Leah's Determination

Leah

I excitedly put my shoes on while Armadillo watched me with his eyebrow raised.

“Are you sure about this?” He asked, making me groan.

“Yes, Armadillo. He said if I still wanted to in a few days, then we could move forward. It’s been three. I’m ready to make it official,” I told him.

He sighed. “Alright, but just remember what I said,” he said as we walked out the door.

I grinned at him as I locked the door before hugging him tightly. “Don’t take no for an answer.”

“Bingo.”

He kissed my cheek before walking off toward his house. I was impressed with him. To be honest, I was impressed with both of them. I knew they both wanted me, but neither of them really pressured me to make a decision either way, even though I knew it was killing both of them to see me with the other. I never thought that men could be like them. They were so kind, letting me make my own decisions without punishing me for looking at another, which was what I was used to. They were really making me feel comfortable in my own skin and my decisions. Wanting Brennan was the one that I was the most sure about. I absolutely adored him, even when he was stupid.

I practically skipped down the road to his office, eager to start our relationship. Well, start it again. I should have never ended things with him in the first place, so I was definitely glad that he hadn’t shut me out completely. I was worried for a while that he truly cared about me because all it seemed like was that he wanted to touch me, but at the wedding, he had made it clear to me that he could just spend time with me without needing to go sexual. That along with the fact that he expressed that along with a desire to try again had my stomach in a constant state of knots, just waiting for the chance to see him again.

When I made it to his office, I stopped in front of the elevator, waiting for it to open for me like it always did. After a few minutes when it hadn’t opened, I frowned at it before lifting my watch to my mouth with the button deployed so I could call him.

“R. H. M., are you in the office? Or are you out? I can meet you wherever you are if you are,” I said.

“I’m at the office,” he responded after a few moments.

“Oh. Well, I’m here. I wanted to talk to you,” I told him, not able to  contain my excitement any longer.

“I’m busy, Phoenix. Maybe some other time.”

I lowered my hand, glaring up at the camera that I just knew he was watching me from. What the heck happened? Phoenix? Busy? And why did he sound like that? The last time we were together, he was so happy and sweet to me. I knew he hadn’t left Eden since we got back, so that limited what could have happened. It didn’t matter what happened, I wasn’t going to let him use it to break us apart again. I wasn’t going to let him slide backward, not when we had come so far. I stuck my hand in my pocket to get the master key he had given to me as I walked over to the wall he had come from when he caught me when I tried to run from him the day before the wedding.

I studied the wall searching for a hidden door or something, frowning even deeper when there was no evidence of one amongst the mural. Sighing, I walked to one corner of the wall, placing one hand on the wall at chest level while my other one was held out in front of me. I closed my eyes before slowly making way down the wall, focusing on feeling for any signs of a door. When my hand crossed a very small crack, I stopped, sliding my hand over the spot again to make sure. Once I was sure, I began to run my hands around the area, searching for a way to open it. When my hands hit cold metal a little above my hip, I opened my eyes, blinking in surprise when I found myself standing in front of a painted door. He hid the door inside of a door. How smart!

Trusting my instincts, I tried to slide the master key into the lock on the door, silently celebrating when I was correct. I turned the key, and the door immediately popped open.

I entered a stairwell, grimacing when I realized that I was going to have to take them. I had hoped it was a secret elevator, but oh well. I shut the door behind me before jogging up the stairs to his office, slipping out of the stairwell before immediately going over to his desk where he sat stiffly with a neutral look on his face. God, how I hated that look. I crossed my arms over my chest.

“What happened?” I asked.

“Nothing. I’m just busy,” he repeated, pointing at the papers on his desk.

I pulled out the certificate of completion he had given me before holding it out to him. “I wanted to talk about this. You said to think about it for a few days, and I did. This is what I want. I want to be with you.”

“I’m sorry, but it’s against the rules. Would you like to do a VR session?” He asked.

I stared at him in shock. “Are we seriously back to this ‘against the rules’ thing again?”

“It’s not a ‘thing,’ Phoenix. It’s the rules, and I won’t break them. Now if you’re here for a session, I can do that,” he said, staring down at his papers.

“I’ll let you have sex with me,” I blurted, getting desperate to break him out of this attitude he had.

“If you’re not here for a session, then you may go. There is no other reason you should be here.”

I stared at him completely in shock. This was not the man that had taken me to the wedding. This was the man that would rather lose me than admit that he cared about me. He drew in a breath as he picked up a piece of paper. Now I knew something was really wrong. He never passed up the chance to touch me. I reached across the desk to cover his hand with mine.

“R. H. M., what happened?” I asked softly. “I know something’s wrong. Talk to me. We can handle it. Whatever it is, I’m here with you.”

He raised his eyes to mine, and I pulled my hand back at the coldness in them. “I don’t have any money, Phoenix. Eden has money, but me, I’m broke. I have $67 in my account. Mister makes sure that I have no access to Eden’s accounts.”

My eyes widened. “What are you talking about?” I asked, completely confused. “I don’t care if you have money or not. I’m not like that.”

“Everyone’s like that, Phoenix, especially when they say they’re not. Now, if you don’t mind, please leave if you’re not going to do a VR session.”

“If I do a VR session, are you going to join me?” I inquired, already knowing what his response would be.

“It’s against the rules that Mister set,” he deadpanned, just like I knew he would.

I narrowed my eyes on him briefly before nodding. “Alright.”

I spun around on my heel to stroll toward Mister’s office.

“I’ll cue up your program,” he called behind me.

“Don’t bother,” I responded. “I’m going to talk to Mister.”

I slammed the office door behind me as I went to sit cross-legged on the chair in the middle of the room with my arms crossed over my chest.

“Hey, Mister!” I spat.

If he wanted to play this stupid game, then I would play. I had no idea what happened, but I did know that I hadn’t done anything. When I got no response, I turned to face the camera.

“I’m not leaving until you talk to me!” I threatened.

“What do you want to talk about?” The robotic voice said over the speaker.

“I want you to change the rule about R. H. M. dating, so I can be with him,” I said.

“No. The rules were created to protect Eden.”

I clenched my jaw tightly. “Then I want to date you.”

“I don’t date either,” the voice said.

“Let me guess, because it’s against the rules,” I grumbled.

“Yes. That’s exactly why.”

“Then I want to fuck you,” I told him, stumbling over the word ‘fuck.’

“So, this is all about sex? That’s what you want? Sex?”

“No, but if that’s all I can get, then I will take it,” I answered.

I waited patiently for him to respond, willing to wait as long as I had to get him to talk to me.

“Fine. I’ll have sex with you. Remove your clothes and put the blindfold from the table on,” the robotic voice answered.

I flinched, knowing he was trying to deter me by playing on my fear of being restrained. I swallowed hard as I forced myself to get up to move over to the table where I shed my clothes before staring at the blindfold. When I made no move to put it on, the speaker crackled again.

“Did you change your mind?” The robotic voice asked.

I picked the blindfold up before hesitantly putting it on. “Not at all!” I said out loud before whispering, “I am not giving up on you. If I have to use your desire against you, I will do it, so that we can both win instead of both of us losing.”