Having taken a back seat, Jason stirred and took on the mantle of inquisitor. He asked Clara about her previous employment, which included high-profile figures, ambassadors and government officials. Clara replied without revealing too much about her former employers. She had no issues with the security measures, chauffeurs, and protection officers being around the baby.
Relief flooded through Gemma as Clara continued to respond in the correct fashion. Jason remained in his preferred impassive mode, and she wondered for a moment if his expressionless face would unsettle the nanny.
Gemma chewed the end of her pen with nerves, not because she didn’t like Clara. Quite the opposite, she found Clara engaging and honest. However, she needed to gauge the woman’s opinions and views on their lifestyle. Gemma didn’t know how to broach the matter. Removing the pen from her mouth, she fingered her collar necklace, her symbol of submission, wondering what to say.
Jason tossed a large cushion onto the floor at his feet and gave Gemma the look, the piercing blue-eyed do-as-you’re-told gaze. She gaped, raising her eyebrows, as he pointed at the cushion. Contrary emotions emerged—it tickled her insides to see him being Dominant, but it also mortified her in the presence of another. Gemma moved. The rules remained in play; he expected obedience.
At that stage of the pregnancy, getting down on the floor didn’t trouble her; getting back up again posed a problem. She managed to lower her bottom onto the cushion and tuck her legs to one side. The baby felt like a cannon ball, an inflexible object in her belly.
Clara remained expressionless, rather like her unruffled husband, not a facial muscle twitched. A strange pause followed Gemma’s manoeuvring. A silence filled the room and Gemma could hear the cars going by the house outside and shouts from the building work at a neighbour’s house.
“Do you know what this means, Mrs Davies? My wife sitting
at my feet?” Jason pointed at Gemma.
The nanny’s fingers remained interlocked, displaying white knuckles. “Your wife is your submissive, I assume. I hope I’m not being presumptuous, but that is what you are showing me.” For a second, her hands trembled slightly.
Gemma’s pulse rate shot up. She wanted to turn round and face Jason, demand an explanation from him. He knew something about the nanny Gemma didn’t. Her lack of knowledge made her indignant. She pressed her lips tight together, trying to hide her annoyance and prevent an outburst. She clenched her hands into fists, but she remained silent.
“Yes,” said Jason. “Gemma and I live as Dominant and submissive. Her being here at my feet is a natural state of affairs. Neither would it be unusual if she addressed me deferentially. All you need to know is that our relationship is a private matter. We don’t expose ourselves publically or to our families or friends. The nature of your work, the fact you will be in our house when we are by ourselves, will expose you to the way we live. There must be no issues or doubts in your mind. Is this a problem?”
“I look a plain woman, Mr Lucas. Unexciting and drab perhaps, but I’ve seen much in my time, especially when I was a live-in nanny in my younger days. I can’t tell you, because I have confidentiality agreements I have to respect or similar contractual arrangements. People can live extraordinary lives inwardly and normal lives outwardly. I know this to be true. My services will always be focused on your child and assuring your wife is happy and content with motherhood. Your marriage is none of my business.”
Clara’s firm voice echoed about the room. If she had wanted to impress Gemma’s husband, Clara had hit the nail on the head good and proper.
“Thank you for your honesty, Mrs Davies,” said Jason. “If you do have any concerns, we would need to know of them sooner than later. Any strong views you should feel free to voice them. Is there anything you would like to ask before we go further?” Jason pinned the nanny down with his magnificent eyes. If she could deal with those, she was a winner.
“Not at this point. I hadn’t anticipated that you would discuss this, but I can understand why you have brought it up early on.”
Clara turned her attention away from Jason and gave it to Gemma.
“My sister was a manager of one of those high street sex-shop chains. She used to work here in London, but she moved to Manchester a few years ago to work in a different area. I would help out sometimes; the work was quite fun. Of course, she was well aware of her clientele, who bought what and why. She would tell me about those who experimented in the bedroom and would come in embarrassed to buy their toys. With the rise of Internet shopping that side diminished, the books were the first to go, I read a few out of curiosity then the more exotic toys. She did parties for a while. Going into people’s houses or attending fetish events to try to sell directly. So you see, that is how I know about what you two do. Not from personal experience,” she added hurriedly. “Not my cup of tea.”
Gemma recovered her poise listening to Clara speak. “I don’t think it will be a problem, Clara. To be honest, during the week you’ll probably see very little of Jason. He’s a busy man, and I just want company and help. We needed to know, that is all.”
The conversation drifted on to other areas, Clara’s pay and conditions, the hours she could work, travel costs, and the like. Jason managed the contractual aspects of her employment with his usual impersonal approach. There was nothing more to do but offer the post, which he did, and she accepted without hesitation. She would start work for them two weeks after the baby was born. Jason would be with Gemma for the first fortnight.
Clara had helped Gemma to her feet in the sitting room. The assistance said loads to her. Clara was going to be her companion and helper, not his. The last thing that happened before she left was the nondisclosure agreement. She took the time to read it through carefully, another tick on Jason’s list for establishing trust.
Trust was a word buzzing through Gemma’s head as she let Clara out of the front door with a warm handshake and smile. Gemma stormed back into the sitting room. He hadn’t budged, as if waiting for her backlash.
“You didn’t tell me! Martinson found out more than what you told me, didn’t he?”
He crossed his legs and pointed at the floor. She scowled and made her way to be at his feet again, this time facing him.
“Martinson dug into her divorce. It turned out her ex ran off with a colleague of her sister’s. Hence, we knew about the sex-shop connection. Her husband used to call by a little too frequently, and her sister guessed and exposed the affair. That is probably why she jacked it in and went north. Clara used to help out when she was between nanny jobs. She put it on her resume as retail work, but it was obvious what she did. I like her. What more could you want from a nanny: pragmatic and honest. She’s been handed to us on a plate. So why are you cross with me?”
“You didn’t tell me!”
“I didn’t want to get your hopes up. She might have looked good on paper, but you might not have connected to her. You were so miserable last week after that pathetic girl turned up on the doorstep. You should know to trust me. I wouldn’t have taken the time off work if I didn’t think she was worth it.”
“Trust. Don’t fucking talk to me about trust. You didn’t trust me to deal with this and made me look an idiot—” She hammered the armrest with her fist.
He grabbed her wrist, stopping her from repeating the action then let her go. “You didn’t look idiotic. You looked quite happy. She could see that. There was nothing contrived for her, your submission was spontaneous and genuine. It convinced her.”
Jason went to stand up and Gemma couldn’t stop herself. “I don’t care if I behaved as you expected me to—”
“Enough, Gemma,” he snapped. “You wanted me here. What did you expect? That I would sit back and let you dance around the issue interminably, indecisive, and embarrassed to ask? You should be grateful I took the time to find out about her. Helped you. What I’m not seeing is respect or faith from you. Am I? I’m hearing an angry tirade from a silly woman who should know better.”