You don't seem like a very good dominatrix...

Zenith paused, slender white fingers poised halfway through the best part of Bach. He listened over the hum of the grand piano, tilting his head slightly so that his long hair swept across his shoulder. Had someone finally knocked? It was already half past eleven... he might as well have been asleep.1

/Toc toc toc.../2

There it was again. Zenith got up and gently pushed the bench across the ivory carpet. He padded silently across the floor to the apartment door, then flicked his hair into place as he pulled it open.3

“Hi... you Zenith?”4

He looked her up and down. She was tall than him wearing her heeled boots – and probably without them. She was chewing gum, had red hair, freckles, and an orange patent leather bag. She was well-dressed – her clothes were that of a cliché Hollywood dominatrix but they were of decent quality – but she didn’t wear them well. She probably didn’t know how, Zenith realised, and sighed.5

“Yes. How much am I supposed to be paying you?” he muttered, looking down the hall briefly. The girl shifted. She was young, probably in her early twenties.6

“Oh, the agency didn’t tell you?”7

“No,” Zenith lied, now wondering what she would answer. “So how much?’8

“Five hundred an hour.”9

He nearly laughed, managing only barely to restrain himself.10

“Do you really think you’re worth over a thousand dollars to me?” he asked icily, and the redhead shifted again. Her nails were dirty, Zenith realised as she moved her fingers nervously. He sighed again.11

“Well, if you’re not willing to pay, then – then I’ll go,” she threatened – barely, and Zenith wondered how badly she needed the money.12

“Maybe you should.”13

“What a fucking waste of my time,” the dom suddenly blurted, now legitimately annoyed. “Fuck you, asshole.”14

She started down the red carpeted hall and Zenith watched her go.15

“What’s youre name?” he asked lowly, and the girl spun around, bag flailing from her shoulder.16

“It’s Ginger, what the fuck do you care? Going to complain about me too?” she asked loudly. “Piece of shit. You think you’re so important because you live in this fucking penthouse all by yourself with no – ”17

“Shut up,” Zenith muttered, stepping into the hall. “Look, you’ve obviously new to this. Of course the agency told me how much I’d be paying; they said two hundred, so I knew you’d be inexperienced. I usually pay three but I’ve never paid five, even though I could afford it. That’s absolutely ridiculous.”18

Ginger let her bag fall to her hand, where it hung limply at her side.19

“Whatever. I’m not going to get any more calls if I go back now, so it was still a waste to come here. They said you were a good client but obviously – ”20

“Come here.”21

“What? What for?”22

“Because you’re practically in tears, I’m still bored, and neither of us are going to get what we want if you leave now. You’re obviously new, and you obviously need money, or you wouldn’t have told such a terrible lie. Now come here.”23

She slowly marched back, looking glum and annoyed at the same time, like so many of the children Zenith reprimanded on a daily basis.24

“You don’t seem like a very good submissive,” she pointed out as Zenith led her into the apartment.25

“You don’t seem like a very good dominatrix,” he countered easily, moving into the kitchen. “Take off your boots before you walk across the floor, then go have a shower;’ it’s down the hall, second door on the right.”26

“How a shower?” Ginger repeated, having not even bent to remove her boots. Zenith turned around to look at her.27

“Yes. Your perfume is disgusting, I hate your makeup and there is dirt under your fingernails – and God knows where else. So go.”28

“We’re not required to take off any – ”29

“You’re not a stripper – that much is obvious,” Zenith interrupted . “You’re just dirty, and wasting my precious paid time right now. There’s a lock on the door – go wash – if you take thirty minutes, you make two hundred and fifty dollars, don’t you?”30

“You – you’re – ?” Ginger began, but then hastily got out of her knee-high boots and ventured to find the shower. Zenith put water on to boil, and fifteen minutes later looked up as Ginger came back into the kitchen, looking satisfactorily more like a kinky lover and less like a cheap whore – in Zenith’s opinion anyway.31

“That’s better. Would you like tea? I’d offer you something to eat, but have nothing at the moment...”32

“That’s fine. Um. Are we gonna get started..?”33

“Yes. But sit down first; we have some things to discuss.”34

“O...kay... like what?” Ginger asked, and Zenith sighed as she sat down.35

“Like what you are and aren’t allowed to do to me. What I like and what I don’t like. What I despise.”36

“Oh... right.”37

“You really haven’t done this before, have you?” Zenith asked in monotone, completely unimpressed. Had all the other girls been out? What had he got this one..?”38

“I... yes,” Ginger argued. “Not... not a lot, but... just because I’m inexperienced doesn’t mean I can’t be good at it.”39

“...I deluded myself with that notion when I decided to let you into my apartment.”40

“How old are you?” Ginger suddenly asked, ignoring Zenith’s previous commentary. The man looked up. To most, he knew, he looked about seventeen years old. It made getting into clubs difficult to get into, at best. Those that he didn’t own, anyway...41

“That’s none of your business. Now. I enjoy pain. I don’t have a day job at the moment so you can essentially do as you like to me. I don’t mind being humiliated and roleplay is fine, if you want. I don’t otherwise have many boundaries, but I swear to God if you tickle me, the police will be finding your body in the dumpster come morning – is that understood?”42

“But... yea. Yes. Yes; understood, definitely,” Ginger affirmed with a nod, and Zenith rolled his eyes, getting up.43

“I realise that I am your submissive, but I am also paying good money for this, so keep that in mind. Further to that point, if you’re smart, you’ll take your sweet time. Don’t try to rush – it’s annoying to me and will only succeed in earning you less money. Come with me.”44

Having learned her lesson, Ginger didn’t ask questions and just got up to follow Zenith down the hall. It ended with a massive master bedroom, painted red like the rest of the apartment and strictly sparse and tidy – like the rest of the apartment.45

“You have a nice place,” Ginger commented quietly, but Zenith merely nodded in reply. He led her to some closet doors and opened them to reveal a walk-in with walls covered in fetish paraphernalia. There were racks of costumes; shoes, boots, hats; a wall full of floggers, canes, whips, crops and paddles; medical toys whose names Ginger didn’t even know. She stared, and Zenith watched her from somewhere beneath his icy blues.46

“I don’t know what you’ve brought with you, if anything, but you are of course welcome to any of this,” he said quietly, then moved past her to the bed. Ginger stared for a few seconds more before a particular flogger caught her eye – it had a metal handle and long, black leather tails. She lifted it gently off the wall, glancing back at Zenith, who was still watching her, apparently passionless.47

“You know, not everyone picked that one. I’m quite fond of it,” he said lowly, seated on the bed. Ginger plucked a few more things from the wall and shelves, then walked slowly towards Zenith, suddenly ill at ease.48

“This is... awkward,” she admitted after a moment, stopping a few feet from him. Zenith beckoned her towards him.49

“Only because you’re completely useless as a dominatrix, totally wrong for the job and mistakenly hired. What were you? A drug-addicted whore searching for something a little more glamorous? Couldn’t have made much money, not with a face and body like that. Not to mention the countless diseases you must have by now – what will my friends say when I tell them I let such absolute filth walk across my threshold and – ”50

She backhanded him, hard, and Zenith nearly toppled sideways onto the bed, using a hand to steady himself. He wiped his mouth; there was blood.51

“You hit like a girl,” he muttered, and Ginger raised the flogger. After that is got easier.52

* * *53

Two hours later, Zenith was exhausted and lying in his bed, arms still tied above his head to one of his bedposts. Ginger was sitting beside him on the bed, walking her fingers along his tattered back.54

“Think you learned your lesson?” she asked in a near sing-song voice. She’d used it often throughout the session, and Zenith had found it surprisingly chilling.55

“Yes,” he breathed into his linen.56

“What was that?” Ginger demanded in a hard voice, and Zenith tensed.57

“Yes, my Lady,” he quickly corrected himself. Most of them got him to call them Mistress or – on occasion – Mother. He found himself liking ‘my Lady’ much more.58

“Then I suppose I can untie you,” she whispered into his ear. Zenith moaned and waited, listening to Ginger as she pressed the key into the lock. A twist, a rattle, then, “Oh shit.”59

Ginger quickly backed away across the bed and Zenith glanced at her, sighing.60

“What now?”61

“Sorry – I didn’t mean to – I should go.”62

“Stop. Stay there. What did you do?” Zenith asked, watching as the dom became increasingly more nervous.63

“Um... er... the key broke.”64

“...come here.”65

“No – I didn’t mean to break it – I swear! I’ll just got, okay?”66

“Ginger. There’s an emergency unlock. These aren’t from the seventeenth century; now come back here and let me out, so I can pay you. You’ll never find my wallet otherwise – I promise you that,” Zenith calmly explained. Ginger moved back onto the bed, and eventually fifugred out how to free him. Zenith released another sigh and curled onto his side. He seized Ginger’s hand before she could get away, held it and closed his eyes.67

“...your hands are hot,” the girl commented, and Zenith nodded slightly.68

“Yours are not.”69

“I should go,” Ginger said at length, starting to pull away, but Zenith tightened his hand and opened his blue eyes, trying to soften them.70

“No. Stay.”71

“Look, we’re not required to – ”72

“You’re not a hooker. I know. I don’t want you to fuck me anyway. I just don’t want to get up yet. I’ll give you an extra two thousand if you stay the night. And I’ll make you breakfast.”73

Ginger was quiet for long moments, but then she started to laugh. Zenith glanced at her.74

“What’s funny?” 75

She’d laughed a lot during the session – been clumsy, broken the mood... but her giggling had been a relief (and a terror, at times) and, despite himself, Zenith liked her.76

You had me at breakfast,” Ginger laughed. “I’ll be starving by then.”77

“Good. Now stop talking and go to sleep,” Zenith muttered, closing her eyes again. Ginger, somewhat to his surprise, started to massage his head. He moaned. “Fuck... ...you just found my weakness.”78

“Really?” Ginger laughed again. “You are a man, aren’t you? I would have thought it was your other head...”79

Zenith blushed slightly and opened his mouth for rebuke, but was too subdued to bother thanks to Ginger’s hand in his hair. He merely moaned again in reply.80

“You know... you never gave me a safeword,” Ginger pointed out eventually, and Zenith flicked his gaze over her for a moment.81

“You never asked,” he said, and after the girl was silent for a moment went on, “Already forgot page three of the dominatrix handbook?”82

“Hey now. If there was a handbook I’d be better at it,” Ginger laughed. “But really... why no safeword?”83

“Didn’t need one.”84

“What if I’d... started tickling you, say?”85

“I’d kill you for insolence. I told you that, didn’t I?”86

“But you’d be tied up.”87

“You think I can’t escape my own equipment?”88

“...but you got me to unlock – ”89

“Merely on principle,” Zenith interrupted. “Anyway... I didn’t give you a safeword because I trust you enough not to piss me off, but not enough so much that I’d let you have completely control. Make sense? You are in my home; I don’t know you or have any guarantee that you won’t kill me or rob me blind. Our entire relationship thus far is based on trust, and the only power I really have is monetary, and the probability that you’re not a wicked person. Put anything into perspective for you? I have my own devices for remaining safe; I need them. I hire people like you.”90

Ginger was silent until saying only, “Yeah... okay. I guess that... does make sense...”91

“My turn. What is your real name?”92

“Ginger.”93

He looked at her.94

“Please.”95

“It’s... seriously Ginger. Think I’d lie about that? I usually say Cookie if I’m giving a fake on. Seriously, I promise.”96

“Hm,” Zenith said, then nodded slightly and fell silent again.97

“Can I ask one more?”98

“You’ve just done so.”99

“...can I...?”100

“Just ask.”101

“...why don’t you like makeup?”102

“Generally when doms wear makeup they end up looking like whores. I don’t need whores. Also, if the dominatrix in question happens to stay over, I hate waking up next to that type of mess.”103

“Oh... okay.”104

“I liked you, and I’ll give you the five hundred you wanted, for your time. I hope you’ll be back. Now go to sleep. I’ll be up early. I’ll wake you for breakfast later. Don’t worry if you hear the piano.”105

“...good night.”106

* * *107

“Hello..?”108

Zenith lifted his chin but didn’t answer, toying between a few notes that had gone unheard for ages. He pressed the pedals, breathing in the scent of coffee and smiling slightly. A flicker of pain passed across his pale face as he straightened, his black-clad, narrow shoulders bearing the lashes of only hours before.109

“Zenith..?”110

He sighed.111

“Yes?” he breathed lowly as Ginger made her way into the room. She was ruffled but smiling, with pressure marks across her freckled face. “You look rested.”112

“Yep! I feel great. Best sleep I’ve had in a long time!”113

“Me too,” Zenith uttered, smiling slightly as he turned back to his piano. He’d played two notes before Ginger came and sat beside him, causing him to stop again.114

“Really? Why?”115

Zenith looked away, annoyed and embarrassed.116

“Because... ...because I said so.”117

“What?” Ginger asked, then cackled and commanded sweetly, “Come on... tell me...”118

Zenith gasped and straightened as she ran her hand down his back. The piano struck a discordant note, and Zenith’s breath returned shaky and quiet.119

“I... it’s... ...you were... fine.”120

“Was that a compliment?” Ginger asked, beaming. She pressed her lips to Zenith’s ear, and the man jumped. “Wow, I think you’re much worse this morning than you were last night.”121

“I’m unprepared,” Zenith muttered, staring at the black and white keys before him. He pressed one; let the hollow sound fill him; closed his eyes. “You were different. You were fun. You... ...you don’t make me feel guilty. You...”122

He trailed off, pressing so gently on another key that it didn’t even make a sound.123

“I what..?” Ginger asked, now quieter. She didn’t touch him, only watched, though Zenith felt as though she were touching him far too much. “Come on... I what? Please..?”124

Zenith looked at her, clearly trying his best to remain stoic.125

“...you make me feel human. You make me feel like this isn’t just a service... ...like it isn’t... just something I pay for... you know..?”126

“...that’s awful nice of you,” Ginger whispered, then kissed his ear and got up. “Where’s breakfast? Your hair smells nice, by the way.”127

“Thank-you... ...unfortunately I remembered this morning that I only have cereal, and no milk, either...”128

“You promised me breakfast,” Ginger said, but then laughed. “Well, why don’t we go out?”129

“Like... a... date..?” Zenith forced out, and Ginger raised an eyebrow from the kitchen.130

“No, like you owe me dinner. Unless you want it to be a date.”131

“I don’t. Where did you get that dress?”132

“In your giant walk-in closet. You have more girl’s clothes than I do,” the dom laughed. Zenith turned back to his piano, and she walked over to him. “Come on; take me for breakfast. I don’t want cereal... and how come you have nothing to eat in your house anyway?”133

“I don’t eat much.”134

“That why you’re only five feet tall? Are your doms always taller than you?”135

“Yes.”136

“Doesn’t that bother you?”137

“No, not really. Why would it?”138

“Because... you’re short,” Ginger pointed out quietly, and Zenith glanced at her.139

“You’re a redhead. You have a small mouth, green eyes and two hundred and seventy-eight visible freckles. Is there a point to your frivolous physical observations?”140

“Ha, sounds like you woke up,” Ginger said with a smile. “Come on, you’re dressed, lets go for breakfast. Then you can pay me and I’ll leave you alone, alright?”141

Zenith looked at the piano. Bach was calling him again, but that would have to wait. He sighed and stood up.142

“If I had known you were going to be this needy, I wouldn’t have let you in last night... ...I hope you don’t intend to wear those boots you brought...”