Total pages in book: 248
Estimated words: 236036 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1180(@200wpm)___ 944(@250wpm)___ 787(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 236036 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1180(@200wpm)___ 944(@250wpm)___ 787(@300wpm)
She sighed and trudged to the door. It was going to be hard to get used to being bossed around again.
“Oh, sweetheart, one more thing.”
Allegra paused, turning back. “Yeah?”
“I’ve been thinking about something, and I just wanted to throw it out there. I loved our dynamic, but I’m wondering if one of the reasons it fell apart is that it wasn’t exactly what we needed.”
She frowned, tilting her head. “What do you mean?” Her stomach sank and her first thought was that he was giving up already.
“There are a lot of different D/s dynamics out there. Maybe Dom/sub doesn’t really fit our relationship anymore. Maybe you need something a little different.”
“Different? Like… what? I don’t think I’d ever make a good slave, and I’m really not very bratty.”
He shook his head. “I’m not asking you to change. I’m thinking about my role and what might work better for you. How about if I was more of a caretaker? I didn’t realize before how hard it was for you to ask for help, and it just seems like maybe it’s something you should learn.”
She bit her lip, thinking for a second. It was true, she hated asking for help. Hated needing help. A sub was supposed to serve her Dom, and any time Carter had needed to step in to fix her problems, she’d ended up feeling like a failure. “I-I don’t know.”
“Well, think about it. You know change is okay, right? You’re allowed to need different things over time. Just because we started out one way doesn’t mean we can’t become something else.”
“I guess, but I don’t know what that would even look like.” That wasn’t entirely true … she did have one idea, but she wasn’t sure she wanted to suggest it.
“I don’t either, but it’s something to think about.” He shrugged and then jerked his chin toward the door. “You better get going or you’ll be late. Don’t forget, I’m here if you need me to talk to him.”
She couldn’t imagine the humiliation of having him talk to her boss about this, but arguing would be pointless. “See you tonight. Love you,” she said, holding back the long sigh until she was out the door.
No one was more surprised than she was, to find herself handing her phone to Edward later that morning. Her determination to handle it herself had quickly withered under Edward’s harsh accusations and recriminations.
“I can’t believe I was going to suggest you for a promotion! This is absolutely the most unprofessional behavior I’ve ever seen. We have three projects due and you’re jaunting off on some fucking vacation? Are you stupid or something?”
Her hands clenched into fists, but she kept her voice calm. “I know it’s short notice, but I haven’t used any of my vacation time and it’s going to expire soon. Besides I’ll-I’ll work better after a break.”
“If you were serious about your career, you wouldn’t even ask. Do you see me dropping everything to go take a ‘break’ whenever I feel like it?” He’d actually gone to Cabo just a few months ago, but he didn’t give her a chance to say anything. “Unbelievable. In this company we work hard, and we put the team first. You’re—”
It went on for a good five minutes, and she knew that even with his office door closed, the rest of their department could hear him belittling her. Finally, she just couldn’t take it anymore. She pulled out her phone and called home. “Carter? Edward doesn’t seem like he’s interested in approving the time off.” The anger had to be obvious in each snapped word.
“Hand him the phone,” Carter ordered.
She held it out to her boss silently. Edward gave her a disgusted look and snatched it from her hand. “Who is this?” he snarled.
Whatever Carter said had an immediate effect. Edward paled. His eyes widened, and when he finally did reply it was simply to say, “I’ll approve it.” It almost looked like his hand was shaking as he passed the phone back to her.
“Take your vacation. We’ll work it out… somehow,” Edward muttered as he walked around his desk and dropped into his seat. He pointedly didn’t look in her direction or say another word.
She couldn’t believe it had worked. Feeling awkward and uncertain about what exactly had occurred, she glanced down at the phone, but the call had ended. With one more nervous look at her boss, she turned and left his office. She could feel her coworkers watching her, knew the rumor mill would be churning overtime, but she kept her head down and tried to work.
Since she was about to take three weeks off, and they really were behind on multiple projects, she skipped lunch to remain at her desk. It was hard to focus but she managed to get a decent amount done. Edward ignored her for the entire day, and when he left, he didn’t make his usual stop to drop his unfinished work on her desk.