we’d made, as well as what they felt we were lacking in the local kink community, which is another
piece of why I’d been scribbling notes and making drawings to show my boss. “I’d like to order a
few more toys and pieces of furniture based on the feedback we’ve received but, overall, it sounds
like we hit the nail on the head.”
“You did that,” Jack corrected me. “Take ownership of your success, Sam.”
He pulled up something on his laptop and turned the screen toward me. It wasn’t the first time I’d
seen the profit and loss statements for the bar, but as I looked at the growth percentages, it finally hit
home that the playroom was helping all areas of the club. I slumped back in my chair, a bit
overwhelmed by it all.
“This is exactly what I needed to do but I never would have realized it without your innovation. I
will admit, I’m a bit old school and I’d never considered bringing kink into the front of the club.” He
scrolled down the page showing me various line items, flipping between various tabs and graphs. The
club hadn’t operated at a loss since the year it opened, but there was an obvious spike in the past few
months. Now, the trick was keeping them on the rise. “Pride is coming up in a couple of weeks and I
want to do something to celebrate. Since you’re apparently the ideas man around here, I wanted your
input.”
If I didn’t know better, that would have felt like a set up. It was a perfect segue for me to show
him the concepts I’d put together when I’d needed a break from the last project I had to complete
before graduation. I pulled out my notebook and handed it to him.
Originally, the second large room was going to be a playroom for the puppies and other pet play
kinksters because they deserved an area with padded floors and wide-open spaces to romp around. I
still wanted to give them that because we’d put in so much work, but I felt like my idea had been a bit
short-sighted. Jack leaned in, giving me his undivided attention as I explained that it would be
possible to keep the original concept while making it something that could be easily transformed once
a month to provide an area for a recurring vendor fair, and on those days we could provide
demonstrations and education based on who we’d invited to sell their gear.
When I finished, he leaned back, pinching his chin between his thumb and index finger. I focused
on staying still and breathing as the silence dragged on. “I think it’s a good idea.”
The tone of his voice told me there was abutcoming. I curled my fingers around the arms of the
chair as I waited for him to tear apart my proposal with all the reasons it wasn’t feasible.
