Desires and Contracts

Ch. 21

Today was Tuesday, June 10- four days before I marry Xavier for money, basically. I was beginning to feel guilty about the entire contract again, especially since Xavier's family has been so helpful and kind towards me but I also needed the money badly. This money would allow me to pay my bills without having to sacrifice grocery shopping and I could also use the money to buy a car instead of spending loads of money on Uber and bus passes.

I was off from the restaurant today but babysat Natalie for a few hours this morning. When I came back to my apartment I decided to begin packing for the honeymoon. Xavier told me a few days ago that we'd be going to Italy for five days after the wedding. I was really excited because I've always wanted to go to Italy! He wanted to go for an entire week but I would be starting teaching credential school soon so I wanted to start preparing for that. I decided to become an English teacher because I enjoy the subject, which is why I majored in it, and I also really like the idea of having my own classroom and being with students who I could teach and influence their opinion about literature.

I wasn't too sure when I'd be moving in with Xavier either. I wanted to ask him a few days ago when we met up for coffee but he seemed irritated and stressed and I didn't want to burden him with more stress by asking about moving in. I'm sure he'll tell me when he's ready for me to move in.

I began packing my suitcase when I heard a knock on the door. I looked through the peephole to see who it was since I wasn't expecting company, and I saw two men standing in front of the door. I cautiously opened it and one of the men spoke first. He introduced the both of them and said that they were hired by Xavier to help me move into his house today. I told them that Xavier didn't tell me anything about this so I asked them to hang on for a bit while I called Xavier to confirm.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Xavier. I'm sorry for bothering you but did you send two guys over to my place to move my things today?"

"Yeah, I wanted you to move in your stuff to my place today. That way we don't need to worry about it after the wedding."

"Oh yeah makes sense. It's just that I didn't know I was supposed to move today. I don't have anything packed, like nothing at all."

"Oh I thought I told you that today you'd move in. Well, I'm really sorry about that but I'll go ahead and tell the movers to come back later. Is two hours enough for you to pack everything? And don't worry about the furniture, I'll just talk to the landlord about keeping it there for the next tenants and he can lower your rent for the rest of this month."

"Sure, that's fine. I'll try to pack everything within two hours then."

"Great, I'll text the movers. See you later." with that, he hung up. I was a bit upset that he didn't give me a heads up but also because he was so adamant about me moving in today. I admit I don't have too many things but it's still going to take me some time to pack everything up and I don't know if I can do it in two hours. Nevertheless, I told the movers that they can come back in two hours and they nodded their heads and left. I took a deep breath before taking out my empty containers and finding some boxes. I threw all my clothes in two suitcases and then began packing up my toiletries and other skincare products.

After spending an hour on packing, I got a call from Mrs. Diamond saying that I should stay at my apartment until the night of the wedding, for traditions. She said that Xavier said I was moving in today but I shouldn't spend the night at his house until after we're married. I respected her wishes so I texted Xavier that I'll move my belongings to his house tonight but I'll keep enough things at the apartment to last me four days. I continued packing and was basically done until there was another knock on the door. It was the movers again, so I allowed them in and they began taking the boxes and containers that were packed while I finished packing a few kitchen supplies.

...

I got the text from Skylar about her not staying with me until after the wedding but she'll still move your stuff in. I was out having drinks with Austin and Mark and they saw the frustration on my face after reading the text. They asked me what was wrong and I told them how Skylar wasn't going to be moving in herself until after the wedding and how I knew my mother was the reason for this because she was very traditional about these things. She also told me that I couldn't see Skylar before the wedding but Skylar didn't mind it because she respected my mom's wishes.

When Austin and Mark heard that Skylar was packing and moving today while I was out drinking with them, they got really disappointed, especially Austin.

"Bro, you're supposed to be helping her pack and move. You're gonna be her husband, help her out a bit," said Austin as he shook his head at me.

"Don't you love her man? Show her some respect. How can you just tell her the day that she's moving into your house and not even help her? Like all you did was call her. That's a dick move." Mark said as he rubbed his hand across his face before taking a sip of his drink.

"Are you guys fighting or something?" Austin asked with concern on his face.

"What, no!" I responded fast.

"Then why didn't you help her? You can't act like this before you get married man. She's gonna regret marrying you if you continue to act like this. You gotta be there for her." Mark said angrily.

"Okay okay, I'm sorry! I'll make it up to her but can we just drop it now? I'm not having a bachelor party so I want to spend tonight hanging out with my boys but you guys only seem to care about Skylar."

"It's not that we don't want to be here with you, we just don't agree with you drinking with us while your fianceé is moving into YOUR house by herself," said Austin.

"As long as you apologize to her, hopefully, she won't be too mad at you," added Mark.

"Yeah, I will apologize to her. I'm sure she's still going to be at the house when I go home. This round is on me guys." I said. I motioned to the bartender to bring us another beer each. I could already tell I was a bit tipsy but I was going to take full advantage of tonight and just let loose.

Within an hour, all three of us were laughing and talking really loud. Mark and I could barely stand and walk. Austin was a bit more sober than us but even he couldn't speak without stumbling on his words. It was about 9 pm and we knew we should head home, especially since Kelly called Austin already. Austin called his driver who then dropped us off at our homes. When I got to mine, I fumbled for my keys but finally got the door to open. As I walked toward my room I noticed the guest room had boxes and two suitcases. I had to make sure that Skylar would move into my room otherwise my plan would not be believable. Tilly is still close to my parents so she might say something if she notices that we sleep in different rooms. But for now, I was too drunk to text Skylar and only wanted to sleep. I'll be sure to give her a call tomorrow to apologize.