I will hold you responsible for this

Even with Maria there to help her to to understand what she would be doing, Juliet still felt very much out of the loop. She understood the basic stuff about power dynamic, respect and obedience, that indeed there would be nothing sexual she would be doing or be put in any situation that would put her in a compromising situation.

While they were working together, Richard would be completely in charge of her and would also be responsible for watching out for her and making sure that nothing happened during work hours. This was confusing to her as she didn't understand why he would need to make sure nothing happened to her at the club.

"Because some times during training or even special events at the club, some people don't understand how to keep their hands to themselves and you're not taken, that makes you a target." Richard explained, by his tone, it made it seem like her question was quite obvious, she shot him a glare as Maria tried to give a better explanation of the situation.

"Well you see, Doms will often target subs who aren't owned and try to convince them to theirs or at least do some sort of scene with them. A lot of times, if the sub says no or asks to be left alone, the Dom will respect this. Sometimes though, it doesn't always work out this way and the Dom will try to force the sub into a relationship or submitting to them even if it against their will."

"So this job is more dangerous than I was originally told?"

"Highly unlikely, but all risks must be taken in account, especially where a work contract is concerned. All candidates here have been prescreened and had a background check to make they have had no previous crimes, anger management issues, haven't been banned from any D/S clubs in the area and such." Daniel assured her. "Richard picks most of them himself because he has very high standards for who he will be willing to work with. Part of the reason why I also put him in charge of this project."

"But, if I've never been part of this lifestyle, why would it be assumed that I am sub?" Juliet asked, this part was still confusing to her.

"Because they're going to be seeing you training with me in that role." was Richard's response. "The nature of our relationship is strictly work based and while you may not be a part of this lifestyle and never decide to be a part of it once our work contract is over, the Doms who will be part of this program and observing the training I put together are going to assume that you're a sub and if it comes out you're not taken, they'll be interested."

"Well if you wanted to eliminate some of that hassle, you could always just lie and say that you two are together and that's why you're working together in these training sessions." Melissa piped up with this idea.

"No." Both Juliet and Richard gave this reply at the same time not even seconds after she had finished speaking. Realizing this, they both shot each other a hard look, Richard's look came across much more harsh than Juliet's did. Whether it was because she was so quick to turn him down or because they just answered at the same time she wasn't sure.

"It's just a suggestion." Melissa shrugged her shoulders as though what she had suggested wasn't that ridiculous.

"I don't think that it would be a bad idea, even if it's just for the duration of the training session until you get a feel for how everyone is going to behave in terms of respect and boundaries." Maria was actually agreeing with the other woman. Somehow, Juliet knew that she shouldn't have been so surprised that her friend would be in favor of something like this.

"I already explained a number of times- I don't mix work and pleasure. Even in a situation like this, I will not do such a move and take responsibility for something that I have no interest in."

"Oh? I am considered a thing now, am I Richard?" Juliet huffed in response to Richard's statement, she felt rather offended by it.

"By 'something' I wasn't referring to you, Ember, I was meaning a fake relationship." She could hear the edge to the tone of his voice in his response. "I take every relationship that I have very seriously and refuse to fake something just for the sake of another person."

"Such a charmer you are. It is a wonder why so many women seem attracted to you." It was at this point in time that Daniel decided to intervene before Richard snipped something back at the other woman.

"Alright, I know you two have a lot to say to each other, but we still haven't gotten as far as getting this contracted signed yet. Should we get back to focus?" His suggestion helped to even out the temperature in the room that had been slowly getting colder with each passing jab that Richard and Juliet exchanged.

Melissa didn't bother trying to intervene into the situation as she found it to be rather amusing. It was rare that she met someone who could banter with Richard without becoming nervous or apologizing when the other came across too harsh. Maybe they would turn out to be good work partners.

Maria also chose to maintain her silence because for one she didn't know what to say to get their attention back on focus, plus she was interested in seeing how the other two interacted with each other. In the back of her mind, she still felt that Richard would be a good fit for her friend even if Maria didn't agree with her right now, she was sure that in the future her friend would change her mind if they worked together.

"Do you still want to do this or are there other questions that you need clarification on." Richard asked Juliet, his tone back to a much more even level. No traces of the harshness that could be heard in it mere moments ago.

"If there's really nothing that I need to worry about, I am fine with signing it." Juliet replied, although she still wasn't fully convinced that she was making the best choice. She figured though that she find out once she actually got to work with Richard what she was getting into.

He had told her that if it wasn't going to work out, they could break the work contract, but it wouldn't be for something small or easily resolved. It had to be because of something serious or a reason they had both agreed on couldn't be worked out between.

"If anything goes wrong though or there's something hidden that wasn't properly explained to me that I don't agree with or appreciate, I will be holding everyone in this room accountable for that." She tried to make it sound like a serious threat, but she could tell at least one person in the room, he who was signing the contract didn't feel threatened at all based upon his words.

"My how intimidating. I will be sure to keep that in mind. I will also remind you that feelings and otherwise are not allowed in this type of job, add that to the list of reasons to remember for the work contract being broken." Juliet scoffed in response to this. Even if he had been joking about that, she didn't find the joke to be very humors.

She had no intention of catching feelings for the other man that she would be working with, he was the exact opposite of everything that she would want in a future potential partner anyways.

"Pay and everything else we can discuss at a later time. I still need to finish getting the training guide and other information together before anything will be happening anyways." Richard told her as he handed the signed contract over to the club owner who looked it over to make sure that everything looked like it was correctly filled out.

"How long will that take?" Daniel asked as he put the papers in the correct folders that were in front of him.

"Probably until the end of the week."

"What am I supposed to do in the meantime then?" Juliet was the one to ask this question. She had been under the impression that this job would be starting sooner than that.

"Enjoy the club or do whatever else it is that you do during the day." was his response. "I will contact you when everything is in order so you don't need to worry about that."

It wasn't exactly the response she was expecting, but Juliet couldn't be too upset, a couple of extra days would give her free time to further scope out the club since there was still a lot of questions and information she needed to try and find out for her boss.