Darque Wants (19 page)

He turned it off and unplugged it while Mr. Stone continued talking about the problem. After fiddling with it for a few minutes, he plugged it back in and turned it on. The monitor showed a straight line and the sound was gone.

“All done,” he turned to Garret and said.

*****

The year was 2008, his final year at Boston College. Alexander’s plan for the weekend was doing his laundry, going to the gym, and writing the paper due the following Tuesday. He also counted on working on his business plan. Being a senior at Boston College meant lots of assignments and research papers, but he had other business on his mind. He planned on being a millionaire before the age of thirty. It wasn’t just about the money. He wanted the power it offered.

Coming from a middle class family, he had a fairly good life, but comfort wasn’t what he wanted. Some of his friends lived in mansions with nannies and butlers, but that didn’t bother him. His main goal was to make a name for himself, become his own boss, and be a driving force in the medical equipment industry.

The man looked at him in surprise. “Already? Are you sure?” Garret inquired, lightly tapping the machine. He turned it on and off several times. It worked fine.

“Yes sir, all done.”

“I’m impressed,” Garret’s voice reflected how impressed he really was.

Alexander stood and looked around. He realized how huge the room was. There was a piano in one corner with a large glass-top desk across from that. In another section was what appeared to be a reading area. The areas were separated by sofas. It appeared that each section had its own privacy.

Garret’s eyes followed Alexander’s fascinated ones. The younger man observed how the older man studied him before walking to his desk, pulling out a cash box where he extracted a wad of bills. They were all hundred dollar bills. Garret placed them in Xander’s palm.

“Count it,” he ordered.

“Later,” Alexander replied, knowing full well that the money more than covered the repairs. He pocketed the money and looked directly at his host. It was way more than he usually got for more complex operations. Garret smiled and asked him to walk with him a while.

“You are an extraordinary young man. Heading to Harvard?” Garret asked.

They left the room and walked towards the classical music and soft chatter. There were people dressed in togas serving several guests. There was something about the servers and the guests that seemed different, and Alexander tried to figure out what it was. Then he noticed some of the guests, both male and female were wearing chokers. Some were leather, some were jeweled, and others were either gold or silver. There was something about the jewelry that got his attention, and then it occurred to him that they weren’t chokers but collars. Each of the collars had a tiny tag similar to a dog tag. He shrugged and turned to his host.

“How did you know?”

“You look like a Harvard man, ambitious, a go-getter.”

Alexander looked at Garret, and their eyes locked. Neither looked away until another beautiful woman came into view, and Alexander looked at her. She was wearing a jeweled collar. She looked at Garret adoringly. Garret’s eyes followed Alexander’s amusingly.

“Beautiful, isn’t she?”

“Yes, she is,” Xander responded. Garret noticed that Alexander was relaxed and had dropped the formalities.

Garret chuckled, “I bet you’re curious about what’s going on here.”

“Not really, looks like a party to me,” he replied. Though the party seemed interesting, Alexander didn’t care what they were doing. All he wanted to do was get back to his dorm and computer where he was working on some ideas he may use in the future.

“Not curious why I’d have a machine like that at home?”

“I figured there was someone who needed medical attention here.”

“I like you.”

“Thank you,” Xander replied.

“Why don’t you stay for dinner? We will eat in about five minutes,” Garret offered.

Alexander was about to refuse but remembered that he hadn’t eaten. A meal would do no harm, plus, he couldn’t remember the last time he dined in a three-story mansion. “I’d like that very much, Mr. Stone.”

“Garret,” his host replied. Someone handed Xander a drink. “I assume you take alcohol? It’s a pre-dinner sherry,” Garret told him as the small glass was placed in his hand.

He took a sip of the sweet liquid. It went down smoothly, warming his stomach immediately. Another tray passed by him with hors d'oeuvres, but he refused. Shortly after, the woman he’d seen earlier called them to dinner, and Garret led him into a huge dining room. There were more than a dozen people seated while the toga-dressed servers attended to their needs.

Imagine his surprise when he saw his rugby teammate John sitting at the opposite end of the table and next to him was Diana. The two were in intimate conversation. Diana looked up at John adoringly and smiled.  “Whoa,” Xander thought, “damn!” He couldn’t believe John had such a woman. He looked around the table and realized he was the only odd one, without a partner.

“Hi,” it was the beautiful woman he’d seen talking to Garret earlier. “I’m Elizabeth.”

“Hi, Alexander…Xander to my friends.”

The dinner was lavish and delicious. Come to recall, he had never dined in a formal setting before and had no idea what utensils to use for each course. Elizabeth sat next to him, and he observed which fork to use for each serving. The four-course meal, not including the hors d’oeuvres served earlier, consisted of a cream of barley soup for starters, salmon fillets, Fillet Mignon with a carrot puree, and Waldorf pudding for desert.

The conversation centered around how hot the summer was and the predictions that it would be a mild winter. There was a debate about this as the fall was proving to be pretty cool. Someone mentioned that the ozone layer was to be blamed for the hottest summer the US had ever had.

“A hot summer does not guarantee a mild winter,” Garret said and he further went on to explain that since the stratosphere was affected by the depletion of the ozone, it affected all temperatures. The stratosphere is layered in temperatures, and when the Ozone is affected, so will the different temperatures. That means, what’s usually hot will get hotter, and what’s usually cold will also get colder.

“Look out for a very snowy winter,” he concluded.

“I didn’t know all that,” a woman across the table declared.

The conversation steered towards the reasons for the depletion of the ozone and what could be done to change it. It was agreed that many things contributed to this destruction. In other words, pollution. Alexander got a glimpse into the kinds of conversations that took place at events like these. Elizabeth told him that this was one of the more intellectual conversations, and usually it was just small talk.

Someone was refilling the wine glasses, but Alexander refused. He needed to be in total control of his faculties here. He was a guest, and he didn’t like having his head messed with. The wine was good, and he was tempted to indulge, but he hoped his host would invite him back to either fix another machine or as a dinner guest.

Xander touched his pocket where he’d hidden the money. He still hadn’t counted it but he knew it was a lot, maybe five hundred. He looked up to see Garret studying him, and their eyes met for a moment. The man was observing him, and Xander was curious as to why.

After another round of wine, and small talk the diners were exiting to the drawing room. The dinner table started being cleared. Garret accosted Alexander as he got up from his chair and asked him to join him for a walk. He followed the man through large double French doors onto a terrace which overlooked an enormous swimming pool. They hedged the pool and stepped unto lush green grass surrounded by beautiful gardens.

“Beautiful home you have here, Garret,” Xander observed.

“Do you know how I came to own all this?” Garret asked.

Alexander looked at him intently. He was feeling a big rush walking with a man who exuded so much power. He could feel Garrets energy emanate from him. A different man might have felt intimidated, but Xander liked being friends with powerful people.

“Drive. Not just determination. but sheer will,” the man said. “You remind me of myself at your age. I can see the same passion and drive in your eyes, and something else.”

“What else do you see,” Xander asked. He was fascinated with Garret’s observation of himself.

“Dominance. I see that in you.”

“I never thought of that,” he shook his head and contemplated what he heard.

“There are two kinds of people in this world, Alexander, and they exist in the natural order of things,” the older man said as they walked past a tennis court. “The Dominant and the Submissive. Think about it. There are those who serve and those to
be
served. Each has their own purpose. One cannot co-exist without the other.” Ahead of them was a small putting green, and they circled it while Garret talked. “I see you as a Dominant, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Yes, I think so. I wouldn’t do well being submissive,” he chuckled as he thought of his personality and how he liked being in control, at least most of the time. Garret was right, he was a dominant in the scheme of things.

“Good, good. How about you being trained in the art of dominance?”

“How does that work?”

“You learn how to harness that power within you to make you successful both in love and business. Plus you get to fix all our machines whenever they break down?”

“The medical equipment, not for the sick is it?”

“You catch on real quick, son,” Garret was amused.

“Can I asked what they are for?”

Garret stopped a moment as if contemplating his response. He liked the young man. There was something about Alexander that made him feel that he could trust him. “We have several of these machines we use for various reasons. Some are used for testing a persons will and endurance, while others are used for pure pleasure.”

“That sounds intriguing. Where do I sign up?” Xander joked.

“Welcome to The Old Guild,” Garret said. They had circled the green and were heading back to the mansion.

“The Old Guild?” This was becoming more interesting by the minute.

Garret continued to tell Alexander about a club that was more than one hundred years old. There were thousands of members all over the world, but membership was by invitation only. The club was exclusive. Not many people outside of its membership knew of its existence. He was the Leader of his chapter, which consisted of over a hundred members in Boston alone.

Dominant people possess certain traits or personality type of DISC. DISC personality types are Dominant, Influential, Steady, and Conscientious. These people are leaders and gravitate towards success. Many of them are in influential positions in their area of work. Submissive people, on the other hand, like to serve. Though many of them are managers and successful, they prefer a simpler life than a Dominant.

The club consisted of these two personality types otherwise known as “doms” and “subs” for short.  Every dom needed a sub of his/her own. Doms and subs could be either male or female, it didn’t matter. Garret told Alexander that new doms started their training at Squire level before graduating to Master. His teammate, John would be promoted to Master later that evening.

“John? The chauffeur…,” he started, thinking that she was his Sub.

“You’re right,” Garret said, “She’s his. So this is your official invite to The Old Guild. What do you say?”

“Well…,” he began.

“Take your time, and think about it. However, if you wish to stay and witness your friend’s transition, you must be a part of it. Otherwise, I’ll have someone escort you home.”

They reached the swimming pool, and Garret left Alexander to make up his mind. He gave him ten minutes, as the ceremony would start shortly. Xander didn’t need to think long. He knew immediately that he wanted to be there. Garret was an interesting man, and Xander liked him. He knew he could learn a lot from him.

While he was left to his own devices, he realized he’d heard the name Garret Stone before. He spent the next ten minutes trying to figure out exactly who Garret was and why his name was so familiar.

Garret returned to check up on Alexander and was not surprised when he told him he wanted to stay. He was taken to a guest room on the second floor where he would be spending the night. He was given a suit to change into in order to attend the ceremony for John. He freshened up and dressed, then lounged in the arm chair, only seat in the room. He was wondering what would happen at the ceremony when a knock came at the door.

*****

“It’s open,” he called. He was about to rise to his feet, thinking it was Garret, when John entered and beside him, Diana the chauffeur.

As they entered, Diana dropped to her knees beside John while the two men talked. “How you doing, buddy?”

“Fine, man. I had no idea you were living the high life. You dog!” Xander playfully punched John on the shoulder.

“Sorry I couldn’t tell you, but it’s been the best time of my life.”

“How did you get involved?” Alexander asked.

“It was Garret, he saw something in me, like he saw in you. The rest is history.”

Alexander noticed how Diana’s eyes would follow John adoringly.  He was fascinated by it. She was a beautiful woman, and she belonged to John. Alexander was just a little jealous. He wanted a beautiful woman to worship him also.