fifty-shades-of-grey

The first thing I notice is the smell; leather, wood, polish with a faint citrus scent. It’s verypleasant, and the lighting is soft, subtle. In fact, I can’t see the source, but it’s around thecornice in the room, emitting an ambient glow. The walls and ceiling are a deep, dark burgundy,giving a womb-like effect to the spacious room, and the floor is old, old varnishedwood. There is a large wooden cross like an X fastened to the wall facing the door. It’smade of high-polished mahogany, and there are restraining cuffs on each corner. Above itis an expansive iron grid suspended from the ceiling, eight-foot square at least, and from ithang all manner of ropes, chains, and glinting shackles. By the door, two long, polished,ornately carved poles, like spindles from a banister but longer, hang like curtain rods acrossthe wall. From them swing a startling assortment of paddles, whips, riding crops, andfunny-looking feathery implements.Beside the door stands a substantial mahogany chest of drawers, each drawer slim as ifdesigned to contain specimens in a crusty old museum. I wonder briefly what the drawersactually do hold. Do I want to know? In the far corner is an oxblood leather padded bench,and fixed to the wall beside it is a wooden, polished rack that looks like a pool or billiardcue holder, but on closer inspection, it holds canes of varying lengths and widths. There’sa stout six-foot-long table in the opposite corner – polished wood with intricately carvedlegs – and two matching stools underneath.