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making this up. My Master has instructed me to tell you my story in truth and that is what I have given you. If you still doubt me, I won't waste time convincing you. Personal moment aside, I must continue my story. As it stands, I have covered the span of time between the end of my first story and the beginning of my second story, which is to say the story of how I came into the service of my Master. Now I must begin telling my second story, which is my life from then until the present.

My second story began the morning after Master accepted me. I awoke slowly, savoring the softness of the first bed I had slept on in months and trying to make the sleep last. When I finally opened my eyes and saw the You may be asking yourself a lot of questions now--wondering if what I say is true or if I'm just clock mounted on the white bedroom wall, I snapped fully awake with the realization that it was a half-hour past noon. I scrambled out from under the sheets only to realize that I was still naked from the night before. Color rose to my cheeks in fearful embarrassment that deepened when I realized that I also hadn't properly bathed in months as well. I was so self-conscious at that point I didn't let myself remember how caring my Master had been the night before, and when a soft knock came from the door the bedroom I nearly yelped.

After a few moments of silence yielded only a second knock I calmed myself, telling myself how silly I was to let a simple knock at the door make me jump like that. I grabbed the top blanket from my disheveled bed and covered myself before walking to the door. I had to take a moment to steel myself before opening the door. I let out a sigh of relief when I saw that it wasn't my Master standing out in the mellow white hall, but instead Lydia in a simple black dress that complimented her white fur quite well.

"You're awake," She said matter-of-factly. She raised one eyebrow in a look of amusement, but the soft smile she gave with it robbed the look of any cruelty or sarcasm it may have borne.

"Sorry," I half-mumbled. "I didn't intend to sleep so late." I noticed that my grip on my blanket was slipping, and I quickly readjusted it.

"Is he--" I started. "I mean, is Master mad at me for sleeping in?" The word felt foreign to me, but I was sure that feeling would pass relatively quickly.

Lydia's smile broadened a little, relieving some of my anxiety. "Not at all," she said, "Master understands how much strain a night like the one you just had can put on a person. His only qualm was that he had to leave for work before he could speak with you." Her comfort with calling him master felt a little odd to me then, but as with my feeling for using the word, I was sure it would pass soon enough.

"Master wanted to speak with me?" I asked, taking a little comfort from catching on to our manner of speech.

Lydia nodded. "He wished to explain to you his daily instructions and give you yours for today," she said. "As it stands he has instructed me to explain them as best I can and give you your instructions for the day."

I felt some of the emotional weight left over from my time living on the streets lift then. Despite what had happened the night before and despite the reality of the room I was standing in, the prospect of actual work made real what was to be my new life.

Lydia continued. "The explanation may take some time, so I'd prefer if we went over it while completing our first task of the day, which is the same every day: to shower." I felt quite a bit of relief as I heard the word shower, and Lydia saw it in me; she's always had a knack for reading emotions. "I understand that you probably want to get to showering as soon as possible. Right behind you in the bottom drawer of your dresser you'll find towels and washcloths. Grab one of each and I'll show you to the shower room."

Feeling slightly giddy at the prospect of a proper shower, I quickly turned to the dresser, knelt before if, and opened the drawer. I struggled to keep myself covered with the blanket as I grabbed my towel.

"You don't need the blanket if you're willing to trust me," Lydia said. I stopped and looked up at her in the doorway. "We're the only ones here. Master doesn't employ any domestics."

It took me a moment to piece together what she was saying. I looked at her for a while, trying to gauge what kind of person she was. I decided that if the man I called Master could trust her, who was I not to trust her as well? I grabbed my towel and wash cloth and stood, letting go of the towel. The blanket slid away, leaving me fully naked once again. I then got my first glimpse at the inner workings of Lydia, first from her staring at my body, and second from her resulting blush and averted gaze. I felt myself blushing as well, but from a form of flattery instead of embarrassment.

"S-Shall we?" Lydia asked, gesturing down the hall. I nodded and she led me a short way to a door labeled 'Shower'. She opened the door and gestured for me to go inside.

The shower rooms had a tiled stone floor and identically tiled walls. The ceiling was white cement with several small, round lights set in it, giving off mellow, orangish light that augmented the room's earthen tones and gave the room an overall soothing feel. I immediately liked the shower room. On the wall opposite the door were several shelves, on which many different shampoos were all lined up neatly. A stone ridge on the floor divided the room in half and to the left of this ridge were the actual showers. Three chrome shower-heads protruded from the wall in a line and judging from their diameter, I guessed they could put out quite a lot of water. Marveling at everything good about the room, I began to feel overwhelmed at it all and I was astounded to find myself choking up; weak, strangled sobs escaped from my throat. It felt like all the emotion from my life before meeting my Master was piling up on me, trying to crush me.

"Sarah?" Lydia spoke up from behind, concern in her voice. "Sarah, are you all right?" I heard the door quietly swish shut as she stepped towards me.

I struggled for words, "I-It's just-" I was embarrassed and ashamed to be falling apart spontaneously like I was.

"Shhhh," Lydia soothed, placing a hand on my shoulder. "It's okay, I understand." She took another step forward; she was close enough now that I could feel the heat off her body. Just feeling her presence comforted me--made me feel safe in a way. I knew she wouldn't judge me if I broke down, and so I did. I stood in the shower room sobbing for just over a half-hour and in that time any doubts I had about trusting Lydia evaporated. When I managed to pull myself together, I asked her why anyone could just break down like I did.

"It sneaks up on you." She said almost reflectively, "No matter how things are now, you can't just ignore the past. All that emotion doesn't up and go when you move on, it clings to you. Eventually you have to let it all out, only you don't really have a say in when or where it all catches up to you. All you can do is let it go when it happens."

I gave her a confused look. "So it's normal for people to just break down whenever?" I asked with a tinge of humor, surprising myself with what little recovery I had managed already.

She gave a light chuckle and said, "Normal? No. But for someone who has gone through what you have, it's perfectly understandable."

"How can you know what I've been through?" I asked with a shocking absence of bitterness.

"I can't know all of it unless you tell me," she said plainly. "But I know that what you went through last night is more than enough to explain what just happened to you."

I thought silently on what she said for a minute before she spoke up again.. "Would you like a few more minutes to rest, or do you feel well enough to shower?"

"Oh," I said, surprised that I had forgotten why I was in the shower room. "Yeah, I'm feeling a lot better." I paused. "First thing is always showering, right?"

She nodded with a small smile.

"And you wanted to explain our daily instructions while we showered, right?"

"Yes," she said, her smile growing to resemble something like admiration.

"I hope you have something else to talk about after you've finished explaining it to me," I said. "It's been a long time since I had a proper shower and it's gonna take me a while." It was a lousy attempt at a joke, but she laughed anyway. I think that anyone else laughing at that point it would have hurt me instead of making me smile.

I owe Lydia so much...

I set my towel down on the floor as Lydia began removing her dress. A question popped into my mind then. "Why are you showering so late? I just woke up, but haven't you already showered today?"

A funny little smile surfaced on her face, slightly skewed. I had caught her off guard. "I actually haven't showered yet," she admitted in an embarrassed tone. "I spent the morning doing some of my other tasks and waiting for you take wake up so we could shower together."

I gave her my own amused look, trying to mimic the one she had given me back in my bedroom. I must have managed well enough, as she began to giggle.

"Oh, quit the look," she bubbled out and I obliged with a shrug.

Once she had reined herself in, she continued, "Go over to the wall and pick your shampoo. You can use any one you want; the only rule is that you have to finish using whichever bottle you pick before starting another one."

"Sounds reasonable." I said as I walked over to examine the shelf. My first impression of countless types of shampoos turned out to be superficial in that each row in the shelf often had two or three of the same kind. The main variable in the different soaps seemed to be scent, with only a few different factors like 'moisturizing' to set them apart any further. I spotted a red bottle and read the text on the front, then pooped the tab open and sniffed to be sure. I had decided on my favorite scent, Strawberry.

I turned around to see that Lydia had finished undressing and it was then that I really noticed for the first time her generous bust. That may sound like a perverted thought, but it was her bust that caught my attention first. My first thought was that they must be D-cups at least, dwarfing my own B-cups. My second thought centered around why my first thought was so perverted. I felt a blush rise then and quickly averted my eyes, feeling an odd sense of déjà vu.

Lydia gave a short chuckle before stepping over the small ridge and taking her place under the middle showerhead. I noticed that each shower had a small ledge underneath, the two furthest left each had a bottle of shampoo perched on them. The one on the right was empty and I presumed that to be mine.

Two knobs marked with blue and red dots were set in the wall above my ledge, leaving little mystery to the shower's operation. The sound of Lydia starting her shower encouraged me to start my own. I cranked the red knob as far as it would go and let out a yelp and jumped back as scalding water rained down on me.

"Sarah!?" Lydia asked, alarmed.

"I'm okay," I said, hoping to manage a calm tone.

"Did the hot water get you?" She asked, a little humor creeping into her voice.

"I guess so," I said, staring dubiously at the red knob.

"Got me the first time too," she admitted. "The hot water here runs a bit out of most people's comfort zone, but Master likes it."

"Huh..." I said. Sidestepping the stream of steaming water, I turned the red knob back half a turn, then cranked the blue knob half a turn forward. I tested the new configuration with my hand, then once I decided it was safe, stepped under the stream. It was still quite hot, but not burning like before. I let out a sigh of satisfaction and popped the tab on my shampoo bottle.

As I began lathering the berry-scented soap into my fur, Lydia began to talk.

"Every day Master will give you a set of instructions for the day," she began. "Most of them will be simple chores, but Master will also give you other instructions that are for your benefit alone. It is expected of you to complete every task by the time Master arrives home from work. Some of your instructions will be a daily ordeal and thus you are expected to do them without being told to-- showering, for example. Also, one of my daily instructions is to prepare breakfast and dinner." Lydia paused. "Do you understand so far?"

"Yes." I said. I can't begin to describe how good it felt to have hot water running through my fur.

She continued, "The tasks Master gives you for your benefit are often much easier than the rest of your tasks for the day, but they are just as important. Once you have completed everything Master has instructed you to do for the day, you may spend the rest of your time as you wish."

"Once we finish our tasks for the day we have free time?" I asked, knowing the answer, but feeling a need to be sure.

"Yes," she said. "If you're worried you'll be at a lack of things to do, let me put you at ease. There are plenty of things you can do to entertain yourself here. But I'll get to those later."

"I see." I said thoughtfully.

"What else..." Lydia mumbled to herself. "Oh, Master wanted me to tell you that he understands you sleeping in today, but he expects us to be awake by six-thirty each morning, save weekends, when we're allowed to sleep until eight instead."

I nodded, understanding.

"On that note," she continued, "we retire for the night at ten. It may sound odd to you having a bed time, but Master does know what he's doing with our schedule."

I nodded again, then summed up my thoughts so far. "Master is... something else, isn't he?"

It was Lydia's turn to nod. "Master is indeed a different kind of man."

We were both silent for a while then. I continued washing; Lydia had finished and was idly standing under the stream of water. I caught a whiff of a citrusy scent and turning to face the source, I found myself staring at Lydia; something about her body covered with streams of water caused something to stir in me that I hadn't felt in years--attraction. I caught myself and quickly averted my gaze, trying in futility to suppress the blush that rose to my face. I scolded myself internally for having such perverse thoughts, reminding myself that she was female, exaggerating the small flare of emotion in my mind in hopes of killing the feeling before it could get a chance to grow.

I think it was because I put my own mind in the gutter then, but my thoughts turned to my Master and what that could mean for me sexually. "Lydia?" I asked shyly.

"Hm?" She turned to face me.

I had to think how to word what I wanted to say. "I want him to be my Master regardless, but is he going to..." I trailed off, not comfortable with what I wanted to say.

Lydia tilted her head and gave a go-on gesture.

I struggle a moment longer before finally forcing the words out. "Will Master make me do anything sexual with him?" I asked awkwardly.

Lydia gave me a level look and said the words that would fill my dreams in the nights to come, "Only if you want him to."

After a length of uncomfortable silence, I finished cleaning the last of the dirt out of my fur. While I had used over half the bottle of shampoo, just being clean made me feel better. The cloud of strawberry surrounding me served to augment my good mood. I had turned the shower off and was toweling myself dry when I remembered the problem I'd had since the night before.

"Lydia?" I asked.

"Yes?" she responded, looking up while she dried her legs.

"Please tell me there are some clothes in my room," I half-joked. "I know it's just you and me, but I can't walk around naked all day"

She snickered and gave way to giggles before reining herself in and said, "Top drawer is dresses, second is underwear, third is filled with small things, and fourth is miscellaneous items."

"Miscellaneous?" I asked, not sure what she meant.

She smirked and said, "You'll see."

I didn't like her smirk all that much, but I finished toweling dry and went to my room to look regardless. Lydia waited out in the hall for me to get dressed. I opened the top drawer and saw an assortment of dark gray dresses. It took me a second to realize that they would compliment my light gray fur. I pulled out a dress and closed the drawer. From the second drawer I grabbed a pair of simple white panties and a matching bra. Half the space in the third drawer was occupied by neatly folded stockings; on the other half consisted a few stylish scarves and pairs of gloves, and nestled in the center of these was a small wooden box. I scanned these over and nearly closed the drawer before deciding to take a look in the small box. It was a jewelry box, but all that was inside was a small, round, blue pendant on a thin gold chain. After a moment's thought I removed the necklace from the box. Feeling a little nervous despite the necklace obviously intended for me, I undid the little clasp on the chain and fastened the pendant around my neck.

Ignoring the fourth drawer for a while, I quickly dressed myself, somewhat surprised at how well my new dress fit. I felt a little frustrated that my room lacked a mirror, but not enough to dampen my mood. Once I was fully clothed, I knelt down and after a moment's hesitation, opened the fourth drawer. At first, nothing stood out to me; there was a stack of neatly folded nightgowns, a stack of two-piece bathing suits, a few other off-pieces of clothing, but nothing caught my eye as particularly odd. The moment I began to doubt what I read from Lydia's smirk, I spotted it. Nestled between the side of the drawer and the stack of nightgowns was a pink cylinder about six inches long. I stared dumbly at it for a moment, not believing what I was seeing. I picked it up just to be sure, and confirmed my thoughts when I felt the smooth plastic of it and saw that one end was rounded; I quickly set it back where it had been.

In my drawer and presumably in my possession was a dildo and judging from the heft of it, it had a few extra features. I then noticed the small white piece of paper that, having matched the nightgowns upon which it was resting, had evaded my eyes at first glance. I picked the sheet up and found a hand-written note on the reverse side. It read:

Sarah,

_ Everything in these drawers belongs to you now. The dresses were selected rather hastily to compliment your fur color, as well as the scarves and gloves. I didn't know your preference in attire, so I took a broad rout_e in selecting these articles. The pendant is something rather personal to me, I would prefer you wear it but I persist in keeping that aspect voluntary. Lydia wears a similar pendant that is green and I wear one that is gray. If there is something that I failed to provide here that you would like, I would have you tell me over dinner so that I may arrange for it as soon as possible.

-M.

P.S.- The "toy" was Lydia's idea. Having no personal objections, I provided it. If you would have it removed, I ask that you tell me over dinner.

After I finished reading the note I looked at the "toy" again and was shocked to find myself blushing for what felt like the hundredth time that day. I found I could easily imagine Lydia standing outside my door with an impish grin, stifling a giggle fit. I shook my head to drive the thoughts away, and found them replaced by thoughts of the pendant I was now wearing. Something clicked for me. The pendants matched our eyes, Lydia's green, mine blue, and after a moment's thought decided that Master's eyes were indeed gray, like his fur. I readjusted my pendant so it rested outside my dress.

I took a moment to brace myself for whatever Lydia might say before opening my door and stepping out into the hall. I wasn't too surprised to find that at least I had predicted the impish grin correctly. I saw she was waiting for me to say something and I obliged with an, "Mhmmm..."

She shrugged, but the grin stayed.

"Can we please move on?" I asked, a tinge of pleading in my voice.

"Sure," Lydia chirped, humor clear in her voice. "Master instructed me to give you a tour of the Estate after we finished showering."

"A tour?" I asked. "How big is this estate?"

"Actually," Lydia began thoughtfully, "There's a lot here, but it's quite condensed"

"I see..." I said thoughtfully.

"Well," Lydia said "Shall we begin?"

I nodded and closed my door behind me.

Lydia pointed down the hall "The Main Stairway is down that way," she began. "The first door on our left coming from the stairs is Master's bedroom. We aren't allowed to enter there without his permission.

"The second door down is my bedroom. If you ever want to talk, my door is always open."

I nodded to her.

She continued, "Last door on our left is your room. On the right, the first door from the stairs is the shower room. The second door is the upstairs bathroom and the last door is the laundry. You're expected to drop off your clothes each morning in the hamper there. Laundry is done each morning, and from what I understand we'll be alternating on that chore."

"I take it tomorrow's my turn?" I asked.

"Yes." she said. "That's it for the upstairs hall. Follow me." She started walking down the hall, I followed.

We reached the end of the hall and I saw the landing at the top of the staircase had a single door. As if sensing my observation, Lydia chimed in, "The door at the top of the stairs leads to the second floor of Master's library. We are allowed to use the library in our free time and when Master instructs us to."

We reached the head of the stairs. The main stairway itself was a straight ordeal, following the wall down to the floor below. A few abstract paintings done in pleasant primary colors were hung on the wall along the staircase. Lydia continued leading me down the stairs. At the bottom was a small entryway, and directly in front of the stairs was a door that showed a short lawn and driveway through its window. Lydia chimed in again, "That's the front door. Master's estate doesn't have much to provide for outdoor activities, but there's enough space to get some fresh air if you need it."

Lydia led me back away from the door; there were two other doors in the entryway: one opposite the front door and one opposite the stairway. Lydia gestured to the former, "That door leads to the first floor of Master's Library." She said, "There's another stairway in the library." She led me to the remaining door and opened it, gesturing for me to enter and following once I did.

"This is the den." She said plainly.

I was first taken by the pleasant yellow of the walls, then by the television set back against the wall to my left. "Master watches TV?" I asked. I honestly hadn't expected that he would.

Lydia nodded with a giggle. "We are more refined than most, but we're not shut off from the rest of the world," she said.

I took in the rest of the room with wide eyes, there was a coffee table covered with several different magazines, there were two couches set against the walls in an L-shape, in one corner sat a potted fern that looked amazingly healthy, and on each wall hung at least one abstract painting hung, all the same pleasant primaries as the ones on the staircase. "Does master have a thing for paintings?" I asked.

Lydia nodded. "Most of these were commissioned from a young man who lives a couple miles down the road, but a few of them Master painted himself."

"Master paints?" I asked, again genuinely surprised.

"Not often," Lydia said, "but it is one of his many pastimes." Lydia stepped across the room to another door and opened it, once again gesturing me through. "Through here is the dining room, and past that is the kitchen."

Walls painted in the same earthen tone that helped made the shower room so pleasant immediately gave me the impression of this being a good place as well. No paintings hung on the walls in the dining room, but somehow they didn't look barren. In the center of the room was an elongated oak table that was surrounded by six oak chairs. There looked to be room at the table for more seats and sure enough saw that I had failed to notice more chairs lined up against the wall to my left. I saw that there were two doors in addition to the one I just entered through in the dining room; one directly opposite the door to the living room and another to my right

"We eat dinner and, on the weekends, breakfast here in the dining room." Lydia commented, walking across the room to the opposite door. "Through here is the kitchen," she said. "I'll probably be spending a lot more time there than you, but it's part of the tour."

Once again she opened the door for me. I crossed the dining room, pausing only briefly to wonder where the other door lead, and stepped into the new room; I liked the simple, condensed layout of it. One wall was lined with a counter that held a stove and a sink. Below were a few cupboards and an oven, and above were more cupboards. In the center of the room was another counter with several pots and pans hanging above it and a knife rack set on one side. There was a door in the back, directly in front of me.

Lydia spoke up. "Everything here is pretty much self-explanatory. The door in front of you leads to the downstairs bathroom." I was surprised when her next move was to walk over, open the bathroom door, and gesture for me to enter.

"A tour of the bathroom?" I asked doubtfully.

"You'll love this," she said, smiling.

I stared at her a moment before shrugging and stepping through the door. The small room was really a sort of junction with a door to the left and another in directly ahead.

"Left is the bathroom--open the door in front of you," Lydia said from behind.

I obliged and reached for the doorknob. The moment the door opened I was hit with a wall of humidity, which caused my eyes to water. Once my eyes cleared, my jaw dropped from what I saw.

It wasn't huge, but it was still a pool. The water was perfectly still and looked incredibly inviting. Once I managed to tear my eyes from the pool, I noticed what looked like a tiny pool set in the back corner of the blue-tiled floor. After a moment I recognized it as a hot-tub. Soft blue light filtered down from four sky-lights set in the ceiling.

"I knew you'd like it," Lydia said, still behind me. I could practically hear her grinning.

"Lydia... it's...." was all I could manage.

"I know." Lydia said. "The door to the left of the pool is the sauna, the door at the back leads outside."

My jaw dropped even further. "A sauna?" I asked in near-disbelief. "Master has a sauna?"

"Yes," Lydia replied simply. "Like the library, we're allowed to use the pool room during our free time and when Master instructs us to."

"Lydia," I said, still ogling the room before me.

"Yes?" Lydia responded.

"You're going to have to drag me back into the kitchen." I said, "I'm going to be here staring all day if you don't."

Lydia giggled before placing a hand firmly on my shoulder and gently pulling me into the kitchen. "Come on, just one last stop in the tour."

I offered an embarrassed smile once we were back in the kitchen.

"Struck me the same way when I first saw it too," Lydia admitted, offering her own embarrassed smile.

With that I broke out laughing. Lydia joined in, causing me to laugh harder. Once we got ourselves back under control, Lydia spoke, "The last part of the Tour is Master's library."

I nodded and Lydia walked across the kitchen and into the dining room with me close behind. She hung a left inside and opened the only door we hadn't been through in the dining room, gesturing for me to enter one last time. I obliged and found myself gaping at what I saw for the third time that day. It wasn't the size of the place, but the sheer volume of things packed into it that struck me.

Several bookshelves packed to the brim lined the walls; I looked up and saw that above us was a rotunda and from what I could see, the second floor was set up the same way. In the center of the first floor was a rather large rectangular table with four lamps spaced along it. At the far end of the room was a spiral staircase leading to the second floor.

"Judging from what I remember and what I've seen from you, the first day here is one of dropped jaws," Lydia commented from next to me.

I gave a short chuckle.

"Master doesn't have the largest collection of books, but he has a little bit of everything." Lydia explained. "The books here on the first floor focus on education while the books on the second floor are more for entertainment." Lydia led me across the room and up the stairs. Once on the second floor, I notice the main difference between the two floors was the lack of a table on the second floor. The rotunda took up most of the floor space of the second floor, so instead of a large table, several comfortable-looking chairs lined the railing, each with their own small table and lamp next to it. Directly in front of the stairs was a loveseat with a table and lamp on each side instead of another chair.

Again seeming to read my mind, Lydia spoke up, "The chairs are as comfy as they look, by the way."

I gave her a funny look. "Are you psychic?" I asked, trying to test how well she could read me and her sense of humor as the same time.

She smirked. " I have no idea what you're talking about" She said, suppressing a giggle.

"Sure." I said.

She shrugged and moved on. "So this concludes the grand tour" She said a little theatrically.

I gave a small applause and had to giggle when she gave a tiny bow.

"All tips go in the hat," She said with a smile.

I thought fruitlessly for a moment before asking, "What?"

"Never mind," she said. "Well, now that the tour is done, I would relay your instructions for the day if you hadn't already finished them."

"What?" I asked again.

"All Master had for you to do today was the tour," Lydia explained.

"Oh," I said, "So I'm free for the rest of the day?"

"Yes," Lydia said smiling, "However much of it is left." She looked across the room at the clock mounted on the wall there. "Speaking of time left, I have to start making dinner."

"Oh," I said, feeling a little let down.

"You're free to do what you want," she said as she began down the stairs, "I'll be busy in the kitchen for the next hour or so. Don't hesitate to ask me if you need something"

"Sure thing," I said. I listened to her descend the stairs, then watched her walk back into the kitchen from the railing. I stared at the door a moment longer before turning to look at the nearest bookshelf. I was afraid to touch anything, so I simply browsed the titles. After a while I could hear the sounds of Lydia cooking very faintly from below. I was surprised to see books I recognized and even some I had read back in high school. Back then, English had been my favorite class.

I got lost in my browsing and before I knew it I heard Lydia calling up from the floor below.

"Sarah," She called, "Dinner's ready and Master should be back any minute, you need to be downstairs and ready ASAP."

"Got it!" I called back, not bothering to ask what 'ready' meant. I hustled to the staircase and then down to the first floor. Lydia was waiting at the bottom for me.

"Master likes to have me at the door to greet him when he gets home from work each day," she explained. "It would be reasonable to assume he would like you to do the same too."

I nodded, and followed her though the door leading to the entryway. She stopped a few feet from the front door and I stopped next to her. We both remained silent, simply watching the door, waiting for Master to arrive home.

After what felt like hours but was in reality minutes, I saw a black car roll in the driveway. I felt a mixture of anxiety and eagerness as I heard a car door open and close. Footsteps approached the door, tuning up my anxiety with each footfall. Just when I though I couldn't handle much more, he came into view. All that separated us then was a few feet of air and a pane of glass. I held my breath as the doorknob turned. Mere seconds later he was before me, looking down with a kind smile.

I gave Master a somewhat nervous smile in return. I opened my mouth to say what naturally came to mind as I stood before my Master and was surprised when Lydia spoke with me in perfect sync, "Welcome home, Master."