"Jack" Series, Part 3: Jack Accepts

PART 3:
JACK ACCEPTS


1. Working for Tiran

I never liked Sal. He was an old friend of Tiran’s, from the early days, though I couldn’t figure out what Tiran saw in him back then, let alone now, so many years later. I guess Tiran always kept a place for old friends.

Sal seemed to fancy himself a dom, but I had no patience for him. He didn’t have the self-discipline or the presence for it – the only authority he had came from Tiran, which is no doubt why he continued to hang around us. I used to compare Sal mentally to Paul Armstrong, who guarded his independence so jealously. Paul was the real thing; Sal only wished he were.

But Sal was one of Tiran’s few outside friends who had full access to the estate; or at least, he came over a lot and no one seemed to stop him. He joined us for breakfast one morning and afterwards followed us over to the gym where we were going to play squash – Tiran and I, with Rocky as a third since he was on duty. Sal didn’t play, he just hung out with whichever one of us was on the sidelines.

I half-listened to him gossiping with Tiran while Rocky and I played. Sal’s talk was usually nasty – mean-spirited and vicious towards people he’d been friendly with the night before, though he didn’t seem to have a particular agenda, he was just a kind of malevolent guy. For his part, Tiran never seemed to pay much attention to Sal – maybe that’s why he was able to tolerate him. It was the same today; Tiran smoked and played with his mobile and made comments on my serves while he waited out our game, more than he talked or listened to Sal.

When I beat Rocky, Tiran got up to play me again, and Rocky went to sit out the game beside Sal. I’d noticed that Rocky tended to be polite but a bit distant with Sal; I got the feeling there was no love lost between the two of them. That struck me as a bit odd, since Sal must have known Rocky for as long as he’d known Tiran. They would have all grown up together, hanging out in the same circles. I wondered if Rocky had ever used his influence with Tiran, or even his veto, against Sal.

My turn to sit out, now – Tiran and I were fairly evenly matched, but he’d just had a break and I’d been playing for several rounds. Rocky and I switched places. I considered snubbing Sal outright but didn’t want to make trouble for Tiran to deal with, so I joined him civilly enough on the bench at the back of the room.

As I expected, Sal immediately launched in to a story denigrating some of the people we’d been out with recently. I had the feeling he was still sussing me out, or more accurately, sussing out my place in Tiran’s universe – no doubt trying to decide if it was worth his while to ingratiate himself with me.

I tried not to let my disdain for Sal show, as I watched Rocky run Tiran ragged on the squash court. I guess this was Tiran’s second game in a row but still, he never had a chance. The workouts I was assigning Rocky were good for him, I thought.

I tuned back in to Sal when I realized he was asking me questions – about my life here at the estate, my job, where I’d come from, how long I’d been here. I started out giving him mechanical responses, but you know how it is when someone starts asking you personal questions – you tend to get drawn in despite yourself.

"Nine or ten months," I told him, when he asked how long I’d been there.

"And you’re liking it here?" Sal asked solicitously.

I shrugged. "It’s a nice place."

"I bet the boys can be quite a handful," he suggested knowingly. "They must keep you busy."

I smiled a little dismissively. "Nothing I haven’t dealt with before."

"Oh that’s right," he said, as though it had just occurred to him. "You’re a professional, aren’t you? You must be used to clients like this."

This time I laughed. "I’ve never had one quite like Tiry before."

"Tiran?" He looked at me for a moment, then nodded. "Right, sure. So you think you’ll be staying a while? No plans to leave?"

I glanced at him, then out at the squash court where Tiran and Rocky were still volleying fiercely while trading playful banter. "No," I said after a minute. "No plans just now."

"Well, I hope they’re making it worth your while," Sal added casually as he sat up on the bench and reached for his things. "A good disciplinarian deserves to be well-compensated."

Nosy bastard, I thought. Or was he trying to stir up shit? "Don’t worry about me, Sal," I said sardonically. I don’t know what possessed me to add, "I got my six month raise."

Sal pulled his sunglasses down over his eyes and cocked an eyebrow at me over them. "Oh, did they do that?" he asked coolly, getting up. "I knew they were thinking about it. Well – I’m off, Ti!" he called towards the court, just as Rocky won his third game.

Tiran tossed his racquet onto the bench and walked Sal over to the door while I got up and joined Rocky on the court. Rocky watched me come over with a small smile, catching his breath. I warmed up without speaking, listening as Tiran and Sal made plans for the next day and exchanged good-natured farewells. As we spun the racquet for service, I heard the door shut and Tiran return to the back of the court.

I held myself in check for a couple of minutes, but it didn’t last long. "Why did Sal say ‘they’?" I asked quietly, as I returned Rocky’s serve and watched him dive across the court.

Neither of them seemed to hear me the first time, so I repeated my question, a little louder now, and my voice sounded ominous, echoing a little in the small square room. "Why did Sal say ‘they’?"

Rocky missed his shot, and bent down to pick up the ball. At the back of the room, I saw Tiran lean forward a little. "What, Jackie? ‘They’ who? What was he talking about?"

I caught the ball Rocky tossed to me, and turned to face Tiran squarely. "He was talking about who pays me."

This time Tiran got it. I saw his face grow serious and his voice held a touch of warning when he answered. "Why would Sal be talking about your salary?"

"Doesn’t matter." Out of the corner of my eye I could see Rocky, holding himself still near the front of the court, watching us both. "The point is, why would he say ‘they’ instead of ‘he’?"

For a moment Tiran didn’t answer, and the three of us stood there, unmoving, like a frozen tableau. Finally I turned to send out another serve, then looked back at Tiran. "Who pays me, Marx?" I asked.

"I do," Tiran answered evenly, meeting my eyes.

"That’s not what it sounded like," I said softly, easily meeting Rocky’s weak return. "Sounded like a bunch of people were involved."

Tiran didn’t respond right away and after a moment I spoke again.

"If you’re paying me, what did he mean, Tiran?" I caught the ball instead of returning it this time, and turned around to face Tiran. I saw him glance over my shoulder to Rocky but it didn’t seem like he was getting any help from there. This time I just stood and waited.

"He meant the boys," Tiran said finally. "Your charges."

I kept looking at him. "What do they have to do with me getting paid?"

"He meant … he knows that I take your salary out of their allowances," Tiran said.

I couldn’t help raising an eyebrow at the news. "Their – allowances?"

"Yeah." Tiran was starting to look a little more comfortable. "You know they all get allowances from me. And I know you don’t believe it but – they did ask for you. They were the ones who asked me to hire someone to discipline them. So I didn’t see why I should have to shell out extra for your salary."

I turned around abruptly, to catch a glimpse of Rocky’s reaction before he had chance to compose himself. But his expression was neutral. He was just standing, the racquet loose in his hand, looking at the ground.

I faced Tiran again and repeated ironically, "You pay me, but you didn’t want to shell out anything extra."

This time Tiran flushed a little. "I didn’t mean it to sound like that. I mean – I wanted them to take some responsibility."

"So … they do pay my salary. It comes out of their money."

"No, Jack. It’s my money. I don’t owe them anything. If I choose to give them a little less, that’s my business."

I stood for a minute, considering what Tiran had said and wondering how I felt about it. He did pay me; I saw his signature on the cheques. But as usual, he made sure the boys paid too. In a way, it wasn’t a bad approach. Then I remembered what Sal had said about the raise.

"If you pay me, why did Sal say they were thinking about a raise?"

Tiran blinked, and I knew I had caught him by surprise. I saw his eyes flicker over my shoulder to Rocky again. "What did he say?" Tiran asked.

"He said he knew they were thinking about giving me a raise, my six-month raise."

"Sal’s an ass," Tiran said sharply. "He doesn’t know what he’s talking about. I gave you the raise."

"Out of their allowances again?"

I saw him glance away for a second. "Yes."

"That raise wasn’t in my contract," I countered. "Whose idea was it?"

Now Tiran met my gaze evenly again. "The boys asked me to consider it."

"So you told them to pay for it. Responsibility again, I guess," I said to Tiran dryly.

"It’s easy to suggest paying more when it’s not your money," Tiran responded, reasonably. "I wanted them to see the consequences."

I turned around again to look at Rocky, and this time my question was to him. "Why did you suggest it?"

Rocky seemed to glance at Tiran for permission to respond. I guess he got it, because he said quietly, "We wanted … we want you to stay, sir. As Sal said, a good disciplinarian deserves to be well-compensated."

I looked back at Tiran thoughtfully. He was still watching me, as though waiting to see if I was satisfied.

"Who do I work for, Tiran?" I asked him finally.

"Me," he said clearly, his gaze steady. "You work for me, Jack."

And in the end, I accepted that.


**********


But I was still thinking about it a couple of days later, at home in the back room, while Rocky was in my kitchen cleaning up. I’m not sure whether this was the daily housekeeping they rotated, or part of the extra service Rocky and Gabe had negotiated – it was hard to keep track these days. All I knew was that one of them seemed to be in my house most of the time.

"Why is Sal such an asshole?" I asked abruptly, from where I was sitting.

I could hear Rocky chuckle a little in the other room. "Born that way, I guess," he said agreeably. "Just bad genes."

I considered that. "He thinks he’s some kind of dom, doesn’t he?"

Rocky snorted softly. "Yeah. I mean, yes sir, I think he does."

"Does anyone else take him seriously?"

I couldn’t see Rocky from where I sat, looking out over the back deck and the ocean beyond, but I could hear him shrugging slightly. "Not that I know of," he answered easily. "Though I think he attracts the occasional sub."

Now it was my turn to snort contemptuously. "Trading off Tiran’s status, that’s all."

"Yes, sir, I imagine." Rocky seemed to have stopped working, and a moment later he appeared at my side with another beer. "May I get you anything else?"

I shook my head and glanced up at him, still following my train of thought. "Does Tiran take him seriously? Why does he put up with him?"

"Why does Tiran put up with Sal?" Rocky stood back a little, looking at me thoughtfully. "I guess because they’re old friends. You’re … asking if Tiran takes Sal seriously as a dom, sir?"

I nodded, watching Rocky curiously. His voice had grown slightly hesitant, and he paused before he answered. "Well," he began quietly, giving me a cautious look. "Not as seriously as he takes you, anyway. Fortunately for us."

I frowned, a little taken aback. "What do I have to do with it?"

Rocky answered quickly, "I didn’t mean to compare you to him, sir. Obviously there’s no comparison. But ... you know ... when we first asked Tiran about hiring someone to discipline us ... it did occur to us that ... "

I got his meaning and almost laughed out loud. "You thought Tiran was going to hire Sal instead of me?"

Rocky ducked his head nervously. "Sir, we didn’t know you at all, we didn’t even know of you. We ... we did guess that Sal would consider himself qualified ..."

The light dawned fully now. "Jesus. He wanted my job."

Rocky put his head to the side and gave me a tentative smile. "I’m sure it crossed his mind."

"He probably still wants it." I stared at Rocky, working it through. "So? Was that your plan? For Tiran to hire a lightweight like Sal so you could control him?"

Rocky looked at me like he didn’t even know where to start. "You think we would have preferred Sal to you, sir? You think I’d – I’d be able to manipulate him?"

I held Rocky’s gaze challengingly, although now that I thought about it, my suggestion didn’t really make much sense.

Rocky gave a tiny sigh and looked down. "First of all, sir, we all agreed ahead of time that if Tiran wanted to hire Sal, we’d ask him to forget the whole idea. Of course there was a risk that we wouldn’t be able to talk him out of it once we’d suggested it, but that was our plan. We figured the risk was limited since Tiran doesn’t have much respect for Sal’s topping skills anyway."

I looked at him coldly. "Who did you have in mind for the job, then, Van?"

Rocky shook his head quickly. "No one, sir. We totally left that to Tiran. We knew the whole idea hinged on him hiring someone he was comfortable with. Believe me, sir ..." He paused, and looked up shyly at me. "We couldn’t believe our good fortune when we had the honour of meeting you."

I met his gaze cynically. The whole thing – the idea of a bunch of subs having any say over who their master might choose to discipline them – still struck me as highly inappropriate and improper.

Rocky seemed to read my thoughts. "I realize how ... how presumptuous this all sounds, sir," he added softly. "We really had no say and no opinion, other than hoping Tiran would avoid Sal. And ... I didn’t imagine that I’d be able to control Sal. I don’t think Sal would pay attention to anything I said. He has his own ideas about things."

No love lost between them, I thought to myself again. I had a feeling Rocky wasn’t telling me everything he knew about Sal, but I had enough to think about for now.

I woke up from my reverie and looked at Rocky, feeling suddenly irritable. He was still standing beside me, apparently waiting for me to go on. I wasn’t sure how we’d ended up in this position, chatting and gossiping like old friends. "Did I tell you to stop working, Van?" I asked coldly.

"No, sir," he said quickly, moving away. "I’m sorry."

He went back to work, and I made a mental note to keep my eye on Sal.