His Slave

4. Two Whole Days Off

Erin

It's been a week since the party and I still can't get James' words out of my head. Are you sure about that? I can report you and I will. These things just keep playing on repeat. I'm such an idiot. James can totally report me, and I just keep making him more angry every time I see him. And now I'm scared out of my wits. Because if he reports me...

"Are you coming, Erin?" Toby asks playfully as we hike down the hill that the Dalton's mansion sits atop, towards the sprawling grassy fields. The others are way ahead of me.

I shake myself from my thoughts before hurrying to catch up with my brother and the others. The Daltons are away visiting family for the next two days and that means we practically get the next two days off work. The attack dogs are still guarding the perimeter and that means that attempting escape is pretty much the stupidest thing any of us could do. But that doesn't mean that we can't shirk our duties until the Daltons get back.

I catch up to the others as Adelaide spreads one of the Daltons fancy tablecloths out in the grass to use as a picnic blanket.

"Are you alright?" Toby asks me as he helps Adelaide set out our fancy lunch. I nod, sitting down between him and Thomas.

"I can't believe we actually have two whole days to do nothing," Keary speaks up, biting into the sandwich Adelaide made.

"It's a rare occurrence," Thomas agrees, nodding gratefully to his wife as she hands him a sandwich too. We sit eating lunch in the gentle breeze and we're all really surprised it's so warm today. It's February so it should be a lot colder. But I'm glad it isn't so that we can have our little picnic outside.

"What are we going to do now?" Adelaide asks once everyone is finished eating.

"I say we all just do whatever we want," I suggest. Everyone seems pretty taken with the idea and we pack up our little picnic before heading back to the mansion. I head to the small study in the house, where the Dalton's books are kept. They don't have many but I'd rather spend my time reading. I find a book that sounds interesting and snuggle up in one of the big, comfy chairs, laughing to myself about how I would be in so much trouble if the Dalton-demons were here.

I try to read but I just can't. There are too many thoughts swirling around in my head. Like what James meant by 'are you sure about that?'. What horrible things does that bastard have up his sleeve? I can't stop worrying about his words. Especially since he's a friend of the Daltons. And he threatened to report me. I shake myself from my thoughts. I'm being ridiculous.

I start to read again but his words are still stuck in my head. A few minutes later I hear the door creak and I look up from my book to see Toby walking towards me with two cups of coffee in his hands. I smile.

"Hey," he greets, handing me a cup of coffee. I take it, nodding gratefully.

"Thank you," I say with a smile.

"You're welcome," Toby returns, sitting in the matching chair across from mine. I take a sip of the pure black coffee, and it makes me happy. There's a quiet moment between us and we sip our coffee for a while.

"What's wrong, Erin?" He finally asks me. I let out a gentle sigh, glancing out the window.

"It's nothing," I tell him, meeting his eyes.

"You haven't been yourself in over a week. If it was nothing it wouldn't be bothering you this much," he states, giving me a pointed look. I stare at the book in my lap for a long time before speaking up.

"So, there's this James guy. He's the son of one of Mrs Dalton's bitchy friends. Anyways, he and I had a bit of a run in when Mrs Dalton and I went out last. I... accidentally called him an arrogant bastard and he got real angry and then he was there at the party last Friday and he and I were alone in the kitchen...," i let my sentence fall and Toby's eyes get wide.