Page 15 of Controller's Obsession

He reached for the cutlery and cut a decent-sized mouthful of tomato and salad, dipping it in the vinaigrette dressing. He offered the first bite to Peni. His lips parted and Merihem and his demon half both groaned.

A very long lunch.

Needing a distraction, Merihem went back to the conversation he’d started. “You work for Mrs. Danials, don’t you?”

Peni sighed. “You’re gonna sack me, aren’t you?”

“What… why would I do that? Although being my blissful one, you really don’t need to worry about working, I’m more than capable of taking care of you.”

“Blissful one,” he bleated.

Chapter Eight

Peni

Peni was all kinds of confused. He was sitting on the man—demon, not next to him, but actually on him, eating food that cost more than his food budget for a week.

To add sauce to that confusion, Merihem started talking about Mrs. Danials, and Peni was so sure no one was ever supposed to find out about that. He’d been so careful, and Mrs. Danials had promised repeatedly she wouldn’t say anything. Now he didn’t know what that meant for him in terms of his job or a place to stay.

But when he asked about being fired, Merihem threw the term ‘blissful one’ into the mix, and Peni was sure his brain was as mushy as the tomatoes in his salad drizzled in the vinaigrette.

“My goat told me you were my mate,” he said cautiously.

“Blissful one for demons, mate for cute little goats. Same thing.” Merihem seemed pleased with himself, at least, that’s what his tone suggested. It’s not like Peni could really see his face.

He reached for his fork, needing something to do with his hands, and stabbed a bit of salad to nibble on. He then tried to think of what to say next. Merihem gave off an air of being totally confident about everything, which was a bit intimidating.

“If it’s the same thing, wouldn’t you call me a mate?”

“I can call you mate if you like. But for my demon, you are a blissful one. Not many demons get one of those, you know.”

No, Peni didn’t know. Hoping Merihem wouldn’t notice, he put his hand under the table and quickly pinched his leg.

Nope.

That hurt. He was awake.

“Do you always pinch yourself when you’re on a date?”

“I don’t… This is… I’ve never dated.” Peni stuffed his mouth full of some of the salad leaves to stop himself from saying anything else silly.

“This will be the best date ever, then.” Merihem sounded pleased about that, and Peni wondered why. Perhaps he’d had terrible experiences with dates before. “Because you’re my blissful one, sorry, mate, if you prefer, you won’t have to work. I can take care of everything.”

“Won’t have to work?” Peni dropped his fork, causing it to clatter on the table. He twisted, trying to see Merihem’s face. “Who will clean Mr. Dakata’s house?”

“It’s not Dakata’s house anymore. He lives with Silas in the forest. He gave the house to me. I’ve been called in to watch over his siblings, who are running most of his businesses now.”

There was something off about that statement—not a lie exactly, but not the full truth, either. Peni decided he’d ask about that later. He was more worried about his job.

“Don’t you need a house cleaner?” Peni really liked his job. He had a routine and everything.

“From what I saw this morning, the house account shows the place already has a drastically overpaid cleaner. But as I haven’t seen her since I’ve been staying at the house, I’m beginning to think the sixty dollars an hour she’s being paid is excessive, don’t you? I mean, I know demons have to pay extra for staff—some people don’t realize we’re just like other people, but expecting people to do the work they’re paid for isn’t a big ask.”

“Sixty dollars an hour!” Peni choked on a bit of salad caught in the back of his throat and reached for his juice, taking a quick sip. “No wonder she can afford to live in Florida. She’s only paying me twenty.” And then, realizing what he’d said, he added quickly, “Sorry. I mean, Mrs. Danials is visiting her sister in Florida. Visiting, she’s visiting. She said her sister was sick.”

“Hmm.” Merihem’s demon was grumbling—it was a lower tone than Merihem’s. “How many hours a week do you work?”

“Forty. I’ve been really careful with the money. I put most of it away so I can afford a better place. I don’t have references, so landlords expect more cash upfront from people like me.” Peni wanted to sink into the chair with embarrassment.

---