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Millie obediently followed him to the kitchen. She just had to wait until he left. Then she'd be ok. She went to her food bowls and patiently waited to be served. She didn't beg or make any noise. She knew her master would feed her when he was ready.

Millie actually smiled at her breakfast. She didn't realize how much she missed oatmeal until it was sitting in front of her. Resting on her knees Japanese style, she drank the juice while the oatmeal cooled. Then she leaned forward and cautiously lapped at the oatmeal. It was good. She ate around the edges where it was coolest and had bites of banana in between to keep her mouth from getting too hot. In no time at all she was finished.

After she cleaned the corners of her mouth with her tongue and fingertips, she went to sit by her master's feet. He like that, and the more she did things he liked, the nicer he would be to her. At least, that's what she hoped.

As soon as the door closed, Millie sprang to her feet and rushed to put her ear against it. She heard the ping of the elevator slowly getting fainter and fainter. He was gone. She didn't know how soon "soon" was, but she desperately needed to be clean. She rushed to the bathroom and retreived her bar of soap. She scrubbed her body but left her hair alone--if he came back too early and she was caught with wet hair, she would surely be beaten.

She dripped dry in the shower after making sure not a speck of her dirt or a strand of her hair were left behind. The whole process took maybe half an hour, but she had no way of telling the time. As soon as she was reasonably dry, she went back out the living-room and rolled on her dog bed to finish drying the last few spots of water. Her bed was so soft that after the excitement and abuse of last night it lulled her to sleep.

Millie rolled over and woke up. She still wasn't used to eating so many times a day. She wished she could tell her master not to feed her so much, but he was probably trying to put some meat on her bones. She got up and went to her bowls. She ate the salad and chicken bites, but dripped the dressing and dipping sauce all over her chest. At least she was still naked, so she didn't ruin the new dress her master had given her.

Millie followed as obediently as her wheezing lungs would allow. She tripped over the edge of the tub and landed on her hands and knees at the bottom of the shower. She was scared--he didn't seem to know that she had been cleaning herself. But wouldn't he been mad that she was sour--especially down there?!?

Millie held perfectly still and closed her eyes tightly as her master ran soapy hands all over her body. Things were going to go south in a moment, she just knew it. Her brain scrambled to do something good. What should a good girl do?

Confess everything? That would get her beaten for sure.

Hold still and keep her mouth shut? She was doing that now, but it wasn't really a lasting game plan.

Something good...something good...what could she do?

Millie stayed absolutely still. She was so tense that her muscles were starting to ache. The only thought running through her head was "be good...be good...be good..."

She slipped a little as she left the bath, and she was still shaking from his rough touch, but she managed not to fall. She knelt by his feet and let him dry her.