Page 30 of Gene

Alarm flashed across his face. “Are you okay? Are you getting sick? Do you need Daddy to come with you?” he rushed out.

Sammi was working on her lines again, not really wanting to see all the other emotions that went across his face.

“It’s just a routine check-up. Like a physical, but not a physical… I just wanted to let you know that my lunch break will be later so that I can go to it,” she explained.

She had it all figured out. Was it ideal for her to take her lunch break almost an hour after her normal time? Probably not, and she knew her body was going to feel it.

“Just take the afternoon off and go to the appointment. You’re okay. Do you want me to come with you?”

Sammi continued to write her lines, pondering his question. Did she want him to come with her? She would absolutely love it, but she wasn’t going to take him up on that. What if shedidget told that she was dying? Would she want him there?

It wouldn’t be nice if she got that prognosis, she had a feeling that it would change how much she would be able to work or not. If she was going to die, she wanted to work as much as she could to help her brother get out of debt. That would be her dying wish.

“Little One? Would you like Daddy to come with you?” he asked again.

Sammi shook her head and looked up. A flicker of disappointment flashed across his face, and she wanted to turn back and say yes to him. She didn’t like disappointing people, but at the same time, she didn’t want him to go to the appointment in case it was bad news.

“If you change your mind, you let me know. If you want me to drive you there, you let me know. I don’t care if it’s two minutes before you need to leave. If you want me to come or drive you there, I will.”

Sammi blinked several times, trying to get rid of the tears that threatened to appear. He just kept saying things that made her heart flutter and melt at the same time. It was like he knew exactly what she needed to hear every time.

Was he a wizard?

“Now, how are those lines coming along?” Daddy asked.

Grabbing the piece of paper, she held it up for Daddy to see. She was almost done with them. Her hand was aching, her fingers cramping but she was determined to finish them.

“Good girl. You finish them off, and then we’ll find you something to do,” Daddy gently said. “You’ll take it easier today.”

She shook her head. “No.”

Daddy narrowed his eyes on her. “I don’t like the word no. Especially when it comes from you. I think you should say, ‘Yes, Daddy’ instead.”

“No.”

He stood to his full height, walking around his desk and straight to her. He was looming over her, probably trying to intimidate her, which was working.

“You need to take it easier today. After your appointment tomorrow, you can go back to working like you were. Unless the doctor says something I don’t like.”

“What’s your definition of something you don’t like?” she asked.

“Anything really. He could say your iron is low, so I’ll make you work less and make sure you’re getting supplements. Or your Vitamin D is low, which it shouldn’t be with how much you are out in the sun.”

Sammi glared at him. “You can’t do that!”

“Yes, I can, and I will if I have to. Your well-being is important to me.”

“Just because I’m a girl?”

“Yes and no. If one of the other employees told me they got diagnosed with something, they would take some of the easier jobs to get a handle on it and slowly build back up.”

“Bull,” she called him out.

Daddy sighed and knelt in front of her. “Maybe that was a little exaggeration, but I want you well. I don’t want you to run yourself into an early grave. I won’t let that happen. So today, you are going to take it easier, along with tomorrow and any other day if you get told something. Okay?”

Sammi shook her head. “I’m going to work like normal. It’s just a routine check-up,” she explained. “I don’t need to take it easier today! I’m fine.”

She totally did, but she didn’t want anyone else to think she was getting special treatment. Would they hate her for it? Would they think she was sleeping with him to get benefits and easier jobs?She wasn’t sleeping with him at all!

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