Chapter One
Edwin
A reminder notification flashed across my screen for a meeting I hadn’t remembered existing. The week had been busy, and it didn’t surprise me that it hadn’t registered in my head. That didn’t mean I wanted to walk into a meeting unprepared.
I shot my team leader a message, asking what I needed to bring.
I have no idea. This is news to me. We’re probably getting a new project.
That was the last thing we needed, given we were already two people short and had two departments’ worth of work in our laps already. But that was how it was here, and, really, I didn’t mind too much. The work itself was good, and it wasn’t as if I had anyone home waiting for me when I had to work late. Putting in the time now and moving up the corporate ladder was exactly where I wanted to be, and I was slaying it. If I stayed on my current trajectory, I was going to have an office with walls and a fancy nameplate within the next five years.
I grabbed my laptop and headed over to see the entire team already sitting at the conference table. We spent ten minutes conjecturing on what project we were going to be handed as we waited for the meeting to convene. If only it had been more work.
Within the first thirty seconds of the vice president walking in, we learned that our department was being cut and we had twenty-four hours to decide if we wanted to transfer or take a severance. Come the end of the month, we’d no longer have a position in our current office.
The room went silent. Out of all the guesses as to why the meeting was being called, not once had any of us gone in thisdirection. I walked in to work that morning with a job that was everything I wanted for my career goals and left with nothing. Everything I worked for was gone, and I was tumbling back to the first rung of the corporate ladder again. Or at least it felt that way.
Twenty-four hours to make a life-altering decision was nothing. I required much more time than that if I were going to make an informed decision. I had to write a list of the pros and cons. I needed to look at the job market. I had to calculate how long the severance would last if I didn’t find a position right away.
But I didn’t have more time, and so I did the only thing I knew how to do. I panicked, accepted the transfer, and moved across the country less than a month later.
It had been good timing for my current lease, but finding a place in an unfamiliar city on such short notice? Not happening. Instead, I checked into a long-term hotel with rooms that included a little fridge and a couple of burners. It wasn’t awful, but nothing about it shoutedhome.
My belongings were in storage. I knew nobody. The commute was crappy. I had to keep reminding myself it could be much worse.
The office was fine, good, even. The work was pretty much the same, only instead of being near the top of my team, I was starting at the bottom again. The people were friendly, but all of them had families and little kids or grandkids that lived with them. There was no one there to be friends with, not in any real way, and not even in thatlet’s grab dinner after workway, either. It was lonely.
The only good thing going for the city was Chained. Everyone knew of Chained and its sister club, Collared. They were known for being safe spaces for people with special interests, and that interest for me was letting my little side out.
I walked into the club for the first time, having already done my preliminary paperwork, and met with Ms. Lily. I hadn’t committed to a membership yet, but had purchased a few day passes as part of their new-member options. She was in charge of the little room and probably some other things. I’d been so nervous, I hadn’t really asked.
She showed me where I could get dressed, and after I donned some of my favorite pj’s, the ones designed to make me look like a teddy bear, she led me to the little room. I loved onesies and knee-highs as much as the next little, but I wasn’t sure what the room culture would be. I’d traveled enough to know all clubs had different vibes, especially in little spaces.
I was surprised and overjoyed to walk in and see that not only was the room elaborate and gorgeous, but there were littles wearing all different kinds of outfits. Best of all, there was a rule that daddies and mommies couldn’t ask us to play. We had to ask them, and they couldn’t just wander in without a purpose.
I felt so safe and found myself falling into little space as I listened to story time. From there, I had a blast exploring every nook and cranny. I colored a picture of a unicorn I could barely see, thanks to all the stickers Ms. Lily gave me to add to it. I had so much fun going from station to station and spent far more hours there than I had planned. Littles came and went, with and without their mommies and daddies. I mostly played alone, a couple of times alongside other littles, but not really interacting. Tonight was about me getting used to the place. I’d get used to the people next time.
All too soon, it was time to go. As I left and thanked Ms. Lily, she told me to be sure to check the little board for other activities. This place did not mess around. There were craft days and story days and race-car days. They even had dinosaur days. But none of that drew my attention as much as the ad looking fora roommate. It was a house with all littles, a shared space with private bedrooms, and, best of all, it had a playroom.
I loved going out to clubs like this, but, when I was done, I had to fully get big again, get dressed, and drive home. If I was in a house with a playroom, I could play and then just go right to bed. It sounded heavenly. I pulled the little tab and grasped it tightly as I went back to change, grateful that I hadn’t settled for a shitty apartment just to have my move finalized because something told me this number and this house were exactly what I needed.
Chapter Two
Brax
Five o’clock couldn’t come fast enough. Most days, I worked until six or later, trying to get my work done. Job security and personal responsibility, work ethic—all of those things. I’d ordered dinner to be delivered to the office. Stayed until the sun set. Everything short of actually sleeping in the office.
I took pride in working hard. My parents raised me that way. Put in the hours and the dedication, and good things would come to you.
What they never talked about was how to live. Really live. Relax. Take care of myself.
Tonight, I’d made plans in an effort to do just that. My friends said I needed to come out with them more. Talk. Laugh. Spend time out of this office and out of this suit.
They were right.
I gathered my things and turned off my laptop before shoving it all into my backpack and throwing it on my shoulder. When I left, I took a deep breath as guilt seeped in. I’d left at exactly five o’clock. Started getting ready to leave five minutes before. What if the boss needed something. What if I’d gotten a crucial email? A phone call?
Shaking my head, I started my walk home. What kind of emergency, Brax? A checking account emergency? Goodness. I was a personal accountant, not a paramedic or a doctor.
