Before Him Comes Me by Alexandria Sure Page B

the
table, Zara rises from her seat and silently walks to the refrigerator. Opening
one of the doors, she is happy to find several cans of her favorite Arnold
Palmer with pink lemonade.
    Looking around the refrigerator door, Zara finds Garrett
pulling something out of the oven.
    “Would you like something to drink?” she asks shyly.
    “Yes, please. I’ll try one of those Arnolds of yours.” Pausing
to look at her, Garrett smiles.
    “Your house… Little One. And there are frosted mugs in the
freezer,” he states matter-of-factly, returning to his task at hand.
    With a bit of hesitation, Zara gathers two cans and two
mugs. Returning to her seat, she fills the mugs. Setting the cans aside, she
takes a big drink of her favorite beverage.
    “Mmmmmm,” Zara enjoys the drink. When she looks up, Garrett
is watching her again with the same look he had last night when she came out of
the bathroom in her own clothes. A blush suffuses her face. There is no missing
the soft chuckle from Garrett.
    Zara unwraps the utensils in a cloth napkin and places the
napkin in her lap waiting. Garrett has prepared homemade pizza that looks as
good as it smells.
    Garrett picks up the frosted mug and takes a small sip of
the iced drink. Taking a longer drink, Zara watches him enjoy one of her
favorite beverages.
    “It is delicious. I wasn’t impressed with the idea of mixing
iced tea and pink lemonade, but it’s good.”
    Smiling, Zara looks down at her plate. Her mouth waters in
anticipation of the first bite.
    Garrett looks over at her, puzzled, “I thought you loved
pizza.”
    “I do love pizza. I am waiting for you to start.”
    “Why?”
    “It is what is right. That is how it is supposed to be.”
    “Zara, please take a bite of pizza.”
    Slowly, Zara reaches for her fork. Looking up at Garrett,
she searches for confirmation of his intent. She had been trained to never eat
her food first. Her entire life, her mother demanded that she wait for both her
father and her brother to begin eating. It feels wrong to take a bite before
the man at the table.
    “Little One, we are not bound together. You aren’t my sub. I
want you to feel comfortable. Please try the pizza. Trudy worked really hard to
make your favorite and I reheated it to perfection.”
    Zara cuts the pizza into small bites, her eyes filling with
tears as she puts the pizza in her mouth. Setting the fork on her plate while
she chews, the tears begin to run down her face.
    “Zara, I am not sure how you were raised or what your
expectations are as a sub, but we need to address this immediately. I do not
want, nor have I ever wanted, a slave. Are you a slave in nature?”
    Zara looks him in the eyes and begins to cry harder. “I don’t
know what I am. I don’t know if I am a sub or a slave or even if I want to be
in this type of relationship. I was born with my life predetermined. In one
second, everything that I have known to be true changed.
    “When I was little I wanted to go to college. Something I
never in a million years thought I would have the opportunity to do. I don’t
know if I can do it. Everything that I was raised to be… I no longer am.
    “I did not get collared as I was supposed to. Do you not see?
I have failed at the one thing I was meant to achieve. I do not know how to
behave in any situation because every situation was supposed to be different.”
    “Little One, you have been keeping this all inside. I didn’t
stop the Ceremony because I didn’t want you. In fact, I want you so much that I
am giving you the freedom to decide if you want me .
    “I’m scared too. I’m worried that you are going to go on
campus, have the time of your life and meet another man who suits you better. I’m
afraid you will turn your back on the Community and on me, that I will lose you
before I even had a chance to have you.”
    They sit together in silence thinking about what the other
has said. Garrett speaks first. He stands up and grabs the present that caught