Page 17 of A Lesson In Beginning

“I apologize. I did not mean to offend.” I quickly muttered, hoping to cover my horrendous faux pax.

“Think nothing of it. It’s surprising the professions people have, but really, the BDSM community is full of people from many backgrounds.”

“Wait, do we have a kinky newbie on our hands?” Trixie’s eyes flashed with excitement, before Joel shushed her.

“Calm your tits, Trix. Adah is working here, and isn’t required to tell you anything about her own kink journey.”

Or lack thereof. I silently finished his statement

“So, what’s on the menu tonight?” He asked, clapping his hands and rubbing them together excitedly.

“You made the menu, doc. So shouldn’t you remember?” I looked between the two, noting the subtle flirtation, which still was odd to me.

“You’re such a brat, Trixie.” He scoffed at her, but smiled as he looked at the printed menu and began to pull items from the refrigerator.

“I am a wonderful brat.” Trixie sighed happily as she went back to the few dishes that needed to be put away from the dishwasher from the previous evening.

“Finish up and head back to your handler.” Joel said as he began opening the items on the counter, preparing for the cooking that needed to be started soon.

“Handler?” I asked quietly.

“Trixie has a brat handler, someone who keeps her in line.” He quietly explained.

“You’re just jealous, Joel.” She stuck her tongue out at him and I felt my pulse quicken, wondering if she would get a firm reprimand.

“Not jealous at all. I’m no handler.” He teased her right back, offering no reprimand, which utterly confused me. The real world made little sense, but I tried to push it aside and focus on the cooking at hand.

“You pleasure Doms all think you’re so wonderful. But that’s okay, because I still love you, Joelsky.” She closed the door to the dishwasher with a loud thud, nearly prancing over to him and jumping up to kiss his cheek, making him chuckle before she literally danced her way out of the kitchen like a little faerie nymph.

“Don’t mind Trixie. She’s all bark and no bite. Now, for tonight, would you rather handle the cooking or the dishes?” It took me a moment to follow his question, as my mind was still stuck on the new terminology I was wholly unfamiliar with. It was like listening to a foreign language I did not speak. In a way, I supposed that was true.

“Um, well…” I stumbled over my words. Why were my palms sweaty? I brushed them over the material of my skirt nervously.

“How about tonight we do them both together?” I sighed with relief at his suggestion, returning his smile with one of my own. He leaned in close, his breath fanning over my hair as he whispered. “I promise to make this nice and easy for you.” He leaned back with a wink, chuckling at my shocked expression.

The man had so much gall, so much audacity and so much… something else I couldn’t put my finger on, but it made me feel so very off-kilter.

“We have a few dishes to cook tonight, and some baking to do for tomorrow.”

“Yes, Sir.” I answered without thinking. He made a grumbled noise and then set his utensils down, turning to face me.

“I’d prefer if we stick to Joel. No Sir. Alright?” While I felt guilt well up inside of me, his kind expression gave me reason to believe I had not committed yet another faux pax. I didn’t want to mess this up, so I simply nodded.

We worked in relative silence, throwing together ingredients and cooking until the kitchen smelled wonderful. I glanced at the clock, wondering how an hour had passed without my noticing. As I did mental math, I realized that if we did not start on the baking soon, it would not be finished by the time we needed to wrap up for the evening.

“Would it be alright if I started on the baking, Si — I mean, Joel?” I asked, blushing as I almost called him the wrong name yet again. It was difficult to be so informal, especially while working.

“You’re welcome to, although we have plenty of time. The baking only takes about an hour if we throw it all in together.”

“I have found that you have better results when spacing the items out and not crowding them into the oven at the same time. But I am happy to concede to your preference, as my boss.”

“Oh, I’m not your boss. That’s Levi, technically. I’m game for whatever! I’ve just been taking the lead, as someone needed to.” He shot me a smile as he took some dishes to the sink to be washed while I began wiping down the counters to prepare to bake.

Baking was something I loved doing, though I hadn’t gotten to do it as much as I wanted to over these last two years. Somehow baking had just not held the same joy it once had when faced with criminal lawsuits, prison, and divorce.

I scoured through the cabinets, pulling out this item and that until I had everything I needed to begin my baking.

“Here is the recipe for the — oh! It looks like you don’t need a recipe.” He chuckled lightly as he turned to see all the items needed spread out over the counter in an organized fashion. “You really are a baker, aren’t you?”

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