Better Ch. 03

4-3-5-6

Master's unit was around the corner. She knew he might be mad to see her there, intruding in what he was doing. But she wasn't there to judge him. He'd see that.

"Audrey?"

She spun around, started to hear Master's voice.

"Master, I'm sorry, I'm—"

"Stop. I know you're...shit, you're probably scared to death."

"I didn't come here to spy on you," she said.

"I wouldn't care if you had," he said, pain in his voice. "You...I'm so sorry."

"Master," she said, "I know—"

"No. You don't," he said, shaking his head.

Audrey could sense a change. Master had seemed in such pain before, but now something was changing. A smile was breaking out.

"You don't know, because I couldn't tell you until I was sure. And you have a fucking incredible sense of timing. Come here."

Audrey didn't hesitate, and within a moment she was in Master's arms, kissing him passionately in the middle of the storage facility. She lost all feeling for time and space, hoping that the moment would last forever.

Alex led her to his shed, pulling up the loud metal door. Inside, Audrey saw a make-shift desk, with his laptop plugged in. All around the desk were white cardboard file boxes, with what looked like charts and other incomprehensible computer printouts spread throughout the room.

He grabbed a printout and held it up.

"Do you see this?"

She nodded her head, though she had no idea where he was going with all this.

"I've looked for this...well, I wanted to find this before I even knew it existed. It's why I can do this..."

Alex began looking around the cluttered storage room.

"Have you seen my green jacket?"

Audrey, confused as she was by Master's ramblings, nevertheless spotted his familiar coat draped over a pile of black, spiral-bound notebooks. She walked over to pick it up for him, before he grabbed her by her arm.

"Let me get it—trust me."

She stopped in her tracks, and he clambered over boxes and what appeared to be more than a few crumpled bags of take-out to make it to his jacket. When he reached it, though, he didn't put it on, but instead rifled through the pockets until he found something; with his back turned to her, Audrey couldn't see exactly what it was.

Alex then paused, his eyes transfixed on those notebooks.

"Baby, do you remember Banff?"

Audrey as about to tell him she didn't when she felt an uncanny feeling. She didn't have a memory of Banff, but the word itself made her shiver. She knew it in her bones somehow.

"What happened there?"

Alex's manic energy ceased; suddenly, he was solemn again.

"This isn't how—Audrey? This is going to be a lot for you. Do you want me to wait? I can do this slower."

"Tell me," she begged. "I'm so tired of being in the dark about everything."

Alex looked her up and down, as if he was apprising how sturdy she was.

"Banff is where your dad died. You were a little girl, and you talk about in these notebooks, and...Audrey?!?"

Audrey shook her head and found herself slumped against a heap of half-empty cardboard boxes.

"Master—the window! I...remember."

"I know," he said. "It's in here."

"It was fall, and the snow came early, and the maples still had leaves."

Audrey felt short of breath and lightheaded. It took a moment before she could speak.

"It's death."

Alex looked at her quizzically.

"It's death. The window. It's death. It's my dad dying. And I replayed it over and over..."

Alex looked into her eyes deeply, solicitously. For a moment, she felt like he was living her pain with her.

"...because you wanted to go away. To be with him."

"I was so lost."

"But now?"

"I...I just want to be with you," she said.

"Me too. It just took me longer to get there," he said, "because I never believed I deserve you. Shit, I still probably don't, but I'll work every day of my life to be worthy of you, to deserve to be called 'Master' by you."

"I knew you would never hurt me. I always knew."

"I didn't. I've been killing myself going over all this stuff again. I never thought I'd ever get a chance to go through this material after what happened. When you talked to me about kids, I just...I panicked. I knew I couldn't be the person you needed me to be with all this hanging over our heads, and I knew that I never want to use my power over you for selfish reasons. I had to make things right between us for real, or we'd never be happy. I thought I might find some answers, but I never knew the lies...I can't believe the lies they told."

"It doesn't matter anymore," Audrey said. "All that matters is that you're here now."

Master got down on one knee in front of her. It took a moment for Audrey to register what was unfolding before her.

"Audrey Sappery, you've changed my life in more ways than I can imagine. You've made everything better. But for a long time, all I could see was how I hurt you, how I ruined your life."

Audrey started to cry, recognizing Alex's position on the floor as the prelude to a marriage proposal. Master is coming back to me...

"But now I know I was wrong about everything. I had to know what happened, and I dug and dug. And Lorenz died and Schmidt just didn't give a shit anymore—anyway, I got our old files. I didn't do it."

Audrey recognized the names of some of the lead researchers in the project Alex had been a part of. They'd been the ones to pin the blame for what happened to Audrey on him. Now Alex was crying more than she was. She smiled down at him, still uncertain what he meant.

"I broke protocol, but I didn't break you," he continued. "They should've just ended the trial, but fucking Lorenz and Willoughby, that cunt...they just cut into you. Over and over. Everyone tried to pin it on me, but, goddamn it, I didn't do this to you, baby. It wasn't me."

If she hadn't been crying before, she would have started at that moment. She could sense the weight of guilt and shame lifting from Alex.

"Audrey," he continued, "there's just one thing I want to know now—is there any chance that the most beautiful, most amazing, most alive woman I have ever met, would marry me?"

He produced a gorgeous ring.

"Yes. Yes. Yes."

Master took Audrey into his arms. Though the setting could not have been less romantic, she was glad that she had not waited a minute longer. She didn't want to be at a fancy restaurant tonight, or a hot air balloon, or whatever other kind of silly romantic gesture Master might have been dreaming up. She wanted to be engaged now.

Master kissed her, and she suddenly lamented the lack of appropriate furniture. She wanted to feel him inside her, and though the cold floor might be better than nothing, it still wasn't as nice as a soft bed would be.

"Audrey, baby, stop," Master asked, though he didn't command.

Audrey let him speak, still clutching him tightly.

"I want you to know first that I've thought about what you said, and...I can't imagine a more perfect thing in the world than a little Audrey running around. And I know you will make a phenomenal mother."

Audrey smiled. She wished she didn't have her IUD now; no matter, it would be gone soon enough.

"Master, can I start calling you 'Daddy' already?"

"Only when I've got your sexy ass over my knee, baby."

Audrey giggled and looked down at her ring as it sparkled in the light. She couldn't wait to wear it with her collar—and nothing else.

"Will you still want me when I'm pregnant and huge?"

"I might give you a break from spankings," he intoned, "but I'll never stop wanting you. You belong to me—and I belong to you."

"Let's go home and practice making a baby," she said with a sly grin. "Before we end up practicing in the middle of the floor here!"

Alex took a long, loving look at her.

"Let's go home."

Thanks for sticking with the story. I always planned to cut this one off after three chapters, but there is a part of me that wonders if I'll come back to these characters some day. Hope you all enjoyed, and don't forget to vote and comment!