Chapter 219: Daycare
*Trigg told me to get my MBA and CPA. Thought that I would have a sweet office and fun time. Not crayons and afternoon nap time. – Chance*
Ryder could have given him an office in the DS Holdings office building. His office could have been at his clubhouse or even the Shack. Or in the back of one of the bars or strip clubs. Some of the other guys had offices at the clubs. He could have had one at The Kitty Cat.
Hell, it could have been in Dom's basement, and it would have been better.
But Ryder put Chance’s office just inside the daycare.
Giant glass windows looked out into both reception and communal area. He felt like a damned animal on display. The fact that someone had taped a PLEASE, DO NOT FEED THE ANIMALS sign to his window did not help. Only on his. The office across from his belonged to Karan and had a sign reading GOOD GIRL TREATS ACCEPTED.
Chance had a picture in his head of a sleek office with a couch for fun. Soundproof would be good. Or his playmates would have to be quiet. Maybe one of those sex chairs that looked like it was ergonomic. Clean lines. A desk sturdy enough to handle a good fuck.
Yeah, he had a great picture in his mind. The office he received was nothing like what he imagined.
Instead, his office was painted to look like a tree house. The lobby just outside was painted as a forest and the doors to reception had a greeting of WELCOME TO THE CLUBHOUSE. It was written in the style of a child’s handwriting complete with backwards E's.
The reception area was also decorated as a tree house. Opposite his office was Karan’s office with the same windows. Her office was decorated as a girl’s tree house with flowers and fairy lights. He had Christmas lights and a total lost boy’s feel.
Her office still had not receive a DO NOT FEED THE ANIMALS sign. He saw that since the last time he was in, someone had put a large box of candy bars on her desk. GOOD GIRL TREATS was written across the top in permanent marker.
Shaking his head as he looked around his office, Chance tried to think of a way to make it seem more masculine, manly. Adult. The motorcycle posters had been removed, carefully rolled up and placed in little tubes with labels. Clay. Ugh. Normally, he had no issues with the man. But right now, he could ring the perfectly groomed neck.
“You can’t have half naked women on your walls at a daycare.” Clay said as he entered the office behind Chance. The skinny blonde slipped around Chance and smiled brightly at the scowling biker. “But you can have bikes!”
Chance glanced at the box that Clay had carried in with him. Inside was a collection of toy motorcycles. Everything from replica tin toys to a brand new still in the box Harley Davidson. Clay began arranging them on the shelves and shooed Chance out of the office.
“Go walk around. Give me about ten minutes.”
Grumbling about gay men, Chance walked out of his office as his friend only laughed.
Along with the windows, there were Dutch style doors. He knew that they were called Dutch because Kilo told him. Chance had been calling them halfies, because you could close the bottom half and leave the top half open. Kilo had doubled over with laughter before correcting him.
Family. They could annoy the hell out of you. And make you grateful for them at the same time.
Before starting the design, the team talked to the kids of the club about what they wanted. He looked around the large communal area and could picture the kids in his family having a blast.
There was an indoor play area, climbing wall, a tree house about five feet off the ground in a fake tree and a small open house. The cushioned floor had a couple of hopscotch games painted on it and lily pads for leapfrog.
He followed the colorful dots out of the former sanctuary. Taking the stairs up to the second floor, Chance went to check out the older kids’ classrooms. He already knew where his nieces, nephews and younger cousins would be.
All the infant and toddler classes were downstairs with the pre-k and elementary after-school being upstairs. Each room had a clubhouse theme that went with the age group.
The other wing had not been done yet, but plans were being made for an after-school tutoring program for older kids.
The high school kids had complained that they no longer had a place to go. The after-school café that had been across town closed at the end of last year. The property that the club had bought for the daycare had a separate outbuilding formerly used as maintenance and storage that could easily be converted into a small coffee shop style café.
Going down the stairs at the far end of the hall, Chance was amused by the vines that were draped across the ceiling and down the walls. The window still had stained-glass casting squares of the primary colors all over the pale gray industrial carpet.
Peeking into the classrooms on the first floor, Chance was still amazed at how small the tables and chairs were. Then he passed the first nursery. His newest nephew would be in this room soon.
He swung through the kitchen and cafeteria picking up a half-eaten box of cookies. As he walked back to his office, he ate a red velvet white chocolate chip cookie. He loved cookies from his sister’s bakery café, The Cookie Jar, but he should probably spend a little more time at the gym.
“What do you think?” Clay asked happily as Chance approached his office.
He looked around the office as he stepped inside and was impressed with the change. It had lost some of the lost boy feel and now felt like a motorcycle club. The large bulb Christmas lights remained around the windows but now also had motorcycle shaped lights.
On the two wood clad walls were multiple live edge wood shelves with picture frames flanked by motorcycle figurines. In the frames were pictures of him and his siblings,
some of his extended family and a few from his time in the army.
Also on the wall were diplomas and certificates. Directly behind his desk, in a place of honor, was a shadow box of his military service.
“I like it, Clay.”
“I tried to add your personality and still keep the clubhouse feel. Plus, I put up a pussy magnet up.” With a dramatic flair, Clay pointed out the shadow box.
“Hell, yeah.” Chance grinned as he offered the box of cookies. “I have a gay man helping me get pussy. I. Am. Good.”
Clay laughed as he chose an oatmeal cookie. “Interviews start tomorrow. Wear something that shows off all those muscles.”
With a wink, Clay sashayed out of the office and headed for the exit. Chance threw his head back and laughed.
