Chapter 13 - Clark

The wine was savory, the pasta was scrumptious, and the conversation was unparalleled. I found myself wishing that I could replace every dull client dinner to come with a meal shared by Lily and the boys instead. She was marvelous. Timid on the surface, like every satisfactory submissive, but gleaming underneath with all the idiosyncrasies of temperament that marked quite a remarkable young woman. My boys had done well. They’d plucked her out of thin air and presented her to me on a platter like one of Adrian’s rapidly improving dishes.

I sat in the driver’s seat of my black SUV, watching Lily say her final goodbyes for the evening to the boys at the foot of the front steps, with tiny gnats swarming the porch lights above them. They laughed like old friends, having clearly had quite a day together. Oh, how I would’ve loved to be a fly on the wall for their escapades. I caught the tail end of one, at least, when I paused outside the kitchen door to hear their absurd attempts at designing games. Avett’s juvenile, “let’s all touch each other” game served as a crucial reminder to me that my boys were hardly more than teenagers: young men stumbling through their most hormonal years without the volition to alleviate their urges at will, which was so vital to the functioning of their peers.

As Lily approached my car, I composed a quick text to both of the boys.

Clark: You may masturbate to completion. Clean yourselves up and begin your homework by the time I get back.

It wasn’t the most elegant or romantic gesture, but I could only hope it would allow them to screw their heads on straight before the evening concluded.

Lily slipped into the passenger seat and promptly buckled herself in. She smelled exactly like Adrian, which I chalked up to the worn sweatshirt of his that still engulfed her.

“All set?” I asked, starting the car.

“Yes, Sir,” she said dreamily. I was pleasantly surprised by how comfortably and naturally she used the title already, though the wine could have played a factor in her ease. Two glasses of wine over dinner made her fluttery; her tolerance was lower than Adrian’s.

I swung the car around and began the winding drive to the main road. My phone was pinging, likely with replies of thanks from the boys, and I reached in my pocket to silence it. “You have such a beautiful home,” she fawned, watching it shrink in the side mirror.

“Thank you,” I said. I knew when she was only being polite, and this wasn’t that occasion; she genuinely treasured the place. “Did you have a good day with the boys?”

“It was the best day of my life,” she said.

I chuckled. Another flagrant truth. “What did you three get up to?”

“Let’s see...” She gazed down at her lap, where her hands were hidden inside her overlong sleeves. “Well, we fed the fish, which I loved, and we saw the garden, and we went swimming, and then I got to help chop the tomatoes.”

“Hence the knife.” I glanced at her.

She giggled. “Yeah, hence the knife.”

Feeding fish and chopping vegetables didn’t sound worthy of the best day of anyone’s life to me, but Lily seemed to have a knack for finding joy in even the most mundane activities. It was lovely. It made me wish I was ten years younger.

We were traversing the rural road now. I glanced at her again. I was about to initiate a conversation that I would have much preferred to have when she was stone sober, but I didn’t know when I would next catch her alone, and it was a conversation that was better had sooner rather than later.

“I’m impressed by your expertise of my rules,” I started.

“I memorized them,” she said. “From the list Adrian sent me.” She clammed up. He candor, so invaluable to me, perturbed her.

“Excellent work,” I said, commending her. She needed to understand that her commitment, as well as her honesty, were never, ever unbecoming. “It’s important to me that you have a say in this arrangement, as much as anyone,” I told her. “Are there any rules you disagree with?”

She didn’t need to think about that for very long at all. “Nope.”

“Are there any rules you particularly like?”

“Um ... Maybe the rule about homework,” she said slowly. “I’m bad at holding myself accountable for that kind of thing.”

I smiled, pleased to hear she saw the potential for real-world benefits.

“Good,” I said. “Lily, I must tell you that there are a few additional, very important rules that would apply to you as a woman,” I explained, trying my best to present it as an honor rather than a chore.

“What are they?”

“Well, for one, if we were to make this a more permanent arrangement, I would require you to use contraceptives. Do you take any type of birth control currently?”

“No.” Quick to comply, she added, “But I would definitely be willing to.”

“Good. I have a close friend who is a physician named Dr. Hartwell. She would be happy to arrange that for you.”

“Okay,” Lily said with a soft smile, relieved that she would not be on her own in that department. “What else?”

“Secondly, I would require that we monitor your period together. In the past I have done this using a shared menstruation tracking app.”

“Okay, that’s an easy one! I already use an app, so I can just give you the login.”

“Very good,” I said. She beamed. She had such a diverting affinity for praise, which I was all too happy to provide.

She played with a tawny strand of her hair, twisting it around her finger. “Anything else?”

“Those two are the only necessary additions. There is a third rule I can think of, but it’s just for fun.” She looked to me expectantly. I continued, “As you are probably aware, Avett and Adrian are quite stubborn about how they dress, so I haven’t enforced this with them. However, if you’re open to it, it would be an honor for me to have some degree of control over your appearance.” I caught her eye. “And don’t worry; I’d like to think I have better taste than Avett.”

She laughed. “Well, how would you dress me?”

“That depends. It may be something as simple as instructing you to wear a certain pair of underwear or style your hair a certain way. I may also want to shop for you and pick out entire outfits for you to wear.”