Page 49 of Follow Me
Chapter Thirteen
Doug seemed to pull up short when he spotted Mal in the lobby, a funny little smile appearing on his face as she walked over to him.
“What?” she asked.
“I was going to askyouthat.” They headed for the elevator. “How’d your talk with Kel go this morning?”
“Productive.”
“Oh?”
“Once we’re in your office, Sir.”
And once they were, she went through the morning, detailing their talk but abbreviating the more intimate portions.
“I’ve noticed you’re starting to refer to him as Sir again,” he noted. “That’s not something you’ve been doing a lot.”
She thought about it. “I didn’t ask him for my collar back yet.”
“Do you want to?”
Another moment. “Not yet. I think I still have a ways to go. It’s too soon. It’s only been two weeks. When I broke this to him, I told him four weeks.”
“You did, but you can change your mind.”
Her resolve faltered. “Do you think I need to?”
“That’s not what I said. I was reminding you that none of this is set in stone. We don’t set your timetables in that way—we’re your guardrails. It’s whatyouwant to do.”
Part of her wanted to beg Kel to come back over that night, to stay the whole night.
Now that the fast had broken, she wanted to feel his warm flesh against hers in their bed.
Except…
This was too critical to rush through it. Life was short, yes, but sheliterallycouldn’t repeat this cycle. Her body wouldn’t be able to handle it.
“I think I want to maintain what we’re doing for now and wait until the four weeks are up, like I originally said.” She picked at her fingernails. “Even after I ask him to come back, I think I want to keep up the rituals with you guys, if that’s okay?”
“It’s okay. The long-term plan, though, is to wean you off needing to report to us on a daily basis. You know that.”
“Yes, Sir. I know. But I don’t want to rush this.”
“You’ll still be seeing us for sessions,” he said. “And I thought one of your goals was to repair your relationship with Kel to a point where you could turn that kind of oversight back to him?”
“It is, Sir. I know we’re not there yet, though.”
“He hasn’t scheduled an appointment with me yet.”
“Well, to be fair, we were…busy this morning.” She smiled.
He returned it, but it faded. “We won’t give him a pass on this. But just like he can’t control your recovery, you can’t control his, either. He’s going to have to make an appointment with us and—” His cell phone chirped on his desk, distracting him. “Hold on—that’s our group chat with him.” He retrieved it, pausing, smiling. “You can forget what I just said.”
“Why?”
He indicated his phone. “Kel just asked when we can fit him in for an appointment.”
Her vision blurred as the tears hit. She didn’t even need to look to see where the box of tissues was—she reached for it and dabbed at her eyes while Doug quickly consulted his schedule and set up the appointment.
