d of and she kept out of my business as long as I was with her. I enjoyed fucking her from time to time, but other than that, there never really had been any connection. I should not have been surprised when I found out she had been cheating – I am not sure why I ever was. But she was right, this had always been a marriage of convenience. And could continue to be…but…
I couldn’t stop thinking of Aria, and how she would react to finding out about Gina. She would never be okay with having any kind of relationship with a married man, she was far too self-righteous for that. No matter how hard I explained to her that it was just a marriage in name without any of the values, she would see me as a lying, cheating adulterer. If I were to accept Gina’s offer, I would have to make sure Aria never ever found out about it. It meant I could never take her home with me, never take her to any more public events, and she would be diminished to the role of my mistress. She was far too strong-willed and independent to accept any situation where that’s the tag she ended up with. Even the suggestion of it would hurt her pride far too much for her to ever recover from it and forgive me.
“I will have to think about it, Gina,” I said eventually, exasperated.
“Take as long as you need,” she said, her sweet demeanor back. “I hope we can make this work, Zay.”
“Cut it out with that sugary sweet tone,” I snapped. “I haven’t accepted yet.”
Chapter Nine
Aria
I got a call from my mom right after completing my make-up exam for Statistics. Another 10,000 dollars had been added to her medical account.
“I don’t know what I would do without you, sweetheart. I promise I will get myself together and help you repay the loan cent by cent,” she said on the phone.
“More money was paid?” I asked, sounding more surprised than I should have. It was the end of month two, after all.
“Of course, thank you Aria. I am lucky to have a daughter like you.”
If only she knew what I was doing in order to get her medical bills paid. I doubt she’d think I was the best daughter ever. But what she didn’t know didn’t hurt her.
“How is everything else, Mom?” I asked, deliberately changing the subject.
“Good, good. You should come visit this weekend. I really could use some company and I haven’t seen you in so long.”
“I will try, but can’t promise anything okay?” I crossed my fingers behind my back. I wasn’t going to try and visit her just yet; I had way too many things to sort through first. On the other hand, I could probably use some time away from all of this.
“Okay, sweetheart. No pressure. I know you have enough going on between your job and school, and this loan must only add stress.”
If only she knew.
“It’s okay, Mom. I will try my best, okay? I love you, I have to go now!”
I had made up my mind about what was to happen, and it was time to follow through. This wasn’t going to be easy. If I knew Zayden at all, then he wasn’t going to make it easy. But if I didn’t break the contract now, I would never be able to look at myself again. I hadn’t signed up to be in a controlling relationship where I was somebody’s puppet. I had signed up to spend time with him in return for a favor that I was going to return. He had taken it too far and convinced himself somehow that he hadn’t bought my time, but me. I was not going to let him get away with that. I had gotten this far in life by living it on my own terms, and I wasn’t going to allow some man to dictate how I lived it all of a sudden because of a piece of paper. I would have to find another way to help Mom, and I sure as hell was willing to do anything for this to end. I didn’t need Zayden or his money. I was going to be okay.
---
When I reached the bank – after almost two weeks – my heart was fluttering, and not in a good way. It was a little past 5, so everyone else should have scurried off by now. It made me glad, because the thought of having this conversation with Zayden and with people staring through his window was chilling. Actually, the thought of having this conversation with him at all was chilling.
I had to get ahold of myself.
What was he going to do? Take me to court? It was just a silly contract, and maybe not even legally binding. I would pay the 20,000 dollars he had already given to the hospital back as soon as possible, and then take care of the rest of my mom’s debt.
I walked in with wobbly feet, my chest shuddering with fear, only to find out he wasn’t in. Of course, the one day he decides to leave work early had to be now. If I didn’t do this now, I would never be able to get out of the contract. It had to be taken care of before I could have a second to change my mind. I headed to the teller’s booth and dialed Zayden’s cell phone. No answer. I called once more and then decided it was best to text him.
With trembling fingers, I typed; I’m out of the contract. I can’t do this anymore.
My phone started ringing immediately after. It was him.
“Hi,” I said, clutching my shirt tightly.
“What was that text about?” Zayden’s voice was trembling, and for a moment I wondered if he was as scared as I was. He was probably just pissed. Then I remembered I was nothing but a commodity to him.
“You read it. I want out.” It took everything I had to keep my voice straight. “I really cannot do this anymore, Zayden. You are too controlling and it’s not something I can handle. I think you are a decent person, and I always will. Thank you for helping me out and everything, really. I have nothing against you whatsoever, but I cannot live my life as somebody’s possession. I am just the wrong person for this deal. You need someone who will do your bidding and let you control her life. You should have probably figured that out by now. I really enjoyed spending time with you before things got out of control. You don’t get nearly enough credit for just how fun you can be. I am going to miss that, whatever we had, but this is not worth my dignity and never will be.”
To my surprise and utter horror, he started laughing hysterically, and after about a full minute of that insanity, he said, “You are joking, right? I mean, you’ve read our contract. You signed it.”