Page 153 of Masters of Control

“So, you think there’s a possibility she’s being bullied?”

“I don’t know that I would call it bullying,” he said slowly. “The more I think about it, the more I think even if people aren’t friendly with her or choosing not to scene with her, that doesn’t mean that it’s bullying. It’s not like we force everyone to be friends or hang out together at the club. She didn’t say people were actively harassing her or anything, but I’m going to look into it all the same.

“That’s all you can do.” She’d keep an ear out and check in with Julie and Olivia. Both of them would know better than Freddy what the gossip among the Dominants was and if any of them were avoiding scening with Noelle.

Not that there was much anyone could do if they weren’t by their own choice. If they were being told not to, that would be different, but she was having trouble picturing that happening. Even Dominants who liked to follow the rules didn’t like to be told what to do outside the necessary structures of the scene. There would always be a few who would buck being told what to do and do the opposite.

Sometimes, Doms looked an awful lot like brats.

Not that she’d ever say so out loud.

Her phone dinged with an email, and she glanced over automatically, freezing when she saw the sender. It was from Murdoch.

“Who is it?” Freddy asked.

“Murdoch… hold on a sec.” Dropping her fork, she scrambled to pick up her phone. She had to read the email twice before the message really sank in, then she let out a whoop, throwing her hands in the air—though she kept a tight grip on her phone because she didn’t want to accidentally throw that too. “I got the job!”

“You got the job?!” The question was rhetorical and delighted. Freddy jumped to his feet, which inspired her to get onto hers as well. He twirled, showing off his cute butt in the apron, and she did a little dance of happiness, letting it buoy her as she truly celebrated.

Coming close enough to grab him, she pulled him in, and his lips met hers in a joyful kiss. The lingering tension from the night before was gone. It didn’t matter what Junior told the other partners now.

Pulling away from the kiss, she didn’t let go of him.

“I need to sign the acceptance and get it back to them, then type up my resignation for Donaldson. I got the job!”

“You got the job!”

Both of them laughed, and she squeezed him tightly, resting her head against his shoulder as she fended off relieved tears. It felt good to lean on him, knowing he was here for her and feeling his happiness for her. Having someone to celebrate with was amazing.

Opening up her life to him wasn’t easy, neither was being vulnerable and admitting to her feelings, but she wanted him to know how much he was starting to mean to her. She was so glad the job offer had come in while he was around to celebrate with her. Not that not sharing the news would have taken away from how happy it made her, but having him by her side made the moment feel even more complete.

“I’m glad you’re here,” she admitted, her voice muffled from where she was pressed against his shoulder.

“Me, too.”

“Wanna come meet my mom this afternoon?”

He squeezed her a little tighter.

“I would be honored.”

Freddy

Meeting Camille’s mother was both a joy and a sadness. He was so glad she wanted him to, but he could also see that the visit made her sad because of how her mother’s memory had been affected. Whether Mrs. Sinclair would be able to remember him the next time he came was up in the air, but he was still glad to meet her.

He could see why Camille’s job had been so important to her. It was clear the care Mrs. Sinclair was getting was exemplary, and with a disease like dementia, it was important to slowing the effects.

Excusing himself to give them a little privacy for the last bit of Camille’s visit, Freddy went down the hall to a small greeting room. No one was using it, so he didn’t feel bad taking over one of the armchairs and making a few calls to some of the people who would know if there was any truth to what Noelle said.

Lexie was at the top of his list, followed by Kate, Gina, and finally Sam. He saved the person in Noelle’s actual group of friends for last, figuring he’d have more information by then. Unfortunately, he didn’t have any.

None of the first three knew of any rumors being spread about Noelle. There had been the initial flurry of discussion when she’d first joined, especially because she’d apparently said a few things in her Introduction Class that had people talking about Iris, but that had all been shut down pretty quickly. Iris, on the other hand, had asked everyone to give Noelle a chance.

Kate and Lexie admitted that neither of them was particularly keen on giving Noelle a chance, but that wasn’t surprising since they’d both known Iris for a long time, even if she wasn’t part of their inner circle. He’d called Gina because she wasn’t part of that group, either, and he figured she would have more of an outsider’s perspective, but she’d been surprised. She’d never heard anything about it. She did mention a few Doms who weren’t interested in scening with Noelle but only because of what they’d heard from Doms who did scene with her.

She was getting a bit of a reputation as someone who liked to play at submission rather than truly submitting, and while some of the Doms were fine with that or even considered her a challenge, it turned others off. Nothing wrong with any of that.

Amy was the first person who had any kind of information for him from Noelle’s side of things.