VII.
After a couple of days of living with my new master things had started to settle into a routine of helping with the cooking and cleaning, usually while being tutored by one of the other girls or Mama Kelly, punctuated by extended periods of downtime, which usually meant reading and sex.
Today was sadly not one of those days. Instead, on the grounds that Anne and my master would be enough supervision for me, Mama Kelly and Grace had gone off to see some trendy grocery store on the other side of town. Of course, that just meant that Anne holed up in the quarters watching a tv show while mending curtains, while my master locked himself in his room to 'watch a racing stream on his computer,' whatever that meant. I didn't really see the appeal in nature documentaries, so I had politely said nothing at the time.
A couple hours after he had left though, I was starting to feel bored and lonely, and had run out of ways to keep my mind off the itchy rash that was covering a decent portion of my chest. I'd done everything I knew how to do, and well, all the books I wanted to read were in Master's bedroom. As was Master, who I really wanted to cuddle up with under the blankets as I felt his abs. Or possibly to have him lay his head in my lap as I fed him something, and maybe played with his hair.
My train of thought was interrupted when a familiar looking girl I didn't recognize in a t-shirt and shorts arrived in the kitchen, and loudly cleared her throat.
"Lost in thought?" the girl said.
"A bit," I lied, as I tried to place who the girl was, and where I knew her from, "I was just wondering what my master might like for lunch."
"Smoked Mullet sandwiches are pretty much Steven's catnip." She said with a wave of her hand, "There should be some spread in the fridge that's had a couple of days to mellow, and there's leftover brioche rolls from last night. Just feed him one of those with some lettuce and a tomato slice and he'll be yours for the rest of the day, unless you were snacking on sardines again."
I just stood there, still trying to place the girl, until she spoke again. "Holy crap, you really don't recognize me with my hair down." She said, as she pinched the bridge of her nose, "Marie, I'm Anne."
"Wait, aren't we always supposed to be in uniform?" I said, as Anne reached into the fridge to pull out a bottle of some blue liquid.
"Eh, not for us." Anne said, before taking a swig from the bottle. "For you maybe, but that's up to Steven."
I sighed. "Of course it is."
Anne then took the chance to pull up the back of my skirt. Now almost used to the goings on of the household, I didn't react.
"Of course, if you're wearing something like this for him, and forget the blouse and skirt, I'm sure he'd be willing to discuss your uniform." She said while letting my skirt fall back into place.
"Actually, what's a sandwich?" I said, ignoring the younger, if much larger, girl's comment.
Almost immediately afterward, I felt Anne seize me with her surprisingly powerful hands and spin me around to face her. "You can't be serious," she said with an indescribable look on her face, "You cannot have gone your entire life without knowing what a sandwich is."
I smirked and started giggling, as I watched her expression shift in realization. "Of course I know what a sandwich is!" I said, in between laughs, "I used to see them on TV all the time when I was younger. We didn't get them that often, just like bread, but we knew free people ate them."
"You do know how to make them though, right?" Anne said with a concerned look.
After about ten minutes of trying and failing, the answer was clear. According to Anne, I had no idea how to make a sandwich.
However, my failure was apparently still good enough for my master, (I got the feeling Anne didn't exactly have the highest opinion of him,) so I was sent up to his room with a basket holding the sandwich, a container of Mama Kelly's vile cold slaw, leftover stew for myself, and a tub of grapes.
Anne came up with me, and knocked on the door. "Young Master, I've had Marie prepare your lunch for you." She said, "I would greatly appreciate it if you could keep an eye on her while I attend to the lawn as well."
"Uh, yeah, sure," came the response from the other side of the door, followed shortly by the sounds of the heavy door unlocking, and opening.
Master stuck his head out of his room, and immediately noticed the basket. "Oh, good, I won't have to miss the final match." He said, before motioning for me to enter.
I noticed the room was somehow cleaner than it usually was, with Master's computer open on his bed and the television on at the same time, and there was a coffee table where there was usually a pile of books and a bottle with a ship in it, between the bed and the TV.
"Just put everything on the coffee table." Master said as he locked the door behind me. "You can clear off more space if you think it's necessary, just don't lose the remote."
Deciding that there was already enough space free, I placed the basket on the table and opened it up, placing the containers out, and sorting them between Master's lunch and my own.
Soon enough, Master sat down and began eating. I sat nearby, waiting for him to finish. "Did you make this?" He said, pointing to the half eaten sandwich in his hand. I nodded meekly, afraid that I might have displeased him. "It's good. The Brioche is a bit over the top, but that's Anne's sort of thing."
I nodded to acknowledge the compliment he gave me, and then returned to patiently waiting as Master ate, and watched his racing stream, which actually turned out to be a sailboat race.
He looked over at me. "We're alone. You don't have to wait to eat until after I've finished." He said, "I mean I can tell you're really eying that bowl of ghemeih, and well, it feels really weird to eat when other people are watching you."
I opened the lid on the bowl, picked up a spoon and ate in silence alongside my master as he focused intently on the race.
Before long I'd found myself being engrossed in the race as well, and lost track of time, and my relative position to my master. By the end of the race, I'd managed to end up with my head on his shoulder.
"Marie, I don't mind if you lean up against me like this, in fact, I actually like it" he said as I bolted upright and scooted away from him, "But if you're going to make a habit of it, we'll have to get you a different shampoo. You're starting to smell like my sisters, and it's freaking me out."
"I smell like your sisters?" I said confused, as I looked at Master. "But I've been using Grace's shampoo..."
"...And I'm more closely related to her than I am to my father." Master said, "We both have the same father, and our mothers are half-siblings. Of course, that doesn't change that you still smell like dandruff shampoo and woolite."
"I see." I said, not quite comprehending all of that.
My master then grabbed me and pulled me into a hug. I gave a slight yelp, and he chuckled in response. "You did good today, and since we've both got a bit of time free, I've decided to let you have a little treat. " He said, as he held me close enough that I could hear his heart beat. "Until Anne comes back, you can ask any questions you have, and I'll try to answer them the best I can."
That was well, unexpected, as was the fact that Master let me move around so that I could be more comfortable in his embrace. I didn't know what I did to please him that much, but I guess food and accidental intimacy was good enough for him.
