COMPLETED | Take Me Down The Rabbit Hole (BDSM | 18+)

LXXVI

Tony cleared his throat when he sat Aspen's coffee cup down on the desk that morning.
Aspen looked up. "You're not allowed to say you're sorry for Josh's actions," he said firmly.
"O-okay," Tony muttered. "Then I won't say that."
"And you're also not allowed to apologize for bringing anby of this up in the first place," Aspen added, when Tony still hadn't closed his mouth.
"Okay," Tony repeated.
"That's it. You can go."
"Sir, yes, Sir," Tony said, turning on his heel with a mock salute to leave.
"Remember to use protection," Aspen add
"Really?" Tony said.
"Yeah. I'll see you later. Meetings at three and four-thirty, aye?"
"Yup."
Aspen had to try to not think too much about what Josh had said about him terminating the contract.
Josh had said he had seen it coming, that perhaps Aspen had been wrong to sign him on in the first place — doubtlessly so, but Aspen wasn't about to admit that in front of a former client — and that he was happy that it was over because Aspen hadnn't been able to teach him much anyway — a lie, and they both knew it. Aspen knew how to be respectful toward people, which obviously couldn't be said for Josh, and he wished he had taken some time to beat some interpersonal sense into Josh when he still had the chance.
Alas.

At 1 PM he left his office building and walked down the street to the local taqueria.
And if Thea hadn't enthusiastically waved at him from one of the tables, he wouldn't have recognized them.
"Your hair," he said in greeting. "It's black now."
"Hello, darling," Thea responded. "This is a lunch date between friends, not a business meeting between employer and employee, FYI."
"I'm glad," he said, finally taking a seat, and then noticing the glass of horchata on his side of the table, "I could use a friend."
Thea pushed the glass closer. "I already ordered. Sorry."
"That's okay, I trust you know your stuff."
Thea looked him up and down. "Noah and Rebecca are going to see a show on broadway tomorrow, an d they have an extra ticket. It was supposed to be mine, but I have to go see my family in Mexico this weekend. You should tell them you'll come. Get out of the house – or the dungeon — once in a while."
A lunch date between friends, they had said.
But what if—?
"Hmh," he made. "I'll think about that for a bit." He hesitated, glancing around the restaurant. "I... I miss submitting sometimes. And I think I am beginning to understand what you meant way back whenyou said you were also still waiting for the right person."
Thea nodded. "This lifestyle demands a lot from the people who live it. Noah told me you terminated the contract you had with Josh."
"They weren't—"
"Yeah, yeah, they know. But it's a bit hard to hide big bold red letters that say contract terminated in all caps next to a person's name in our database."
You and Leo knew this would happen."
"We wanted you to learn from your mistakes, though I will say, you made a compelling case for yourself."
Aspen hesitated and waited until the waiter, who had brought two large platters of what looked like build-your-own tacos and two more glasses of colorful agua fresca, was gone again.
"And I think I wanted to be someone."
"Aphroditre's new golden boy dom," Thea said lightly, their tone holding no judgement. "You are. Your other — regular — clients all adore you.
Thea had begun assembling a taco and placed it on his plate without another word. "Anmd no," they started adding, "I have not started seeing anyone since we ended things. I've interviewed a few cleaning ladies, but they all think I'm being weird about the order of business in my kitchen."
"Put out an ad at Aphrodite," Aspen said, matching their tone. "I mean, Noah is a submissive, they'rea wesome at their job, Tony is a sweetheart, even though I'm beginning to think his soon-to-be husband is an asshole. Let your employees volunteer their partners."
"Or I could just ask you to come back and do it for me," Thea joked.
Aspen sat there for a while, staring at the taco on his plate. "I think I am going to take a vacation," he said slowly.
And then, just to be polite, he ate his share of the food and drank what Thea had ordered for him, made sure to pay his half of the bill and then excused himself.
Something about Thea was powerful in the way that they made him realize things and have ideas that he felt like had been a long time coming.
So he returned to his office and pulled up flights to Rotterdam.
Back to old stomping ground in Europe, where he was only Dr. Arkwright, and not anyone's golden boy.

Tony looked at him in disbelief when he returned to Aspen's office a few minutes later to make sure that Aspen hadn't accidentally put the request to clear his schedule for the next two months in.
"I'm going on vacation," Aspen repeated for the umpteenth time. "To Europe. And yes, I will be gone for a few weeks, but you can get paid time off — Yes, I can afford that — or I can delegate you to someone else in the company so you can feel useful while I'm gone."
Tony sighed. "I'll take the second option," he conceded. "And of course I'll clear your schedule for you—"
Aspen's eyes narrowed and he bekoned Tony closer with a crooked finger. "Maybe you can take some time while I'm not here to convince your fiance to go to couple's therapy with you. I know his contract at Aphrodite is terminated, but if you reach out to Noah via the contact form on the Pantheon Dungeon's website, I'm sure they will happily send you a list with professionals that are kink-friendly."
Tony wiped at something invisible under his eye and nodded. "Yeah."
Aspen closed his laptop, put his belongings in his bag and stood, ready to leave. "I'll see you when I get back from my vacation, Tony."