Bound to You

Chapter 2: Contract

“Passengers please fasten your seatbelts. We will be landing at the Los Angeles International Airport in about 10 minutes.” Darcy fastened her seatbelt and reached for her phone. It was only 8:00 a.m. The time zone change had thrown her off big time. It was 6:00 a.m. when she'd left Atlanta. She knew she’d have crazy jet lag for the rest of the day. She sat back in her seat and looked at the window, watching the city below grow larger and larger as the plane descended. She’d never been beyond the East coast before; she was excited to have the opportunity to live in Los Angeles for a while. As she waited for the plane to land, she thought back six weeks ago to when she’d told her mother about this little arrangement…

**December 2013**

“A fake relationship? They’re paying you $100,000 A MONTH for a fake relationship?” Darcy’s mother, Mary Davis, asked incredulously. Darcy laughed as she helped her mother set the table. “Yeah, isn’t it crazy? But from what Stormie and Sean told me, it’s not going to be easy. It’ll be a full time commitment. So it’ll probably end up feeling like an actual job.” Mary shook her head. “So who all can know?” she asked, laying out silverware on the table. “Just you, dad, and Maci. And Maci is going to have to keep her mouth shut! If anyone, ANYONE, finds out about this I’ll be in huge trouble.” She made sure to emphasize the part about ‘huge trouble’. Her mother nodded. “And they’ll probably have you guys sign contracts too, just to make sure.” Darcy said, stepping back into the kitchen. Her mother followed. “Are you sure about this Darce? I mean from what you’ve told me, this is pretty serious.” Darcy nodded, picking up the salad bowl. “I’m sure. It would be no different if I were to be cast in a movie or TV show. Actors have to sign contracts. It’s no big deal. I made sure to talk to Dr. Whitmore one on one after Stormie and Sean left and she assured me that she had read the contract and there was nothing out of the ordinary. I trust Dr. Whitmore. If there were anything suspicious at all about this, she wouldn’t have suggested that I go.” Her mother nodded again. “I guess you’re right. I’m just really nervous about having my baby so far away from me for so long.” She said, pinching Darcy’s cheek playfully. “Mom! I’ve been living in New York on my own for two years now, I think I’ll be ok.” She insisted, taking the salad into the dining room.

**present**

“You may now unfasten your seatbelts. Thank you for flying with us. Enjoy your stay in Los Angeles.” Darcy snapped back to reality when she realized she was one of the last ones on the plane. She quickly slipped her pink Vans back on & jumped up, retrieving her carry-on bag and making her way off of the plane. She had only one carry on and one large suitcase with her; as part of the agreement, the R5 team would be buying her a whole new wardrobe and any other essentials she needed to compensate for what she couldn’t bring all the way across the country to L.A. She made her way to baggage claim once she was inside the airport. She was able to quickly locate her neon green and pink polka dotted suitcase among the many black and grey ones, which was the very reason why she had purchased it, and then made her way to the lobby to wait for Stormie. “Darcy! Over here!” she heard a voice call. She turned around and saw Stormie standing beside one of the airport’s tall glass walls. “It’s so nice to see you again!” Stormie gushed as she walked over, greeting her with a hug. “It’s nice to see you again too.” Darcy replied. She then noticed a tall, brunette boy standing just behind her. “Oh, how rude of me.” Stormie said, turning around to face the boy. “Darcy, this is my son Rocky. Rocky, this is Darcy.” Rocky extended his hand towards her. “Nice to meet you.” He said, smiling genuinely. Darcy smiled in return. “It’s nice to meet you too.” Once Rocky had loaded her suitcase and dufflebag into the trunk of the car, they headed away from the airport. “We have to go by Sean’s office so you can officially sign the contract. Ross will be meeting us there. Rocky, Riker is bringing Ross so you can ride back to the house with him.” She offered, looking at Rocky in the rearview mirror. “Riker must be your other son.” Darcy said, looking over at Stormie. She nodded. “He’s my oldest. Then there’s Rydel, my only daughter. Then Rocky, then Ross, then Ryland.” “How old is everyone?” Darcy asked. “I’m 19. Ross just turned 18 in December. Rydel is 20, Riker is 22, and Ryland is 16.” Rocky answered. “How old are you?” Darcy smiled a bit sheepishly. “I’ll be 20 in March.” Rocky grinned. “Ross’s got himself an older lady, niiiiice.” He laughed. Stormie reached into the backseat and swatted Rocky’s leg. “Behave yourself!” she scolded. “Yes mommy.” He said, still snickering to himself. Around 9:00, Stormie pulled into the parking lot of a large executive building. “There’s Riker’s car. Take Darcy’s stuff with you, would you Rocky? Ross must already be inside.” He nodded and walked around to the trunk, taking the brightly colored suitcase and dufflebag out. Darcy glanced over at the car sitting a few parking spaces away. She could barely make out the figure of a boy sitting in the front seat; the windows were too darkly tinted to see what he looked like. She followed Stormie inside, past a fancy receptionist desk and into the elevator. “I hope I’m not dressed too casually.” She said, looking down at her hoodie and track shorts. Stormie shook her head. “Don’t worry about it. We’re just here so you can sign the contract and work out some of the specifics with Ross and Sean.” She smiled warmly. Darcy smiled in return. She was already beginning to like Stormie. The elevator stopped on the 20th floor and the two stepped out into a brightly lit corridor. Stormie walked all the way to the end and knocked on the last office door. “Come in.” Sean’s voice was muffled through the door. Darcy stepped into the office first. “Darcy! So nice to see you again.” He said, stepping around his desk to shake her hand. He gestured to the young blonde boy sitting in one of the two chairs positioned in front of his desk. “Allow me to introduce you to Ross. Ross, this is Darcy.” Ross stood up, turning to face her. ‘Wow he’s much cuter in person.’ She thought. His blonde hair was slightly tussled; clearly he hadn’t had time to style it this early in the morning so he’d thrown on a black beanie. He too was dressed casually, in a t-shirt and sweatpants. “Nice to meet you.” He said, flashing her a slightly tired smile. “It’s nice to meet you too.” She replied, smiling back. “Take a seat guys, I’d like to get this finished as quickly as possible; it’s obvious that you’re both pretty tired. I’ve already given you guys the basic details of this arrangement, so you both know how things are going to work. But there are a few other things I need to add. First of all, there will be NO relationships outside of this one. I don’t care who you meet. I don’t care how wonderful they are. Until this contract has expired, the ONLY relationship that you are to be involved in is this one. This is probably the most important part of the contract. Do you both understand?” Sean asked, looking from Darcy to Ross. Both nodded in agreement. “Now myself and the rest of R5’s management team will have some control over the relationship. We’ll decide what red carpet events you need to attend with Ross, when the two of you need to make a public appearance, and most of all, when it’ll be time for you two to ‘break up’. Also, we have worked out your backstory: Darcy is a family friend. She moved to Los Angeles to live with you guys because she wants to break into the acting industry. The two of you had crushes on eachother when you were younger. When Darcy moved in, the two of you began a romance. Understand?” Both nodded again. “So when we will be taking this ‘romance’ public?” Ross asked. “In a few weeks or so. We’ll start slow. Tweeting cute things, maybe a little Instagraming. Just to get the fans curious. Then, we’ll have you guys make your first public appearance. And we’ll go from there.” Sean sat back in his chair and looked at Darcy. “This is your last chance to back out Darcy. Once you sign this contract, you’re ours for 18 months. Are you 100% sure you can handle this?” Darcy nodded confidently. “I’m sure.” Sean grinned and walked over to one of the many file cabinets in the office. He pulled out two thick stacks of paper and brought them over to the two tired teenagers. He laid one in front of Ross and the other in front of Darcy. “Just sign this one line on the front and you’re good to go.” He said, handing a pen to each of them. Darcy hesitated. “This looks a lot thicker than the contract you brought with you to Julliard.” She noted, flipping through the pages. Sean waved his hand dismissively. “We just added in the things I filled you guys in on today. Nothing big. And the first copy wasn’t the official document. It had to be typed up with all that legal, fancy language. So it lengthened it a bit. Nothing to worry about.” He insisted, smiling down at Darcy. She nodded as she leaned forward and signed the contract. “Thank you very much, you’re both free to go.” Sean said, taking both contracts back. Darcy smiled halfheartedly as she walked out the door behind Stormie and Ross. She had only signed an acting contract. Why did she have the gut feeling that she’d just signed away her very soul?