Mrs. Matched | Complete

Chapter Ten

When I asked Christopher to help me unpack and feel comfortable in my new home, he immediately jumped into action. We spent the whole morning cleaning the kitchen and organizing it just the way I wanted it: complete with the cutlery in a drawer he deemed 'completely illogical.'

We paused for a simple lunch of sandwiches before we made our way into our personal bedrooms to unpack our own things.

"I like the room I slept in last night," I told him, "so I'll just unpack my things into there. You can have the master for now."

"No." He shook his head. "I'll stay in the small room. It isn't fair for one of us to have the master and not the other."

Before I could object, he put his hand up to stop me and continued. "This way, we can both use the balcony whenever we'd like. If someone were sleeping in there, it wouldn't be fair."

He had a good point there. "Okay," I agreed, nodding my head. "I'll just unpack my clothes and stuff. Should we decide on bathrooms?"

"You pick," he said, shaking his head and laughing at what I thought was a very practical question.

"All right, I'll pick." I pointed to the bathroom directly across the hall from my room. "I'll take that one for now."

"You sure you don't want me to help with anything? I have barely anything left to do."

"Yes, I'm sure." Plus, I need some time alone to figure out what on earth I'm going to do. And that means I need to read the contract.

"Okay. I'll go read or something. Just call me if you need anything, okay?"

I nodded and pulled a smile onto my face before turning into my bedroom and closing the door behind me. With a sigh of relief I picked up the contract from the dresser and walked over to the bed to read it. I can unpack later. Right now I need to figure out a way out.

It didn't even take me half an hour to get through the whole contract now that my head was on straight. There wasn't a whole lot in it. I mean, there was, but it was mostly stuff I was expecting. The nuances of the law were laid out, though. If I broke the marriage, I would be fined 300,000 dollars, my parents would lose all of their property, and I could end up in jail.

My parents I wasn't so worried about. They got themselves into this. But 300,000 dollars was an astronomical amount for someone so low on the corporate ladder. I would probably never be able to pay off that money and would end up living my whole life in a gutter because I couldn't live with my parents. Maybe Melody and Paul would let me live with them, but I'd save that for a last resort.

So, what are my options? I thought to myself. Obviously staying in the marriage is not an option. And clearly breaking the contract is an almost equally bad outcome.

I flipped through the contract one more time.

"Well, there's always one of us dying," I spoke aloud. "But I definitely don't hate him that much."

Then I come to the final appendix: 'Match Made.' I scan down the paragraphs of text, using my finger to keep track of where I am.

If either party should break the contract before the completion of Match Made tasks, the party shall be liable for additional damages and forfeit all property of the marriage.

Well, that didn't sound good. I continued to read. It wasn't very clear, but once the tasks were complete, there was a small window during which Christopher and I would be able to renegotiate the terms of our marriage. I could work with that.

But how am I going to get him to agree to separate from me while completing the tasks and keeping up appearances? If anyone figures me out, I'm sunk.

I paced my room, unpacking boxes of my clothes as I wracked my brain. There had to be a way. But no matter how long I thought, I couldn't figure out how to get out.

But, I reasoned with myself, if I just complete these tasks, I know I'll have a window. So if I just find some time to research a way out in between completing these tasks, I can buy some time.

I sat there, perched on the edge of my bed and contemplating what my life had become. "Well, then. That's that," I said to myself. "Let's unpack and get comfy. We're going to be here a while."

I hope no one is listening to me. They're going to think I'm going crazy.

Sliding my headphones on, I turned on my dance playlist and bounced to the music as I finished unpacking the remaining boxes of clothes.

I wasn't even halfway through my dance playlist when I dumped my last box into the top left drawer of my dresser. It was mostly socks.

My stomach growled, bringing me out of my dance-music induced stupor.

What time is it?

I slide my headphones down around my neck and swing my door open. "Hey, Christopher?" I called into the hallway. "Do you have any plans for supper or do you want to go out somewhere?"

His footsteps grew louder as he approached my room, so I made my way back into the closet and pretended to rearrange my clothes.

Christopher poked his head into my room, knocking on the door frame as he did so. "I didn't have anything planned. But I don't know much of what's around here. So we could end up eating somewhere very gross if we aren't careful."

I couldn't resist the laugh that escaped my lips. He is taking this very seriously. It's just food.

"That's half the fun!" I called from the closet. "It'll be a bonding experience." I can't believe I said that out loud.

Christopher still looks skeptical, but he nods in agreement. "Okay, if you say so. We have to eat, right?"

"Is half an hour a good time for you or do you want to wait and go later?"

"Half an hour is perfect." He smiled and pulled out his phone. "But please let me search for a restaurant first."

"No!" I sprinted across the room and practically smacked his phone out of his hand. "No, you can't do that. It'll ruin all the fun!"

"What is fun about not knowing where we are eating?"

"Everything. You'll see. Just trust me, okay?"

He laughed and put his phone in his pocket. "Okay. I'll trust you."

"Good. Now go," I said, pushing him out the door. "I have a lot to get ready and very little time."

"I'm going. I'm going." He raised his hands in surrender. "I'll come back to pick you up in half an hour."

I rolled my eyes. "Yes. Now go."

With the door closed securely behind him, I had the room to myself. I waited for the rush of nerves to come over me, but it didn't come. I wasn't nervous.

Smiling to myself, I pulled my headphones back up on my ears and resumed my dance playlist and I selected my clothes. Might as well play the part well, I thought to myself, pulling one of my favourite dresses out of the closet.