Page 64 of Finding His Happiness
Ferris
Master looked like he wanted to frown but I got a kiss instead. “I’m going to start by pointing out your situation is not the same. Period.”
“Okay.” What situation wasn’t the same? “I’ll remember that.”
I wasn’t sure what he was thinking, but after a moment, he nodded.
“I have a cousin who’s on the more severe end of the autism spectrum.” Master paused, wincing. “And forgive me if I use the wrong words, it’s been a long time since I had any discussions about his autism and I don’t know what the best descriptions are right now. He’s just Charlie. My aunt explained his diagnosis when I was a kid but that was the only time we talked about it in detail.”
Oh.
I hadn’t expected that answer at all but I nodded because that seemed to be a good response to keep him going.
After being screamed at by Harvey, Master’s inadvertent use of a word wasn’t going to bother me.
My Master was very nice.
“Well, he needs a lot of help to handle daily life stuff. I learned as a kid the best way to approach him and what he needed to be relaxed and happy.” Master watched me for a few seconds but I wasn’t sure what expression to give him.
Luckily, he didn’t make me figure it out and just kept going. “It was actually helpful in my journey to become a Dom because I learned early in life how to pay attention to reactions. There are a lot of reasons people might need help or that they might need different things out of a relationship. Charlie needs me tobe calm and to explain things very simply and to never let it get to be too loud.”
Was I a Charlie?
“Am...am I like Charlie?” I wasn’t sure how I was feeling or what his answer should be but he shook his head.
“No. You need me to explain how I’m feeling so you don’t have to randomly guess. That’s frustrating to you but you can do it. It just seems to be emotionally exhausting.” He wasn’t wrong, so I nodded to let him know we were on the same page so far. “You need me to be logical and not overreact. Those are very different things.”
I could agree with that too.
“Harvey knows those are very different things.” The way Master rolled his eyes said he was picturing saying something less polite. “He just used the most offensive language he could to get a reaction out of you and to try to punish you emotionally.”
Harvey needed to learn better manners.
That wasn’t what we were going to focus on right now, though.
“I’m very smart. I just had a teacher once tell me I had a low emotional IQ. He said he did too and there was nothing wrong with it but that I had to pay more attention to people to compensate for it.” Had he been autistic? “He was very factual and explained things very clearly.”
Hmm...maybe he’d been trying to tell me this as well?
Master shrugged. “A lot of people are factual. A lot of people don’t like dumb drama queens who scream at work to overcompensate for their own flaws.”
I could agree with that too.
Master’s smile said he knew it, but we were both very polite.
“With the difficulty you have reading people, I can see why that foster mother you mentioned wanted to have you talk to someone. But you’ve made a wonderful life for yourself. You’resuccessful and you’ve got a great boyfriend.” He looked very pleased with himself when he made my face heat up. “Who’s also an amazing Dom, so you’ve got great taste.”
My Master was very good at distracting me too.
I probably owed Charlie a thanks at some point.
“But you think I’m autistic.” I distracted myself that time, trying to wave my arms around again. “This is so...”
Master chuckled as I glared down at the strange restraint. “I am not the right person to make any kind of diagnosis. But as someone who’s gotten to know you quite well, yes. I think it makes sense.”
As I tried to think about his answer, he dipped his head to meet my gaze. “Ask me if it matters to me.”
Oh.
