"Yes. Now shut it." I stabbed my oatmeal.
"Oh, I'm so jealous!" Nancy continued. "Callahan, out of all the DITs? You're so lucky, Eleanor. He's ridiculously handsome. And you get to see him every day! You get to live with him?" She lowered her voice to a whisper, "Have you seen him naked?"
"No!" I slid my bowl away. "Why would I? Have you seen your Daddy naked? Nancy, you're disgusting."
I glanced up at the men on the other side. Callahan was watching me. His hazel eyes made contact with my brown ones. He tilted his coffee cup to me, and I flipped him off. The table gasped at my act of defiance.
"Eleanor, what are you doing? You can't do that!" Pearl shoved my hand down.
"Why not? Everyone is breaking rules, apparently. If they think I'll be treating him like I did my old Daddy, they're dead wrong."
Callahan shook his head at me. I flipped him off again but Pearl caught me mid-bird and covered it.
"You're going to get yourself in trouble."
"Trouble?" I laughed. "If I was going to get into trouble, it would have been for any of the things I've done before. Not for giving Callahan the middle finger."
"Are you still allowed to call him that?" Olive snickered. "I've never called my Daddy by his name."
"Why wouldn't I?" I gave her a pointed look.
"Because there are rules," Pearl protested. "Young or not, if he's been assigned to you, then you have to treat him just as you had your... other Daddy."
"I don't care what they want." I stared at my breakfast, teary-eyed. I'd barely taken three bites, but I felt sick. I couldn't sit here anymore. I stood and took my tray to the trash. I passed by the Daddies, pausing at Callahan. I looked back at my friends. "I'll never call him by his title."
I stormed out of breakfast with my head high. They could force me to work with him, but I'd be damned if I treated him like my elder.
"Hey! Where are you going, Young Lady?" The doors behind me were thrown open and I turned my head to see Callahan storming out after me.
"I'm going to find somewhere to hide from you. We don't need to be together all the time."
"You know the rules, Eleanor. If you are in public, you need an escort." He jogged to me and put his hand on my elbow. “It’s unsafe.”
"What do you think will happen? All the baddies are above us," I pointed out. "No one's going to hurt me here."
His eyes darkened and the corner of his mouth twitched. "Baddies are everywhere. Eleanor, this isn't ideal for either of us, but we have to get over it. I'm your Daddy, and you're my Young Lady. You need to respect me and call me by my title."
"Like hell. I'd rather be ripped in half by crawlies and fed to the creepies than call you anything other than Callahan. Leave me alone, and I'll do the same to you." I poked his chest and stormed to my room. As soon as the door slid down, I threw myself onto my bed and burst into tears. This couldn't be happening!
My friends' reactions at the table made everything so much worse. The way they were excited. Excited? How couldanyone be thrilled about this situation? This was literally the worst. Being attractive didn't make up for how rude and mean and downright cruel he'd been to me for the last ten years. His handsome face was a disguise. I bet he'd planned all of this. That's why he volunteered to help with my birthday celebration above.
I sat up. How had I not realized it before? He wanted to torture me further. And for what? I'd never done anything to him, other than get picked to be a Young Lady. My door opened and Callahan stepped inside.
"I don't appreciate you acting like that in public, Eleanor."
I laughed. "Like what? Like I'm upset? Like I'm angry?"
"Like a child."
"A child?" I scoffed and slid off my bed. I stormed across the room and shoved his chest, forcing him back. "A child? That's just it. I'm not. I don't need anyone watching over me, and even if I did, I certainly wouldn't want it to be you."
"I can do the job just as well as any of the other ones. I was top in my class. Even higher than your boyfriend." He snickered. "Milton was just a pretty face."
"Don't speak his name." I poked him again.
"Why? He was my best friend. You want to know the truth? He was going to fuck you and toss you away."
Tears spilled from my eyes. "T-that's not true."
