go.
Wow. Breakfast delivered
to you. Lucky ducky.
Haha. Something like
that. Love ya!
Love you!
I leftmy phone behind to charge while I finished my breakfast and stewed over the things I’d admitted to Lorie, without really thinking about it. Did I really noteverwant to go home? I looked over at the art supplies Gio had provided me with. The spot on the wall where the camera had been removed. My phone charging. Gio was already taking steps towards treating me less like a prisoner. I hadn’t been thinking of this in terms of the eventual end. If by choosing to stay here, was I choosing to stay here forever? Was that Gio’s plan? Were we just riding it out until my dad paid back his debt? What if he never did?
I was slightly off-kilter for the rest of the day after that. I tried the things that I normally did to relax throughout my days; art, napping, binging some show—but nothing really seemed to calm me down. Suddenly, I felt unsettled, like I didn’t really know what ‘home’ meant to me anymore. Part of the pull to stay with Gio was to adventure further with him sexually, but what did it mean to be a sub? Was it something I could sustain long-term? Was it something I even wanted to sustain long-term?
Evening came after a relatively uneventful day. Gio never came to visit me again, instead sending a staff member to bring me lunch, but my dinner time visitor was Milli. Similarly, to Gio that morning, he knocked on my door and remained outside until I let him in, a simple action that I appreciated in abundance. When I opened the door, however, I was confused.
He didn’t have any food in his hands.
“How are you feeling today?” Milli asked as I let him in.
“Mostly?” I said. “Strange.”
To my surprise, he walked over to the couch and sat down like he’d be staying for a while. Milli seemed to have a contempt for me that I didn’t quite understand, but I did my best to ignore it. He seemed to be a person who just had a permanent contempt.
“How so?” he asked.
I walked over and sat in one of the chairs opposite the couch. “I expected Gio to kill me after the way I behaved yesterday.”
“You aren’t the only one,” Milli said. “His father happened to be here and overheard the commotion.”
My chest seized up when I heard that. “Really?”
“Indeed. He’s normally a little more discerning, but he doesn’t quite seem to have his bearings around you. I wonder what it is.”
“Do…” I tilted my head. “Do you think it has something to do with… sub?”
Milli started to laugh at me. “I can tell by the way that you phrased that question that you have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Maybe that’s why I’m asking about it,” I said.
He shrugged. “I’m not the one you should be asking. If you want to know more, you should ask him.”
“Fine, I will,” I said. “Can you take me to speak with him?”
“I will,” Milli said. “In fact, I’ll take you right now. I was already here to take you to him anyway.”
“You were?” I asked. “Why?”
He tossed me a mysterious grin. “Effective immediately, you and Gio will eat all of your meals together.”
19
GIO
“Shit!”
I scrambled for any paper towels, napkins, or other such items I could use to clean up the coffee I’d just spilled. It was like the tenth thing I’d dropped or spilled that day and it was starting to piss me off. I didn’t normally spill stuff, in fact, I wasn’t very clumsy at all, but ever since visiting Avion that morning, I’d been all out of sorts. It wasn’t just that I apologized to her, or the fact that I was feeling nervous from handing over her phone, it was how awkward it felt.
