Lola Ch. 01: The Moment

"No! I said sit!"

"Wrufff!"

"Daisy get off of me, you need to wait here while I get us drinks! I'm not gonna get you one unless you stay."

As Stella began to turn away Daisy decided she was going to stop antagonizing her owner for a bit. She liked pushing Stella's buttons, enough for her to react, because it always reassured her that their dynamic was real and shared. Tonight was the local goth bar's monthly Kink Night and she knew if she bothered Stella too much, her owner wouldn't hesitate to tie her leash to the table and find another dog to have fun with.

Once Stella returned and Daisy received the requisite "Good girl!" from her owner she jumped up on the repurposed picnic table that her friend group had claimed in the center of the bar and began to sip her drink (with a straw of course, puppies don't pick up drinks). At the table sat Jordan and Serena and their dog Bailey. Jordan, not really that into pet play at first, fell in love with Bailey after she started to date Serena. In the beginning however, Bailey was a sore point in the couple's relationship.

"I just don't know what you're doing with that girl that thinks she's a dog! I don't think there's anything wrong with her but I'm not poly and I think I'm a little uncomfortable sharing you with her," said Jordan in a heated moment, immediately wishing she'd phrased it a little more diplomatically.

"It's not like that!" said Serena. "The love and trust Bailey and I have for each other has nothing to do with the kind of relationship I'm trying to build with you. Bailey is my pet, except she doesn't live with me and she can talk. Bailey was very specific when meeting me that all she wanted was to be my dog and nothing more. No kissing. No sex. No anything! I think the realism of that situation is what helps her get into the headspace she wants to get in and I told her that was fine by me."

"So you're not in a relationship with her like we are?"

"No, Jordan. And I can make sure not to bring her around when you're over. I want to cultivate a loving human relationship with you however I enjoy being Bailey's owner and I will not give her up for this. It wouldn't be fair."

"Okay, knowing that makes me more comfortable, and I'd definitely feel better if you two did your thing in private. I'm sorry for being unfair about this. I guess I've just never been this close with someone in the kink scene and wasn't sure about the specifics."

"It's okay baby, maybe one day you'll be comfortable enough to hold her leash!"

"Maybe"

Two years after that argument, on this soon-to-be-fateful night, Jordan sat at the picnic table with one arm through the end loop of Bailey's leash making sure she stayed put and one arm reaching up to Bailey's poodle-like, bright ginger curls and giving her pets just behind her dog ears. It was not lost on Jordan how far she had come since first finding out about Serena's pet. She was about to dive headfirst into reminiscing when she heard her friend John say her name from across the table.

John was a tall, well-built, brunette with medium-length black hair. If you caught him on the way to his office job you wouldn't think him to be alternative or, frankly, at all willing to go against the status quo. If you caught him out of his button-downs and khakis however, you would start to notice the nose ring, the earrings, the tattoos. He had a knack for blending into any scenario and his friend group of five lesbian pet players found it amusing that this fairly vanilla-looking guy was their go-to pet sitter when Bailey and Daisy's owners traveled without them. He would make an effort to bring all of the dogs' favorite toys and he even had a dog bed and a crate that he would pull out from his basement whenever the pets came over.

John got his start as a pet-sitter when Jordan and Serena took a month-long vacation to Rome and, a week in, they got a text from Bailey that read:

"Woof! Hey Owner 1 and Owner 2! (Puppy will let you two argue over which number you guys are). Puppy hopes you are having a really fun and romantic vacation, she's heard that Rome is beautiful and would love to walk around the historic areas (on a leash of course). Puppy is going through it a little without you two and she's resorted to playing fetch with herself which gets really boring and sad!!! Do you know anyone who can play fetch with puppy or give her some kind of puppy fun? Puppy already reached out to Stella and apparently she's busy for the next week or two so any suggestions would be amazing! Puppy loves and misses you! Have a great trip!"

John's first session with Bailey was very awkward but he found himself getting the hang of it quickly. And besides, Bailey kept wagging her tail so that means he had to have been doing something right! After this experience, Stella began sending Daisy to him whenever she wasn't around and the dogs really began to warm up to him. John had been a part of the pet play community for a few years but he had not had good luck finding a dog to adopt. He had made it through a couple sessions with some prospective pets but they never ended up clicking with him. One even peed on his brand new carpet, which would have been a funny and silly thing to do if he had not expressly told her that if anything happened to the carpet it would be a dealbreaker between them.

Before Stella began to scold Daisy for trying to follow her to the bar, John sat at the table absentmindedly looking at the dancefloor thinking about how incredible it was that there was a real public place where people could exercise their kinks in a safe and supportive community. Behind John, someone had set up a spanking station where you could sign up to get spanked in restraints as the dom lectured you about your misdeeds. In front of John was the dancefloor, where he saw two men taking turns tying each other up and when it got too hard for one of them to dance in the bondage, he got untied and began to tie his partner, and so on.

"No! I said sit!"

John looked over at Stella and Daisy and laughed as he saw Daisy jumping up onto Stella from all fours and trying to crawl up to the bar in secret but as always, Stella would catch her before she could make it far.

John thought, "They're so cute together, I can tell Daisy is trying to rile Stella up right now and Stella is trying really hard to not tie Daisy's leash to the table for the whole night like last time. They play really well off each other."

As his mind began to wander again he noticed a girl standing a few feet back from Stella as she scolded Daisy. John had noticed her on the dancefloor earlier. He was particularly interested in her outfit, which was half kinky, half runway. She wore black knee-high boots with tight jean shorts, partly unzipped in the front showing off her thin black thong. She paired this with a beautiful red and black corset in which her breasts were threatening to make an appearance every time she bobbed up and down with the music.

This girl was watching Stella and Daisy in what seemed to be a trance, she had stopped abruptly when Stella ordered Daisy to sit as if that command was meant for her. She watched the following exchange between the pet and the owner in a manner that John thought was unnaturally still. The trance seemed to break when Daisy decided to obey and Stella left for the bar but she still looked rather shaken.

John turned to Serena and said, "Hey did you see that girl in the red and black corset?"

"No, what happened? The one at the bar right now? Wow, she's cute! You should give her your number!"

"No! I mean, yes, maybe. I'll think about it. But I wasn't talking about her looks. When Stella and Daisy were having their little spat over there that girl was stock-still, just watching. I'm pretty sure she stopped the exact second Stella said "Sit!".

"So what, do you think she's a dog?"

"I'm not sure but I've never seen her at any events I've been to. I've definitely seen her here before but nothing she's done would indicate she's into pet play."

"Until now huh, what if she was just waiting for Stella and Daisy to finish their little scene as a courtesy" said Serena, already becoming uninterested.

"Yeah I mean I'll admit I'm grasping at straws here but I saw a look in her eyes. I kind of want to go ask her if she already has an owner or if she's looking for one."

"John, I get we're at a kink night but even then I don't know if you can just go up to someone and say 'Hey so I was wondering if you were a dog,' I doubt that pick up line has EVER worked," said Serena.

"Okay I hear your point, Jordan what do you think? Jordan!"

John felt bad for breaking Jordan's concentration because she seemed to be having an intimate moment with Bailey, but he really did need some guidance here. Before Jordan could even answer however, Bailey barked "Woof! Puppy's been listening the whole time! She thinks that John might be on to something, that girl did stop on a dime. If someone had come up to puppy before Serena adopted her and asked her if she was a dog, she probably would've melted into their arms. On the other hand if that girl isn't a dog then you might risk embarrassing yourself."

"Thanks Bailey, good girl" John remarked as Bailey began to pant from the positive attention.

John stood up from the table and began to walk to the bar, passing Stella on the way.

"Hey John, where are you going I already got your drink!?" Stella said, a little confused.

John replied: "I think I found my dog."