Chapter 5

JULIA

"Since you have no carpentry skills, Alice, we will pay you $15.00 an hour to start, with a two dollar an hour raise when you become competent in all phases of the construction. Shasta, Master said you were making $25.00 an hour on his crew. As you have five years’ experience, we can pay you the same amount if you wish, but what I'd like to offer you is $20 an hour and two percent of the net profits. At our current level of business, we're at around 40,000 per month, half of which is our net except labor costs which we don't include as expenses to us. Supplies, shipping and handling of our distributor, and administrative fees and insurance, currently covered by Scott's construction company come out of the other half. So, 2% of $20K is $400 a month in profit sharing. I realize this is only the equivalent of $2.50 more per hour in a 160 hour work month, but we expect the business to grow to much more than $40K a month, which means you can make much more than you'd lose at the higher pay. The choice is yours.

"Alice the same applies to you. We'd like all of our employees to share in our success. When you get up to snuff, you can choose the higher rate of pay or a share of the profits. We're about to offer the same to both of our current employees who are both capable of working independently. Janet, that means you. You've caught on pretty quick, starting with your next pay period, you can expect to start making the two percent bonus or $17 an hour, your choice."

"And neither of us needs to work buck naked nor serve as anyone's sex toy?" Shasta asked.

"No. Master is not a rapist and he respects the wishes of our guests, which you'd be, working here. He won't undress in your presence, and he's usually home after you'll have left for the day anyway. We don't work on holidays and weekends. Hours would be from eight to five with an hour for lunch. We can use the help now. You're welcome to start Monday morning, or if you need to give notice at your current job, whenever you're free."

"I admit he's been a good boss to work for. Let me see this shit you're building," Shasta said.

"Of course. It's in the bedroom."

I led them into the bedroom, and showed them the bed frame.

"This is our premiere piece, and at this size, which is for an Alaskan King size mattress, goes for $10,000 dollars."

"Ten grand!" Shasta said. "It's a goddamn bed frame."

"It's supposed to look like a simple bed frame," Lisa replied. "Not everyone wants to advertise what they do behind closed doors."

Lisa then showed them how it all worked, pulling out the St. Andrews cross from under the bed, the suspension points, the tie downs, the hidden stocks. They were surprised at all it did.

"You do all this? Let someone tie you?" Alice asked Janet quietly.

"Yes. My friend, Reneé, who you've met, became a sex slave before I did. She encouraged me to date Chen when I broke up with my ex. At first I thought submission would be the same as being with my ex, just abusive. Then I met everyone and they seemed so nice. It didn't seem to be the same at all, despite the submission. Then I witnessed Reneé get punished and she orgasmed as she was punished. I decided to experiment with submission myself, learning I am one. At first, Julia was my Domina, teaching me submission. I didn't want to do it with Chen because he wasn't sure if he wanted to possess a sex slave; that he wanted a girlfriend instead. Eventually, he chose to become my Dominant so he wouldn't lose me to another. I'm going to undergo hot wax tonight. You're welcome to stay and watch. I want you to know what I am Alice. This is my life now."

Alice didn't respond.

"I'll watch, if it's okay," Shasta said.

"Back to the matter at hand," I said briskly. "If you were to check bondage and discipline furniture websites, you'll see the furniture is very expensive, going for $5-6 thousand for king size beds which do these things. But they look like bondage pieces and anyone who sees it, will know what it's for. Our frames go for a premium because they look like regular bed frames and not bondage furniture. We do make bondage pieces that go for less, but they look like what they are, bondage furniture. You can't buy this stuff at a 'Rooms 2 Go' store. You have to get it online. It's not mass produced and it's made to order; hence the cost. Obviously, it's for a richer clientele. Our distributer is currently shipping around the world."

Next, we led everyone down to the basement where we were making two of the non-bed bondage pieces. They were in various stages of construction, one of them far enough along to see what it was.

"This is where we make them," Lisa said. "The supplies are kept in a large shed in the back protected by a security fence. We bring them down here to make them. They come apart for shipping. As soon as they're made, they're picked up or delivered to our distributer. It's the reason we can work naked. Once the supplies are delivered, we never have to be in public. A few of our tools are in the garage where we cut things to size, but the garage door remains down, so essentially, we're in the house all the time."

"That's it," I said. "That's us, our business. As you can see, I'm pregnant. The more pregnant I become, the less physical labor I can do. Essentially, we'd like to have two crews, one of which would be headed by you, Shasta, as you have more experience than anyone else. One would be headed by me, then Lisa, as I get more and more incapable of the physical labor. As I mentioned, we're thinking of doing everything ourselves, forming our own website instead of selling on someone else's. If we do, our profits should increase as we currently lose 30% under the current arrangement, and breaking off from my husband's business umbrella. If we do, I might have more administrative tasks, like payroll, taxes and insurance, though I plan to remain involved in manufacture as much as possible."

"Let me think on it over the weekend," Shasta said. "I'll give you my answer on Sunday night. If it's a yes, I'll be here Monday morning."

"I don't know," Alice said. "I'm not sure how my husband would feel about my working here in this environment. This is so different from what we're used to. I'm almost afraid to work here."

"I understand," I said. "Most people may not be accustomed to the whole concept of Dominance and submission. It can be scary if you don't understand it. I won't pressure you, but we would welcome you to join our team. Before you go, why don't you have a glass of wine and observe us in our natural habitat, so's to speak. Perhaps you'll see we're not scary monsters who should be avoided at all costs. I'm sure Janet would love you to learn more about the lifestyle she's chosen for herself, even though it might bother you."

"Yes, please Alice. I know this might not be for you, but if you see how loving everyone is, perhaps you won't be so scared for me," Janet pleaded.

Alice thought for a moment. "Okay. I can stay for a little while."

"Everyone else is out by the pool. We can introduce you to them. Lisa, why don't you introduce them to everyone. Janet and I will bring out the wine and some snacks."