“Will there be a show tonight?”
“All depends who’s in. Sometimes I go up there, but I’m babysitting you this evening.” She winked. “As you can see, in terms of general ambience some of the seating is in darkness, some spotlit, depending on your penchant for exhibitionism. There’s a chill-out room to the back of the main floor, but there’s not all that much chilled out about it. Lastly, down the corridor you have the playrooms. That’s where a lot of the fun and games happen.”
“Playrooms?”
“Yeah, for smaller scenes. They have a variety of furniture in them... benches, racks, cuffs, frames, cages... this is a members only club, and each member is assigned a locker off to the side of playroom one.” She jangled some silver keys in front of my face. “People tend to collect what they need and choose a room for their scene. Some are big enough for multiple pairs or groups, others more for one on one play. They all have internal windows, so you’ll get spectators looking in, but playroom four has blinds if you want a bit of extra privacy.” She smiled. “I’m not sure you’ll need to know the etiquette, but an open door means people are welcome inside and will sometimes be invited to join in. Closed door means watch but don’t enter, unless you’re in a separate scene and want to use the free equipment. Everything gets hosed down and sterilised at the end of every night, but we’re all pretty responsible and we clean up after ourselves. There are wipes in every playroom, and a selection of rubbers. Safe sex is standard here, this isn’t a dive.”
“Nice to know,” I smiled.
“There are some toys available for sale under the bar, vibrators and butt plugs and shit like that, as well as batteries, lube and bondage tape. Sometimes they stock rope as well, but you can’t count on it. If you have any issues there are always hostesses about.” She pointed at a tall woman in white PVC leaning against the wall to the side of the bar. “That’s Delicious, she’s on duty tonight. If you ever get any problems, unwanted attention or some kind of medical issue they’re always around to help, and they hang out with the newbies if they feel nervous. You’re with us, of course, so it’s not so relevant to you.”
“And how much does this cost? To be a member, I mean?”
“Why, you thinking of joining?” she grinned. “It depends. If you want to come every week you pay for VIP membership, which is four hundred a month, with a fifty percent discount for a partner if you have one. You can also invite one guest a month in addition. Occasional members pay five hundred for the year, but they also pay another hundred on the door each visit, and don’t get a discount for partners.”
“So you pay four hundred every month to come here?”
“Sure do. Why do you think I needed a housemate?” she nudged me in good humour. Cara slid over a couple of drinks, cocktails from the looks, bright blue and topped with an umbrella. I mouthed thanks. “There you have it. Explicit in a nutshell. Everyone uses a name here, for privacy, hence the Cat thing. Oh, and there’s a no-photography rule, things like that. There’s an official list of dos and don’ts but everyone generally knows what they are. Anyone leery gets asked to leave pretty sharpish, so generally it’s ok to relax and it’s always ok to say no if you don’t want to do something. You’ll get offers, I’m sure.”
“How long have you been coming here?”
“Five years or so. I started coming here with Jaz, but she doesn’t come so much these days. Any more questions, Sherlock?”
“I think you’ve covered it. Now to see how long I can hack it without running home safe to suburbia.”
“Suburbia? You’re talking about Camden as suburbia?! You’re getting wild in your old age, I’m sure there’s a deviant little Cat in there somewhere, after all.”
“I guess this is the place to find out.” I raised my glass for a three-way toast. “To new experiences.”
“We’re always up for that,” she smiled.
***
Maybe it was the drink. Maybe it was the tension in the room: the shadowy glimpses of couples making it all the way to last base without a care in the world for who saw them. Maybe it was the vicarious buzz from the people heading to the playrooms for more hardcore action. I can’t say for sure what made me so excited when the spotlights on the main floor lit up, but my heart raced in my chest so damn hard I thought it would thump right out through my ribcage.
“Action,” Raven said, giving me a hefty nudge. “Let’s go.”