Her Father, My Master: Mentor (12 page)

Eventually I heard the heavy tread of footsteps on the stairs.  My parents were going to bed, and that was a sign that it was pretty late.  I glanced at my computer’s clock, and my suspicions were confirmed. 
Midnight
.

I decided to turn in as well.  There wasn’t much else to do, tonight, but dream of Mr. Hendricks.

Monday came fast, far too fast.  I was thrust into school once again, with a bunch of giggling high schoolers.  I couldn’t help but feel aloof, above it all.  I had something so much more important than these boys and girls.

Still, I sorely missed the idea of going to prom, and I briefly contemplated going, as my friends assailed me at the lunch room table.  I knew this trend would continue all week.

“Did you see my dress?” Ash leaned forward, staring at me intently, because she knew I was the only person at the table to brag to.  “It cost 300 dollars.  Three. Hundred. Dollars.  I can’t believe my parents let me get it!”  She squealed and dropped back in her seat before pulling out her iPhone and brandishing at me.  On the screen was a smear of satin fuchsia.  Ash’s dress, I gathered.  I plucked the phone out of her hand to examine the dress more closely.

Other than the color, it was wasn’t bad looking.  It had some tasteful sequin art on the front panel, and it was floor length, with some gathered pleats and kind of a princessy bustle.  I was glad Jess hadn’t picked this one.  With her red hair, she never could have pulled it off.

Sophie’s dress was by far the most demure of the bunch, I noticed as I flipped through the digital photos.  It was a slim sheath, and a simple midnight blue.  It matched her personality quite well.  Beautiful, but subtle.

I snorted when I saw Jess’s dress.  It was forest green and huge and poofy.  It matched her perfectly, and she looked stunning.

I felt a pang of envy.  Not only were all my friends going, they all had dates.  They all had someone to be with.

For the first time
in weeks
, I felt myself longing for a simple, traditional relationship, just so I could have these experiences as well.  But I shook my head ever so slightly, and handed the phone back to Ash.  I had something different.  Something better.

“What do you think?”  All three girls were looking at me intently.  I was still the ring leader, after all, even if I was going to be absent from this little soiree.  They needed my approval.

“They’re beautiful.”  I was all smiles
, but inside I felt the pain of how different I was from them already.

I pointedly ignored Maddie.  Not only had she taken this away from me, she was preventing me from sending my master on Saturday.  I already decided that I wouldn’t hang out with her
on that night
.  I couldn’t bear the thought of being so close to her father, and not be able to be with him on that deeper level that I craved.
 

I couldn’t believe she even had the guts to still be sitting at the same table as me.
 
Little did she know, the only thing keeping our tenuous friendship going was her father
.
  My master.

*****

School was a rush this week.  We were either review
ing
for finals, or talking about the prom.  By the time Saturday rolled around, I felt an odd mixture of relief and anxiety.
  I was glad for the break from school, but I knew tonight that two things would be happening.  Prom, and the fact that I wasn’t going.  Or going to Mr. Hendricks’ house.

I was mopey, and my parents knew it.  They knew about the breakup, of course, but they didn’t understand why I didn’t just get over it.  Like I could ever begin to explain my complicated situation to them.

I was continuing my day long pity party into the night with a pint of Ben &
Jerry's
and a romantic comedy when I heard a knock at the
front
door, at 6 in the evening.  Strange.  Mom and dad weren’t expecting visitors, and I certainly wasn’t.

“Krystal!” my mom shouted up the stairwell, to my confusion.  Who could it be?  “It’s Joey!”  Well, that answered that question.

I stabbed the spoon into my ice cream, trying to decide if I should go down the stairs and scream at him one last time.  Even as I was deciding, I slid off the bed, and made for the door.  I guessed my mind was made up.

I wasn’t exactly dressed nicely – I was in a ratty old pair of gray sweatpants and an equally tattered shirt, but I did not care.  I didn’t care what he said, either.  I just wanted him to leave me alone.

My jaw dropped when I approached the door.  Joey was standing there, with a bouquet of flowers, a corsage, a box of chocolates, and he was in a full-blown tuxedo, tails and all.  I craned my neck and peered behind him, seeing a stretch limo.  It was exactly as we’d talked about, all those weeks ago.  Except for the part where he’d fucked Maddie.  And the part where I now hated his guts.

My mom was still standing by the open door, looking completely perplexed.  “What’s going on?” she asked, gripping the steel door.  “I thought you and Joey broke up, honey.”

“I’ll handle this, don’t worry about it,” I said tersely, shooing her away from the door.  She was eager to get out there.  My mom wasn’t stupid, she knew how teenagers were, and this was going to be a massacre.

“What do you want?” I stared Joey square in the eye, and he blushed beet red.

“I thought I’d give you one last chance.  To, you know, go to prom with me.”

I shook my head in disbelief.  “You’re giving
me
one last chance?”  I wanted to slam the door shut right in his moronic face.  “I don’t want to go to prom with you, asshole.”

“Just hear me out, okay?” he begged, and I sighed.  I supposed I could listen to him
.  There was a part of me that was getting a thrill out of this.

“Fine.  What?”

“I… uhh…”  It seemed he wasn’t expecting to get this far.  He didn’t appear to have a prepared speech.

“Wonderful, very stirring,” I quipped snidely, making to shut the door.

“Wait, just give me a minute!”  He held up a hand in desperation, and I could practically see the gears turning in his head.  He was never the brightest boy.  “I… I made a mistake, a huge mistake, and I want to make it up to you somehow.  I know how important this night was to you, and I
still
want to give it to you.”

The anger drained out of my face and body, as he spoke.  All I felt now was tired.  So very tired.  I was tired of being angry at him, all the time.  And he wasn’t a terrible human, just a stupid, misguided boy who made a mistake.  Maybe in another life, I would’ve taken him up on his offer, but it was too late, now.

“It’s too late,” I said quietly, echoing my thoughts.  “I don’t think you can fix this with flowers, or chocolate
s, or stretch limos
.  There’s really only one thing you can do that will make me happy.”

“What?” he asked, his eyes begging for the answer.

“Leave me alone.  Forever.”  After I finished speaking, I closed the door in his stunned face.  I felt exhausted, and I just didn’t want to deal with him.  And I couldn’t believe it, but I actually felt bad for him.  Sure he was stupid, stupid for fucking Maddie and even stupider for coming to my door after I told him to leave me alone, but he was persistent.  I could give him that much.

But all the same, even if Mr. Hendricks wasn’t in the picture, I knew I would never forgive him for what he did to me. 
I realized
I would never have taken him up on that offer.  But I was so tired of being angry all the time.

He didn’t push the issue by knocking, and I trudged back up the stairs.

“Everything all right?” my mom called from the kitchen.

“Yeah, yeah,” I replied.  “Don’t worry about it.”  I had done enough worrying about this to last a lifetime
, and there was no need to bring my mom into it too
.

I continued my slog back to my room, and then tumbled back onto the b
ed
.  Flicker immediately bounced into my lap and I pet him reflexively.  There was something about this cat that brought my stress levels down.  I didn’t know how I was going to deal with
out
him.  I didn’t know how he was going to deal without me.

I sighed softly, and started the movie back up, blindly groping for the ice cream on the nightstand.  I just wanted it to be late enough so I could sink into the blissful void that was sleep.  This night wasn’t going at all as I’d expected it would, so many weeks ago.

My phone vibrating loudly jerked me out of my cinema and ice cream induced haze, just a few minutes later.  I paused the movie and nervously fumbled my phone into my hand.  Could it be?  It was a text message.  From Mr. Hendricks.

Maddie gone until
midnight
.  Come to me.

A cold shiver ran down my spine.  That wasn’t a request, it was an order, and one I would obey.  Suddenly feeling reinvigorated, I slipped out of my bed, and into some more decent clothes. 
I knew that
I didn’t have to impress him, but showing up in sweatpants would be a new low for me.

I was ready less than 10 minutes later, but I paused at the door.  What would I tell my parents?  After a moment’s thought, I had a good lie bubble to the surface of my mind.  The perfect lie.

I quickly descended the stairs, and went into the den, where my parents were currently eating dinner and watching something on the TV.  “I’m going out to Maddie’s,” I announced.  My lie wasn’t a lie at all, which is why it was so perfect.

“Oh, she didn’t go to prom either?” my mom commented.

“No, we both decided to sit this one out.  And she just asked me to come over.”

“All right, well, you know curfew.  Be back by 11,” my dad said, and their attention turned back to the glowing box.

I turned my back on them, a small smile playing on my lips.  I was so proud of myself.  For such a stupid little thing, too.  The smile faded a bit.

10 minutes after that, I was at Mr. Hendricks’ house, racing up the walk.  The
steel front
door was already open to the cool spring air, but I still knocked
on the glass outer door
, and waited.  Our play started the moment I set foot on his property, as far as I was concerned.
  He had to let me in.

“Ah, you made it!” he said with a smile as he opened the storm door, inviting me inside.

“Of course I did
, sir
,” I replied, stepping inside the warm, familiar house.
  “I want to be with you so much, I couldn’t possibly stay away from you.”

Mr. Hendricks snaked a hand around my wrist, pulling me along the usual path to his bedroom.  “I must admit, I don’t have anything planned tonight.”

“
I’ll do anything you ask of me.”

“I know, my pet.  You are so good, so obedient.”  We made our way up the stairs now, and into his bedroom.  I looked around at it again, taking it all in.  I knew this room so well, I find my way around in it with my eyes shut.  I could close my eyes and walk confidently to the twin windows on the far side without hitting a single stick of furniture, or knock over a single bauble.  I loved it.

He sat me down on the bed now, and to my surprise, he sat down next to me.  Usually he went for the ropes and gags by now.  “In fact, you are so obedient, that I just want to make sure you know something.”

I tilted my head ever so slightly and nodded for him to go on. “Yes?”

He chuckled, and slipped his hand on top of my thigh, touching bare skin.  Electricity filled my veins.  “That word is actually what I want to talk about.”  His hand moved downward now, to touch my own.  “Who do you think has the power, in this relationship?”

“You do, sir.”

He laughed again, and my body tensed with anxiety and anguish.  I felt like I’d said the wrong thing.  “On the surface, that’s how it appears, doesn’t it?”
“Well… yes.  Yes, sir.”

“But you know you have the power to stop me, right?”

I nodded mutely.

“So, isn’t it you who holds the ultimate power?  I get to think of all these amazing, wonderful things to do to you, but ultimately it’s your ‘yes’ that allows me to do them.  Do you understand?”

“Yes, sir.”  I wasn’t quite sure about why he was choosing to tell this to me, though.

He petted my hand softly now.  “I just want you to know that you are safe with me.  I won’t push you any farther than you want to be pushed.”

Comprehension dawned on my face, as I realized what he was getting at.  And I understood completely.  He didn’t even need to tell me.  I felt totally
secure
around my master, because the few times I’d used my safe word in the past, he’d stopped immediately.  Subconsciously, I knew I had complete control, and that’s what thrilled me so much.  I had the ability to control this man, by giving up my control.  It was a little confusing at times.  “I see, sir,” I said after I realized I’d been sitting there in silence for a few moments too long.