"Sir, you are so quiet? Is something wrong?" My heart skipped a beat hearing Renee come into the kitchen. I was pouring over documents. It was time to have a conversation I was avoiding.
"Renee, come sit down." She hesitantly sat down across from me at the table.
"Darling, it breaks my heart to tell you this, but I am sick." Her whole body stiffened in her seat. "It's prostate cancer. I am in the advanced stages. I plan to undergo treatment but have been told that living alone is not the best choice for my age. I've talked with your father; I will move into your home."
My heart broke after seeing how happy she was to hear we would live under the same roof. It was so difficult to have this honest conversation with her.
"Sweetheart, the success rate that they predicted is not very high." She reached out to take my hands.
"It will be all right, Grandpa. I'm not going anywhere." I smiled at her. Out of everything that frightened me about my future, Renee leaving is what I worried about the least. I put a hand on top of hers.
"Renee, I know you didn't think it would come this soon, but we are facing my mortality. So we will begin looking for your next partner."
"Partner? You mean...."
"Yes, we will be looking for your next Master. Someone who will take care of you when I am gone."
"No!" Renee screeched and stood up. She looked horrified by what I was saying. I stayed seated, knowing she only needed to release the anxiety regarding what I had just told her.
"I won't. I don't want anyone else! I won't be with anyone else. Once you are gone, there will be no second person for me." I tried to keep my tone calm.
"I won't accept that, Renee. We agreed that this would not be a monogamous relationship. I know we didn't discuss this scenario explicitly; however, this was my intention all along."
"You are fucking nuts if you think I am agreeing to this." I sighed. This conversation would not go any further until I adjusted her attitude. I stood up from my chair. Renee sensed my change in demeanor. I was understanding and patient before. Unfortunately, she had spent my patience. Renee shrunk back into her seat.
"Master...." She weakly tried to show her submission.
"You know better than to swear and raise your voice at me, Renee," I told her. She gulped. I took hold of the back of her neck and had her rise from her seat. She walked in front of me as I directed her up the stairs to my bedroom.
"Kneel," I ordered, placing her in the center of the room. She dropped to her knees in a second. I walked past her scared frame to the toy chest I had moved from the storage room back into my bedroom. I took out a leather blindfold.
"You claim to be able to endure a lifetime without submitting yourself to anyone else," I stepped behind her and put on the blindfold, "Let us test this theory. When I'm gone, this will be your life." When the blindfold was secure, I stepped away. I walked to the door and closed it to make Renee think I had left. Instead, I crept to a chair in my room and sat down.
Renee called me, attempting to assess if I was still in the room. I said nothing. I made sure not to give her any indication that I was there. As time ticked by, her anxiety increased. This type of neglect play was not something I took pleasure in. It must have been close to a half hour when she started to show signs that she was reaching her limit. Even with her eyes covered, I could tell she was ready to cry. In a last-ditch effort, she weakly called for me.
I got up from my seat, deciding she had been punished enough. I put my hands on her face and slid the blindfold off her eyes. She clung to my arms.
"I'm sorry," she told me with a sniffle.
"I understand, sweetheart. This was a lot to digest at once. I forgive you. But I won't make the same mistakes twice. Before Katherine passed, she made me promise I would find someone new. I ignored her, and I lost part of myself. I don't want you to lose part of yourself as I did. You are so young; I can't let you live with that loneliness. This isn't about finding a replacement. No one can replace Katherine or you in my heart; I'm sure no one can replace me in your heart. But some people can fulfill the role that I was meant to if I were here."