Attitude Adjustment

6 Friends With a Dom

On the tipsy ride back, I'm still digesting what his ex-girlfriend exposed.

Hayden is a freaking Dom.

What?

Shcho? Kya? Ano? Nani?

No wonder I get so flustered when he talks in that calm, deep voice. Why he immediately makes me feel more in touch with my femininity, like I can turn my brain off and chase dandelions in a flowy summer dress.

I'm attracted to it. Always have been. Maybe because my entire life, I've been in a fight-or-flight mode, forced to rely only on myself.

"What happened?" He breaks the silence.

"What? In the country or?"

"She called you a cunt. Why?"

I'm nervous about telling him I know the truth. He's always so strict about his privacy.

"Nothing. She tried to manipulate my opinion about you and got mad that it didn't work."

"What did she tell you, Hazel?"

He knows, doesn't he? If looks could kill, the cars in front of us would catch on fire.

I try to ease the tension. "She thought I'm your new sub! At first, I thought she was asking if I'm soup. I was like what? Then I heard newspaper. I was like, wait a minute, that can't be-"

"And you know what a sub is?"

"Of course. But I told her. I'm not a sub sandwich."

Dead silence. Any hope of me becoming a stand-up comedian is destroyed.

"Or a sub teacher." I drawl. "Or a sexy submarine-"

"Hazel."

"Yes, of course I know what it means! Jesus... I wasn't born yesterday."

He sighs through his nose, the cords down his neck flexing with tension.

Yeah, it was ridiculous of me to think he'd want to get back with her. It's clearly not the case.

"I'm sorry," I say.

"It's not your fault."

"I know, but she shouldn't have disrespected your privacy like that. I think she assumed I must be your new sub, because you got upset that I was drinking on an empty stomach."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"I don't know. She used it as a way to say that you used to control and abuse her. I think she was trying to 'warn' me."

"I never controlled or abused her." He scoffs, shaking his head. "And you're not my sub! I'd never act like a Dom without consent. That's fucking abuse."

"What? I am deeply offended. I thought when I agreed to be your housekeeper, that automatically enrolled me in a BDSM relationship with you. How. Dare. You."

His lips curve at the edges. I give myself a mental high-five and a kiss on the forehead for lightening the mood. You go, Glen Coco.

"Now that'd give you a reason to sue me," he says.

"Exactly. Then I'd steal your coffee machine. Damn. You found out my plan. There goes my chance of enjoying affogatos for the rest of my life."

He's quiet for a minute. "What'd you say after she told you all that?"

"Basically that she's uneducated and ignorant if she doesn't know the difference between being abusive and a Dom, and that I doubt you don't know the difference. Clearly I was right."