As she made a move to follow, Emma caught her arm. “Danielle, stop!” she ordered. “He’s already gone.”
Dani glared at her, but obeyed, as the store manager descended on the crowd and tried to put some order to the chaos.
* * *
Dani shifted in the bedroom corner as Emma continued to pace behind her. “I can’t believe you didn’t just call the police, Danielle. He could have been caught and maybe be in jail by now.”
“He would have been gone before they even got there. I had to do something.”
Emma stopped pacing and turned Dani to face her. “You’re right, you were supposed to keep your butt on that bench until I came out. That’s the only thing you had to do.” Emma began pacing again. “You should have called the police, not tried to play hero.”
“I couldn’t let him bother you again,” Dani began. “He was taking pictures of you, for Christ’s sake. I wanted him to know that Uncle Sean may not be here, but I am; it’s my job to protect you, Emma.”
Emma stopped pacing once more before grabbing Dani by the arm and giving her a swat to her backside hard enough to make her own hand sting. “And who gave you that job, Danielle Ryan? Just who decided that you needed to step up and do something so… so…”
Dani stepped forward and took Emma into her arms, slowly sliding them both down the wall as Emma began to sob. Sitting on the floor, Dani pulled the smaller woman into her lap and began to rock her as Emma broke down.
“Damn it, Dani, you don’t know… you just don’t know. He’s dangerous… he’s, he’s…”
“He’s what? Tell me, Emma, let me help you.”
“Just promise me. Promise me you won’t ever confront him again,” Emma continued to sob.
“Alright, I promise. Next time I’ll call the police, I promise.” Those words seemed to help Emma calm and Dani continued to rock her and kiss the top of her head. “It’ll be okay, Emma, I promise,” she whispered as Emma sniffled.
Looking up at Dani, Emma once again placed her head under Dani’s chin, snuggling into the safety of her arms. “When I saw you standing over him like that…” Emma shuddered. “All I could think about was what if he pulls out a gun or a knife. I can’t lose you, Dani.”
Dani hugged Emma tighter. “I’m not going anywhere, Emma. I love you and I promise that I’m not going anywhere.”
* * *
Dani was unsuccessfully trying to rub the sting out of her backside. It had been a long day, and Emma had reached her breaking point. The confrontation with Sampson had really upset her, and then discovering that Dani had been hoarding junk food was the just proverbial icing on the cake. When Dani decided to add the attitude to the mix, Emma declared that she had enough, and had made her point clear with a not-so-gentle reminder from the hairbrush.
The spanking had been painful, but not really surprising. Dani had given herself over to Emma months ago and had accepted Emma’s dominance in their relationship. Emma was in control, and Dani accepted and even welcomed the stability that Emma offered her with it. Emma provided rules that were easy for Dani to live by. There were both consequences and rewards, and Dani embraced it all.
Before they met, Dani had no order in her life. She lived day to day, eating nothing but junk food and guzzling gallons of diet soda. She knew that wasn’t good for her. Nor were the endless hours she kept as owner of Ryan’s Events, her party planning business.
She used both the food and the business to hide. She used them as a shield to keep the world from knowing the real Danielle Ryan. The business was enormously successful, as she was the go-to gal for any of the rich, famous, and sometimes infamous of Chicago, but it was all for show. Emma was the first one in a long time to see through all that and discover the real Dani. Because of that, Dani knew she needed Emma like she needed air, but she also had her moments where she wished she could go back to hiding.
One of those moments was happening now, as Dani was making a pathetic attempt to get even for her smarting backside by glaring at Emma as she went through all her drawers, bags, boxes, and other personal effects. So far, Emma had managed to find every secret stash of candy, chips, and junk food that she’d smuggled into the apartment.
Feeling a weight on the bed, Dani slowly raised herself up and leaned back on her elbows. “I can’t believe you went through all my stuff.”
Emma sat on the bed and glared at her. “I can’t believe you had candy and chips stuffed inside your suit pockets and briefcase. Not to mention the things I found in those otherwise empty shoeboxes.”
“Those are emergency provisions,” Dani protested.
“These are contraband, Danielle. I thought we agreed that you wouldn’t hide things from me. It doesn’t bother me that you have them, just that you’re not being honest. That’s wrong, and they have earned you yet another consequence for your actions.”
“You’re really getting on my nerves, Emma,” Dani huffed.
Emma came forward, stopping so that she was nose to nose with Dani. “And you, young lady, are about to see what happens when my nerves are stepped on.”
Dani rolled her eyes. “Like I’m really scared.”
Emma narrowed her eyes. “Perhaps your backside isn’t sore enough?”
Dani snorted. “Really, you’re going to spank me again?”
Emma studied her for a moment, before suddenly pulling back. “You know, no, I’m not. Not tonight, and not for this.”
“Tomorrow?” Dani asked, her voice wavering slightly.
Emma sighed before looking at the clock, and then grabbed the bags containing Dani’s hidden food. “Come on, Dani, I’m hungry and I bet you are too. We can finish our conversation after dinner.”
Feeling uneasy at Emma’s sudden change in mood, Dani slowly stood and followed her to the kitchen. Sitting down gingerly, she waited while Emma pulled items out of the refrigerator, and then shifted nervously as Emma placed a glass of water in front of her along with a small plate. “What is this?”
“Your dinner,” Emma responded, taking a bite of her pasta salad.
“But it’s a candy bar and a bag of chips.”
“It is. I figured if you felt the need to hide so many of them, then you really must need them, bon appetit.”
Dani looked at her plate again and then over to Emma’s. “What are you having?”
“Leftover chicken and pasta salad,” Emma answered, holding back her smile.
“Oh,” Dani still looked confused, but the candy bar on the plate was calling her name. She opened it and took a large bite, savoring the chocolatey goodness inside. Her second bite was every bit as tasty, but her eyes wandered to Emma’s plate. That pasta salad looked good too. Emma had even put bits of pepperoni in it for her. After the third bite, she put the remaining bar back onto her plate.
Maybe the chips would be better; after all, they were extra cheddar, her favorite. Pulling the bag open, she popped one in her mouth. It tasted dull, and the nacho party her tongue was supposed to be having just wasn’t happening tonight.
“What’s the matter?” Emma asked.
“Ah, nothing, guess I’m just not as hungry as I thought. Can I be excused?”
“Sure, honey. I think it’s time you get ready for bed anyway. I’ll be in shortly.”
“Do you want me to wait in the corner?”
Emma shook her head. “No, I already told you I’m not going to spank you tonight, but I do want to talk to you. So, go ahead and get ready.”
* * *
Dani’s face fell and Emma almost felt sorry for her as Dani dragged herself down the hallway. She had never seen Dani so disappointed at not being sent to the corner. Waiting until she knew Dani had reached the bedroom, she grabbed her keys and quietly slipped out the front door. She had something specific in mind for Dani, but needed to go down to the store, their store, to get it.
It seemed like a lifetime ago, but it had only been a few months since Dani had entered her life. Sean, her boss, her friend, and her honorary
‘uncle’ had passed from a sudden heart attack. He’d left his bookstore to both Emma and his niece, Dani, asking Emma to watch over them both.
Dani had been difficult from the beginning. Emma immediately saw her as a spoiled, rich brat who thought she was better than everyone else, but she had quickly learned that Dani’s behavior was a façade. Dani only used that image to keep people at bay. Once Emma saw her for the frightened little girl that was really deep inside, however, everything changed. Emma had not only become Dani’s friend, but her lover, and at times her disciplinarian. That frightened little girl needed guidance, and Emma loved her enough to make sure she received it.
This was one of those times. Dani was pushing her. She was looking for a reaction, and so far Emma had disappointed her. Emma had made her feel vulnerable, taking away her hidden comforts, but they both knew that it wasn’t healthy for Dani to return to her old habits. That was about to change. There were ways to get Dani to reflect on her behavior other than a trip over Emma’s knee, and it was about time Emma expanded Dani’s understanding.
Making her way down the back stairs, Emma was again thankful that she and Dani lived in one of the two upstairs apartments. It was convenient, especially at times like this where Emma needed something special. Making her selection quickly, she grabbed a paper sack from under the counter to hide her gift before making her way back up to the apartment.
As Emma reentered the apartment, she dropped her keys and headed straight to the bedroom, only to find Dani in pajamas curled up on the bed. She was facing away from her, and Emma couldn’t help but smile at how cute she was in her pink cartoon-kitty pajamas.
The outfit brought back memories. Emma had purchased it for Dani to use when she was being punished and it was childish on purpose, but sometimes Dani wore it voluntarily. This was one of those times, when Dani was feeling like a little girl and used the pajamas as an indication of that.
Crossing the room, she laid her bag on the nightstand and put her hand on Dani’s shoulder. “Hey you didn’t fall asleep on me already, did you?” she teased.
Dani rolled over. “No,” she sniffled. “I’m sorry, Emma.”
“Hey now, why the tears?” Emma asked, running the back of her fingers down Dani’s cheek.
“I heard the door, I thought you left,” Dani sniffled again.
“I did, for a minute. I had to run down to the store. I have a present for you.”
Dani wrinkled her brow in confusion. “But I don’t deserve a present.”
“Well, that’s too bad, cuz I got one for you anyway,” Emma grinned as she handed the bag to Dani.
Dani shifted so that she was sitting up. Taking the bag, she opened it and pulled out a novel-sized, leather-bound journal. Flipping through it, she noted the pages were blank. “I don’t understand. Are you going to spank me with it?”
Emma threw her head back and laughed. “No, where would you ever get that idea?” Fingering the journal, Emma shook her head; the thought would have never occurred to her, but perhaps there was a possibility there. After all, it was made of leather.
“Stevie… Anna, never mind,” Dani blushed slightly, thinking of their two employees and their sometimes playful antics inside the store. “It’s very nice though, thank you, Emma.”
“I don’t know if you should be thanking me yet. There is a reason why I picked up that journal for you. I’m giving you a little assignment.”
“Assignment?”
“Uh-huh. What I want you to do is create a food journal. What that means is I want to you write down everything you eat every day.”
“But you know what I eat, you feed me…” Dani started to argue.
“Obviously I don’t, Danielle.”
Dani shifted. “Oh.”
“Here is how it’s going to work. As long as you are honest and record things accurately, you will not be punished for anything you write in this book. You will show me the book anytime I request it, and we will talk about it from time to time. Do you understand?”
“I think so, but what if I’m not honest? What if I don’t write something down?”
“There are two ways this book can get you into trouble, Danielle. One, if you lie about writing or not writing something down, and two, if you fail to write anything down at all. Obviously if I see blank pages, I can assess that, but only you know if you are lying to yourself, and by extension to me. If that happens, I expect you to tell me, and then ask me to punish you for it.”
Dani blinked, her face growing pale. “You want me to ask for punishment, like ask you to spank me? I don’t know if I can do that.”
“Well then, I suggest that you don’t lie,” Emma replied evenly.
Dani chewed her lip for a moment. “So, even if, say I eat six candy bars, as long as I write it down I can’t be punished for it?”
“No,” Emma smiled. “It’s my hope, Dani, that this will help you so you don’t need to hide food. I’m going to clear out a cupboard in the kitchen to put all your junk food in. I expect that you use that instead of your sock drawer from now on.”
“You’re not going to throw it away?”
“No, I’m not.”
Dani smiled. “Is it okay if I start tonight?”
Emma couldn’t help but return the smile. “Sure, but then straight to bed. You still owe me the early bedtime from this afternoon.”
“Okay, Emma,” Dani replied as she bent forward and kissed Emma on the cheek. “Love you.”
“Love you too. I’m going to give you a few minutes while I go clean up the kitchen, then I’ll be back to tuck you in, okay?”
Dani nodded, already digging through the nightstand drawer for a pen.
Chapter Two
“What are you doing, Dani? The sun isn’t even up yet,” Emma scolded from the door of the study. Dani was sitting on the floor looking through the box of toys that they’d put in there during her grounding a few weeks ago.
Dani looked up and shrugged. “Not sure. I couldn’t sleep, so I thought I’d look through this box.”
“Oh?” Emma asked, coming into the room. “Do you want to talk about it?”
Dani again shrugged. “I’m not sure. I just got to thinking about them and wanted to look at them again.”
“You had fun playing with them, didn’t you?”
Dani frowned slightly. “I guess so. At the time I wasn’t really thinking about it, it kind of just happened. I mean, I knew that I was being naughty by ordering them and then making a mess, but I guess it was fun.”
Emma sat cross-legged next to Dani. “It’s okay if you want to play with them. I don’t think it’s silly.”
“You don’t?”
Emma smiled and leaned forward to give Dani a kiss on the cheek. “No, I don’t. In fact, I think it’s good for you to let your inner child out sometimes. I, for one, had a lot of fun with that fingerpaint.”
“I had more fun after we were done fingerpainting,” Dani smirked.
“Well, yeah, and then cleaning up afterwards…”
“Soap… I’ll never look at soap the same way again.”
Emma chuckled. “Human canvases are always more fun.” She patted Dani’s knee supportively. “I’m gonna go back to bed.”
Dani looked at her box and then back to Emma. “You’re not going to make me go back to bed too?”
“No, but if you wanted to join me, that might be nice.”
Dani grinned. “Can we take a shower afterwards, with soap?”
“What’s a shower without soap?” Emma teased. She then got up and offered a hand to Dani. Dani gladly took the hand and let Emma escort her back to bed.
* * *
It was morning, the next day, when Emma called out to Dani from the bathroom. She had just stepped out of the shower and was getting ready. She and Dani were planning on going out for brunch, as they were both working a later shift at the store today. Tonight they had plans to go to Stevie and Anna’s for dinner and a movie, so their two employees had asked to work t
he earlier shifts and open the store.
“You bellowed?” Dani smirked as she peeked into the bathroom, thoroughly enjoying the sight of her girlfriend toweling herself off.
“Is your journal up to date? I want to see it before we go.”
Dani’s smirk melted into a frown, but she shook it off quickly. “Ah, almost. I’ll go update it now.”
Dani slipped back into the bedroom, where she retrieved her journal off the nightstand. It had been almost three weeks since she’d started to keep it and so far it had been working nicely. Emma had checked it twice, and each time they’d discussed it. True to Emma’s word, Dani hadn’t been punished for anything she wrote down. Sitting on the edge of the bed, she flipped to her entry from the night before. Last thing she recorded was dinner. Skipping down a bit, she wrote the date, and then added the bagel she had with peanut butter after her run. Pausing for a moment in debate, she regretfully decided not to add the 3:00 a.m. candy bar she’d had.
She hated the idea of lying about it, but at the same time, Emma would question the entry, and she’d be forced to admit that she was up in the middle of the night again, something that Emma had been working with her on. Emma knew exactly when she’d fallen asleep the night before, as they’d both been rather exhausted by the time they actually got to sleep. She also had been up unusually early this morning, surprising Dani when she’d returned from her run. Either way, Dani was screwed.
“Done?” Emma asked, appearing fully dressed from the bathroom.
“Yeah,” Dani admitted, handing the journal over to Emma as she sat on the bed next to her.
Emma opened the journal and turned back to look over the last three days. Approving, she nodded and then put her initials at the end of the list. “It looked good, sweetie. I’m proud of you. You’ve been doing really well.”
Dani shifted a bit, managing a half smile. Why, of all the mornings for Emma to check, did she have to pick this one? “Thanks,” she commented, accepting the journal back and returning it to the nightstand.
The Art of Discipline: Running Toward Trouble (The Mockingbird Chronicles) Page 2