This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Text copyright © 2018 Jennifer Louise
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Club
Manhattan:
Rebuilding
(Part One)
Part One: Rebuilding
It’s not always about how we get to the place in our lives that we want to be loved, but the acceptance to know that we deserve to be there.
Chloe Weston is a young, ambitious lawyer who has led an unconventional life. She leaves it all behind to start over, running from her intensely stressful past. Meeting Aidan Montgomery makes her insecurities and voices from that past rush to the surface and back to the forefront.
Aidan Montgomery is an attractive, wealthy business owner who is a bit of a loner. He enjoys the demolition aspect of his urban architectural firm and the solitude of being single. He wasn’t sure what he was searching for out of life, until he met Chloe.
Chloe and Aidan have friends Crystal and Grayson Morrison in common. They find out just how common their tastes for the BDSM scene are, when introduced at Club Manhattan.
When her two worlds collide, and she is once again faced with her past, Chloe is left with knowing how amazing the healing power of a good man can feel.
This book is intended for mature audiences due to language and adult situations. (18+)
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 1
Chloe
Five Years Ago
It was one o’clock in the morning and I was stumbling through the front door of my home in Covington Georgia. It was a small but quaint house that I shared with my fiancée Mark.
My grandmother just died, and I was away at her funeral. Alone. Mark refused to go with me. He said funerals were too depressing…for him. He never took my feelings into consideration. Given the circumstances though, it was great to get away and reconnect with my family, estranged as they were.
I tried to be as quiet as possible. I didn’t want to wake Mark. He was not pleasant when he was awoken from sleep. Who am I kidding? He just wasn’t a pleasant person. He used to be though. I missed those days.
I heard low talking and murmuring coming from our bedroom. Mark must have fallen asleep with the TV on again.
As I got closer to our bedroom door, I realized that the voice I heard talking was Mark. Then I heard it: a woman’s voice. Moaning. Now I know why he didn’t want to go with me to the funeral. He had the house all to himself for the week. Isn’t that convenient… for him.
I should have felt rage. I should have felt betrayed. I should have felt a lot of things in that moment. But what I felt was relief.
I’m tired of being treated like I don’t matter to him. I’m tired of being told that I’m not good enough and not smart enough for him or anyone else.
I. Am. Just. Tired.
I saw my chance and I was going to take it. This was the last straw and the catalyst I needed to get far away from him. Still trying to be as quiet as possible, I crept back to the kitchen and found a piece of paper for a note. Not that I owed him anything. I needed him to know this was it. I was done.
I left my engagement ring on the note that simply said…
Mark,
I got home earlier than planned. I can’t believe I was excited to see you! Guess you had other plans, though. I’m done. Here’s your ring back. Don’t try to find me. I’m leaving town and leaving you.
Chloe
As I drove myself out of town, I felt like the biggest weight was being lifted from my shoulders, I couldn’t help but think of what my life would be like now.
For two years, I stayed with Mark out of obligation because I thought it was the right thing to do and that I couldn’t find anyone better than him. I guess that’s just what he said to me to keep me around. We were both teachers at the local elementary school and I thought life was perfect. At least that’s how it appeared. We met in college when I thought he was saving me from a rough life. I thought we fell in love instantly.
I guess I thought a lot of things were the way they were supposed to be.
Behind closed doors though, Mark made sure that I knew he would be the only one who could love me. The only one who could put up with me. After two years of him telling me this, I started to believe it. I wasn’t allowed to have any friends and I knew somewhere in the back of my mind that this wasn’t normal.
I had my colleagues at work, but they knew better than to befriend me. Mark made sure that I was off limits, even to having friends. Maybe at first, this was cute. Him being possessive over me. I liked that he cared so much that he didn’t want to share me.
I started to realize that this wasn’t the way a relationship should be when I overheard other teachers talking about their friends and what they did on the weekends with their husbands. I started to realize that our relationship was different.
Mark would only allow us to go together to functions so that he could watch over me and make sure that no other guy talked to me. I had friendly conversations with other teachers but when asked if I wanted to go shopping, to the movies, or just hang out with them, I always had to decline.
I tried talking to him about why I couldn’t do the things that my colleagues got to do. He would simply say in his sweet voice, “Sweetie, you know I can’t be without you. I need you.” I fell for it.
Every. Single. Time.
When his friends would come over to the house, I wasn’t allowed to be in the same room. Mark always thought one of them was staring at me inappropriately. They probably wondered why I was always so aloof around them. That is the way Mark wanted me to be.
Now I’m wondering how long he has been cheating on me and if this was his first time. I don’t care though. Our sex life was mundane. There was never anything more than vanilla sex. Him on top of me, controlling when we would have sex. It never felt like making love. I rarely had an orgasm and that was fine with me. I just wanted it over with and for him to go to sleep.
I don’t know what gave me the strength to walk out on him tonight. I guess it was the fact that for the first time in my life, I had people telling me how special I was and that I did matter. I know somewhere deep inside I’
m a good person and a good teacher. I don’t have a “close-family-type” of relationship with the distant relatives that were at my grandmother’s funeral, but what they said struck a chord with me and I want to believe them.
My family consisted of only a few cousins, myself and my grandmother before she died. She raised me when my mother couldn’t, and my father was nowhere to be found. Now most of them are all gone and way too soon. I had a rough upbringing and did things to survive as an eighteen-year-old girl that I’m not proud of, but my grandmother was always there. No matter what. She put me through college with the meager salary that she earned, and I did my part as best as I could.
Even after her death, I believe she’s still looking out for me and providing my salvation.
I’m going to miss my students the most. I’m just glad that it’s summer break and the school will have time to find a replacement. The kids though. I hope they will understand one day, not that I will ever have the chance to tell them. I need to do what’s best for me. For once in my life.
Chapter 2
Chloe
The Present
I just finished a long drawn out divorce case and I feel emotionally drained. I feel vindicated that I could successfully advocate all the terms for my client. Since I’m a new lawyer in the firm, I don’t get the high-profile cases, but it’s days like this that I’m elated to have gone back to school for my law degree. I especially go the extra mile and feel justified when I can help a woman ensure that all her rights are met, and she gets what she deserves in the end. It may seem sexist, but I have my own personal reasons why I do what I do.
It’s staggering for me to believe, that five years ago, I was an elementary teacher. It feels like a lifetime ago, especially since I literally ran away from my past and I haven’t looked back. There were so many bad memories, heartache, and feelings of self-doubt. If it wasn’t for my grandmother’s inheritance, I couldn’t have started over. All those years ago, I thought my earnings from odd jobs went to pay our bills. Turned out that my grandmother socked away most of that money. Add that to her life insurance policy, and I had a nice little nest egg.
When I left my home in Georgia that night, I drove to New York, found the cheapest place I could find. Sometimes when you reinvent yourself, you try to right all the wrongs of your past. You try to do things the total opposite than the way you did them before. A true fresh start. I already had my bachelor’s degree in Education, but when I was in Georgia, I was secretly taking online classes for a Family Law degree. If my ex ever found out that I was trying to better myself… I shudder at the thought. He always told me I wasn’t smart enough. I still tell myself daily that I do matter and that I’m good enough. It doesn’t have the same meaning though if you are the only one saying it.
While I was finishing the law degree studies that I started online, I interned at a firm in Manhattan. They liked my work ethic and attention to details so much that, after I graduated and passed the Bar, they hired me. I didn’t have much of a life outside of work and I was always there for the partners. I gave way more than I was expected to.
Now that I’m a lawyer, I’m going to do everything in my power to stand up for the rights of women and ensure that they are not taken advantage of, especially when their marriage has ended, and they may feel the most vulnerable. My main goal is to see that my clients get what they deserve and I’m going to do everything in my power to make it happen. Taking back control, even if it’s on behalf of someone else. I don’t do it for the fame and glory. I’m not some asshole lawyer that takes advantage of someone in a weakened state. I knew from the moment I started studying family law that I was going to stand up for the rights of my clients, no matter what.
The case I just finished was a woman whose husband had an asshole for an attorney who thought the soon to be ex-wife would just take whatever her husband was willing to give her. He thought that, but that was until I showed up and laid out how everything was going to go. No woman should be bullied into accepting something less that what she needs or deserves.
Having the courage to walk away from a toxic relationship has boosted my confidence in my career. Enduring your own personal struggles and getting through to the other side, somewhat unscathed. It does something to you. It changes your entire mindset and focus on life.
As I proudly strut my way out of the courtroom, I couldn’t help but notice a familiar and friendly brown-haired woman walking my way. Crystal Swanson. Well I guess it’s Crystal Morrison now. She married one of New York’s most eligible and sexiest bachelors, Grayson Morrison.
I stop in front of her and can’t help but smile at just how amazing she looks. If only I had it as put together as she does. “Hey Crystal, it’s so great to run into you like this. I must admit, it’s a bit surprising to see you here.”
Her head lifts from her intent glare at her cell phone and she gives me a big, warm smile. “Well if it’s not Chloe Weston. I haven’t seen you in a while. You’re right, I’m not usually at the courthouse these days. I had to drop off some documents for a civil case that I’m working on. What about you? What brings you down here?”
“I just finished wrapping up a divorce case and I’m so mentally drained that I can hardly think straight. What I wouldn’t give for a nice glass of wine and a massage.” I haven’t had time for myself lately. If I was being honest, I haven’t focused on anything else since work and establishing my career for the past five years.
“Well… you know you can always come by Club Manhattan. I happen to know the owners.” She gives me a cheeky grin with a wink and can see she’s waiting for my reaction.
“Oh yeah. I did read about you and Grayson now being partners in a club. But I’m not sure if that place is my scene.” I try to hide my blush at the thought of the things that I remember Crystal telling me happens there. I don’t consider myself a prude, by any means. But I’m also not sure if I would feel comfortable in a place like that.
I have known Crystal for a while now. Her firm and mine were up against one another in a divorce case. She, being the more experienced lawyer, and I was an assistant to the lawyer on the other side at the time. She won her case, and I was in awe of her skills and presence. Crystal is the only person that I have confided in about my past. She and I met for drinks after she won her case. She listened to me without judgement and was a great shoulder to cry on. She filled me in on her then boyfriend, Grayson, and all his business ventures. One of them being a club. Crystal described to me that Club Manhattan was a member only, private club, that caters to a special clientele. The BDSM sort of clientele. I was intrigued but a bit intimidated by her knowledge and participation in the lifestyle.
Crystal gives me a friendly pat on the shoulder. “I didn’t think that it was my scene either. Grayson and I have transformed that place from what it originally was. It’s a club for members to explore what they like or don’t like and to just feel free to be themselves, without judgement.”
“Well, I guess it doesn’t sound so bad when you put it that way. I hate the thought of going to a club and feeling like it’s a meat market. Men trying to pick up their next one-night stand. That just isn’t my thing. Not that I’m looking for a long-term relationship either.” I haven’t even thought about dating since I left Georgia. I put my personal life on hold to become a lawyer and get my life back on track. I’m also not sure if I have the frame of mind to devote that level of emotional stability.
“Chloe. Trust me on this. You will not be disappointed. Remember what I told you when we first met? It’s a very discreet and respectful club. But you don’t have to decide now. Here’s my business card. My private cell is on there. Give me a call when you are ready, and I will add you to the guest list.”
I felt relieved that I didn’t have to decide right away. “Okay. I will think about it and thank you for the offer. It was so great seeing you again.”
Carrie gives me her trademark, mega-wat smile. “Yes. It was great running into you too. Don’t take
too long deciding though. You deserve to unwind, and I can make sure that happens for you!”
As she makes her way out of the courthouse, I can’t stop thinking about her offer. Am I going to take her up on it? I have always been curious about what goes on in a place like that. Maybe it’s time I see for myself.
Chapter 3
Chloe
I’m sitting in my Lexington Avenue law office, trying to wrap my head around my mountain of legal documents still needing review before I take my next case. I can’t stop thinking about Crystal’s offer. It has been a week since I ran into her at the courthouse and all I keep thinking about is Club Manhattan.
I fish her business card out of my purse and place it on my desk. Maybe if I just leave it sit here for a while, I will get the nerve to call her. Maybe. From what I read about BDSM clubs, it’s all about discretion, respect and trust. Trust. Now there is a word that has not been in my vocabulary for a long time. Five years to be exact.
I haven’t dated or even had any interest in men since Mark. There just hasn’t been the right opportunities. I feel like I have gotten control over my life in the career department, but my personal life is another story. I have low self-esteem issues and it’s going to be hard to just start trusting in men again. I feel emotionally worn down, but I know how to take care of myself in other areas. Although, I now have a very worn out vibrator.
I read up on verbal and emotional abuse after I left Mark. I realize now that it wasn’t my fault and that our relationship was not normal. I was mad at myself for staying for that many years. I’m ashamed that I allowed myself to take the constant mind manipulation. Always left with the feeling that I somehow deserved it. That is what he kept telling me. I deserved to be treated like I was nothing. After a while, I believed him. He wore down my defenses and made me weak.
Since I left, he hasn’t even tried to contact me. Not that I wanted him to or gave him the ability to, but still. I changed my cell phone number as soon as I could, and I haven’t contacted him. I don’t know why I care one way or the other. I guess I still have my insecure moments. His voice will forever be in my mind telling me how weak I am.
Club Manhattan: Parts One and Two Page 1