A Matter of Trust

Chloe shuffled nervously in front of the doors to Daddy's suite. Things between them had gotten weird the other day. She didn't know where she stood with him. Should she have said less? Argued her point more fervently? It was all a mess.

Daddy opened the door. "Hey."

"Hey," she said back.

He let her in and went to sit at the table. Chloe leaned against a nearby wall. Neither spoke. The silence dragged on, but Chloe had no idea what to say.

Daddy cleared his throat. "So. Have any hobbies?"

"I uh, play tennis," she told him.

"Oh. Cool," he said. "I was never any good at tennis."

"It can be hard at first. There's a big learning curve."

The conversation died down. Chloe crossed her arms, holding them close to her. "You play baseball?" she finally asked.

"Yeah. It's just a pickup league though."

"It still sounds like fun," she offered.

"Definitely," he confirmed. "Yeah. Lots of fun."

Chloe kicked her foot.

He drummed his fingers on the table.

"Have you eaten dinner yet?" he asked.

"I had a late lunch," she told him. "Paige and I went out."

"Got it. Cool."

"You can eat if you're hungry," she told him.

"I'm not that hungry," he said back.

She looked to the side and smacked her lips uncomfortably.

He sighed. "Look, do you want to play a game or something?"

"What kind of game?" she asked.

He shrugged. "I don't know. I've got a ton of board games. There's some stuff to play down the hall too. Pool. Foosball. Darts."

Chloe perked up. "I like darts. I used to have a board in my bedroom."

Daddy smiled. "Ok then. Lets go play some darts."

He led her out of the suite and down the hall. Chloe tried not to look at any of the murals. They hadn't bothered her so much on the way in, but she'd been alone then.

They passed a servant in the hallway and Daddy called him over.

"We're going to be in the game room," he told the man. "Could you bring us some food. I'm thinking...pretzel bites, buffalo wings, mozzarella sticks, and some of those lettuce wraps you guys made the other day."

"Of course sir," the servant responded. "Will you be needing anything else?"

He thought about it. "I'll take a beer. Something light, a wheat beer maybe. Chloe?"

She looked back and forth between them. "Um, I don't really drink. Do you have flavored water?"

"Yes mam," the servant told her. "Any preference for flavor?"

"Lime, if you have it."

He nodded. "I'll pass your order on to the kitchen." The servant bowed deeply and turned back the way he had come from.

Daddy resumed leading her to wherever they were going, not giving the servant a second thought. He'd certainly adapted fast, Chloe noted. He seemed very comfortable giving out orders.

Eventually they turned down a side hall and Chloe let herself be brought into a series of interconnecting rooms featuring various game tables. They settled on the room with a couple of dart boards hung up on the wood-paneled walls. A few leather couches and chairs rested next to wooden tables, but there was plenty of floor space left open in the center of the room to play.

Daddy handed her her darts and the two of them lined up to begin. A few minutes into the game the servant re-appeared pushing a small cart. He set up the food in front of one of the couches. Daddy took his beer with a thanks, taking a deep drink.

He popped a pretzel bite into his mouth then made his throw. "So Chloe, you're trying to go to law school right? Any specialty in mind?"

Chloe stepped up to the line and began making her own throws. "I don't know. Not in particular."

"What about criminal law? I could see the fun in arguing in front of a jury like that."

She shrugged. "Maybe. Prosecutors don't get paid that well though, and I wouldn't want to be a defense attorney. Plus, I hear you don't spend that much time actually in trial."

Daddy gave her a side eye. "Audrey wants to try and recruit you to the philosophy department. Your work is some of the best in the class. But if not even lawyers get paid well enough for you then I'm going to have to tell her it'll be a tough sell." He laughed.

"It's not all about the money," she said. "But I don't know if philosophy is really where I want to go."

He shrugged as they switched places. Chloe began assembling one of the lettuce wraps. "I'm just the messenger," he said. "Think about it though. I'm sure Audrey would love to talk your ear off about it."

Just then he sunk a bullseye; he let out a holler and his arms shot into the air.

"Lucky throw," she told him.

"Ha. Scoreboard?" He had a healthy lead.

"I'm just letting you get comfortable," she said, laughing.

"Mhm."

His next two throws failed to replicate the success of his first and they switched places again.

Chloe cleared her throat. "This is a bit of a tangent, but...I was at the plaza the other day after the vote. When you were arguing with Violet."

"You saw that?" he asked, voice dark.

"Yeah. I just wanted to say...thanks for sticking up for her. You didn't have to do that."

He was quiet for a moment. "Someone has to stand up to Violet. I don't mind it being me."

"It was just nice to see one of us treated as something other than a piece of meat."

Which was true. If Chloe tried really hard she could see his actions as cynical. He had, after all, kept a member in his harem. But she knew that wasn't what had happened. Daddy had stepped in because he didn't want to see Aaliyah get hurt. She'd had this image of him as secretly reveling in the show, of him being elated that all his dark fantasies were coming true. That wasn't the case though, she was beginning to realize. More and more she was beginning to consider that Natalie had been right; he was trapped here just as much as the rest of them.

Chloe took a seat on the couch. Daddy stepped up for his final three throws. He already had a strong lead and he was able to close the game out easily, not that he gloated about it. When he was done he crashed down onto the couch next to her and rested his beer on his knee.

Chloe worked up the courage to speak. It was important that she say this. "I'm sorry for the way I've been treating you."

Daddy furrowed his brow. "What do you mean?"

She let out a little laugh. "Oh come on. I've been cold. And rude. I know you've noticed."

"Well," he admitted. "Maybe a little. You've had a lot on your mind though."

"I had the wrong idea. I thought it was only a matter of time before you started abusing us, that deep down you wanted to."

She felt him stiffen beside her. She felt bad. It was a pretty big accusation.

"I know that isn't true now though," she told him. "It's just that you have so much power over us. It wasn't easy to feel safe around you."

"And you do now? Feel safe?"

She gave him a smile. "Yeah. I do. It took a little time, but I think I got there Daddy."

He smiled back. "I'm glad to hear it sweet pea."

Chloe's heart skipped a beat and she immediately felt a flush run across her body. When she didn't immediately respond Daddy began to look deeply embarrassed.

"Was that, um, ok?" he asked. "I just thought that since you were so comfortable calling me 'Daddy' now that I'd try the pet name thing out myself. If you don't want me to though I-"

"It's fine," she giggled. "I kind of liked it actually."

"Oh," he said, some of the panic fading away to be replaced by a gentle smile. "Ok."

Chloe looked away. "Can I just ask one thing though?"

"Sure. What's up."

"Please, just don't use the 'Daddy Knows Best' thing on me." She scrunched her face in distaste.

Daddy was staring at her. "I used it yesterday. You know that right? Can you not remember?"

She waved him off. "That didn't really count. You were just convincing me of something that was true. And I would have understood eventually if we kept spending time around each other. All you did was speed up the process, so I don't really mind it that much.

"I'm talking about in the future though. You have a lot of control over me. And I know you'd never use it to make me do something I didn't want to do, so I'm not really worried about that specifically...but I still think I'd feel more comfortable if you actually promised not to."

He was giving her a funny look, but he took her request seriously. When he spoke he did so solemnly. "I won't use it against you. I promise."

That was a weight off Chloe's shoulders. If anything, maybe she was a little lucky. Her Daddy wouldn't use that transformation on her, so in a way it was like she hadn't received one at all.

"There's enough working against you guys as it is," he mumbled.

Chloe's relief twisted inwards to anxiety. He was talking about Paige. She'd been doing her best not to think about it, but confronted directly the guilt was undeniable. There was a cold, hard logic behind what they had done to her. It made sense.

That didn't make it right though.

Her Daddy had spent so much time trying to convince her that he meant her no harm. She couldn't say the same. She knew that if he found out she was behind the extra transformation that he'd be angry. More than angry. Furious. And he'd have every right to be. She was playing the game, she was doing what she had to, but it wasn't right. A necessary evil was still an evil.

Chloe tried to keep her face from showing how she was feeling. The last thing she needed was to break in front of him.

"Up for another game sweetheart?"

Another flush bloomed inside her chest. Her emotions were all over the place. Daddy was a good a man. He didn't deserve someone lying to him.

Chloe smiled weakly. "Sure."