Praise

Charlotte “Charlie” Underwood, the novel’s second protagonist, fights with her ex-boyfriend, Beau Grant, about the security deposit on the apartment they shared before their breakup. Beau blames Charlie for missing a meeting with their landlord, which has led to their check being sent to Beau’s father, Emerson, who cosigned their lease. Beau is critical and dismissive of Charlie, and she dislikes that her teenage sister, Sophie, witnesses his poor treatment of her. Beau refuses to speak to his estranged father on Charlie’s behalf but shares his address with her so that she can go meet him and collect her half of the deposit, which is money she needs. Charlie is surprised to see that Beau’s father lives in a wealthy neighborhood. She steels herself before going to meet him, assuming that Beau’s father will be as caustic as his son.

Emerson is exasperated that a hired partner is not following the lines of their pre-arranged kink play, which dictates that she “earn” his praise. When he determines that their interests do not align—she plays a kink role known as “a brat,” in which the brat figure resists the commands of a Dominant figure in order to provoke punishment—he sends her away, as this dynamic does not interest him. He calls Garrett, who has been helping him find a partner who aligns with his sexual needs. Garrett contends that doing so is difficult because they “don’t like what most men like,” but Emerson counters that their “tastes are very much in line with the majority”—however, they are “just unique in that [they are] not afraid to pursue them […] in a healthy way” (10-11).

Emerson refuses Garrett’s offer to try to find another partner for him, as he has tried to start a relationship with women who seek negative attention instead of praise, his preferred kink practice. He worries over business at the club, which is subject to high scrutiny as a sex club. When he sees the check for Beau’s apartment, he muses unhappily on the months of estrangement from his son. He sends Beau a text, inviting him to retrieve the money, worrying that he seems “desperate” to see his son.

Charlie gapes up at Emerson’s expensive house. Anxious, she knocks, and she is surprised when the woman who answers the door seems to easily accept Charlie’s arrival—though Charlie didn’t tell anyone she was coming to get the check that day. The woman also comments on Charlie’s outfit appealing to Emerson, which Charlie finds “creepy.” She grows more alarmed when the woman instructs her to kneel for Emerson’s arrival. When Emerson enters the room, she is struck by his attractiveness, and instead of “running and screaming” when he asks her to kneel (16), she asks him why she must do so.

Aroused, she obeys his order, surprised when she feels neither humiliated nor angry. When he praises her for her obedience, she experiences “a strange sense of calm” (17). However, when he mentions Garrett, they realize the miscommunication. Emerson quickly tells her to stand and apologizes. He gives her the money from the deposit and asks her not to tell Beau about how he mistook her for someone else. Charlie uses this opportunity to try and get an additional $250 from him, thinking of Sophie’s upcoming birthday, and she is shocked when Emerson instead writes her a second check for $5,000. He gives her his phone number and writes “SPC” (which she later learns stands for Salacious Players’ Club) on the check. Though she is baffled, Charlie decides that humiliating herself was worth the money she received.

Charlie uses her sudden windfall to take her mother and Sophie out to dinner. She puzzles over her strong reaction to Emerson and wonders why he gave her his phone number. Her efforts to discover what “SPC” is fail. She doesn’t judge Emerson for hiring sex workers, but she feels conflicted about how her reaction to Emerson’s praise intersects with her feminist ideology. (She later learns that Emerson does not hire sex workers, instead only hiring people to engage in aspects of kink dynamics that are not explicitly sexual.)

Sophie congratulates Charlie on breaking up with Beau and encourages her older sister to value her own worth. Charlie recalls her father leaving his family because he exhibited anti-transgender bias against Sophie and agrees with her sister’s assessment. Later, after forcing herself to throw away Emerson’s phone number, she searches his name and “SPC” and finds a password-protected website. She keeps searching and finds information about kink and the Salacious Players’ Club, which presently operates as an escort service and will soon open “a full-service members-only club” (25). Reviews that she finds praise the club for the club’s “safe and healthy” atmosphere to explore kink (26).

Intrigued, Charlie reads on until she finds a page about praise kink. The header image shows a woman gazing adoringly at a man, which Charlie finds uncomfortably close to her experience with Emerson. She abruptly stops reading and spends the night plagued by dreams in which Beau degrades her instead of praising her. When Emerson appears in the dreams, she feels comforted and safe to enjoy the kink dynamic. She wakes up and feels embarrassed about desiring her ex-boyfriend’s father.

The next day, Emerson appears at Charlie’s job at a roller-skating rink. He offers her a job as an administrative assistant, which he clarifies will not be sexual in nature. When she asks, he clarifies that he did not mistake her for a sex worker. He teases her as he reveals that he does not hire women for sex but hires them to kneel and obey him without sexual contact. Charlie is astonished that Emerson is so direct and is unembarrassed by this admission. She asks about her performance in this role, embarrassed at her desire to know if she pleased him, and she is gratified when he praises her. Before she agrees to take the assistant job, she asks if his club is LGTBQ+ inclusive, thinking of Sophie. When he confirms that it is, she agrees to work for him.