Rule Six - Eleanor

"What happened last night?" Frances asked as we made our way through the breakfast line. "You look awful."

I swung my head over to her. "Thanks," I said sarcastically. "I got reassigned."

"Reassigned? What do you mean?" We got our oatmeal and toast and went to sit with the other Young Ladies.

"It means, I got reassigned to someone else." I grit my teeth and kept my head down.

"I don"t understand. Are you leaving us?" Olive asked, her voice panicked. We"d all been in a state of confusion and worry since my Daddy died. Well, now we knew. If your Daddy dies, you just get a new one.

"No." A hand on my shoulder caused me to jerk forward. "Eleanor is staying here with all the other Young Ladies. She"s been reassigned to me," Callahan explained. I brushed off his hand.

"Don"t touch me."

He chuckled and started off toward the other Daddies. They had their breakfast in another area and had already eaten. They were chatting and smiling, welcoming Callahan into the fray. He looked so out of place with them. The other Daddies were ten years older than him.

"Callahan is your Daddy?" Frances gaped. "How?"

"Beats me," I snapped. "I don"t want to talk about it."

"We have to talk about this," Olive insisted. "How long have you known?"

"I didn"t know anything. They just moved him in."

"When? Last night?" Nancy screeched.

"Yes. Now shut it." I stabbed my oatmeal.

"Oh, I"m so jealous!" Nancy continued. "Callahan, out of all the DITs? You"re so lucky, Eleanor. He"s ridiculously handsome. And you get to see him every day! You get to live with him?" She lowered her voice to a whisper, "Have you seen him naked?"

"No!" I slid my bowl away. "Why would I? Have you seen your Daddy naked? Nancy, you"re disgusting."

I glanced up at the men on the other side. Callahan was watching me. His hazel eyes made contact with my brown ones. He tilted his coffee cup to me, and I flipped him off. The table gasped at my act of defiance.

"Eleanor, what are you doing? You can"t do that!" Pearl shoved my hand down.

"Why not? Everyone is breaking rules, apparently. If they think I"ll be treating him like I did my old Daddy, they"re dead wrong."

Callahan shook his head at me. I flipped him off again but Pearl caught me mid-bird and covered it.

"You"re going to get yourself in trouble."

"Trouble?" I laughed. "If I was going to get into trouble, it would have been for any of the things I"ve done before. Not for giving Callahan the middle finger."

"Are you still allowed to call him that?" Olive snickered. "I"ve never called my Daddy by his name."

"Why wouldn"t I?" I gave her a pointed look.

"Because there are rules," Pearl protested. "Young or not, if he"s been assigned to you, then you have to treat him just as you had your... other Daddy."

"I don"t care what they want." I stared at my breakfast, teary-eyed. I"d barely taken three bites, but I felt sick. I couldn"t sit here anymore. I stood and took my tray to the trash. I passed by the Daddies, pausing at Callahan. I looked back at my friends. "I"ll never call him by his title."

I stormed out of breakfast with my head high. They could force me to work with him, but I"d be damned if I treated him like my elder.

"Hey! Where are you going, Young Lady?" The doors behind me were thrown open and I turned my head to see Callahan storming out after me.

"I"m going to find somewhere to hide from you. We don"t need to be together all the time."

"You know the rules, Eleanor. If you are in public, you need an escort." He jogged to me and put his hand on my elbow. "It's unsafe."

"What do you think will happen? All the baddies are above us," I pointed out. "No one"s going to hurt me here."

His eyes darkened and the corner of his mouth twitched. "Baddies are everywhere. Eleanor, this isn"t ideal for either of us, but we have to get over it. I"m your Daddy, and you"re my Young Lady. You need to respect me and call me by my title."

"Like hell. I"d rather be ripped in half by crawlies and fed to the creepies than call you anything other than Callahan. Leave me alone, and I"ll do the same to you." I poked his chest and stormed to my room. As soon as the door slid down, I threw myself onto my bed and burst into tears. This couldn"t be happening!

My friends" reactions at the table made everything so much worse. The way they were excited. Excited? How could anyone be thrilled about this situation? This was literally the worst. Being attractive didn"t make up for how rude and mean and downright cruel he"d been to me for the last ten years. His handsome face was a disguise. I bet he"d planned all of this. That"s why he volunteered to help with my birthday celebration above.

I sat up. How had I not realized it before? He wanted to torture me further. And for what? I"d never done anything to him, other than get picked to be a Young Lady. My door opened and Callahan stepped inside.

"I don"t appreciate you acting like that in public, Eleanor."

I laughed. "Like what? Like I"m upset? Like I"m angry?"

"Like a child."

"A child?" I scoffed and slid off my bed. I stormed across the room and shoved his chest, forcing him back. "A child? That"s just it. I"m not. I don"t need anyone watching over me, and even if I did, I certainly wouldn"t want it to be you."

"I can do the job just as well as any of the other ones. I was top in my class. Even higher than your boyfriend." He snickered. "Milton was just a pretty face."

"Don"t speak his name." I poked him again.

"Why? He was my best friend. You want to know the truth? He was going to fuck you and toss you away."

Tears spilled from my eyes. "T-that"s not true."

"Oh yes, it is." He touched my shoulders and urged me back. "He didn"t care about you. He couldn"t. Milton had no feelings."

"Stop talking like he"s dead!" I put my hands over my ears. "You"re just jealous because no one could ever like you as much as they liked him. You"re an ass, and you"ll never be my Daddy!"

In a flash, I was scooped up and Callahan strode over to my bed. I kicked and fought but his grip was tight as he tossed me over his lap.

"You know what?" he said and lifted my dress. "The warden warned me you"d be a little brat and told me to treat you exactly as I would if we"d been assigned to each other earlier. I don"t think time-outs are going to work with you, Eleanor."

"What are you doing?" I tried to pull my skirt down, but the more I fought, the angrier he became. Callahan brought his hand down on my bottom.

I screamed.

"Stop! Callahan!" The tears for Milton turned into tears for myself and the humiliation.

"That"s not my name," he growled.

"I"m not saying it."

"Fine." He spanked me again. I pressed my lips tightly and closed my eyes. I could zone out until he was done. He"d break before me. Another hard spank and when I didn"t give him any reaction, he shifted. Rough fingers hooked the sides of my panties and before I could protest, he ripped them down my bottom and halfway down my thighs.

"No!" I squirmed, but he tightened his hold.

"You want to act like a brat, you"ll be treated like one. What"s my name?"

"Callahan."

Smack!

The collision of skin on skin hurt ten times more than with the thin layer of cotton to shield my behind. I sobbed. He asked again, and through my tears, I answered, "Callahan."

He spanked me. Over and over, each time repeating his question. I wasn"t going to break. I refused to give in to his ridiculous demand.

"Your skin is turning purple." He ran his hand over my bruised ass, and I flinched. He slowly trailed it down the, freezing at the spot that would take this from punishment to… My heart raced as his hand stayed there, resting on the spot right before my sex. I was in pain, extreme pain, but yet...

"What is my name?" he asked.

I lifted my head, ready to fight again. Then he raised his hand and my head fell in defeat.

"Daddy."