"Thank you, gentlemen. Can I step past you to get some coffee?"
They moved to let me through and then I joined their line to sip our caffeine and wait to escort our Young Ladies to the next stop.
They entered the cafeteria, and I watched as Eleanor stomped to her table and glared at me. Her friends were looking too, staring in confusion and whispering frantically. Eleanor's face was turning red from anger. It amused me to no end. She was already mad but she had no idea how bad things were.
She moved seats to face away from me and I decided it was time to go and introduce myself and my new status.
"Are you leaving us?" Olive asked her just as I came upbehindthe group.
"No." I placed my hand on Eleanor's shoulder and she flinched away. "Eleanor is staying here with all the other Young Ladies. She's been reassigned to me."
"Don't touch me." She brushed me off.
I laughed and returned to the other Daddies to watch the girl’s reactions. I wasn't disappointed. The table was going wild, all while Eleanor sat there, sulking. She turned her head and I nodded, trying not to laugh at her. She stuck her middle finger up at me.
The Daddies around me shook their heads and snickered.
"Can't let her get away with that," one of them said. Eleanor did it again, and I took a deep breath, trying to keep calm. I wanted her to hate me, but she needed to respect me publicly.
"I don't care what they want," she announced loudly, and stood up, having barely eaten. She took her tray to the trash and made a point to pass by me and the other Daddies. She paused by me, and her eyes were full of a rage that I found incredibly attractive. She truly was a brat."I'll never call him by his title."
She stormed out and I had no choice but to follow.
"Hey! Where are you going, Young Lady?"
"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. It’s unsafe.” I reached for her, catching her elbow.
"What do you think will happen? All the baddies are above us. No one's going to hurt me here."
My mood shifted.
If only she knew.
"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." She poked my chest and stormed to her quarters.
I followed behind, slower, letting her throw the tantrum she needed to. I punched in the code I'd been given last night to enter her quarters, and watched the door slide up and allow me entrance. Just as I'd suspected, she'd tossed herself onto her bed and was sobbing into the pillows.
"I don't appreciate you acting like that in public, Eleanor."
She sat up. "Like what? Like I'm upset? Like I'm angry?"
"Like a child."
"A child?" She scoffed and slid off the bed. She stormed across the room and shoved my chest, forcing me 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 anyone else. I was top in my class. Even higher than your boyfriend. Milton was just a pretty face." It felt good to admit it out loud.
"Don't speak his name." Tears filled her eyes.
"Why? He was my best friend. Do you want to know the truth? He was going to fuck you and toss you away." Again, another truth.
"Th-that's not true."
Nothing Milton ever told her was true. Would I have to be the one to tell her all of it? After the stunt in the cafeteria, I looked forward to it.
