Yes master, p.14
Yes, Master, page 14
“I guess you are right,” I replied, realizing that I hadn't ever admitted to myself how much Lottie had meant to me.
“Well, now that we are all on the same page, why don't we go see if she is inside!” Vila instructed, a note of sarcastic humor in her voice. Andi stepped aside, and the two of them guided me to the front door of the office suite. I took another deep breath and held it in as I pulled the door open. The girls ushered me in first and followed a few paces behind.
I stepped up to the reception desk that was a few feet from the door. Nobody was manning the desk, so I looked up and glanced around the office. The place was not very big, and there was a large partition making it so that I could only see the right half of the room behind the desk. I was craning my neck to look around the partition when I heard a familiar voice call from the back of the room.
“I'll be right with you!” It was Lottie’s voice.
The girls stepped up on each side of me and whispered in unison. “I guess the question of whether she's here or not has been answered!” they said, amused with themselves.
“Shhh! Stop it with the commentary already!” I hushed them. The girls stepped back just as Lottie came out from behind the partition.
“How can I help you?” she asked before she'd even had a chance to glance up and see me.
I suddenly seemed to have lost all control of my communication abilities. I just stood there, unable to speak. Her black hair was still long and hung loose down over her shoulders. She had traded in her signature skirt-and-tank top outfit for a form-fitting business suit that showed off her still-slender frame and shapely legs. She was absolutely beautiful. I started to panic internally when I realized that at any moment, she was going to look up to see some guy frozen in fear, staring at her. It was at that moment that she tilted her head up, lifted her long, black lashes, and stopped my heart with a flash of her deep blue eyes.
I told myself that I needed to breathe, but I couldn't. My next instinct told me to flee. I could just turn around, make some lame excuse, and walk out the door. Before I could act on my crazy impulse, she broke into a huge smile.
“Oh my god! Bennett Anders! Is that really you?” she called out to me. The unexpected greeting, mixed with the happiness I heard in her voice, shocked me back into normal human function.
“Lottie?” I said, pretending I had no idea that she would be there.
“Yeah! How the hell are ya?” she asked excitedly. My brain froze when I realized she had started to walk around the reception desk and head toward me.
“I, uh, well, uh,” I could not get words out, much less an intelligible sentence. Then I felt a sudden jolt, almost like electricity, hit me in the back and spread throughout my body. I whipped my head around and looked at the girls. Andi bobbed her head back and forth at me.
“Well, you needed to focus! Now get to it!” she whispered harshly. While I was in partial disbelief that she had actually shocked me somehow, I was internally grateful because it worked. I turned back around just as Lottie walked up to me. She threw her arms around my neck and gave me a huge hug.
“It is amazing to see you!” I told her, returning her hug. Holding her in my arms, regardless of how platonic the action was, had me struggling to breathe once again. It wasn't until she stepped back away from me that I could catch my breath.
“Where have you been all these years?” she asked, beaming up at me with a smile that highlighted her perfect teeth.
“I ended up going the tech route,” I started. “I’m over at 14Tech working on some AI software.” I cut myself off short, feeling as though I already sounded boring. I had a tendency to talk about work too much in general, and I certainly didn't need to put Lottie to sleep with it within the first minute of seeing her again.
“That does not surprise me in the least!” she replied. “You were always the smartest person I knew!” I realized that she was sincere, but my ego took a slight dip. Everybody knew I was smart, and I was hoping she had noticed me for more than that.
“I see that you’re involved in the family business. How do you like it?” I was determined to keep the conversation moving.
“It’s great! I never thought I would have a passion for tax law,” she gushed like we were long-lost best of friends. “I mean, who does, right? But once I got into it after college, I knew it was where I belonged. The worst part about it is that my father was right all those years when he told me what a good fit it would be for me!” She threw her head back and laughed. The sound was like perfectly tuned wind chimes to my ears, and I was painfully aware that she was holding onto my hands as we spoke.
“You always did have an eye for strategic calculations!” I said, sounding lame to myself. “What I mean is you were always so quick to find the best possible solution to any problem you encountered,” I tried to clarify my compliment.
“Well, I had a good study partner every now and again, didn’t I?” she teased, referring to the times we had worked together. She gave me a friendly wink and finally let go of my hands.
“You always were sweet, Lottie,” I said before I had a chance to stop myself. She walked around to the other side of the desk, leaned forward, put her elbows on the desk, and propped her face up in her hands.
“Well, I do miss seeing you around!” she replied happily. “I see you have an envelope in your hand. Is that for me?” I glanced down and suddenly remembered why I was there.
“Oh! Yes, this is for you,” I answered. I handed her the envelope. “Unfortunately, Mrs. Pillowa’s husband ended up in the hospital this morning, so she asked me if I could drop this off here,” I explained.
“Oh, no! That’s awful!” she responded, a genuine concern in her voice. “It is so kind of you to help her out.” Lottie opened the envelope and peered inside. Then she closed it back up and looked up at me. “Wait a minute…do you still work on her yard?” I couldn't believe that Lottie remembered. I had been helping the Pillowa’s with their yard since I was fifteen, but I honestly didn’t remember ever telling Lottie about it.
“Yeah, I get over there about once a week, sometimes every other week, if things get busy,” I answered, suddenly feeling a little shy.
“Bennett Anders, if you put in an application for community saint, they would have no choice but to accept it!” Lottie marveled.
I felt myself starting to blush. I had forgotten just how good she was at making people feel like they were the most important thing in the world when she spoke with them. I was searching for a way to say thank you without sounding lame when the suite door burst open behind me and hit the wall behind it. The sound startled me, and I whipped around. A man with dirty blonde hair, bark-brown eyes, and a dreadful sour look on his face stood in the doorway.
The girls had backed away from him to avoid being hit by the door, but now they both scowled at him. He looked the girls up and down and licked his lips before moving his eyes to me. He tilted his head and scowled. Then he looked over at Lottie.
“What's going on here?” he asked her snottily.
I looked back at her, and my breath caught in my throat a little. She had gone pale white, and her smile had vanished.
“Nothing, Blake. I’m with a customer,” Lottie answered the man sharply. I thought I detected a slight shake in her voice.
Then it hit me. This man was Blake Hudson. Blake had gone to school with the two of us as well, and he had always been a bully. In fact, he was one of the people on my list of those who made a decent part of my high school experience a nightmare. I felt anger start to bubble up in my stomach. He didn't seem to recognize me as he walked around the reception desk and stood next to Lottie. He put his arm around her shoulders, and I could see her visibly flinch. He turned his head and put his mouth right next to her ear.
“That better be all it is, Lottie,” he hissed at her. He slowly turned his head and looked at me through droopy eyelids. “Hey, I know you.” He tilted his head from side to side as he examined my face. “Aren’t you that kid people used to make sheep jokes about?” He had been in the room for less than twenty seconds, and he was trying to make me feel like shit again. My initials were BAA, so he’d gone about getting his jock friends to ‘baa’ at me like sheep every time they saw me back in school.
“Yes, that’s me. I see you are the same sad rodeo clown you were back then,” I shot back. My intention had not been to insult him back, but the words flew out of my mouth as if they had been a reflex. Those droopy eyelids of his had often been the genesis of many jokes. It conflicted me as to whether I should feel guilty or accomplished because I was pretty sure I just one-upped his insult. I saw Lottie’s mouth curl up a tiny bit at the corners and decided to go with the latter.
“Why are you in here talking to my girl?” Blake’s squinted angrily at me, his face turning red at his inability to produce with a proper comeback. His words caught me off guard. His girl? Could he possibly be talking about Lottie? She looked so uncomfortable around him. Her entire demeanor had changed the second he walked through the door. Just moments ago, she was happy, outgoing, and confident. Now, however, she looked as though she was trying to shrink into invisibility and was scared to speak.
“I am here…” I started to explain myself but stopped short. I didn't owe that man a damn thing, including an explanation. “The reason I am here is none of your business.” I instantly regretted my remark, however, because Blake immediately turned his head toward Lottie and grabbed her by the arm.
“Tell this punk to leave. NOW!” Blake hissed at her through gritted teeth. She looked up at me. Her eyes looked so apologetic.
“I’m happy to leave just as soon as I finish my business here at Harris Tax,” I told Blake, adding a bit of volume to my words. I didn't want Lottie to be in a position where she would have to tell me to leave because of his bullying. I knew instantly that she appreciated my stepping into the conversation. She stood up a little taller and shrugged Blake’s hand off her shoulder. She turned to him and tipped her head toward the back of the office.
“I suggest you go wait in the back until I am done helping Mr. Anders. You may be willing to risk multiple six-figure accounts for petty vendettas, but I am not,” she said in a deadly serious tone that sounded more like a warning than instructions. Blake just stared at her. I wondered if it was the first time she had ever stood up to him because he looked so shocked at her words.
“Hmmph! Fine. You've got five minutes to get back there with me,” he snarled at her. He took a moment to give me his best glare before turning and slowly walking towards the back of the office. I felt a small tug at my elbow and looked behind me. Vila was looking at me with eyes that could’ve melted steel. She raised a brow and tipped her head, and I knew what her silent question was. I simply nodded my head. An instant later, we all heard a loud thud.
“Damn it!” Blake yelled out.
Lottie turned around so that she had the same view as the girls and I did. Blake was on the ground. He slowly got up and sat on a nearby chair. He bent over to tie his shoelaces, which he had just tripped over. Vila had pulled the same trick that she’d used they’d used on Tommy the day before. Blake’s face was red with embarrassment and looked angrier than ever.
Just as he finished tying his shoe, his cell phone started to ring. He reached in his right-hand jacket pocket to retrieve it but couldn't find it. Then he leaned his ear towards his left side and looked as though he realized he was looking in the wrong pocket. So, he put his hand in his left pocket and felt around but still couldn't find his phone.
I glanced behind me to see Andi holding her hand low and waving a finger from left to right. She was switching the phone from pocket to pocket. There was no way I could keep my laughter in. I didn't even try to hide it. Blake looked up, confused. I looked away quickly, and my eyes landed on Lottie. She was trying not to laugh, although I was certain it was because her laughter would cause her more problems with Blake.
Vila stepped up beside me and whispered, “Your hair is messy.” I looked over at her, confused. She was speaking so low that Lottie, who was standing just a few feet away watching Blake, couldn’t hear her. She tipped her head forward and raised her eyes toward Blake. I followed her gaze just in time to see Blake run his hands through his hair as though trying to fix it.
“Ha!” I whispered to Vila.
“Your shirt is untucked in the back,” Vila whispered.
Blake stood up and tried to look over his shoulder to see if his shirt was tucked in or not. He reached his hand behind his back to try to feel for it as well. He ended up spinning around in circles, trying to fix an invisible problem.
“No way! What the hell is he doing?” Lottie said. She was obviously amused watching Blake make a fool of himself. Her reaction made the whole thing even more enjoyable.
“Your wallet fell out of your pocket,” Vila whispered. Blake forgot about his shirt and started looking around on the ground. He looked beside the desks, around the chairs, under the keyboards, and finally got down on his hands and knees. He started crawling around, looking under chairs and cabinets. By that point, I was howling with laughter. Lottie put her hands on her hips and just stared at Blake as he crawled around the floor like a dog.
“What in the Sam Hill are you doing, Blake?” she finally asked. Blake looked up at her with a slight expression of panic.
“I dropped my wallet, and I can’t find it!” he called back to her. “I can't find it anywhere!”
“Well, you sure aren't going to find it on the floor because it's in your back pocket!” Lottie yelled at him. “Now get up off the floor and stop making an idiot of yourself. You’re bad for business!”
Blake’s hand flew to his back pocket. Regardless of his hand actually being on his wallet, Vila’s magic made it so that he could not feel it, so he kept crawling around. Lottie rolled her eyes and looked up at me.
“I'm so sorry about all of this, Bennett,” she said to me. Her apology was sincere, but she was still visibly amused. “I really appreciate you bringing this by for Mrs. Pillowa, and I will be sure to get it where it needs to go. Unfortunately, I really need to go take care of this OTHER issue right now.” She waved her hand behind her shoulder and looked as though she was trying to brush away an irritating fly.
“I completely understand, Lottie,” I replied. I was about to turn around and leave but stopped myself. I reached across the desk and put my hand on her elbow. “It was so great to see you again. I really mean that. You’ve made my entire day,” I told her in a low voice to ensure Blake couldn’t hear me. Then I surprised myself again by winking at her before I turned around and walked out the door with the girls.
12
After leaving Blake scrambling around the tax office like a moron, I decided that we should walk home since it wasn't far. We had gone three blocks before the three of us were able to stop laughing. Vila playfully punched me on the arm.
“We didn't even have to work at convincing you to screw around with him!” she said, a bit of satisfaction in her tone.
“I've met very few people in my life that I have developed a healthy disdain for. However, jerks like him don't deserve consideration. He didn't think twice about making Lottie so uncomfortable, so I required no second thought to make him uncomfortable,” I replied.
“We are proud of you!” Vila said.
“After the convincing that it took for you to let us help you with Tommy, I was a little worried that you'd object to us helping you handle Blake. What's the difference?” Andi asked me.
“The difference is that Tommy stole something from me out of greed and personal ambition. Those are things that a person is somehow misled to believe are more important than they actually are,” I started. “Blake, however, is a mean, disrespectful scumbag as a human. His nastiness is a full-blown part of his personality, and I'm never one to stand by and watch somebody else be bullied.”
“Whatever your reasons, I'm proud of you,” Andi replied.
“Thank you, ladies!” I told them. I saw a delivery driveway that we were about to walk by and remembered a different path home that I thought the girls might enjoy. “Hey, there is a shortcut to the apartment that goes through a small park. Let's go that way. There's something I want to show you.”
“Sounds fun! What is it you want to show us?” Andi clapped her hands, excited about the plan.
“If I told you what it was, then what would be the point of me showing it to you?” I teased her.
“Careful, Bennett,” Vila laughed. “Tease her too much, and you may be tripping over your own shoelaces soon!”
Andi immediately gasped in horror.“I would never!” she yelled at Vila.
“Really, Andi? Never? Are you sure?” Vila asked knowingly.
“That one time was totally different!” Andi shot back.
“Mmmhmm,” Vila taunted her.
“He was a misogynist pig, and he’d already used his last wish, so technically I was within my rights!” Andi set to explain herself.
“Mmmhmm,” Vila said again, enraging Andi with her indifference.
“Oh, yeah? What about the prince’s fiance? How is what you did to her any different?” Andi called Vila out.
“Hey, now!” Vila instantly turned serious. “That wench had suggested we become slaves again! I did it for our protection! So, there!”
“You know as well as I do that there isn't any possible way for us to be turned into slaves! Therefore, your actions were simply spiteful!” Andi was the one taunting now.
Vila opened her mouth to protest, looking Andi square in the eyes. Instead of a witty remark, however, the two of them broke out in laughter. They were laughing so hard we had to stop for a moment. Some passersby looked sideways at the girls as they hurried down the sidewalk. One couple stopped to stare at them.
“They are just really good at telling jokes,” I mumbled to the couple and waved them on their way. I turned to the girls and took each of them by the elbow. “I am happy that the two of you are so amused, but people are starting to think you're cracked up! Let’s get moving!” The two of them each took a deep breath and finally started walking again.
