“No. Of course not. Only fully cocked from now on.” I end the call as Ivan gears up for one of his lectures and slide my phone into the back pocket of my jeans.
Sienna opens a cabinet, doesn’t see what she wants, and opens the one next to it. She repeats this until she finds the coffee mugs, then searches for a spoon.
Still not speaking to me, she pours herself a cup of coffee, adds the creamer she took from the fridge and two heaping spoonfuls of sugar.
She brings a spoonful of the coffee to her lips, spilling it into her mouth. When she opens her eyes, they land on me standing directly across from her on the opposite side of the island.
“You look like you’re going out,” I say while I have her attention.
She licks the last drop of coffee from the spoon then drops it into the sink.
“Does it matter to you?”
The bite is back in her tone. A wall built up between us over the night.
“There’s a few things you need to understand.”
“Oh?” She brings her coffee cup to her lips, keeping her eyes on me while sipping it.
“Yes. There are rules.”
“Of course there are.” She smiles, plastic and joyless, and puts the mug back down. “You like rules.”
I ignore the taunt.
“If you leave, I need to know where you’re going. You’ll let me know where you are and who you’re with.”
“No.”
“I’m sorry?” I laugh.
It’s the most absurd thing, being told no once I’ve given a directive.
“Are you going to be telling me the same information about you? You look like you’re going out for the day, all dressed up in your big boy clothes. Where are you going, who will you be with?” She folds her arms over her chest, dips her chin.
I can only imagine this is her teacher expression. How many toddlers have looked at this face and spilled their guts because of it?
“You don’t seem to understand the situation here.” I move around the island, making my way to her. “I make the rules, and you follow them.”
She has to turn to keep looking at me. I’m at least a head taller than her, and she should back up so she can glare at me,but she doesn’t. She just tilts her back as far as she can. Not so much as an inch does she retreat.
“If you want to know where I’m going, you could ask. Like a civilized man.” She tilts her head little. “You could just say, ‘so what do you have planned for the day,’ and then I could answer ‘I’m meeting some friends for lunch.’”
“You don’t have friends here.”
“I don’t?” She gives a fake look of shock. “Funny, I would have thought I knew if I had friends here or not. But I suppose since you said it, it must be true.”
I lean into her, forcing her to finally take a small step back.
“If you’re going out, you let me know where and with whom. You’ll take the driver at all times. And you’ll be home before nine o’clock every night.”
“You’re giving me a curfew?” She laughs. “You’ve lost your mind.”
“Those are the rules. If you break one, any one of them, there will be consequences.”
“Oh?” She raises her eyebrows, and I know exactly what she’s thinking.
I know, because I’m thinking the same damn thing.
