OK. Beta testing?”

“Yes,” I say. I can see she is not pleased with this, but I’m really not into teaching a class on how to be a dominatrix. I just want to make Pierce uncomfortable. Oh, hell. Who am I kidding? I want to humiliate him the way he humiliated me. And he can’t even bitch about it because it’ll be private. The exact opposite of what I experienced. “You see, Pearl, the BDSM lifestyle is serious business. I’ve got a few techniques I need to test before I can unleash them out into the world. It’s the responsible thing to do.”

“Mmmm-hmmm,” she says, tight-lipped. “I get that. I do. And of course, if you say you need it, then we must. But…” She taps her tablet and holds it up. “Let’s set the class up now. Get it all on the books.”

“Do you get a bonus for this?”

“What?”

“Well, you were standing outside in the cold this morning soliciting people to teach. And you did spam me. Is there like… a bonus for signing people up?”

Pearl deflates a little. “It’s that obvious?”

“Well, something is obvious. I don’t know the details. The bonus was just a guess.”

“Listen,” she says, leaning over the table. “I shouldn’t be talking about this, but the people who own the community center don’t think it’s cost-effective.”

“It’s a community center,” I deadpan. “It’s not supposed to make a profit.”

“Right? I know! But… the land.”

“Oh,” I say. “I get it. They want to turn it into condos, right?”

“Worse,” she says. And now she’s frowning severely. “They’ve already turned part of it into election headquarters for Chad Walter and if he wins… well, the entire TDH will lose.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You haven’t heard? The TDH wants to split off and become its own city. Chad Walter’s family actually owns the community center land. Now he’s running for mayor and if he wins there’s gonna be a special election in December to section off the TDH into a new electoral district and then his family is going to sell the community center to the new city and turn it into city hall.”

“Huh,” I say. “And you think… BDSM classes will save it?”

Pearl sighs. “I know it’s stupid. But there’s a ton of land over on the south end of the TDH. Why can’t they put the stinkin’ city hall down there?”

“True,” I say. “They could do that.”

But why bother when you already have this place in the perfect location?

“Please, Myrtle? I need your help.”

God, am I really going get roped into this? All I want is simple, satisfying revenge. I don’t want to teach a real class, for fuck’s sake. So I say, “Well, I mean… I don’t think the whole sexy community center thing will save it, Pearl.”

“It could,” she insists. “It could. The Subs for Hubs is so popular, Myrtle. You don’t understand. It really could turn it around. These husbands are pretty excited about their wives wearing collars.”

I roll my eyes. That makes me want to gag. “Well, those men won’t be interested in my class. It’s two different things.”

“I get it,” Pearl says. “But they will be interested in you, Myrtle. You’re… you’re… fascinating. You really could save the community center.”

Jesus Christ. What have I gotten myself into?

I walk to the parking garage after dinner with Pearl and think about Pierce the whole time. God, he infuriates me. And he used to be so fun. I really did love running his life. And maybe Eden was right. Part of my problem is that I miss being his assistant?

I certainly did a better job than Valerie is doing.