50 Shades of Drake 1 and 2

Chapter Fifty

    Breakfast consisted of the omelettes he'd prepared and a small bowl of diced fruit.

    Destiny and Aubrey seated themselves at his dining room table, a long black modern furniture piece with a glossy surface. The table was placed beside a wall of floor-to-ceiling windows. Aubrey sat at the head of the table. He indicated that she was to sit at his side instead of the other end.

    He set his cell phone next to his plate. "I'm surprised you don't have more questions," he told her as he watched her pick up her fork.

    "I have a ton of them," she told him. "I just...don't even know where to start with them."

    "Just ask whatever you want to ask."

    She sighed and took a few moments to collect her thoughts. "You explained that this kind of lifestyle can mean different things to different people," she said slowly. "And I read the contract and you've given a vague idea of what you expect. But...on a day-to-day, how does something like this work? I don't know how to act around you."

    He sectioned off a piece of omelette, using his knife and fork. "I don't want to change who you are as a person," he told her. "I am extremely attracted to your personality. It is a common misperception that a submissive needs to change who she is. I've seen submissives lose complete sight of who they are because they were trying so hard to be the picture perfect submissive. There is no picture perfect submissive. No one is perfect. And there is beauty in imperfection. So I don't want you to bend over backwards trying to conform to what you think I want."

    "But I'm not supposed to question the decisions you make, or the orders you give me," she said. "Questioning things is a part of my nature. That's a huge part of why I chose journalism as my field."

    He forked a piece of omelette into his mouth and chewed on it thoughtfully. "I want to make sure you understand that the calling me 'Sir,' the making eye contact and touching with permission only, and the rule against questioning my authority are not put in place for selfish or egocentric purposes. There are Dominants out there who take advantage of rules like this, certainly. But true Dominants don't enforce rules like these because they want a boost to their ego, or because they have some kind of superiority complex."

    "I can't imagine what else it would be about," she said honestly.

    He smiled and lifted his glass of water. "I appreciate your honesty. Your honesty is what will help you to learn." He took a sip of water and dabbed at his mouth with a cloth napkin. "Those rules are about respect. The Dominant is the authority figure in the relationship."

    "Can I speak freely?" she asked him.

    He chuckled. "Yes. You've done well by asking first."

    "You don't think that the 'Sir,' and all of that has at least a little to do with ego stroking?"

    He thought about it. "To a certain extent, maybe," he admitted. "It would be a small extent. At least as far as I'm concerned, anyway. I don't need titles to boost my ego. You're here with me. I'm smart enough to know that means more than you calling me 'Sir' or any other title."

    She shook her head. "I feel like I'm never going to understand this."

    "It's a lot of information to take in," he said. "I mean, think about it. It's an entire lifestyle. Learning an entire lifestyle takes time."

    "Can you give an example of what a typical day would be like?"

    He nodded. "Every day won't be the same, of course, but typically we will wake up. If you behaved the night before, we would wake up together in bed. If you have disappointed me in some way, you may not be permitted to sleep with me. Either way, we would wake up. Shower. Get dressed. Eat breakfast. If it's a weekday, we would go to work. By the way, at work you would not call me 'Sir,' just to be clear. At work, you can call me Mr. Graham or Aubrey. Understood?"'

    "Yes, Sir."

    He reached over and covered her hand with his, pleased that she'd addressed him correctly. Then, he removed his hand from hers and continued, "After work we would come back home. Whatever we do from that point will ultimately be up to us. We might relax or I might take you out to dinner, whatever we want, really. We might want to stay in for homecooked dinner and a movie." He paused and took time to eat some of the food on his plate. "I'll give you a few specifics on what I expect, just to give you an idea. When we are at home, and I am seated, you are to kneel beside me. This is with the exception of meals or if I say otherwise. Whether we are here or elsewhere, you don't ever walk ahead of me, unless I say otherwise. I lead, you follow. Whenever we go to an event, you are to stay at my side. Always, unless you are otherwise instructed. Outside of work, you will ask my permission to do everything. And I mean everything. Eating, recreational activities, answering your phone, pleasing yourself. Everything.

    "Any signs of disrespect will result in punishment. I will be lenient with you at first, since you are still learning, but that leniency does dissolve over time. Acts of disrespect are: questioning me or a decision I have made, talking back, or hesitating before obeying. Do you have any questions?" He took another sip of water and looked at her over the top of the rim of the glass.

    "If...if I choose to live here with you," she began, "would you bring other women here?"

    He set the glass back on the table without breaking eye contact with her. "Most of the time, I would not bring other women here, out of respect for you."

    "Most of the time?" she repeated.

    "There may be times when I deem that it is necessary to bring other women here," he told her. He saw the frustration in her eyes and explained, "Entering into this arrangement, we already have one obstacle to overcome. I don't believe in love and you do. If I see that you are developing feelings for me, feelings that are stronger than they should be, I may feel the need to bring another woman here just to discourage those feelings. To remind you where we stand."

    She narrowed her eyes at him. Confrontational words leapt to mind and she pursed her lips shut before she spoke those words out loud.

     An amused glint sparkled in his eye, as if he knew what she was thinking.

    She stared at him wordlessly.

    "Understood?" he asked her.

    She didn't respond.

    He lifted an eyebrow. "Understood?" he repeated, this time his voice taking on a harder edge.

    She blinked and lowered her eyes. "Understood," she said softly.

    He wiped his mouth again with his napkin and surveyed the clothes she'd put on: a black tank top and matching shorts. "Today, we're going to go shopping. As my submissive, you are a reflection of me. I want to make sure that when it comes to your wardrobe, your skin care products, your hair care products, everything - you have the best of the best." He picked up his cell phone to check the time, since he hadn't bothered to put a watch on. "We will leave out in approximately an hour. When you get dressed, be sure to wear a skirt or a dress. You will not often be permitted to wear jeans. Do you have any other questions?"

    "A ton of them," she said.

    "When we come back from shopping, I'll address more of your questions," he told her.

    They finished the rest of their breakfast in silence.