His Slave

7. I Didn't Agree to This

The door clicks open and Adelaide disappears. Mr. Dalton glances around until his eyes fall on me.

"Erin, come in here please," he states, gesturing for me to enter his office.

I swallow hard before giving a slight nod. I have to force myself to step towards the office, and I can't help but wonder if Mr. Dalton knows that I know. Once I've entered he follows after me, shutting the door behind him.

"Sit," Adrian orders, and I do as I'm told.

"Miss Ricoletti, do you know why I've come here today?" Mr. Brewer asks. I remain silent. I know full well why he's here, and I'm not allowed to lie, but I don't have the courage to speak the words out loud. After a moment of silence Mr. Brewer speaks up again.

"A few weeks ago you antagonized a young man by the name of James Harrington, correct?" He asks. Oh shit. Mrs. Dalton knows its true so I can't deny it.

"Yes, sir," I reply.

"And is it true that you then refused to apologize, and when you finally did apologize, you didn't even do so correctly?" He asks next. My stomach turns as the reality of what's happening starts to really set in.

"Yes, sir," I reply, trying to be as respectful as possible.

"What lead you to exhibit such bad behavior?" Mr. Brewer asks next. I want to punch him in the throat. I have known this man for ten years, and I've hated him for just as long.
I have to fight past the lump in my throat to get my words out.

"James... uh, Mr. Harrington cut in front of the line at the coffee shop," I state. But as soon as the words have left my mouth I realize how stupid that sounds. Things were so much worse at the coffee shop. But retelling that story always seems to sound stupid and childish.

"So that gave you the right to call him an arrogant bastard?" Mr. Brewer persists, his eyebrows raised.

"No, sir." I keep my responses short and respectful. Mr. and Mrs. Dalton are just sitting, listening to what's going on. They don't even really seem to care.

"Additionally, you antagonized him on two other occasions," he adds.

I scoff. "I antagonized him?! He antagonized me!" I snap back, receiving a pointed look from Mr. Brewer.

"That's not what the reports said. Also, you've caused the Dalton's quite the amount of trouble," he adds, looking over my file in his hands.

"In light of the situation, myself and my colleagues see no better solution than to acknowledge Mr. Harrington's request to have you transferred to work for him as payment for your actions."

I can feel the color drain from my face. I knew what getting reported usually entailed. Whenever a debtor is reported, the court of debts looks over the case and decides how bad it is. If it's small the people the debtor works for are informed and it's a small punishment.

If the case is really bad, or if the person who was wronged is really important they generally leave the debtor's fate up to that person. Obviously they decided my case was pretty bad. Or, James is just that important.

"Isn't there any other way," I ask, trying not to cry. Mr. Brewer scoffs and shakes his head.

"I'm sorry, but there's not. We feel this to be the best possible means of fixing this situation."

"But you don't understand. He only-."

"Oh, we understand perfectly. And we're hoping that Mr. Harrington will be able to tame you, since no one else seems to be able to," he adds. This makes me sick.

"But you don't understand what he wants me for," I try to protest again. Mr. Brewer laughs.

"I'm quite positive that I do understand what he wants from you. And I'm sure that's not illegal. Remember, the code of debts states that a debtor must repay he or she that they owe in anyway that they see fit," Mr. Brewer replies.

"And I'm sure he will take good care of you," he adds. I can feel the bile rising in my throat and I swallow trying to keep it down.

"Your debt to the Daltons is henceforth pardoned and you shall remain in service to James Harrington for an indefinite amount of time," Mr. Brewer tells me. Indefinite amount of time? That basically means I'll have to work for him for the rest of my life. Of course, they don't say that.

I take a deep breath, trying to fight off my tears. How could this happen? The Daltons could fight to keep me, but that requires a court case and a trial and lawyers and I'm sure the Daltons don't want to deal with all of that.

"I need you to sign here," Mr. Brewer states, holding the pen out to me as he flips the document around on the desk he and I are seated at. Hesitantly I take the pen from his hand, placing it on the line at the bottom of the paper. With a deep breath I begin to sign my name, and a rogue tear escapes, splattering on the dark mahogany of Mr. Dalton's desk.

He keeps giving me paperwork to sign and I do as I'm told, because if I don't, if I try to fight it, I'm going to burst into tears and I don't want them to see me so weak. Once I've signed about twenty documents, Mr. Brewer takes the pen back, smiling at me.

"Thank you for your cooperation, Miss Ricoletti. Mr. Harrington will be here in an hour or so. Please pack up any belongings you have and say your goodbyes," he tells me. My stomach lurches again. I have to leave today? No. This isn't fair.

I stand, taking shaky steps towards the door, wanting to get as far from these people as possible. They know what James wants me for, and still they're going to allow this to happen.

As soon as I'm out of the office, I find my brother and Adelaide and Thomas and Keary in the kitchen. They all look like they might cry, so I'm guessing Adelaide told them what was going on.

I run to Toby who pulls me into the tightest hug I've ever been given.

"This can't be happening," he whispers as his tears fall on my shoulder. "How am I going to live without you? I can't do this," he says.

"I can't do this either," I whisper back, barely getting the words out. We hold onto each other for a very long time, crying and wishing this wasn't happening. Then I say goodbye to adelaide and Thomas and then I cry on Keary's shoulder for a long time.

"Two days ago, when we took the car, we should have ran," Toby states, a mix of anger and pain painted across his features.

"They would have found us anyways, Toby. It wouldn't have made a difference," I reply, glancing at Thomas and Adelaide who both look really confused.

Mr. Dalton comes in, quietly shooing the others out of the kitchen. Toby gives me one more hug before he has to leave. But I wish he would stay. I want them all to stay. I don't want to leave.

As soon as they leave, Mr. Dalton lets out a heavy sigh.

"I'm sorry things had to come to this," he says, folding his arms over his chest.

"You deserve to know that my wife was consenting to this, even before James reported you. I want you to know that I had no hand in this," he tells me.

"Then why can't you stop it!" I ask, choking back my tears.

"Because Leora agreed to this already. There's no room for protest," he replies, shaking his head, "I never would have split you and your brother up. I'm sorry."

"Why now? Why do you apologize now? After everything you've put me through?" I ask as tears slide down my cheeks. Mr. Dalton shuts his eyes for a long moment, as if reconciling himself with some dark truth.

"Because yelling at you- treating all of you the way we do... it's easier... if I can't change things...," he lets his sentence fall.

"Its easier than feeling sorry for us? Or angry?" I snap. Mr. Dalton stares at me for a long time but he says nothing else.

"He'll be here soon," he finally speaks up before turning and leaving the kitchen.

I slump down on the floor, leaning against the cabinets, letting myself cry. I must sit there for twenty minutes sobbing like a child. Then I hear the roar of an unfamiliar engine pulling up outside, and fear seizes me. Shit. He's here.