Gabby

The Playground.

Gabby read the sign repeatedly as she sat in her car,

fidgeting and trying to talk herself into going inside. She

knew she already had the job as the cleaning person for the

club, but it would all just be a lot easier if she didn’t have to

speak with the owner in person and fill out her employment

paperwork. Then again, to do her job, she guessed that

she’d have to go inside at some point.

Her hands trembled as she grabbed her purse and got

out of her piece of crap car. She really shouldn’t call it a

piece of crap. It had gotten her from Reno to Seattle without

breaking down, so she should have been grateful for that.

When she had started her trip, she wasn’t so sure it would

get her there, but now that she was where she needed to

be, she wouldn’t need to drive very much.

The building before her was large and built with brick,

and it looked to be three stories high. Seemingly large for an

adult club, at least it was compared to the one she’d come

from. Remembering the instructions in the email that she’d

read from the club owner, she pressed the button next to

the entrance and waited.

Her anxiety was through the roof, and she had to remind

herself that she needed to breathe and that she was safe.

She didn’t do well around strangers. Or men. And definitely,

not strange men. But her previous boss, Raff, had assured

her that the club owner at The Playground was trustworthy

and kind.

It only took a moment for the door to open, and a tall,

muscular man stood in front of her. She winced at his

height. At only four-foot-eleven, it felt like the entire world

was taller than she was, but he seemed even taller than

most, making her feel uneasy. Wanting to shrink away, she

lowered her eyes from his and started to take a step back.

“You must be Gabby?”

She startled at his deep voice and nodded, unable to

make eye contact with him.

“Come in. I’m Zane. We talked through email.”

Gabby followed him inside and looked around as she

trailed behind him through the club. Zane opened the door

to what looked like his office and ushered her in.

“Would you like something to drink?”

She quickly shook her head. She didn’t like taking drinks

from strangers. Gabby could feel his eyes on her, and it took

every ounce of courage to look up into his gaze. He was

handsome, and even though he was tall, he didn’t look

scary or mean. He didn’t really look like a man who would

own a dungeon, but she also knew that looks could be

deceiving.

He gave her a soft smile, “Please, have a seat. I have

some paperwork that I’ll need you to fill out, and then I can

give you a tour of the club. When Raff reached out to me to

see if I had an opening, he had a lot of wonderful things to

say about you.”

That made her feel warm inside. Raff had been the only

person in her life that she could remember being nice to her.

For some reason, the older man had taken her under his

wing and given her a safe place to sleep and some money in

exchange for work.

“Raff was always kind to me,” she said in a small voice.

Gabby hated that she never sounded confident or grownup. The man was probably regretting hiring her already.

Zane nodded, “Well, I can assure you that any staff you

meet here will be kind to you as well. Since you will be here

during the day when the club is closed, you will mostly only

see me or my business partner, Jace, but occasionally we

have a staff member come in to set up for a theme night or

to do private training sessions.”

“Okay.”

When she didn’t say anything more, he slid a stack of

papers across the desk, eyeing her curiously.

“I’ve already done your background check with the

information you sent to me. These papers are for tax

purposes as well as a confidentiality agreement that says

you won’t share anything that occurs in the club with the

outside public.”

She nodded and took the pen that he held out for her.

Gabby had no clue what any of the paperwork said or

meant, so she signed everything after pretending to read

through it. Stuff like that was overwhelming, and she didn’t

understand a lot of the wording. After finishing all her sloppy

signatures and initials, she gave him the stack of papers

and waited.

“Let me give you a tour of the place. Feel free to ask any

questions that come up. Jace or I will almost always be here

when you’re working, but I’ll give you a key anyway so you

can get into the building if for some reason we have

something going on that takes us away from the club.”

Gabby nodded and followed him out of the office. The

first large area they came to was the dungeon. It was similar

to Raff’s club but was bigger and had more equipment. The

dungeon wasn’t a room that interested Gabby, but she

could recognize the beauty of all the furniture and

handmade crosses used to secure people.

“All the equipment in this room will need to be cleaned

and sanitized daily. The floor should be mopped daily as

well.”

Nodding her head, Gabby stored that information in her

mind and followed him down a hall. He opened the doors to

several rooms along the corridor.

“These are all medical playrooms. Everything needs to be

cleaned and sanitized daily in these rooms as well. Toys and

instruments that members use are cleaned, sanitized, and

put back where they belong by staff who work while the club

is open, so you won’t need to do that.”

Thank goodness for that. She’d seen some of the toys

used in Raff’s club, and some of them were more than a

little scary. She was never one to judge what someone else

might like, but that didn’t mean that it didn’t terrify her. Not

that it took much to scare her anyway. She was basically

afraid of her own shadow.

Zane showed her several more areas. She was impressed

by the size of the bed in the Harem room and listened

intently as he explained what kind of cleaning was required

in that area. It wasn’t very different than what she had done

at the club in Reno.

I wonder how comfortable that bed would be. I could kick

and roll over all night long and never reach the other side.

“The last part of the tour is the Littles’ area,” he said as

he opened a door.

Gabby couldn’t help but smile at that. She had loved the

Littles’ room at the other club and had hoped The

Playground had one as well. When she walked into the large

area, she gasped. It was at least three times the size of the

one in Reno. There were toy boxes everywhere and

bookshelves next to a pile of pillows in one corner, several

oversized rocking chairs throughout the room, a play

kitchen that was sized for big Littles, a Lego table, an art

station, and so much more that she couldn’t even take it all

in.

“Pretty impressive, huh?” Zane asked proudly.

She nodded, her wide eyes scanning over the room again.

“We have a large community of Littles, so it’s a very

popular area. This door goes into the nursery.”

She followed him through the door to another large room

that had two oversized changing tables, four adult-sized

cribs, and a twin-sized princess bed as well as a twin-sized

race car bed. There were also several rocking chairs in that

room, a sink, refrigerator, and microwave.

“This room is used for Littles who need more of a quiet

space or if they need to be put down for a nap or have their diaper changed. All the surfaces will need to be cleaned and

sanitized each day, and the carpet will need to be

vacuumed in both rooms.

“Since there are a lot of Littles who have sticky fingers,

the toys need to be wiped down once a week or so. There

are a lot of toys so I don’t expect that you’ll be able to clean

them all, so just do what you can. Usually, you’ll be able to

tell what toys are played with the most since they are at the

top of the toy boxes.”

Gabby nodded and tried to stay focused on what the man

said, but it wasn’t easy. All she wanted to do was sit down in

front of the toy box full of dolls and play.

This is a job, Gabby. You’re not here to play. You need the

money, so don’t do anything to get yourself fired.

“Do you have any questions?”

Bringing her attention back to the tall man who was

staring down at her, she shook her head.

“No, Sir.”

He smiled, “No formalities with me, Gabby. You may call

me Zane. Come on. I’ll get you a key. When can you start?”

“Right away, if that’s okay?” she asked, feeling a bit

unsure.

She didn’t want to sound needy, but she needed to make

some money. Raff had shoved a few hundred dollars in her

purse before she left Reno, even though she tried to tell him

that she couldn’t accept it. That had earned her his stern

Dom look, and she had caved.

She appreciated that the man seemed to truly care about

her well-being. He had been unhappy when she told him

that she was moving to Seattle and insisted on getting her a

job with a club where he knew the owner. He told her that

Zane was one of the best guys he knew, so he had made

the call, and here she was.

Raff had asked her why she wanted to move to Seattle

and she’d refused to tell him. He had grumbled about that

non-stop for weeks, but at the same time, he knew Gabby was a closed-off person, so he hadn’t pressed it. If it hadn’t

been for Raff, she had no idea where she would be, so she

would always be grateful for his kind heart. She hoped that

one day she would be able to thank him properly.

Zane nodded, “Of course. How about tomorrow? It

doesn’t matter to me what hours you work as long as you

don’t come or go when it’s dark out.”

She nodded, “How about if I come at eight tomorrow

morning?”

“Works for me. Here’s a key, and here’s my card. If you

need anything at all, you can call or text me day or night.”

“Thank you. I promise to do a good job.”

Zane nodded and smiled. Gabby took the card and key

and nodded, giving a small smile before she walked out of

the entrance. It wasn’t until she slammed the door to her

car and was safely inside that the looming panic attack that

had been threatening her the entire time that she had been

in the club finally broke loose, and she let out a sob.

She was no stranger to panic attacks. They had plagued

her for years and had become so debilitating that she could

hardly function in day-to-day life. She couldn’t hold down a

job because of her anxiety, so she had been living on the

streets with no job or money when Raff had found her. When

he offered her a job at his club, she’d been terrified and told

him she couldn’t function at a job or be around people. He

had assured her she would be working alone at her own

pace and wouldn’t have anyone hovering over her.

The older man had even set her up with a private room in

the club for several months until she’d found a room for rent

that she could afford with the wages he was paying her.

Gabby never understood why he’d chosen to look after her,

but she was thankful that he had.

Once her panic attack ceased, and she could finally

breathe again, Gabby pulled her car out of the parking lot

and drove about a mile down the road to a grocery store

parking lot. It would do for the time being. Eventually, she would find a room to rent in Seattle, but until then, the back

seat of her car was the only bedroom she could afford.

Gabby was exhausted and could barely move by the time

she was parked and had put up shades in all of her

windows. It was a blessing that she had been able to stay

awake long enough after her attack to be able to drive her

car away from the parking lot of her new job. She didn’t

think the owner would appreciate her living in her car on his

property. Lying back in the driver’s seat, she faded to sleep

within seconds of closing her eyes.

Sean

Sean stared at the legal document in front of him for so

long that the words blurred, and finally, he threw the stack

of papers on his desk. He felt antsy and unsettled. His life

was a fog of contracts, negotiations, meetings with clients,

and everything else that was boring. Being a business

lawyer had been exciting and challenging at one point in his

life, but as he got older and more established, it wasn’t

giving him the fulfillment he needed.

As grateful as he was for his job and the opportunities it

gave him, something was missing in his life, and he was

beginning to think he’d never find it. Leaning back in his

chair, Sean pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed.

Maybe a trip to The Playground would help improve his

mood. It had been weeks since he’d been and even longer

since the last time he’d played Daddy to a Little.

He was a gentle and attentive Daddy, and the Littles

loved playing with him at the club, but he had never found a

little girl who wanted to be his and his alone. He provided

the sweet side of a Daddy that they craved, but at the same

time, they wanted the sweetness balanced with a bit of

aggression and sadism, and that just wasn’t the kind of

Daddy he was. There were plenty of Daddies at the club

who could provide that balance. Sean was friends with many

of them and respected them entirely as they did him.

Deciding to wrap up the day and visit The Playground

later that night, Sean packed up his work and headed to his

big empty house just outside of the city. He loved Seattle

and everything it offered, but he also loved coming home to

the peace of living where it was a bit quieter and had a

slower pace. He had lived in the house for nearly five years

after having it custom built for him and hopefully for any

future Little that might become his. Unfortunately, the parts he had designed for that future Little were still unused and

beginning to collect dust.

One day. You will find your Little one day. Be patient.

She’s out there somewhere.

After doing a workout in the gym that he’d had built off

the side of the house, he wolfed down some leftover chicken

enchiladas that he’d made the night before and then

showered. He dressed in a pair of black jeans, with a black

tee and a pair of black boots. While he wore suits for work

when he went into the office, he preferred to be comfortable

in jeans and t-shirts outside of work, and luckily the club

dress code wasn’t overly strict.

It was already busy by the time he got there, especially

for a Thursday evening. He recognized several people right

away and greeted them as he walked through the club

towards the Littles’ area. He considered himself friends with

many of the Doms that enjoyed the dungeon, but that

wasn’t an area that had ever interested him, so he never

lingered.

As soon as he stepped into the Littles’ area, he was

greeted by his friend Ian, who was leaning against the wall.

His gaze was fixed on his baby girl who was playing with

another Little. After an incident at the club when Sean had

sat down and read to Ian’s Little, Maddie, without knowing

she belonged to him already, Sean had felt as though their

friendship might have been over. Ian had stormed into the

club, pissed and ready to fight until Sean had reassured him

that nothing had happened and he was only being friendly.

To his relief, Ian had called Sean a few weeks later and

apologized for being a jerk that night and then invited him

to their wedding. Sean was glad because he had always

considered Ian a good friend and someone whom he could

trust.

“Hey,” he said to Ian.

Ian nodded, “Hey, man, how’s it going?”