Aubreys Playground

:Twenty:

Aubrey stood in the shower under the running water, he wasn't sure how long he had let it run he just knew he got in there to clean himself before getting in his bed, yet no soap or washcloth came in contact with his body. He was upset with himself, disappointed. Not in the punishment itself but the way he felt after seeing the results on her. Aubrey was never afraid to punish his subs, there was never remorse or regret after punishment because the punishment was deserved. When he looked at the final results of whatever punishment he dealt he never felt anger in himself for his actions. In Lori's case, Aubrey had to show her that the behavior they discussed upon signing the contract was not acceptable, not even in a playful manner.

A grown woman that whined when she didn't get her way or demand she has exactly what she wanted at that very minute, a woman that was self-centered, self-absorbed in narcissistic behavior came second to disloyalty. He'd experienced subs with those mannerisms that slowly started to rear their ugly heads and he immediately terminated the contract, not even wanting to see if punishment could straighten her out, he simply lost interest at the sight of it.

He understood some Dominants were into that, it was one of their kinks to have a woman be a crybaby when he told her no or if he took too long, yet Aubrey felt no man could be dominant with a woman telling him to drop what he's doing to tend to her especially if it was driven by jealousy, greed, and materialistic wants. For Lori to demand he do such thing as one of her negotiations before signing his contract physically drove him crazy, right then and there he knew he should have cut the whole deal off, but he couldn't, it was something about Lori in particular that made him agree to such nonsense, something about her turned him into a walking contradiction.

Aubrey finally grabbed the clean washcloth that he placed on one of the shower ledges and soaked it under the hot water, he squeezed his body wash into it and finally began cleaning himself, he washed his face, and completely rinsed his body, he stepped out the shower and continued his nightly routine, he spit the toothpaste foam in the sink and proceeded to wash his mouth out, mouth wash followed, he pressed his palms to the dark grey marble counter of his bathroom, he looked at himself and sighed, his eyes traveled to the digital clock and weather stats programmed in the bottom right corner of the large vanity mirror that traveled halfway across the wall. 2am, early March in New York, it was barely 31 degrees. He walked into his closet and removed the towel from his waist and simply pulled a pair of white pajama pants up his legs.

He looked at his bed, he mentally began cussing himself out as he turned and walked out his room and down the hall to Lori, he pushed the one door open and admired her from afar leaning against the door frame. He took a deep breath and proceeded further into the room, pulled the covers back, and crawled into the bed with her. Lori moaned in her sleep as he softly grabbed her and pulled her into his arms.

"What are you doing in here." She mumbled in her sleep. "It's time to get up?..." she frowned asking another question with her eyes still closed.

"No, it's only 2am." He replied back ignoring her first question. Lori raised her arm to his shoulder making herself comfortable against him, her breast pressed against his chest, her lower half hanging off of him. He pulled her closer so he could reach her butt he cupped it running his thumb up and down her smooth skin. She had gone silent back into her sleep.

Aubrey stared up at the ceiling until he didn't know he had fallen asleep, only to open his eyes six hours later, Lori had eventually rolled over to another comfortable position, his urge to sleep next to her came out of remorse and also knowing it was his last night with her until next Friday, he got out the bed and made his way into the bathroom to release himself when he returned Lori sat on her knees in the center of the bed waiting for him looking down at her clasped hands, her collar back around her neck.

"Good morning, baby girl."

"Good morning, sir."

"You may look at me." He replied emotionless. Lori looked up and smiled, her eyes bright as the room.

"You slept with me." She said pulling a slight smile from the corner of his mouth.

He nodded. "I did."

"Why?..."

The corner of Aubrey's mouth drew flat, he swallowed. "It's the last night. I figured I'd make it the best one until next time, of course."

Lori smiled convinced in his reasoning. "Yeah? Thank you, sir."

Aubrey took a deep breath, she was pulling at feelings and emotions that hadn't been touched in several years, feelings that he purposely had locked away for a specific reason, feelings that he could not particularly offer a woman and he knew he couldn't. He sniffed and cleared his throat.

"I want you to shower and get dressed. Legs and a t-shirt, preferably. Then I want you to meet me in the main kitchen."

"Yes, sir."

"Good girl."

Lori continued with her usual morning routine, Aubrey stood at the stove and looked at the clock, he was surprised when he saw her reflection in the toaster coming up behind him, he hadn't given her a time limit on purpose wanting to see if she'd notice and take advantage of it. She didn't. She always had 20 minutes or less and she was down in 17. He smirked and shook his head.

"Come here." He ordered her.

She rounded the island and stood next to him. "Yes, sir."

Aubrey looked down at her, she seemed to be enjoying the chemistry they had. Her hesitation got better, and unless it was casual conversation everything ended with 'Sir.' she knew to wait until he gave her permission to approach, touch, or speak to him, her ability to pay attention to small details that any other person wouldn't care to pay attention too often left him stunned.

"Sunday's are usually busy, today you'll actually see people... well staff walking around the house..."

"Oh..."

"That was why I asked you to put on what you have on now."

"Right." She nodded in understanding.

"My personal chef comes on Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday. Depending on if I'm here or at the Condo in the city..."

"Why so often? Why not just make your meals for the week?."

He stopped moving the spatula back and forth in the pan and looked down at her. "I don't like cooked food after the second day of refrigeration."

Lori lifted her eyebrows and pressed her lips together, by the very serious look on his face and his solid stature this was something he took very very seriously. She nodded. "Right. Understandable."

He continued cooking turning his attention back to the eggs. "My personal stylist comes and gets my suits ready for the week or comes to bring me something new. Maintenance is also done on Sundays inside and outside to assure that everything is working correctly and looks as supposed to. Cleaning is also done on Sunday's."

Lori squinted, a perplexed look came over her, she was surprised and confused at the same time, for the past three days she had been staying in a spotless mansion, not a spec of dirt or dust touched any surface, not even that microscopic dust that floated through the air and the only way you could see it was if it drifted through the natural sunlight that beamed into your windows during the day, she took a tiny breath preparing herself for a rebuttal but quickly stopped.

"Right! Makes sense." She said instead while nodding her head in agreement.

Aubrey smirked, he knew what she was thinking. He reached into the cabinet pulling down a large plate and carefully began placing the cooked eggs onto it. "Believe it or not, I do host several parties here, whenever we seal a deal, office holiday parties are usually held here, Fourth of July, Memorial Day, A lot of my friends birthdays, Hanukkah, Christmas, New Years... all held here with the family. Go sit at the table." He ordered her before pulling open the glass refrigerator and grabbing a container of fresh-squeezed orange juice.

Lori sat down in her regular seat, she looked out the large bay windows taking in the immediate view of the rose garden again, there were no flowers or even buds, just vines and leaves, a walkway down the center fed into what looked to be a gazebo in the distance, large white metal arches allowed for the plant to grow as it pleased. It was still very well-manicured, simply patiently waiting for its time to bloom.

"When do the roses come?" She asked.

Aubrey looked up at her profile then out the windows. "Late May they start getting buds and usually by June they fully blossom. Then they come back again in early September."

"Are they a remembrance for someone?"

"A remembrance?" He repeated.

"I just figured they were a memorial for someone, your company is Rose Graham so I figured it was named after a grandmother or something?" She finally looked across the table at him, being sure to not offend him, considering his father.

"Oh, no not necessarily. When my dad first met my mom she was a florist and she had a shop. She called me her rose when I was little... sometimes it still slips out." Aubrey smirked as he picked up food with his fork and looked out the window. "I used to think it was embarrassing. But they're her favorite flowers and my dad decided to name the company Rose Graham... for her and I and for his last name. They divorced but my mom kept his name for personal and business reasons." He finally went silent placing the fork in his mouth and pulling the food from it. Lori nodded and took a bite of her eggs. She was contemplating another question and Aubrey could tell by the look on her face.

"Can I ask you a personal question?..."

"Of course." He said staring down at his plate.

"Is that why you don't want to get married because of your parents?"

Aubrey stopped chewing, he slowly raised his head and gazed across the table at her, it for sure was a personal question and granted he touched a little on it during yesterdays breakfast he never really named the source from which his thoughts came from. He reached for his glass and took a sip, something he often did when feeling like he was under pressure or backed into a corner.

"I'm sure there's a person with a doctorate in psychology somewhere that can tell you where my fear stems from, but as far as I know I don't want that kind of commitment... you have to jump through a lot of hoops to get married, then you have to go through even more hoops to get divorced. We can sit here and say it's till death do us part and say these vows with God as our witness... but I'm a realist and a lot of stuff changes when you get married and I don't like change, I like consistency, and I like to keep it that way."

Lori nodded and looked back down at her plate and began eating again, Aubrey stared at her for a few more seconds then lowered his gaze. They sat in silence only the distant noises from outside, and the few house staff that walked around to their next area to clean. Lori was curious and that curiosity was truly getting at her, normally she was one for minding her business but Aubrey seemed to be pretty damn interesting.

"May I ask another question?"

Aubrey looked up and smirked. "Yeah, how personal is this one?" He teased her.

Lori laughed and dropped her head feeling embarrassed by her nosy prying. "You're right... fuck...I shouldn't even be talking... Sorry..." she closed her eyes shaking her head. Technically she was right Aubrey hadn't given her permission to speak to him.

He slightly sucked his cheeks in as he studied her. It was almost like she was too submissive and he had no clue how the hell that was possible.

"No, you may ask me whatever you'd like." He frowned at her. "Take that collar off, also." He sternly ordered her and quickly looked down at his food to take more bites.

"Yes, sir." She replied, reaching up and pulling open the clasp and placing it carefully on the table.

"Your question?"

"Right! Uh, I was just curious about the Owls. Why do you like them! The two tattoos and I noticed it's on your clothing and throughout the house... stuff you own... is it your logo!?"

Aubrey smiled she was back to admitting to paying very close attention to him, he liked it, a lot more than he expected to. "It is my logo... kind of a signature. A good friend of mine named Nate actually designed the particular owl that you see everywhere about 11 years ago, and my brother Oliver and I ended up using it for our first company that we started."

"That's really neat! Is that what you did before you took over Rose Graham!?" She asked sounding even more interested than she was before.

Aubrey nodded. "I still do it, run them both."

"What's the company!?"

"It's OVO Sports Management. We represent a lot of athletes throughout multiple leagues."

Lori frowned, another complex moment of searching her brain. "I've... heard of that... but, I never paid attention..." She sat quietly as Aubrey smirked at her. "You and... RocNation are like the top two managements athletes choose from!" He nodded silently. "We've had clients from you guys! You know when they get traded and we got like a weekend to find them home!" She said rolling her eyes at the merely impossible task. "What does the OVO stand for!?"

"October's Very Own."

"Oh! For your birthday!" She pointed and smiled.

"Not exactly, but I love that you remembered my birthday. Uh, Oliver actually started it our freshman year in high school, it was a sports blog and it started off as Olivier's Very Own and he had this idea to basically wrote about top stories in sports between America and Canada. So Oliver, myself, our other friend Niko, an 40..."

"His name is a number!?"

Aubrey laughed. "No, it's Noah, I'll tell you about how he got that name later, but we started this blog and we all realized all our birthdays were in October. So we turned it into October's Very Own..."

"Everybody's birthday!?"

"Yeah! Except 40, He's March. But he was down for the cause! The blog grew, turned into more than just what it was, started putting on basketball tournaments with the help of my dad... but we now have E-Sports, Basketball team, that's OVO Bounce and Niko handles that. We have apparel, Welcome OVO, and Oliver handles that. We have music which is OVO Sound and 40 handles that. And I handle the athletes. That's why it's still hectic after a year of owning Rose Graham because I'm currently merging OVO with it so it's all in the family, ultimately I want OVO to sit at the top."

Lori smiled at Aubrey, he was no longer selective in the conversation, he had completely opened up, about business at that. "So why the owl? Why not a basketball or something!?"

"Because a basketball would be cliché. Owls represent intelligence, guardians of wisdom, old wise one. They know all, they see all, a 360 view. It sees everything. I see everything."

Lori nodded, her lips pressed together seeming to be impressed. She randomly smiled. "I remember you had these really nice cufflinks, it was four total, two on each wrist... but you usually only wear two large ones.. one on each wrist..." She looked across the table at him with a bashful smile, her eyes began to widen, that sparkle he grew weak over that came out whenever she got excited or passionate about something. "They were medium in size... I think... yeah they weren't small... but you had them on the night we were in your restaurant drinking wine... they were black to match your black suit and the outline of the owl was gold!..." Lori bit at her bottom lip in a debate. "Those are my favorite... well at least out of the ones I've seen, but for sure those are my favorite... you haven't worn them lately though... the last ones you had on when I came to see you in your office... those were gold ones... and one had an A and the other had a G... you didn't have any on the night we sighed the contracts." She finally finished her thoughts and looked down at her half-eaten plate of breakfast food.