The Plume: The Second Anthology (17 page)

In fact, it seemed to Athena that having Rex
as a partner had become more of a liability than an asset.

Athena had had enough.

Rex looked startled that she wanted to talk,
but that figured. “What’s up?” he asked mildly, moving to sit at
his desk.

“I got an invitation to an art show this
week,” Athena said, keeping her temper under control with an
effort.

Rex smiled. “Really? Do you think I know the
artist?”

“I know you know the artist, because you
are
the artist. Don’t get coy with me.”

“You’re angry.”

“They say artists are observant. I’m glad to
learn it’s true.”

Rex straightened in his chair, looking a
little more wary. “You have a problem with the show? Why didn’t you
say so sooner?”

It wasn’t just the show, but the show was a
good way to open the topic she most wanted to discuss. It was a
good example of Rex letting her down.

“When I first heard about it, I didn’t
imagine that you would do it.” Athena braced her hands upon her
hips. “What about all your talk about discretion, and protecting
the secrets of the members of the Plume, and ensuring the integrity
of our staff, blah blah blah. I thought you would see it as a
violation of trust.” She arched a brow. “Maybe because it is.”

Rex didn’t appear to be interested in this
argument. “Only photographs of members who have signed a consent
form will be exhibited. Julius took care of that.”

“But what about you?”

He blinked. “What do you mean?”

“How are you going to explain your ability to
take these pictures? How did you get access to the Plume? Are you a
member? Are you an artist who just happened to stumble into the
Plume’s secret location?” Athena saw from his reaction that he
hadn’t thought of this, which did nothing to make her less angry.
“Are you a bystander or a participant? Did you take candid shots or
did you pose them? Were you hired by the Plume? Or are you an
imposter? Did you mimic the Plume’s activities - or guess what they
might be - or were you here, inside?”

“I don’t think I need to answer all of those
questions...”

She persisted. “Do they know your legal name?
Do they know where you live? Do they have the license plate number
for your car?” Now he looked freaked but he should. Athena knew he
hadn’t thought this through. His excitement about the show had
eliminated his usual caution. “You can be
found
, Rex, which
means you can be followed. If that piece of work Louise taught you
one thing, it should have been that. You are distinctive in
appearance - she tracked you and followed you to the Plume.” She
threw herself into her own chair and glared at him. “You’re the one
always worried about the future of the Plume, so I’m interested in
hearing your plan. It seems to me that it’s inevitable that the
Plume will be revealed as a result of this show.”

Rex rubbed his brow. “I’m not sure it’s
inevitable...”

“Or is that part of your plan? Are you tired
of being a partner here? You just want to go out with a bang, so to
speak, and end the whole thing?”

“That wasn’t my plan!”

“Tell me the other scenario,” Athena invited.
“We’re going to be buried in applications. There are going to be
more press trying to get in, legitimately or not. People will talk.
People will encourage members to talk. Some members will talk to
have their own moment of fame. I can’t believe you didn’t think of
any of this.”

“I did think of it, but Julius thought the
opportunity was worth pursuing.”

“Julius? So, Julius is effectively your
partner now?”

“He’s our legal counsel...”

“And he is paid well for his advice. But I am
your
partner
. I am half-owner of the Plume, and it could be
argued that I have a greater stake in the venture as it is my
family business. Let’s remember that I invited you to join me in
this venture.”

“But Athena...”

“Let’s remember who owes who. You’re fucking
with my livelihood here, never mind my legacy, and you didn’t even
have the courtesy to discuss your plans with me.”

“But...”

“I shouldn’t have found out the date when I
got the invitation along with everyone else in the city!” Athena
got to her feet. “I’m not ready for the Plume to disappear forever.
Maybe you should have asked me.”

Rex looked across the room and frowned, then
turned on Athena again. “But the preparations have been going on
for weeks. You could have said something sooner. You could have
made your point earlier!”

“You could have asked me, at the outset.”

“You posed.”

“I thought at that time that this would be a
much smaller event.”

Rex’s eyes narrowed. “What changed your
attitude? Who have you been talking to?”

“No one! Certainly not you! I can’t even find
you these days! I thought maybe you’d forgotten where the club
was.”

Rex got to his feet. “No, you’ve changed your
mind because someone said something to you. Who was it? What did
they say?”

“You’re going to be famous, and I’m going to
lose everything. I didn’t understand that before, and it doesn’t
matter who pointed it out to me. The fact is that if the Plume goes
away, its assets will be locked up for a long time. You can live
off your fame and newfound fortune. I won’t have anything.”

“Athena, that isn’t true. I don’t have a plan
to destroy the Plume or even to bring it to its end.”

Athena considered him and dropped her trump
card. “Then why haven’t you met with Leya, even once?”

Rex visibly ground his teeth. “Because I am
not going to be trussed up by her for display.”

“Because you are not going to expend any
energy in something that is typical Plume business, but will gain
you nothing in the big wide world.”

Rex appeared to be shocked. “What?”

“Leya has come here, at considerable expense
to the Plume, in fact at our invitation. An internationally
renowned expert in shibari is here, and we’re paying for it.”

“Not my idea,” Rex started to argue.

“Well, it should have been,” Athena snapped.
“Why shouldn’t we have her as our guest to demonstrate shibari
binding techniques to our members? It’s not as if they aren’t fans,
and it’s not as if it’s easy to do well.”

Rex rubbed his forehead. “Well, no.”

“In fact, you’re a fan.”

“Well, yes.”

“All she asked was for you to be her specimen
for the first display, but you have ducked every meeting and
avoided all contact with her. She’s wasting time here at our
expense, because of you.”

Rex clenched his teeth. “I didn’t agree to be
her model.”

Athena leaned close to him. “You’re trying to
sabotage this class, which is one that the members really want. I
think that’s because your loyalties are divided.”

“I think it’s because I never agreed to be
part of her exhibit!”

“You always used to support our educational
seminars.”

“I support this one. It’s great that she’s
come all this way. But I’ve told her a hundred times that she will
have to ritually bind someone else in front of the entire
membership.”

“She wants you.”

“She’s out of luck.”

“Because you don’t care about the Plume
anymore?”

“No! I am as devoted to the Plume as ever.
I’m just busy right now.”

Athena considered him. “Then it must be
because you’re afraid.”

“No! I am not afraid of anything.”

She held his gaze, distrusting how angry he’d
become. “Then do it. This week. Or I’ll be talking to Julius about
dissolving our partnership before your show.”

“You can’t do that!”

“Actually, I can. Check the original
contract, Rex.” She drilled her fingertip into the desk to
emphasize her points. “My family business, my legacy, my sole right
to determine my partners, at any point in time. Ask Julius. The
clause was added at his suggestion, all those years ago.”

“But what will that do to my show?”

Athena smiled coldly. “I don’t know. It might
be violation of your severance terms.” She enjoyed watching Rex
sputter. “At the very least, your leaving the Plume might delay the
opening while our lawyers fight it out.” She turned to leave the
office, flicking her skirts as she walked. “I’m not asking much,
Rex. Just a couple of hours of your time as a sign that you are
still an engaged participant here.”

“It’s not about the time!” he shouted,
startling Athena. “Why does everyone keep talking about the time it
will take? I don’t begrudge an hour or two?”

“Because you have better things to do than
your job?”

Rex ran a hand over the top of his head, then
glared at her. “Okay. I should have talked to you more about the
show, and I apologize. Julius worked out a bio that I think is
plausible. You can review it, if you like, before it’s
published.”

Athena folded her arms across her chest and
waited. “And you’ll meet with Leya?”

“I’ll think about it.”

She turned to leave. “Then I’ll have Julius
draft a severance of our partnership.”

“Athena!”

But Athena left Rex there, simmering over his
choice. She was still angry and not at all sure that either Rex
would fulfill his responsibilities or that their partnership could
endure, even if he did.

She wished she knew where the Count had gone.
He was far more astute about business than she was, and she yearned
for his advice.

If not more.

* * *

“I say it’s a violation of trust,” Anna fumed
as she wiped the plaster residue off her body in the studio.

Removing her gag had proven to be a bad
choice. Of course, Louise couldn’t have left her model and lover
bound forever, but she was already tired of the tirade.

And really, Louise wanted to think about Rex.
“You know something might happen. You’ve been here for some of the
other castings.”

“I thought you might take me. I thought you
might tease me. I didn’t think you’d let Rex dominate me!”

“I didn’t know he’d turn up today.”

Anna jabbed a finger through the air at
Louise, her eyes dark with anger. “You didn’t think he’d take me.
You wanted him to take you and don’t think I don’t know it.”

“You’re jealous,” Louise said with
surprise.

“I am not jealous. You’re screwing with our
relationship.”

Louise turned to confront her lover. “Hello.
You work at the Plume. You screw different people all the time,
regardless of their gender. It’s your job.”

“But I don’t do it in front of you and I
don’t always like it,” Anna retorted furiously.

Louise was amazed. “You don’t?”

Anna grabbed her underwear, dressing with
awkward haste, as if she couldn’t wait to get away. She tugged a
sweater over her head, then shook her finger at Louise again. She
was more angry than Louise had ever seen her. “Don’t turn this
around. You made him fuck you. You wanted it, and that changes
everything.”

“I thought you admired people who knew what
they wanted and went after it.”

“That’s just it. You weren’t supposed to want
that.” Anna hauled on her boots and grabbed her jacket. “You
weren’t supposed to want
him
,” she concluded with a
glare.

“Rex-him or any-him?”

“Either way.” Anna slung her bag over her
shoulder and marched for the door. “We’re done.”

Louise watched Anna go with dismay. A part of
her wanted to call back her lover and make up, maybe go back to the
apartment and make love slowly while Joanna was still at work.
Another part of her though couldn’t understand why Anna didn’t want
to experiment. It was just sex. It was about physical
experimentation and discovering one’s bounds in pleasure.

It wasn’t like she loved Rex. She loved Anna,
but if Anna couldn’t see that the emotional commitment was
different from the physical pleasure, maybe they weren’t right for
each other.

Louise sighed, disappointed all the same.
They had had some good times, and she’d liked being with a
woman.

She just wasn’t sure she wanted to be with
one woman for the duration.

She shook out her overalls and tugged them
on, hoping with all her heart that Rex turned up the next morning.
If he didn’t, she’d have lost Anna for nothing, and one thing
Louise didn’t like was being alone.

She had a few preparations to make, just in
case Rex did turn up.

* * *

It would only take an hour.

And maybe it would help Rex wrap his mind
around the concept of being Leya’s model.

Maybe not.

He wasn’t as worried about Louise as he was
about Leya, and he was tempted by the possibilities of the plaster
casting. He also loved the idea of a sculpture of him being the
focal piece of Louise’s installation. He searched images from the
Kama Sutra, found a few he liked and printed them out.

Then he headed toward Louise’s studio for ten
the next morning. He wasn’t sure what to expect, but from the look
on Louise’s face when he arrived, he knew she hadn’t been sure he’d
turn up.

“Really?” she asked and her eyes lit with
anticipation. She was wearing those spattered overalls again, and
just as the day before, he was sure she was naked beneath them. Her
hair was spikey and she was alone in the studio.

Good. Rex shut the door behind himself and
locked it, not wanting anyone to see him in this situation.
“Really.”

Louise bit back a smile. “Oh, locked doors.”
She rubbed her hands together in apparent glee. “Who’s going to
have their way with who? Should I get naked too?”

“Look, this isn’t easy for me. Let’s just get
to it.”

Her smile faded immediately “So, you’re here
under protest.” She apparently didn’t expect an answer because she
gestured to a work table. “Get naked and put on the body stocking.
I’ll mix up some plaster. You’ll be out of here in an hour, give or
take a few minutes. Wouldn’t want to interfere with your busy
schedule.” She turned away, and Rex sensed that he’d destroyed the
moment for her.