Page 51 of Need

“No,” I said, shaking my head. “I fell asleep last night, and then he was gone this morning. He called me earlier, but I... I didn’t know what to say and didn’t answer the phone.” I lowered my head. “I was bad. He isn’t going to be happy with me.”

“He’s worried about you.”

My head snapped up. “You talked to him?”

“I spoke to him before I left.”

She encouraged me to call him. I wanted to, but I was nervous. In the end, though, it was the fact that I had done something wrong and needed to make it right that won out.

He answered on the first ring. “Brianna?”

“Hello, Sir.”

I heard him sigh. “Are you all right?”

“Yes. I’m all right. Lily’s here.”

“Good. Why didn’t you answer the phone when I called?”

“I don’t know,” I whispered.

“You can do better than that, Brianna.”

“I... I was afraid that you were mad at me.”

“And you thought not answering my phone call would help the situation if I was?” he asked in a voice that clearly showed his displeasure in me.

“I’m sorry, Sir. I’ll not do it again.”

“You’re right. You won’t,” he said. I didn’t like the sound of that. “I have a meeting this afternoon, but I’ll be home after that. Have food finished by four. We will talk about this tonight.”

“Yes, Sir,” I said.

“Put Lily on the phone, Brianna.”

I handed the phone to her and stepped away. I’d been so afraid I’d messed up that I really had. If he hadn’t been upset with me before, then he certainly was now. He was most likely going to punish me when he got home, but it was the least I deserved. He’d been very clear that he had given me a cell phone so we could get in touch with each other at all times. I’d intentionally ignored him.

Lily walked into the kitchen as she talked. She looked like she was trying to calm him down. I knew I was going to be punished tonight. I just didn’t know how badly.

When she was finished, she hung up the phone and put it back in its cradle. “I’m staying with you until he gets home. He doesn’t want you left alone.”

I nodded and mumbled, “He doesn’t trust me.”

“He doesn’t want you left on your own today.”

I didn’t argue. It didn’t matter anyway. I liked having her here.

We didn’t talk about Stephan for the rest of the afternoon. Lily made us some lunch, and we watched television. She told me about Logan’s job, and how she missed him when he was out of town, like he was now. The way she talked about him, the way she felt, was almost how I felt about Stephan. He was everything to me. All I wanted was to make him happy.

When it was time to start making dinner, Lily came into the kitchen and helped me. It was nice having her there.

As we cooked, I remembered something I’d wanted to ask her. “Lily?”

“Hmm?” she asked as she chopped up some carrots for the salad.

“Can I ask you something?”

That got her attention. “You can ask me anything,” she said sincerely.

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