Finally managed to update, this chapter is in need of editing (as all of them are) and I'll get there hopefully in the next few nights. I just want to get the main bones of the story out asap.
Hope you guys are still enjoying it :D
I glanced over the words, the clauses, the ins and outs. None of it explained why such a contract was necessary.
It stated however, that Nick and Amelia were to appear as though they were in a relationship for a period of five years.
“I don’t understand” I muttered
“It was a mutually beneficial arrangement” Nick explained.
I screwed my face up, thinking about Nick and Amelia was like a kick In the guts, and hearing the words ‘mutually beneficial’ just seemed so wrong.
“She had just joined my books as a Model, and I was only just starting out.”
“So you thought ‘fuck it, lets have a fake relationship for the hell of it’. Seriously Nick?”
“No… We decided publicity wise, that if we were involved, it would do good things for our careers. The only problem was, neither of us were interested in the other like that.”
“You expect me to believe that you weren’t interested in someone as gorgeous as her” I laughed,
“I’m not sure you remember the restaurant last night. The way she treated that poor woman? Yeah see I can’t be interested in women that treat others that way”
“But you can pretend to be engaged to them for how ever long, for the sake of your company.”
Nick sighed deeply, and I placed the contract back on his desk. I didn’t want to read it any more in depth, I was already annoyed.
“The five years is up in 6 months.” Nick said after a few minutes.
“Oh. So this is you telling me there is no clause to get out early?”
“I’m sorry” He replied, and he sounded genuinely apologetic.
It didn’t take away the fact he’d lied to me. even after we’d been together, he’d let me believe they were really together.
“You lied to me?” I replied, attempting to keep my voice at a level tone, but I was failing miserably.
“I thought I’d never feel anything for anyone, I thought I was meant to be devoid of feelings. What I had with Amelia was the closest to anything that resembled love. I thought that maybe I was meant to stay in this strange quasi relationship because it was the best I was going to get. But I lied to you, yes and for that I am sorry…”
“I feel so stupid” I muttered standing up
“Sarah, You don’t have to go. We can still be together, everything I said last night is the truth”
“No… I’ve heard enough.”
I walked to the office door and opened it. All the while promising myself to not let my guard down so quickly in the future. Until he spoke again, I let my guard down just by hearing the sound of his voice.
“Everything I did in the beginning was for Alex. I had to make a go of my life for her.”
I stopped, and leant my head up against the door. Of course he’d done it for her. After all he blamed himself for everything she went through.
“And now,”
“I’m a man of my word. Amelia and I have a contract.”
“Damn you Nick, I can’t be angry when you explain it like that” I grumbled turning around to face him again.
Nick walked over to the door where I stood, my hand was still on the door handle. He pushed it closed again and pressed his body against mine. We stood so close that I could feel his heart beating hard against his chest. I was sure my own heart was acting in a similar manner.
“Where does that leave us… and whatever, this is?”
Nick didn’t reply with words, instead he ran his fingers up my body, over my hips, breasts and shoulders before finally using them to move my hair from my face.
His lips touched mine with a sense of urgency, like it was the last time we’d kiss, like he was trying to savour the moment. For a second I worried, was it our last kiss?
Before I could think too much Nick pulled away from me
“I don’t want to ask you to be the other woman, not that it is really like that anyway. I want to keep discovering you, us... but I made a promise in that damn contract and I have to stick to it”
“No, Nick, I don’t want to be the other woman, and I don’t want to be caught up in the centre of a public relationship ‘breakdown’ either. I admire your loyalty to a contract, I really do. I just can’t be with you during it”
Nick took a step back and nodded ruefully.
“I’m sorry” He whispered, his hands dropped from me, and he walked back around to his desk.
I left the office and closed the door behind me.
I barely made it back to the desk before the tears started. What the hell was wrong with me?Nick and I had been together a few times, and yes, it had been amazing. But it had only been a few days. I couldn’t be in love with him, it was all too fast.
So then, why was I crying? It wasn’t like it was just a soft sob with a tear or two running down my cheek either, No, I was on the brink of a full on ugly cry.
I’d never felt so free than I had in the past week. I’d never realised my life could be filled with laughter, happiness and what was beginning to seem like love. I didn’t start this job expecting my entire world to change, but that was exactly what had happened.
I took a deep breath, and wiped my face with the tissues from the Kleenex box Janie kept inside her desk.
It wasn’t our time, and I had to accept it.
At 12.30pm I forced myself to leave the office and get lunch. The streets were busy however and once I bought my coffee I headed straight back. As I walked from the café back to the office, I had the distinct feeling I was being watched, like that horrible feeling you sometimes get late at night when you need to run from your bedroom to the bathroom in the pitch blackness, and you’re sure someone is there, watching. It was unsettling, but luckily when I was back in the office, it went away.
When Nick returned from lunch he looked over at me, his mouth opened slightly and he was about to say something. Instead he closed his mouth and walked through to his office without a word. I felt an ache in my chest, and I wanted to walk in there after him and declare myself available to be his, even though for the next six months he was contractually someone else’s.
But I couldn’t.
I resolved myself to forgetting about it. It was the weekend in a matter of hours by Monday Janie would be back and my contact with Nick would become limited. If Nick and I were meant to be more than a crazy fling then in six months, things might be different.
When 5pm rolled around I left and caught the bus home.
When I walked up the path I noted that Josh wasn’t home and an irrational fear settled in to my stomach. Ever since that email the other day, being alone frightened me.
Still I unlocked the front door and walked inside. I hoped that once I was inside the fear would disappear and I would feel safe, but It didn’t.
I checked all the windows were closed and locked twice, and both the back and front doors were dead bolted. Like a small child I looked in checked under my bed and in my closet and as night drew in I ran around closing the gaps in the curtains.
Yep, I was certifiably insane.
I put The Wedding Singer in the DVD player and settled in to watch it. It had come out years before, but I’d never seen it. I was half way through it when I heard a window smash in the bathroom.
My stomach instantly dropped and for a moment I sat completely still, unsure what to do.
Surely something had just hit the window, a stone from a passing car maybe, not that the bathroom even faced the road.
Crack…. Crack…. Crack…
When I heard the continued and attempted stealthy entrance, I stood and ran as quietly as I could for Janie’s bedroom. It was the closest to me, and the furthest from the bathroom. I closed the door behind me and pulled my phone from my pocket and prayed for battery bars. It was an old brick of a phone, one with a keypad and absolutely no “smart” capabilities. It had cost me $10 when I first moved here, and I hadn’t bought a new one yet. None of that mattered right now though because I needed to call someone. I dialled 911, and told them I was worried someone was breaking in, they said they’d send a patrol around, but being Friday night they may be delayed.
In my heart I knew who it was, who was outside right now, smashing my bathroom window, removing the glass so he could climb through. Only someone as narcissistic as my father would bother to remove the shards of glass to prevent injuring themselves before attempting to kidnap (or worse) another person.
No I needed to back up, I needed to be safe. I needed Nick.
I searched janie’s computer desk for an address book. Being Nick’s PA she would have something somewhere. Finally underneath a pile of papers I found a small red book. I flicked it opened, yes! Addresses, numbers.
Before I searched too hard I turned the bedroom light off and slid underneath the bed. I wasn’t certain how much time I had and every moment was vital.
I used the light of the phone to search the contacts and sighed with relief when I found Nick’s number.
I dialled, and waited. Each ring was like torture. Designed to cause my heart to speed up faster and faster. Finally after seven rings, Nicks strong stable voice rang down the phone.
“Sarah, are you okay?” Nick answered, his tone suggested he was surprised to hear from me, which wasn’t unusual given what had happened in the office, what had been said, the decision I’d made.
“No” I whispered
“No?! where are you” He asked, his voice had changed now, he was moving, fast
“Home, I think someone is breaking in” I mumbled
“I’m on my way Sarah, I’ll be there as soon as I can be. Stay on the phone okay”
“Okay”
Bang!
An orchestra of crashing rung out from the bathroom, as whomever it was breaking in, knocked everything over. My fingers clenched hard, gripping the carpet as if it was going to provide me security.
“Sarrrrah” his voice sung out, he sounded pleased with himself.
“Come out honey, I know you’re here, I’ve been following you around all day.”
I closed my eyes, and held my breath, determined to stay as silent as I could.
“Sarah! Don’t make me come looking for you. I’ve done enough of that.”
It was only a matter of minutes before his feet moved down the hallway, a door opened, mine I assumed because it was the closest to the bathroom. There were more bangs, as he threw things around, hunting for me.
“You know, last time someone said they were leaving me, I killed them. If you give yourself up I’ll spare you the same fate Sarah”
My blood ran cold, the admittance of murdering my mom was of little comfort, Deep down I’d always known it to be so. She was still gone and he was still here.
The truth ran through me, and while the fear was still very much rampant through my veins, I knew then that I’d rather be dead, than ever have to go back to hell.