He gave me a quick kiss. “Missed you too. Grab your bags.”
The next afternoon, we got ready for this swanky party of his. The organizers wanted plenty of ambiguity and sent over two masks for us to wear. I was all for that since I had no idea who might be there. My mask was leather with some silver studs embellishing the edges that actually matched my jacket. “This is convenient.”
Donny winked. “I told them what you were planning on wearing. Here’s mine.” It was gray with swirls on it. Some were the same gray but textured, but some were a soft blue. It went well with his silvery blue shirt and black and gray vest worn over his black denim jeans and dress shoes. He looked elegant and striking against my rough rocker look.
After showering and dressing, we headed out the door. To my surprise, Donny had rented a limo. “This is special and has thepotential to be something great. Right?” He winked and ushered me into the backseat. “Want to start with champagne? There won’t be any drinking on site.”
“No. I’ll pass. With these anxiety meds, I don’t want to mix in alcohol.”
“Wise choice.” He put the bottle back, then selected another. “This one is non-alcoholic, but I can’t guarantee the taste.”
“Let’s try it.”
Donny poured us both glasses, and it wasn’t terrible. I wasn’t a champagne snob or anything. I rarely drank wine. My choice would have been beer, but this was kind of fun and got me more into the partying mood.
The limo took us to a coded location, which turned out to be a rental storage place. “This is weird.” I was skeptical about how this would go.
“It’s part of the fun. Wait here.” He checked in with the person stationed there, who gave him a card with an address on it. He gave it to the driver. This time it was a bar. Donny went in without me, since we didn’t want to risk anyone recognizing me and holding us up. Though I didn’t think it was much of a risk. I was semi-famous, but if it wasn’t a specifically music-oriented crowd, most people didn’t look at me twice. It only took Donny a few minutes to return to the car. “I think this is the last location.” He handed the newest card to the driver. “It’s an address in Malibu.”
“That’s a fancy area?”
“Yes. Are you excited?” He took my hand and laced our fingers together.
“Yes, but I think you’re more excited than I am.”
“Maybe.” He smiled sheepishly. He was so cute. Our relationship had morphed into him taking a more dominant role, letting me be more of the little, but it wasn’t his thing. He wanted to play with me as a little, and I wanted that too. I alsowanted him to have the daddy of his dreams, and that wasn’t me. No way. I also didn’t want to make him change into what I needed. That wasn’t fair. I squeezed his hand tighter. If he got his wish, our relationship, at least as it was now, would shove me solidly back into the friend zone. I didn’t want that, but I also wanted Donny to get his dream.
Besides, maybe my daddy would be there waiting for me. I had a hard time imagining that, though.
We pulled up at a mansion, complete with wrought iron gates and a huge porch, all lined with perfectly manicured hedges. “Wow. It’s like something out of the movies.” I was nearly overwhelmed with the beauty of it.
We put our masks on and got out of the car. At the door, we rang the bell. We didn’t have to wait at all. It opened right away, and a young man wearing tight, shiny black pants and a matching bow tie—and nothing else—greeted us. “Welcome to the main event. Your invitations, please?”
Donny handed over the card, and the doorman scanned it with his phone. After looking at his screen, he opened the door wider. “Right this way, sirs.”
The excitement was catching up to me as where we were became more real, walking into the house. The foyer was grand with marble floors and two staircases spiraling up to the second floor, and it smelled great with a fresh but rich scent reminding me of vanilla, fresh laundry, and a deep woodsy fragrance like birch. Masked people, dressed in all sorts of styles, mingled around. Some wore more formal clothes, some dressed casually, and some wore what could only be described as fetish, with lots of leather and chains.
More men dressed like the doorman walked around offering food and drinks. I accepted a drink, since it wasn’t alcoholic. They were being touted as mocktails with plenty of winking as we were served. “This is fun so far, Donny.”
“I think we’re just getting started.”
A tall man, dressed in an elegant suit with an iridescent blue-green tie, turned to us. His mask looked like a peacock and had matching feathers. “We are indeed just getting started. I’m your host.” We both shook his hand. “There are various playrooms upstairs…” He gestured flamboyantly to the staircases. “Or if you prefer a dungeon, through that door leads to the basement.”
Donny cleared his throat. “Thank you. I was told there’s a place for littles to play. Where can we find that?”
The host’s smile softened. “Indeed. Come.” He walked us through the foyer. “Take this elevator up to the third floor. We have a big open space waiting for you.” He pushed the button on the panel.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Have fun.”
“This is so weird, Donny.”
He tugged me into the elevator. “It’s going to be fun.”
The door opened to a third-floor space that was like a huge bonus room. There was a large TV playing cartoons on one side of the room and small tables in the center had all sorts of coloring books and colors. On the opposite wall, a built-in storage unit had bins and bins of toys.
“Whoa.” I headed to the toys. I hadn’t had a chance to play with a lot of toys outside of LEGOs and a few cars. I bought a bunch of stuff for my room at home, but I still hadn’t started putting it together. I wasn’t sure why I was so hesitant, maybe because I needed someone to play with me. Here, though? Everything I wanted was right here in front of me, begging to be played with. And no one cared what I was doing. “Look at these.” I grabbed a couple of action figures and some large vehicles that they could ride around in. “We can play special forces,” I blurted out, thinking about the novel I’d been reading.
