Page 17 of Brat Baby
“Yes, but no. I mean, I want to see, but I don’t at the same time. They shouldn’t have done this. It’s their fucking rule.”
“Okay, well, how about I open it for you, then I can tell you what it is, and you can decide what to do after that?” Oakley offers, leading me toward the kitchen.
I mull it over for a second as I lean against the counter. Despite my desperate need to confirm my suspicions, I also really don’t think I can handle the disappointment again. Having Oakley vet the package for me eases some of the stress. I don’t have to look if I don’t want to. “Yeah, okay. Let’s do that.”
She gives my arm a squeeze, then goes to the kitchen drawers and comes back with a sharp little knife. I bite at the skin on the side of my thumb, trying to make it feel less numb after she takes the box from me, puts it on the counter, and starts slicing through the packing tape.
Oakley angles the box away from me, lifts the lid, then gasps, her eyes zooming up to mine. “You definitely want to look at this.”
Regretting the toast I ate thirty minutes ago, I step forward and she turns the box to face me. My breath stops in my throat, and everything goes a little fuzzy as I stare at the contents of the box, my suspicions confirmed.
A laptop.
A laptop with a rose gold case. Just like my phone.
A folded piece of paper appears in my field of vision, and I have to blink a few times to focus on it.
“There’s a note.”
When I don’t immediately take the note from Oakley, she slowly lowers her arm. “Would you like me to read it to you?”
“Yes, please,” I manage to whisper as I take the box from her and back up to sit on one of the chairs by the table. I sit there, staring down at the pink electronic that I thought I was going to have to dip into the ten K to buy myself this week.
“Emery, this is your first reward of eleven. We expect to see you using it in class. DHDX.” Oakley pauses for a moment. “DHDX? Ohhh, their initials. Right. And eleven rewards? Girl, twenty grandandrewards? I think I might need to start looking at getting myself some permanent daddies.” That last bit is said as a mutter.
I barely hear any of it. I just stare at the laptop, still in the box, but out of its packaging, like someone has already used it.
They knew about my shitty phone, so they replaced it.
They knew about my shitty backpack, so they replaced it.
They saw my lack of a laptop, so they got me one.
But they didn’t know that I had no laptop until after they left me sitting on the grass.
I am so fucking confused.
I’m not theirs to look after anymore. They were very clear about that. What the hell is going on?
Questions I can’t get the answers to swirl through my mind, and I’m sure I’m not breathing right. I’m still getting my rewards, but I’m not allowed to contact them? How is that fair? They still get to fulfill whatever kinky gift-giving thing this is, but I have to ignore them? To not touch? Not talk to?
My phone pings from my bedroom and butterflies explode in my chest. Is that them? Did they get a notification that the laptop was delivered? With the box in my hand, I dash to my room and grab my phone from where I left it charging on my bedside table. The pom pom sways a little as I stare at the notification on my screen. A text message. From Xavier.
Did he buy me the laptop?
My thumb moves on its own, swiping to open the message.
Xavier:You have missed two photo check-ins. Send a photo this morning, or I will physically inspect your body, even if I have to do so in the middle of campus. Do not keep me waiting any longer, little dove.
I… what?
My brain is so fucking overloaded. They sent me a laptop. A fucking laptop. After demanding that I never contact them again, like some sort of rule. This thing is probably worth more than my phone. I can’t accept this, can I? They terminated the contract. So, wouldn’t that mean that the rewards chart was also terminated?
I. Am. So. Fucking. Confused.
My phone vibrates in my hand as another message arrives from Xavier.
Xavier:Now, little dove.
