Chapter Nine

Reid

I spent the day going through Zoom meeting after Zoom meeting as we restructured the departments. "We" was an overstatement. I didn't really have a say in any of it, but as one of the people in my department with some seniority who hadn't been smart enough to take leave, I was stuck there.

Aside from being camera-on, I wasn't really part of the discussions. Once in a while, they would ask if I had any questions, and my answer was always no. There was an unspoken rule at these things that you never, ever, ever asked questions because it inevitably added an hour to the meeting.

To say the least, it had been a long and stressful day. But also, it wasn't. Unlike most times when work got this intense, there wasn't too much dread growing inside me. I'd been able to keep my focus, not watching the clock, hoping for it to speed up already. Not that I wanted a repeat of the day, but I came out the other side of it, ex- Zoom -sted, but not wanting to curl into a ball like normal.

I'd like to say it was because of something I did, that I'd learned a new skill, but the truth was it had nothing to do with that and 100 percent to do with my plans for the evening. As they got deeper into the discussion, I found myself planning for my night in the little room with Kevin.

I had an entire itinerary planned, not that we needed to go by my list. Kevin was the daddy, after all. What he said was what we'd do. But still, I had a backup plan. I wanted to go in, tour the room, and see all the toys they had available, eat a snack, have Daddy read me a book, do a craft, and build blocks. Was that a lot for one evening? Sure was, but I was going to use every minute we had to the fullest. I'd already wasted one night at Chained. I refused to waste another.

In a couple of hours, Kevin was going to be my daddy, and I couldn't wait. I wasn't silly enough to think he was going to be my real daddy just because we were going to Chained, but for the scene he would be, and that was good enough.

And if things worked out well, maybe we would bring the fun home with us.

After our first date, the last thing I wanted was for it to be over. He was nice and hot and sexy as fuck. And the way he felt pressed against me when we hugged…yeah, I wanted more of that. A whole lot more with a whole lot less clothing.

I not only understood why he wanted us to try being this way together first but also appreciated it. How disappointing it would be if we were intimate together, loved it, and then we tried to play together, and it was awful, and we discovered our only chemistry was while we were big. That would hurt more than finding out first; that was for sure.

Not everybody's chemistry worked both in and out of daddy/little headspace, at least not in my experience. This was for the best and, while I hated the wait, it was all going to be over soon. Tonight, we were going to scene, and it was going to be amazing…I hoped.

We'd talked about expectations and such throughout the week. But one thing we didn't discuss was my outfit. He probably assumed I didn't have much here, which was accurate. But I had a surprise for him. I'd had a brand-new outfit expedited shipped to me so he could see me in something a little better than my onesie and socks. I was going to look adorable, and I couldn't wait for us to play together.

According to the calendar on the website, Chained was having special crafts tonight, and if crafts meant glitter, I was all in. I didn't even care what we were making with it. Glittery slime? Perfect. Glittery painting? Gorgeous. Glittery cupcakes? Delicious. I was down for any and all of it.

I was exhausted by the time I closed my computer and shoved it in the drawer at the hotel. One more week, and I wouldn't have to do this anymore. One more week, and I could work from the house. Of course, there was only one more month before I had to renegotiate with my bosses about whether I could stay here or not. I was postponing even thinking about that, wanting time to slow down so I could enjoy all my time with Kevin.

The traffic was crap, and I got home only about an hour before we were supposed to leave—not as much time as I wanted but enough to get ready. Or so I thought.

As soon as the door opened, I could smell that something was wrong. It smelled humid, but not like outside humid—like, I don't know, just wrong. It wasn't hot outside, and the smell didn't make any sense, and that made it even more worrisome.

I went from room to room looking for a hint of what was going on. I found nothing, not even in the bathroom, where it would make sense that it was humid. I went around to the back door, and that was when I saw it, a puddle outside the laundry room.

Suck.

When I opened the door, the source of the issue was shouting at me, water spurting out from the hot-water pipe. It was no longer hot, which meant it had been flowing for a while. I'd never been more grateful for floor drains than I was in that moment. There was a heck of a mess and some damage, but it could've been so much worse.

It took me a while to find the shutoff, but I did and thankfully it turned with ease. At least there wouldn't be any more damage while I figured out what to do with the current situation.

Back in the laundry room, I looked around, taking it all in. The room was a huge puddle, the floor drain not handling the water as it should, but draining enough to keep it from being the major catastrophe it might've been.

I was lucky—it could be far worse. It could've gotten into the other rooms or seeped into the walls. It was horrible timing, Kevin due to arrive in less than an hour. I hated what I was about to do, but dealing with this wasn't something that could wait. Water was powerful, and in this case, not in a good way.

Fishing in my pocket, I took out my phone and called Kevin. "Don't hate me," I said before he even managed to get a single word out. "I need to cancel tonight. I'm so sorry. I don't want to. I promise you. I don't want to. But I need to cancel. Please don't hate me. I don't want to cancel."

I could be so eloquent sometimes. Ugg.

"Reid. Listen to me. Deep breaths. Deep breaths."

I did as he said and they did help settle me some.

"Tell me what's going on."

And so I did. I told him everything. Then he asked me questions, and I gave him answers, trying not to omit anything important. The next thing I knew, he was offering to come over and help.

"We were going to the club. You don't have to skip because of me." I didn't want him there with another little, but it wasn't fair to ask him to stay here when he had the whole night planned, especially not when I canceled so last minute.

"Yes, we were going to the club. But if we can't do that, then I don't need to or want to either. Let me do this for you. Let me help you now. Okay?"

"Okay." Daddy had been on the tip of my tongue, but I held it back.

"Let me tell you what to do when I get there. Is that okay?"

"Please." I needed someone to take this from me.

We might not be having a scene tonight, but he was taking care of me like a daddy. And tonight, that was what I needed.