12. Chapter Ten
CHAPTER TEN
SAMMI
“A re you sure you want to work today?” Daddy asked. “You look a little sick today. Did you sleep well last night? Eat and drink enough?”
“I’m fine.” Sammi sighed. “I’m perfectly fine.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, boss. I am.”
Sammi hadn’t slept well at all. She kept tossing and turning, her mind going a thousand miles per minute, but she couldn’t remember a thing she was thinking about.
Was she okay? Probably not.
She was absolutely exhausted, both mentally and physically today. Worse than all the times before, and she didn’t know what was different. Maybe it was because she got spanked two days ago and took yesterday off. When was the last time she’d had a day off?
She held back a snort. She did have days off, Daddy made sure everyone did. Hers happened to be on Monday and Tuesday, her new weekend. But she still found herself doing odd jobs around the town so she could earn a little money on the side.
Delivering food to elderly people, baking cookies for fundraisers, helping people with their yards, and a lot more. Any spare cash she could get, she was working for. And yet her brother was still in debt, no matter how much either of them worked.
“Little One?” Daddy brought her back to the present.
“Hmm?” She looked up from her hands.
She was supposed to be writing her lines, but ever since Daddy saw her looking worse, she had been sitting in front of him. What was he going to do? Would he allow her to work?
“Off with the princesses again?”
Sammi giggled. Princesses. He thought she was a princess.
“Find that funny? You don’t think you’re a princess?”
“Am I ever going to finish these?” she asked.
Sammi didn’t really want to do her lines, but she didn’t want to talk about how exhausted she felt. She needed the money, which meant working. And if Daddy was worried about how tired she looked, then he could tell her she wasn’t going to work.
“Nothing is stopping you from finishing your punishment,” Daddy pointed out. “You’ve already started them. You can talk while you write.”
Sammi glared at Daddy. She had thought that he would want her to look at him while he spoke. Okay, she hadn’t really thought that because he told her they were going to talk while she did her punishment. She just didn’t want to talk about how awful she felt. She knew she looked awful, but there was nothing she could do about it.
She had tried so many different things, and they all failed. Now, she wasn’t trying anything and was waiting for her doctor’s appointment tomorrow.
“Oh, I have something I need to tell you.” She looked at Daddy.
“Yes, Little One?” He leaned back in his chair.
“Tomorrow I’m taking my lunch break a little bit later so I can go to an appointment. It was a last-minute thing. I will eat my lunch as I walk to the doctor’s office.”
Nerves raced through her as she waited for his reaction. Would he realize that her insurance had just kicked in? Would he ask her if she only got this job for the insurance? Sammi didn’t want to get into trouble, but she needed to find out what was going on with her health.
Alarm flashed across his face. “Are you okay? Are you getting sick? Do you need Daddy to come with you?” he rushed out.
Sammi was working on her lines again, not really wanting to see all the other emotions that went across his face.
“It’s just a routine check-up. Like a physical, but not a physical… I just wanted to let you know that my lunch break will be later so that I can go to it,” she explained.
She had it all figured out. Was it ideal for her to take her lunch break almost an hour after her normal time? Probably not, and she knew her body was going to feel it.
“Just take the afternoon off and go to the appointment. You’re okay. Do you want me to come with you?”
Sammi continued to write her lines, pondering his question. Did she want him to come with her? She would absolutely love it, but she wasn’t going to take him up on that. What if she did get told that she was dying? Would she want him there?
It wouldn’t be nice if she got that prognosis, she had a feeling that it would change how much she would be able to work or not. If she was going to die, she wanted to work as much as she could to help her brother get out of debt. That would be her dying wish.
“Little One? Would you like Daddy to come with you?” he asked again.
Sammi shook her head and looked up. A flicker of disappointment flashed across his face, and she wanted to turn back and say yes to him. She didn’t like disappointing people, but at the same time, she didn’t want him to go to the appointment in case it was bad news.
“If you change your mind, you let me know. If you want me to drive you there, you let me know. I don’t care if it’s two minutes before you need to leave. If you want me to come or drive you there, I will.”
Sammi blinked several times, trying to get rid of the tears that threatened to appear. He just kept saying things that made her heart flutter and melt at the same time. It was like he knew exactly what she needed to hear every time.
Was he a wizard?
“Now, how are those lines coming along?” Daddy asked.
Grabbing the piece of paper, she held it up for Daddy to see. She was almost done with them. Her hand was aching, her fingers cramping but she was determined to finish them.
“Good girl. You finish them off, and then we’ll find you something to do,” Daddy gently said. “You’ll take it easier today.”
She shook her head. “No.”
Daddy narrowed his eyes on her. “I don’t like the word no. Especially when it comes from you. I think you should say, ‘Yes, Daddy’ instead.”
“No.”
He stood to his full height, walking around his desk and straight to her. He was looming over her, probably trying to intimidate her, which was working.
“You need to take it easier today. After your appointment tomorrow, you can go back to working like you were. Unless the doctor says something I don’t like.”
“What’s your definition of something you don’t like?” she asked.
“Anything really. He could say your iron is low, so I’ll make you work less and make sure you’re getting supplements. Or your Vitamin D is low, which it shouldn’t be with how much you are out in the sun.”
Sammi glared at him. “You can’t do that!”
“Yes, I can, and I will if I have to. Your well-being is important to me.”
“Just because I’m a girl?”
“Yes and no. If one of the other employees told me they got diagnosed with something, they would take some of the easier jobs to get a handle on it and slowly build back up.”
“Bull,” she called him out.
Daddy sighed and knelt in front of her. “Maybe that was a little exaggeration, but I want you well. I don’t want you to run yourself into an early grave. I won’t let that happen. So today, you are going to take it easier, along with tomorrow and any other day if you get told something. Okay?”
Sammi shook her head. “I’m going to work like normal. It’s just a routine check-up,” she explained. “I don’t need to take it easier today! I’m fine.”
She totally did, but she didn’t want anyone else to think she was getting special treatment. Would they hate her for it? Would they think she was sleeping with him to get benefits and easier jobs?She wasn’t sleeping with him at all!
“Little One.” He cupped her face.
She leaned into his right hand and took a deep breath. Having his warm hands against her cheeks just made everything better. Made her feel like she mattered to someone.
“You look absolutely exhausted. I don’t want you to overwork yourself,” he gently said.
“But I’m fine,” she whispered. “I really am. I just want to work.”
She needed the money to help her brother and to put food on her table. Was she exhausted? Absolutely. She had been this way for a while now, but she had to push through it. She needed to.
“You’ll pack orders,” Daddy said. “It’s that, or you will sit in my office all day and relax.”
“Are there actually orders to pack today, or are you just telling me I’m going to do that?” She looked at him skeptically.
“There are actual orders. We just got an order last night that we need to fulfill by tomorrow.”
“Who will be working with me?”
She wanted anyone but Nolan. Nothing against him, but after he found out that she got spanked, she hadn’t been able to look him in the eyes. That and he was a Daddy. No doubt he would have something to say about how she looked. Sammi didn’t know if she wanted to put up with that today.
“You’ll be alone for several hours until Nolan finishes what he is doing. Then you two will work on it for a couple of hours before someone else comes in to help,” Daddy said.
She figured that was better than nothing. A couple of hours to relax and have to herself. She could do that. Hopefully, she would get a lot of the orders done so that when Nolan did come, there wasn’t much for him to do.
“So, what is it going to be? Sit here with Daddy all day or going to pack orders?” Daddy asked. “You pick, you are still going to get paid. I don’t want you to worry about that.”
Sammi didn’t even have to think about it. “I’ll pack the orders,” she replied, finishing off the last of her lines.
If she was going to get paid, she was actually going to work. The guilt was going to eat her up inside if she didn’t work and got paid like normal. It would be like paid time off, but she didn’t have any of that, which meant Daddy was going to lie about why she wasn’t working.
“Okay. I’ll be checking in with you a lot. I want to make sure that you’re okay and not over-exerting yourself. If I see that you are, I will make you come sit in my office for a little while or the rest of the afternoon,” Daddy said matter-of-factly.
Sammi wrinkled her nose and handed the piece of paper to Daddy. She would have to make sure she looked better than she did now whenever he came to check on her. Which meant she was going to have to stay alert.
There were at least two entrances to the barn where she would be working. Staying alert while also doing her job and feeling exhausted was going to make her even more tired. Would she survive today?
Only time would tell.
“Can I go now, Da—” Sammi stopped herself.
She couldn’t call him Daddy until she knew what was wrong with her and that she wasn’t dying. His eyes connected with hers, and he smiled at her.
“You can call me Daddy if you want,” he gently said, looking very pleased with her. “And yes, you may go. These are all neat, legible, and the right number are there. All is forgiven.”
Sammi relaxed into her chair for a couple of seconds before getting up. Daddy stood to and brought his arms around her before she knew what was happening.
“I’ve got you,” he whispered. “You can lean on me. I’ll be your rock. I’ll take care of you.”
Her whole body melted into his embrace, loving the feeling of his warmth surrounding her. Making her feel secure, safe, and wanted. How pathetic was that? She feels wanted just by a simple hug.
Daddy let go of her and took a step back. “Here’s your water bottle. I want this gone by lunchtime.”
She nodded. “Okay.”
Sammi was going to do her best to try and drink the water. It was hard when she had trained herself not to drink anything. It wasn’t that hard, but feeling exhausted and needing to walk to the bathroom several times would get old fast. But she also didn’t want the guilt of dumping it out somewhere and getting into trouble.
“Good girl. I’ll be by to check on you in a couple of hours,” Daddy kissed her forehead and pulled away.
After grabbing her water bottle, she started to walk toward the door. But with every step she took, the heavier her legs felt. It was like they were being weighed down by fifty-pound plates.
“Are you sure you want to go to work?” Daddy asked before she walked out the door.
“Yes. Packing orders won’t take a lot out of me,” she replied.
The only effort it would really take would be her standing to get to the bins, where the fruit was kept. It were high up and she wouldn’t be able to sit on a chair and do the job. But it was going to be okay. If she stayed in one spot, she would have put too much strain on her legs.
Or so she hoped. Her legs were always tired after work, even if she stayed in one position when milking the cows or packing. But hopefully, today would be different.
Sammi slowly made her way toward the barn. Her vision swirled as she stepped outside into the colder air. Instinctively, her arm shot out and landed on the wall. How was she going to make it through the day? Or should she have taken Daddy’s offer to stay in his office and relax?
Shaking her head, she continued to walk, determined to do her job. She told Daddy she was going to do this, which meant she was going to do it. He was relying on her now, and she didn’t want to put him in a pickle.
“Come on,” she whispered to herself.
With every step she took, it felt like she was trudging through knee-high mud. Her body grew weaker and weaker, her vision dancing as she looked at the barn.
“Sammi?” someone called out.
But she didn’t get to see who it was as she started to fall to the ground, blackness engulfing her vision.