Trying To Open Up

Brennan
I opened the surveillance program on my office computer screen while I worked on my laptop. I wanted to watch Leah while I worked on her program for the week after. Week four, her week three, would be starting to explore her sexual desires and each person that had already gone through this week had blossomed during their time, giving me high hopes that she would too. I took a deep breath as I began to input her information into it, creating her avatar to look just like her. I was excited to see this new program at work. It was the same as the one I used previously, just a more complex one, thanks to Joseph's friend, Dale. This program would supposedly completely consume the brain and create feelings of actually being touched. I had no idea if it would actually work, but I was sure it would. I had already purchased some of Dale’s other products and they all worked well.
I glanced at the live video of Leah, smiling at it as I watched her wander around the community. I hadn’t seen her in person for 3 days, having been called away to meet with another male who wanted Eden’s services to ‘train’ his woman to be submissive. An hour with the couple, I knew that the woman would not be a good fit for our community. She was not abused in any way. They were just trying to branch out sexually and that was not what we did. I politely told them that she was not a candidate for our services and wished them well, after giving them the number of one of the biker crew who actually ran a submissive training program. He would work with both of them while I remained focused on my people.
I turned my attention back to the program, typing in a few more details to make Leah’s avatar perfect. When I was satisfied that it was ready for her, I began to build her world. I made the house exactly like the one she was currently in so it would be easy for her to maneuver through without a lot of thinking. I wanted her to focus on exploring her fantasies. That is if she had any. I knew that she would probably need to go slow but this part of the program was the most important. They had to start this part before they were allowed to date so that they would learn to speak up for themselves when it came to the sexual part of a relationship.
I smiled when my attention was pulled back to the video of Leah, who was now humming the lullaby I sang to my girls while she played ball with Sugar. I sighed when she suddenly stopped to kneel down to whisper into the dog’s ear. I hated that she had taken to doing that. I was learning a lot about her by listening in on the things she said to others and Sugar. Ugh. This stupid order needed to hurry up and arrive. On a whim last night, I had ordered a shit ton of stuff for her. On my way home from my meeting, it finally hit me why she was so upset. When the packages arrived, I planned to sit her down and talk to her. I wanted her to be willing to listen to me.
When she laughed again, I got up. Fuck it. I didn’t want to wait for the stupid packages. I just wanted to talk to her. In mere minutes, I was walking into her yard. Sugar immediately zeroed in on me, pulling her lips back while she growled at me. Before I could greet Leah, she turned around, crossing her arms over her chest as she eyed me.
“Hello.”
“Hey, Princ–”
“Phoenix,” she immediately corrected me.
“Phoenix,” I sighed. “Do you have a few minutes to talk? There is something I wanted to speak with you about.”
Surprise flickered across her face before she nodded. “Yeah. Would you like to talk over dinner? It should be time to pull it out of the oven.”
“Sure. What are we having?” I asked.
“Lasagna and garlic bread.”
“Sounds good.”
I nervously followed her into the house, worried that I was wrong. Again. I thought I had figured out why she was upset, but the truth was, I had no idea. I only hoped that I was right. While she pulled the food out of the oven, I got plates, silverware, and cups out of the cabinets. I grabbed the sweet tea out of the refrigerator while she served our plates. After pouring the tea into both cups, I sat at the island, facing her. She began to dig into her food heartily while I pushed mine around on the plate. She paused to frown at me.
“Rosemary made it. Do you not like her cooking?” She asked.
“No. I’m just a little nervous. So, ummm, Leah– Phoenix,” I corrected myself before she could. “I wanted to apologize again to you for my actions that upset you. I never should have tried to tell you what to do. I shouldn’t have gotten mad or upset at you over my own behavior. You didn’t force me to stay over. I knew the rules and I willingly broke them. That was not your fault in the slightest.”
She put her fork down on the counter next to her plate. “Is there anything else you want to apologize for?”
Fuck. I knew I might have been wrong, and judging from the look on her face, I was very wrong. “Ummm, I don’t know?”
“Of course you don’t, R.H.M. I don’t care that you got upset. I don’t care that you blamed me for that night. I don’t even care that you lashed out on me at Mister’s private area,” she told me.
“Then tell me why you’re upset. Because I don’t know what else I can apologize for. I yelled at you and spoke very harshly to you. I said things that I shouldn’t have and I regret them,” I admitted.
“What things do you regret saying?” She inquired.
“The mean stuff,” I mumbled.
“Why do you regret them?” She continued to press.
“Because they were wrong to say?” I asked hesitantly.
She narrowed her eyes on me before rolling them. She picked up her plate and cup before walking out of the room.
“When you’re done, you can show yourself out. Goodnight,” she called over her shoulder, making me sigh.
If it was possible, I think all my apology did was make the situation worse. I stood up, freezing when I realized that Sugar was still in the kitchen. I kept an eye on her as I packed away my untouched food in her fridge. I washed my dishes before leaving her house, making sure to lock the door behind me. I stuck my hands in my pockets as I walked defeatedly back to my office. I was really feeling like the stupidest man alive. Either that or she was the most difficult woman alive. But I knew me, and that was why I would put all my money on me before I ever put it on her. When I walked back into my office, my phone was blinking and I immediately went over to check it as I sat down in my chair.
*‘Caleb and I will be coming to Eden this weekend. Maddie and some of her friends are going to find Miriela.’*
I instantly sat up straighter in my chair. Fuck. I forgot to mention that they were coming to see Leah soon. I scrolled through the community members on my watch before deploying the button to reach out to her.
“Phoenix?”
I waited for a moment for her to respond. When she didn’t, I quickly pulled up her house footage to see if she was listening at least. I scrolled through the rooms, not finding her in any of them before pausing on her bedroom where the faint sound of a shower could be heard. God, she was not about to answer me. With that realization I pulled up my order details to see when it would be delivered. I groaned when it wasn’t due to arrive until Saturday afternoon. Well, shit. I guess my sucking up would have to wait until after my brothers’ visit. I just hoped it would be enough. I couldn’t take much more of her anger. It was slowly killing me. And God knew, I was only just coming back to life. I wasn’t ready to die all over again.