Page 12 of Guiding Little Gabi

Gabi stared at the door. What was the rush? Who was in such a hurry to meet with Master Derek. Not her. Not anymore.

“Gabi?” a voice she recognized called from the other side of the door. “Are you in there?”

“Coming, Erika!” she called back. Forgetting all about the reams of paper she now held on her lap, she jumped up and raced to open the door. “Well, fart knockers!”

Sure enough, when Gabi flung open the door, it was to find Erika waiting for her in the hallway.

“Are you ready to go meet with Master Derek?” Erika asked.

“I guess so, but I need to get my lines. You know, it’s nice to be able to look someone straight in the eye without having to look up.” Gabi said. Sometimes she wished she had a lithe, willowy body like Erika had, but all in all, Gabi liked her curves.

“Lines? I didn’t realize Master Derek assigned you lines.”

As Gabi gathered the papers scattered over the floor, she shrugged a shoulder. “He didn’t assign them. I assigned them to myself. I know lying is bad. I guess it’s a good thing Raleigh, my former boss, isn’t here. He threatened to spa— um, never mind. It doesn’t matter since I’m probably never seeing him again.” Standing, she gave herself a mental shake and tried to return the smile her friend gave her.

Erika stepped back from the doorway. “Are you ready now?”

Sadness crashed in waves against Gabi’s chest. “Might as well be. I wish I could have gotten to know you better, Erika.”

Erika surprised Gabi by drawing her in for a tight hug. “I don’t know what Master Derek decided, and neither do you. You might have time yet.”

When they reached Master Derek’s office, Erika said, “Just have a seat. I’ll let Master Derek know you’re here.”

Gabi sat on the same bench she’d sat on the night before. It offered no more comfort or less embarrassment. Luckily, or maybe unluckily, she didn’t have to wait long.

The office door opened, and Master Derek stepped outside. “Come in, Gabi, so we can finish our talk.”

He led her to the same chair she’d occupied the evening before. She sat, then, remembering the pages she had in her hand, she stood and held them out to him.

“What’s all this?”

Guilt washed over her. She’d hoped writing all those sentences would make it go away, but it hadn’t. “I spent the day writing lines.”

Master Derek’s face registered his surprise. Without a word, he took the pages and scanned each one. “Lying by omission or commission is wrong, and I will not lie to make myself feel important ever again. My, that’s quite the lengthy sentence, little one. Did I tell you to spend the day writing lines?”

Not wanting to see the disappointment in his eyes, she studied the patterns in the wooden floor. “No, Sir.”

“Eyes to me, young lady.”

Without hesitation or thought, she lifted her gaze.

“Good girl. Thank you. Now, why did you write lines you weren’t assigned?”

She drew in a hitched breath and did her best not to cry. She hated disappointing people, and he had to be so disappointed in her. “At first, I wrote them to show you how sorry I was. But I kept writing them in hopes it would make the yucky feeling in my tummy go away.”

Dang it! Her Little wanted out. She needed to hold that side of herself in tight control because this meeting was important.

She hazarded a closer glance at Master Derek’s face. A tenderness seemed to warm his eyes that hadn’t been there before.

“And did it help?”

She sniffed and shook her head. “No, Sir. All I got was a sore hand.”

“I’d imagine so. Ten pages front and back is a lot of sentences. What did you mean that lying would make you feel important? Did you want to be known as a person who lies?”

Again, she shook her head. “No, Sir. I just wanted them to like me. I’m not the kind of person people like when I act like myself.”

“Can you explain what you mean by that?”

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