Praise

Charlie delights in Emerson introducing her as his date. Driven by curiosity, she slips off to explore the club’s private room, despite her worry that she is visibly “an imposter.” She passes windowed rooms being used by patrons who enjoy exhibitionism, which she finds alluring. Though she knows that watching is encouraged, she finds doing so taboo and is startled when Emerson approaches her. Together, they watch three people have sex in the throne room. She is encouraged to learn that Emerson is also aroused, and she masturbates at his prodding, taking particular pleasure when he praises her. Charlie thinks that one of the women in the threesome looks familiar. She realizes later, when she encounters the woman in the restroom, that she is Madame Kink, an online persona whom Charlie encountered when researching the Salacious Players’ Club.

Madame Kink praises the club for being a place where they can experience sexual liberation without judgment. She urges Charlie not to be nervous and to instead enjoy Emerson’s attention. She reminds Charlie that the club is for women to find pleasure as well.

On the drive home, Charlie considers how her confidence has grown in the past months. She tells Emerson that she would like to return to the club sometime with him. They kiss goodnight but plan to have their “rules” about maintaining a professional relationship back in place on Monday. She instinctively calls him “sir,” his preferred nomenclature in a Dominant-submissive relationship, which they both find appealing. She spends the next day researching kink to try and pinpoint her own desires.

Charlie, nervous about the possibility of rejection, kneels to meet Emerson the following Monday. Emerson is taken aback but agrees to help her with her desire “to learn how to be a good sub” (116). They agree that she will not always fulfill her submissive role and will sometimes be “just Charlotte” rather than “Charlie” when she is submissive. Charlie produces an extensive list of her limits and interests, omitting the ones that explicitly have to do with sex since they have not yet planned for a sexual relationship. Emerson maintains that they should not have sex, which Charlie understands but finds disappointing.

Emerson instructs her to do her work and then to kneel silently at his side while he takes a meeting. Charlie begins to doubt her actions, disliking his inattention. When he pets her hair and she rests her head on his leg, however, they both find the exchange gratifying. Charlie feels that her role, though submissive, has as much power as Emerson’s. At the end of the workday, they discuss which aspects of their dynamic Charlie enjoyed most. While she basks in his praise, she struggles to remind herself that she will “never have Emerson the way [she wants]” (123).

Emerson is startled by the intensity of his “dominant cravings” toward Charlie. He masturbates to the thought of Charlie’s pleasure in submission, despite his sense that this is wrong given Charlie’s past relationship with Beau. He vows to tell Charlie that they must cease their relationship, but he falters when she sends him questions about different kink practices and their relationship to sex. He confirms that sex is common in “Dom/sub activities” but that “the dynamic” is not inherently sexual (126); to him, the dynamic is the most important part. He admits, however, that he did have sex with many of his previous submissive partners. Charlie admits her desire to “be enough” for him, which he finds intensely arousing. He tells her that she is “perfect.”

Charlie calls days without a Dom-sub dynamic “no-fun day[s].” She enjoys working at the club, however, and is present when the club owners and Drake meet with Monica, a sales rep for sex toys. Charlie is jealous when Emerson praises Monica, who previously acted as Emerson’s submissive. Feeling “replaceable,” she refuses Emerson’s direct order to greet Monica, something she never does while in her submissive role. She regrets this when Emerson seems disappointed, and she finds this exceedingly uncomfortable, particularly when Emerson gives Monica a tour of the club without her.

Drake flirts with Charlie as they discuss a wearable vibrator that is controlled by a remote. It is one of the samples that Monica left for the club staff. Charlie agrees to try the vibrator, though she questions her decision to flirt with Drake. She is embarrassed when Drake tells Emerson about their “experiment” and gives Emerson the remote. Emerson insists that they go to lunch, not giving Charlie a chance to remove the sex toy.

As they leave the club, Charlie wonders whether and to what extent she made a mistake. Since her relationship with Emerson is sometimes based on an employer-employee dynamic and sometimes in a Dom-sub dynamic, she doesn’t know when to behave according to the guidelines of each role. She also worries that Emerson and Monica had sex in the club, though she finds that this idea bothers her less than the idea that Emerson might have treated Monica as a submissive.

Over lunch, Emerson explains to Charlie that he ordered her to greet Monica because Monica would understand this to signify that Charlie serves as Emerson’s submissive. She likes the idea that he was “claiming” her and admits to feeling jealous. He confirms that he did not have sex with Monica that day, though he is pleased that Charlie would be angry if he did. He turns on the vibrator via remote, which he calls a “fitting punishment” for her flirting with Drake. She finds it extremely pleasurable to follow his command that she orgasm without attracting notice, which she understands is a reminder of how she “belong[s]” to him. He promises that he will not have sex with anyone else while serving as her Dominant; she promises to trust him and to “be good.”

Back at work, Charlie worries again about being “expendable.” She frets that while she can handle denying her desire for Emerson, she will be less able to withstand “falling hard” for him.

When Charlie comes to work the next day, she finds her list regarding her interests in kink back on her desk, opened to the page of explicitly sexual questions that she previously omitted. Emerson apologizes for using the sex toy the day prior, as they had not previously discussed whether Charlie consented to doing so. He explains that giving her consent to certain acts doesn’t mean that they will happen, something that Charlie finds difficult to accept. She feels that she risks her pride by admitting interest in sex acts with Emerson only to have him refuse to perform them. She begins to feel extremely anxious about the legitimacy of his interest in her. Over lunch, he chastises her for playing the “brat” role to provoke his (negative) attention. She counters that this vulnerability is inherent in being the only one filling out a form—she must admit her desires, while he can keep his private. He admits that he strongly desires to have sex with her but indicates that he will not give in to this desire.

Charlie fills out the form, feeling as though she is provoking Emerson into action, but she does not feel guilty about it. She returns the form to his desk and then grows anxious when he doesn’t return to his desk for hours. She leaves the home office portion of Emerson’s house and finds him in the home gym. He admits to being weary of “trying to avoid” the pull between them; she encourages him to “stop trying” (152). They almost kiss when the doorbell rings, signaling Beau’s arrival.

Emerson tries to ignore the tension with Charlie as he greets his son for the first time in months. Beau is jealous when Emerson praises Charlie’s skill as a secretary. Emerson leaves the pair to “catch up” while he changes after his workout. When he returns, he overhears Beau admitting to Charlie that he feels like a failure because he is living with his mother. Emerson realizes that despite breaking up, Beau still feels close to Charlie. Beau asks Charlie to consider resuming their relationship, but Emerson enters the room before she can respond. He feels torn between repairing his relationship with Beau, which was his original intent when hiring Charlie, and losing his connection with her.

Beau spots Charlie’s kink form, though he doesn’t know to whom it belongs. Even so, he is visibly disgusted by it. Emerson offers Beau money, which Beau refuses until Charlie defends Emerson’s good intentions. Emerson encourages Beau and Charlie to go out to dinner, mentally reasoning that their reconciliation will eliminate his temptation. Even so, he feels acutely jealous when she agrees.

Charlie notes her lack of chemistry with Beau, and she ascribes this to her recent shifts in self-image. Emerson encouraging her to go out with Beau hurt her feelings, but she still defends him when Beau is critical of the Salacious Players’ Club. She and Beau return to Charlie’s house, planning to order pizza, but Charlie is dismayed when Sophie sees her with Beau. She feels Sophie’s disappointment acutely.

Beau tries to blame his past infidelity on Emerson, whom he calls a “sex freak” (161). Charlie rejects this logic and defends the normalcy of kink. She tells Beau that he needs to take responsibility for his actions, and then she grows frustrated when Beau interprets this as her refusing to get back together with him because she has found someone else. Finally, they agree to be friends.

After dropping Beau off at his house, Charlie becomes angry that Emerson tried to push her and Beau together. She decides to go to Emerson’s house to advocate for her own desires.