Page 4 of The Menagerie
Silver Membership: $100/month
• Allows admittance 4 times per month
• One complimentary alcoholic drink per visit (excludes gratuity)
• Invitation to special events once per month
Gold Membership: $200/month
• Allows admittance 8 times per month
• One complimentary alcoholic drink per visit (excludes gratuity)
• Invitation to special events 2 times per month
Platinum Membership: $300/month
• Allows unlimited admittance
• One complimentary alcoholic drink per visit, all other drinks 50% off (excludes gratuity)
• Invitation to all standard plus additional exclusive special events
• Priority room booking
Rowan swallows as he reads the perks of each membership tier. The thing is, hecouldafford any of them, which is making his head spin a bit. The higher tiers would majorly eat into his savings, but he could swing it if he really wanted to. Only in the past year or so has he started to relax on penny-pinching, something that everyone from the South End is familiar with even if they’ve long since moved out. But with his steady and decently paying job, manageable bills, and an almost unbelievably padded savings account, he’s started to take better care of himself.
Started buying nicer clothes that fit his body better and last longer than a dozen washes. Better skincare and haircare products rather than the dish soap he used to use to scrub the grime off his body. More fresh fruits and vegetables than he’s ever had in his life. The occasional latte or album or new pair of sneakers to treat himself, for fuck’s sake.
The higher tiers are still a little too expensive for him to justify, especially since he might not even like the place, but he can spare $100 for one month to test the waters. Besides, four visits per month seems like a reasonable amount. While he’d like nothing more than to have hot, kinky sex every night like he used to, that’s not practical for him anymore outside of a relationship. And he wouldn’t be going anytime other than the weekends anyway.
He reads through some of the other FAQs, which range fromIs sex allowed at the club?—Yes—toIs there a dress code?—No, but our members tend to dress in cocktail attire if not participating in a scene.
Next, he scrolls through the club rules.
There are some that are obvious:All equipment must be disinfected with provided cleaner after each use; no sexual acts in the bathrooms or locker rooms; no outside food or beverages.And some that aren’t—No scenes exceeding 4 hours; no bloodplay or cutting; no breath play.Rowan thinks back to the man they’d helped who had broken this exact rule. He shakes his head. He’s done it a few times with partners and gotten off to it more times than he can count, but he never lost sight of howdangerousit can be if you don’t know what you’re doing.
Members will receive two recorded strikes for breaking minor rules before membership is terminated. Membership may be terminated immediately depending on the severity of the rule(s) broken (i.e., if the safety of other members is compromised). Termination of membership is permanent.
Jesus. It’s pretty harsh, but Rowan knows that BDSM is all about trust and safety, and that members likely wouldn’t be able to fully enjoy themselves if they knew other members were breaking rules left and right with no consequences.
Before he can open the application, his “You’re gonna be late” alarm beeps loudly on his phone.
“Shit,” he curses, hastily closes his email app, and jumps up to finish getting ready for work.
BY THEtime his lunch break hits, Rowan is itching to open the application. He pulls it up on his phone, zooming in to read the small text. The top portion is all standard name and contact info type stuff, but the bottom half and the second page are far more detailed, most of the questions having several lines to type in longer answers.
Rowan mentally thinks through his answers to the nearly two-dozen questions as he reads through the rest of the application. It’s… thorough. Intense, even. His application to be an EMT wasn’t this long, and the one to become a paramedic a couple of years later, even shorter.
And it doesn’t say anywhere what they’relooking forin this application. Rowan assumes it’s a way of making sure only those who are into this lifestyle join and that they won’t damage the club’s reputation, but he can’t be sure. He could email Clover and ask, but he figures he’ll just fill it out and send it off. If he’s rejected for whatever reason, he’ll ask then.
He can’t fill out the pdf on his phone, so he plans on doing it first thing when he gets home in a few hours. But hecancall his primary care physician’s office—because he has one of those now, no longer needing to rely on the underfunded clinics of the South End—and schedule an STI test.
The call is brief, efficient, and Rowan has an appointment for Thursday—tomorrow—before work. He was clean the last time he got tested a few months ago and has used condoms with the sporadic hookups he’s had since then, but it never hurts to be sure. And besides, the club requires it.
He finishes his lunch quickly, eager to get through the rest of the day.
HAVING ALREADYthought about his answers to the longer questions on the application, he fills it out in record time as soon as he gets home.
