Coming out of the locker room, I look at the club with new eyes. Clubs look different in the daytime—dead and empty, nothing is what it seems. And I was rushing through too quickly the first time to really take this all in. It’s…not what I had thought.

I see now the roped off areas against the walls, filled with strange equipment and people in various stages of kinky sex. But it’s more than just that. The entire center of the club is a massive dance floor. There are three bars surrounding it, and go-go dancers are on top of the bars and suspended in cages from the ceiling. One floor up, a balcony runs around the entire club. There are tables and couches scattered around up there, and I suspect that’s where the theme rooms are that Andrea mentioned. Just from here I can see a giant window into what looks like a room filled with trees. There’s another level above that, but I can’t see what’s up there from down here.

I take a deep breath and try to reassure myself. Okay, so this is a sex club. No big deal, right? It doesn’t change the job description at all. You’re still here to be a waitress, and that’s exactly what you’re going to do. You just might see more nudity than you thought you would.

Rosie sees me and waves me over to the bar. “Here.” She hands me a plastic card while shouting over the music. “Keycard. It’ll let you into the locker room, stock room, and to restock the theme rooms even if they’ve been reserved or locked.”

I nod. “Okay.”

“I actually want you to do that now. Come with me.”

We make our way across the dance floor to one of the staircases. Rosie leads me up the stairs and to a back corner where there’s a door that blends invisibly into the wall. I probably wouldn’t have noticed if Rosie hadn’t stopped in front of it. She waves her own plastic card by the door at hip level, and I see the outline of a sensor there. The door slides open, and I follow her inside. Again, the sudden absence of sound is jarring. “There are two stock rooms: upstairs and downstairs. It makes it easier to restock when you don’t have to carry tons of supplies up the stairs.”

The stock room is bright and clean, shelves filled with blankets, bottled water, chocolate bars, condoms, bottles of lube, and more. Rosie gestures to the computer in the corner and activates the screen with her finger. “The rooms up here haven’t been restocked in a couple of hours, so I want you to do that. I don’t think anything will be really low, but it will be good practice for you. There are seven rooms on this floor. You can’t miss the shelves you’ll need to restock.”

I clear my throat. “And what if…something’s happening?”

“You mean if someone’s doing a scene or having sex?”

“Yeah,” I say. “I didn’t actually know about that…aspect…when I applied.”

An unexpected laugh bursts from her. “You’re shitting me right?” I shake my head and she laughs harder. “Well you must be feeling like you’re in way over your head.”

“You could say that.” I let out a nervous giggle.

“It’s not going to be as awkward as you’re thinking,” she says. “Everyone who plays at the club knows the rules. They’re used to both wait staff and monitors walking in and out. Besides, most of the time they’re so immersed in their own little world that they’re not even going to notice you. Just be quick and quiet. Don’t be a distraction.”

“I can do that.” I mean, I think I can do that. No fucking clue. “What’s on the third level?”

Rosie waves a hand. “That’s the VIP area. You don’t have to worry about that for now.” She points to the computer. “After you finish stocking a room, just make a note of how much of each item you put in there.” Clicking on the tab labeled ‘orgy,’ she shows me the menu that pops up and how to input the numbers. “This makes sure we can keep up on orders so we don’t run out, so it’s important. That’s about it—pretty straightforward. If you have any problems, come find me downstairs, or if there’s an emergency, there are monitors walking the floors.”

The door to the stockroom seals behind us as we step out, and Rosie walks towards the stairs. She’s got the movement of someone determined that she won’t be slowed down. She turns back just before she reaches the stairs. “Oh, and the club safe word is ‘Red.’ If you hear someone saying that, get a monitor in that room immediately. Got it?”

“Got it.” No pressure.

Part of me is glad I don’t have to serve customers right away. At least I’ll be able to get my bearings a little. Even if I’m going to be going in and out of rooms full of naked people. Immediately my mind takes over, imagining rooms swarming with people in various stages of sex. Hands stroking, mouths sucking, skin shining with sweat and fucking. A streak of heat flares through me, and I ignore it. I take a deep breath and look around the balcony. Might as well go clockwise, right?

The first room, to my immediate relief, is empty. I scan my card and the door slides open silently. It’s warm in here, and dry. It’s draped in silks like some kind of magical desert temple or something out of Aladdin. Pillows are scattered across the floor and the room smells sweet, like incense. It clicks in my mind—this is a harem room. As Rosie said, you can’t miss the shelves, they are right beside the doorway, and I look through everything. I’m going to have to grab a notepad from the stockroom in order to keep track of what to stock. I can do this.

I add a few bottles of water to the harem room and note them in the computer. There’s a small room off to the side with racks of clothing. Curiosity gets the better of me, and I flip on the light. Costumes. Everything from Disney’s Aladdin to more traditional Arabian Nights is in here. There’s a basket labeled ‘laundry,’ too. This is crazy and also amazing. It’s easy to imagine getting carried away in a place like this, and I’m not at all surprised that it’s so crowded.

The next theme room isn’t nearly as simple. This is the orgy room that Rosie was talking about. The room itself is…gorgeous. It reminds me a little of the King’s room in the animated film Cinderella. Almost the entire room is taken up by an absolutely huge bed, and above that is a giant, sparkling chandelier. The entire room is soft and warm. And full of people fucking. I know I’m not supposed to be distracting, or distracted, but holy hell—it’s almost exactly what I imagined.

There’s easily twenty people on the massive bed, bodies twisted and entwined. There’s a woman being shared by two men, cradled between them while they fuck her from either side. I can hear her moaning above the rest of the room, a pure raw symphony of sex that’s sending shivers of desire through me—a reaction from seeing a scene of pure lust. I see another man pounding into a woman, only to see that he’s being fucked from behind by another man whose balls are being sucked from below. Everywhere I look there are cocks being sucked and mouths being used and pussies being fucked and it’s…hot. I thought I would be uncomfortable but instead I’m wet. It’s mesmerizing, and I don’t want to look away.

A girl who’s giving a blowjob looks up at me and grins. I blush, remembering that I’m here to refill the supplies. If this room can accommodate this many people, no wonder it goes through the most supplies. Rosie was correct, these shelves need a ton of refilling, and it takes several trips to get the shelves full again.

I don’t think I would like being in that crowd, but watching so many people connect and do what they want with each other is amazing, and arousing. Damn. I wasn’t counting on being horny on the job. I guess that’s why they made the ’no sex on the clock’ rule. I’m curious to know how many times that happened before they had to make it a rule.

The next room is cold stone and torches, with chains and wooden tables and equipment that’s mildly terrifying. But not so terrifying that it doesn’t fill my mind with images that make me squirm in the best way. There’s a cross obviously meant to spread someone open, and even though I’ve never really thought about that kind of thing, the sight of it sends tingles of desire across my skin. Being bound and vulnerable, the idea makes my breath go short. As I look around, there are some people playing in here, and I’m curious, but the atmosphere in the room is so intense that I don’t feel like I can watch without intruding. I refill the shelves as quickly and quietly as I can before moving on. It ends up being a lot easier than I thought it was going to be. And less weird. It takes me a little more than an hour to finish all the rooms. Someone could probably just keep going in circles doing refills. But since Rosie didn’t tell me to do that, I put my last numbers in the computer and head down to the dance floor.

I don’t see Rosie as I make my way towards the main bar, and the bartender doesn’t know where she is either. I decide to wait because I don’t want to do something I’m not supposed to on my first day. I keep looking for her though, looking across the room to the other bars and seeing if she’s there.

“So what do you think of my club?”

The deep voice comes from behind me, and I turn to find my sexy rescuer. He’s leaning against the bar, totally at ease, and now that I’m not an adrenaline-filled mess, I can appreciate more fully how fucking hot he is. I note the way his shirt stretches a little around his chest and arms, like it can’t quite contain him. He has a small smile on his face, like that mysterious stranger in the movie who you know is going to change the plot. He asked me a question. Suddenly my mind catches up, and I think my mouth drops open. “Your club? You’re the owner?”

I can’t hear it over the music, but I see his chest move with laughter. “One of them, yeah. I share ownership with two friends.”

“Wow,” I say. “I mean…it’s overwhelming.”

“You didn’t know what it was, did you?” His words are punctuated by that maddening little smile.

I press my lips together, hoping that it’s dark enough in here that he can’t see my blush. “How did you know?”

“Because most people who apply to work here want the staff discount on membership.” He shrugs. “It’s good motivation for them, and it makes most people work harder. You didn’t mention it in your interview. People almost always do.”

“You were at my interview?”

He shakes his head. “No. I spoke to Jared.”

Jared is the manager of the club who interviewed and hired me. “Oh.”

“I’m Cole,” he says, offering me his hand.

I take it, my hand dwarfed by the size of his. “Andrea. But you probably already knew that.”

His full smile is dazzling, almost glittering in the chaos of the club lights. “I hope you’re not too overwhelmed.”

“Well,” I laugh, “it’s a lot to take in when you think you’re working at a night club and it’s actually…” I don’t have the words to describe exactly what this place is.

“So much more than that,” Cole finishes for me. “My partners and I, we wanted a place where anyone could have their fantasy. Where anyone could come and safely be themselves, dig deep until they find out who they really are.”

Somehow over the course of the conversation we’ve gotten closer, so close now that I don’t even have to strain to hear him over the music. So close that we could be touching if either of us moved an inch. “Is that where the name comes from?”

“Yes.”

I shake my head. “I’ll be honest, I’m not sure how to feel about it.”

“You don’t have to be sure. We’re all about exploration here. If you need any help with that exploration, you be sure to let me know.”

He winks, and my breath goes still in my chest. My body warms with that same arousal that I felt upstairs. Oh yeah. They definitely need that rule about no sex on the clock. With men like Cole wandering around, no one would ever get anything done.

“Everything going all right so far? Even though it’s overwhelming?”

“Yes, Sir.”

His face grows serious, and I see a flash of something hot and dark in his eyes. “We’re relatively informal around here. All employees are free to call me Cole. But,” he says with a meaningful glance at me, “I very much enjoy being called ‘Sir.’”

I swallow, my mouth going dry under the intensity of his gaze. “I’ll remember that. Sir.”

Cole pulls away from me, and suddenly I can breathe again. “I’m sure I’ll see you soon,” he says with his mysterious smile.

“Yeah.”

It’s only after he’s gone from sight that I realize how stupid I must have sounded just then. ‘Yeah.’ Maybe something witty or flirtatious? No, you go with ‘yeah.’ I shake my head. This is why I’m single. Get it together, Andrea. I grab a bottle of water from behind the bar. There’s a fridge labeled ‘staff’ so I’m assuming it’s okay. I’m sure I’ll find out soon enough if it’s not.

I’m taking the last sip from the bottle when Rosie appears in front of me. “Did you finish the rooms?”

“Yes. Fully stocked. You were right, the orgy room needed the most.”

She smirks. “Yeah. You can see why.”

I laugh. “It’s a…quite the show.”

Rosie takes my empty bottle off the bar and tosses it in the recycle bin. “Right. Well, you have a new assignment. One of the owners wants you upstairs in the VIP lounge serving drinks to him and his guests.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, sometimes they prefer to have a dedicated waitress instead of just ringing down for drinks. I think the guests tonight are important, so it’s crucial that you make them feel special. Whatever they need, make sure they have it. Let me see your keycard?”

I give it to her, and she takes it to the monitor behind the bar. There’s some number tapping and she swipes the card before she hands it back to me. “The elevator for wait staff is back there.” She points to a darkened corner near the dressing room. “You’re looking for the blue room up there. That’ll let you swipe in. Get going. Told you you’d learn a lot on the job.”

I head towards the corner she pointed to, then turn back. “Rosie, you said one of the owners? Why would they request me?”

“No idea,” she says, shrugging. “He just said he wanted you up there.”

There are butterflies in the pit of my stomach. Am I right? “Which one.”

“Cole Andrews. Stop asking questions, they’re waiting.”

I hurry towards the elevator, trying to pull my jaw up off the floor. Holy shit.