Chapter 59 – April’s Tears #10
JAMES
Borje measures me with his eye. “James, you’re not quite friendly to me over this, are you?”
“Am I not?”
“No, you’re not. You were happy enough to introduce me to Charlotte. But now that I’m interested in
your daughter, the shine’s worn off your smile.” He’s probably right. I am edgy over this. And for no
reason I can put my finger on.
Borje narrows his eyes. “Are you putting Larry up to this campaign against me?”
“No, I’m not. He’s protecting Georgie. At least, he thinks he is.”
“Georgie doesn''t need protecting from me, so Larry can just fuck off.”
“He says you behave oddly around her. Maybe he has a point. What is it you want, Borje?”
“That should be obvious. I’m interested in Georgie. I wanted to ask you about her.”
“Ask? It''s a bit old fashioned, isn''t it, Borje? We''re past the day when a woman needed her father’s
permission for her choices.”
His chin lifts. “James, I am not asking your permission. But I…”
“Georgie''s not a child. She can look after herself.”
He arches brows. “You think? I think Georgie is rather more fragile than that. And besides, we both
know there are special circumstances.”
“Circumstances? What circumstances? Because you banged Charlotte a couple of times at the club?
Just because you’re fucking my daughter doesn’t make it my business.”
Borje colours up, his voice heating, “I am not fucking your daughter. I do not want to fuck her…” His
tone cools, but his skin is florid against the silver of his hair. “… I want a rtionship with her. And I
would like to be sure, James, before I go any further than buying her a few meals, that this doesn''t
cause any difficulties.”
“Difficulties? What kind of difficulties? Georgie’s a grown woman. It’s her decision who she chooses
to… to…” My words fail. I can’t bring myself to say them.
Borje rests forward, elbows on knees. “James, I have never heard you sound so insincere. For a man
who, I know for certain fact, believes that everyone, male and female alike, should make their own life
choices, you arepletely unconvincing. Quite clearly, you do have a problem here.”
He’s right. I shouldn’t be reacting like this. But…
Georgie…
I can’t im to know Borje well. But from what I do know of him, my experience of his behaviour, he’s a
decent man.
I’m beingpletely unjust. And I know it well.
My mouth is floury and sour. “Why don’t you pour yourself a drink. And another for me. The decanter’s
on the side over there.”
Borje opens his mouth as though to refuse, then closes it again. Nodding, he stands, and pours two
small whiskeys, passing one to me. Sipping, he swishes it around. “Not bad.”
“It’s better than not bad. Look, sit down again. Let’s rey this conversation and I’ll try not to be...”
“… overtly and undeservedly overprotective?” He sips again, holding my eyes with a steel-blue gaze,
but his lips are twitching.
“Alright, alright, I asked for that. What is it you want?”
He lets out a slow stream of air. “As I said, James, I want you to tell me about Georgie.”
“What about her? And why?”
“Why?” He cradles his ss. Stares into the fire. “Because I think she''s lovely and lonely. And
somehow, lost…”
His words pierce me, but Borje is still speaking… “I’m not looking for a bit of casual fun with Georgie.”
He grins and clucks, shing brows. “I have nothing against casual fun, but Georgie’s worth more than
that. And I want more than that with her.”
“Oh…”
“Yes. Oh. Now does that change things between us, James?”
“Um, yes. I suppose it does. I assumed...” My mouth dries up and I take shelter in my ss.
He sweeps a hand back through his hair, grimacing. “You assumed that I was taking advantage of
Georgie who, as I am sure you realise, under that veneer of temper, thorns and fake authority, is in fact,
quite vulnerable.”
My drink provides a few moments more shelter. “Yes. She is. Where is this going?”
His previous confidence seems to evaporate. Cupping his ss in both palms, his mouth working, he
stares into the fire.
“Borje, you came here to ask me about my daughter. So ask.”
He forms his words slowly, deliberately. “Alright… James, you and I met through the clubs…”
*rm bells ringing*
“I would really appreciate it if you don''t make mention of your involvement with Charlotte to Georgie.”
Borje huffs and cracks a smile. “How stupid do you think I am?” Then, rubbing a finger over his
forehead, “James, you’re a Dom…”
What the hell’s this leading to…?
“…Whether we’re talking work or y, that’s your personality. It’s not just what you are. It’s who you
are.”
I cover my confusion with another sip. “Granted. So?”
“So, Georgie adores you, respects you. Has you on a pedestal. So far as I can tell, she always has
done. I suspect that’s why she took it so hard when you and her mother split up.” He gives me an
apologetic smile. “Hero to zero…”
My gut tightens… “Perhaps. Go on.”
He pauses, collecting his thoughts perhaps. “Despite that, the pair of you have now settled your
differences…”
“I agree. Borje, what’s your point?”
He raises a staying palm. “Bear with me, James. I’m getting there. Look, Georgie’s living in the hotel
next door. After over a year, she’s still there…”
“She doesn’t want to move back with her mother.”
“I agree. But that doesn’t mean she wouldn’t want a ce of her own… I’ming to the conclusion
that Georgie simply wants to be near you. And that she is trying to be… Believes she should be…
something she’s not.”
Something stirs inside me, a sick perception that there is something I’ve missed but which, perhaps,
Borje has fathomed. “I’m listening.”
He sets the drink aside, leans forward, elbows on knees, fingertips pressed together. “James, Georgie
sees her beloved father. She knows she looks like you. Everyone tells her she’s like you. She has
skin deep. She does look like you, but her personality is very different.”
My stomach roils. “What exactly are you driving at?”
Borje speaks deliberately, enunciating each word. “I wonder James if, in effect, Georgie is a natural sub
who, because she''s your daughter, believes she should be a Domme.”
Ah… Crap…
I don’t know how to answer.
My beautiful daughter…
With her strident personality…
Her inability to cope with friendships and life in general. Always trying to be in charge of the situation.
And never quite pulling it off.
Borje has the right of it.
Christ…
Borje watches me keenly. “James?”
“I… think you have something.” I palm the back of my neck, as though that would somehow lubricate
my thoughts. “It may be my fault. I always encouraged Georgie to be strong and independent. To go
her own way.”
“That’s very clear from what she’s telling me. But, thinking about it now… you know her so much better
than me… Do you think that was necessarily the best course?”
“She’spetent, intelligent. She handles herself well professionally.”
Borje’s expression turns slightly pitying. “I’m not talking about her professional performance. And you
well know. Do you know what she said to me about her personal life?”
I barely want to guess. Instead, I settle for silence, waiting for enlightenment.
“Georgie told me she’s, and I quote, ‘an emotional fuck-up and that’s why she always bombs her
rtionships.’”
My jaw drops. Then ps uselessly, nothinging out.
My little girl. My beautiful little girl. The apple of my eye.
I could weep.
Did I do this?
Try to mould Georgie into something she’s not?
ConTEent bel0ngs to N?v(e)lD/rama(.)Org .
Borje hesitates, then, “I take it you agree with what I just said?”
“I… think I do, yes. Borje, is this just idle questioning, or did you have something more in mind?”
He sits back again, sucks at his cheeks. “Would you say that Georgie’s natural inclination is
submission? And I don’t mean in the sense of sexual fun and games. Or at least, not necessarily that
way.”
“I think… that… I’m not sure. You may be right.”
“Let me put it another way. Would you have any difficulty with my trying to find out?”
Do I?
“You’ll take it easy with her?”
Borje snorts. “C’mon, James. It’s me you’re talking to. Not some psycho like Kris or a wannabe
ipetent like Steve. When ites down to it, I have no real interest in being a fulltime Dom. Not in
the ‘lifestyle’ sense, the way you live with Charlotte. But I wonder if it’s something that might bring out
the best in Georgie, learning to let go of the reins sometimes. Help her to enjoy life more.”
I chew over that, the implications. “Are you thinking of taking her to the clubs?”
“She’s not ready for anything close to that. I’d be sure to know her a lot better before I even considered
suggesting it.”
“In that, case, I have no objection to you trying…”
Oh, Jeez…
I never thought about it…
And I should have.
“Um… Borje, there’s something else I think you should know.”
“What’s that?”
“You mentioned Georgie having lived next door for some time. I’m guessing that she hasn’t told you
why she came here in the first ce?”
His brow furrows. “I’d assumed it was over some dispute with your ex?”
“No… Or at least, not entirely.”
Borje waits. And waits. After a long pause, he tilts his head. “James?”
My words tumble out. “Last year, Georgie was abducted. She was assaulted and was almost gang-
raped. We rescued her only just in time.”
His jaw drops. “What?” He rockets upright from his seat. “Christ! Thank God I’ve been taking it slowly
with her.” He paces back and forth. “Christ… Christ... Christ…”
“Borje, sit down again. Calm down. Let me top up your drink.”
His hand is shaky as he offers his ss. “Thank you.”
Ignoring the protest from my leg, I haul myself upright, pour a finger of malt into Borje’s tumbler. Then I
add another before pressing it into his hand. Refilling my own ss, I reim my armchair, waiting for
Borje to recover hisposure.