She was silent. She wanted to say yes, but she didn’t want to. There were two sides tugging inside her head. She saw him take out his laptop and he placed this on a wooden table that had a printer on it, adding a provision.
“What else?” he asked.
“I want you to put the time there.”
“What for?”
“I think it’s better if there’s a timeline. This is a weird project anyway; any project should have a timeline.”
He nodded. “You’re correct on that matter. How does three months sound?”
She shrugged.
“Will you be able to enroll for classes within three months?”
She nodded then. “It’s almost September. I can.”
“Good.” He nodded, typing in a few words. Within minutes of changing the contract, he had another printed again, a total of two copies for each of them. She read through the contract one last time and held it tightly with both hands.
“Still having qualms?”
She looked at him. “I need another day or two to think about this.”
“You’re telling me this now?” he said, cocking his head sideways. He controlled his irritation. “Fine. Two days and that’s it. If you don’t want any part of it, just call me before ten in the evening on Thursday so we won’t waste both our time.”
She nodded. “I’d like to go home now.”
“Of course.”
Chapter6
She signed the contract the day after, but she didn’t tell him yet. She mulled things over while showering, while she was at work, and she mulled things over some more while going home. She thought about the money. She would need it. It was going to be exclusive and emotions weren’t going to be involved. That was impossible of course, but she thought he would be difficult to love while she gave love freely. It was a good thing that he was an asshole. That would make things easier for her.
To accept this meant she could save the remaining money she needed for a full two years of nursing school. That was what pushed her to sign the contract. He didn’t even ask her to pay for anything, in the event she had sexual relations with other people. She still wouldn’t do that, that was her redeeming quality, she told herself. I don’t sleep around.
The contract meant she would be having more sex. She thought about what made her different from the many others (she assumed there were many women), when it came to that prowess. It was something she should be happy about, right? After a long drought, after quite a lengthy abstinence. He was great in bed, and it was something she couldn’t deny. She felt horny at the thought of him stripping out of his clothes, so she shook her head. Focus, Mikaela. Focus.
Would he pay for her rent here, too? Or would he ask her to quit her job at Uncommon Grounds so she could oblige him the moment he called out for her? He wouldn’t be that unreasonable, right? He was a businessman. Of course he wouldn’t be that stupid. She needed to work. There was a future without him, seeing it was only going to be a maximum of three months with him.
She also said yes because he was attractive, but the contract had said they shouldn’t be seen together, and if they were, it was deemed casual. No dinner dates, no dress-up dates. The contract didn’t say that she could stop seeing other guys, though. The contract was purely sexual.
Maybe that was another reason why she said yes, a deviation from the ho-hum life she had been accustomed to. A lot of things could happen in three months, and she hoped liking him beyond what was manageable wouldn’t happen. It won’t, she told herself confidently as she took out her phone to call him.
“Yes?” he said harshly.
“I signed it,” she told him.
There was a momentary silence on his end. “All right. I’ll pick it up tomorrow before your shift starts.”
“At, what, five-thirty in the morning?” she said with a frown.
“What time does your shift start? Seven?”
He guessed correctly, or maybe he was a brilliant stalker, she thought.
“Yes, seven.”
“All right. I’ll be there at five-thirty.”