Did he have a party over the weekend? Finn used to be the type that I could imagine hosting a drunken rager any day of the week but the man I met last week seemed more sedate than that. Then I remember his last words to me.
So this is how it’s going to be. He means to punish me and this is how he’s going to do it.
Once I walk in the kitchen and look down at the counter, I discover the culprit. Finn must have had a tuna sandwich yesterday and left the remains out overnight.
Ugh. He’s clearly committed to his make-Rissa-pay plan because the trashcan is right below the counter where he left the funky sandwich. I think it actually might have taken him more effort to leave it on the counter than if he’d just done the proper thing and thrown it away.
I blow out a sigh and survey the room. With a mess like this, it honestly doesn’t even matter where I start so I just pull on rubber gloves and unroll a trash bag. I walk around the room picking up debris. In some cases I’m not even sure if what I’m picking up is in fact trash but I’m not going to worry about it. He’s paying me to clean not think. Plus, he’s clearly rich enough to replace anything I accidentally throw away.
And this place is going to be spotless when I’m done. If he’s hoping to find fault with my work so he can void the contract, then he’s not getting that satisfaction. This place is going to be so clean that it would even pass my mother’s white glove test.
For the next hour, I work steadily. Most of it was surface damage. I’m pretty sure Finn just took a bag of laundry and tossed its contents as far as he could reach. But underneath it all, the place really isn’t dirty since I just cleaned it a few days ago. So after my initial sweep to get all the trash, I herd all the dirty clothes into a pile and wipe down all the surfaces. After that, I tackle the hall bathroom. When I poke my head in the guest bedroom, I’m hesitant, worried that he might have trashed it too. But it looks the same. The bed doesn't look like it's been touched. I dust the night tables and the headboard quickly before poking my head in the office. The only things in the room are a desk and chair. It doesn't take long to wipe them down.
All in all, the place looks pretty good. I’m surveying my handiwork with a satisfied smile when Finn appears.
When he sees me standing in the living room, he nods. “Oh you’re done. Good. I need you.”
“I’m already finished cleaning.”
He smirks. “You didn’t read the contract did you?”
I clench my teeth together to keep in the smart remark on the tip of my tongue. What the hell is up with everyone and this damn contract?
“Yes, I read it.”
“Then you know I own your time between the hours of eight and twelve.”
“But I’m done.” I gesture around the sparkling apartment. All of the furniture has been restored to its rightful positions and all the surfaces gleam. I’m not sure what else he thinks I can do in here.
“Not here. We’re going out. I need new stuff. And you’re going to help me choose it.”
My patience finally snaps. After working for the past two hours straight, my back is screaming and my feet hurt. I want to smack that grin right off his face, contract be damned.
"You know what, no. You are paying me to clean. You want to trash your own apartment just to get back at me, real mature by the way, that's fine. You want to make me pick up your skanky girlfriend's underwear and show off how many Magnum condoms you've used in the past few days, that's fine too. But I'm not some dog that you can snap your fingers at and expect me to follow. I may work for you but you don't own me."
His eyes burn as he steps forward. "Oh yes I do. I didn't write that contract to buy a cleaning lady. I did it to buy you. For the next six months between the hours of eight and twelve, you are mine."
I'm so frustrated that his harsh words bring tears to my eyes. I hate that I cry when I'm angry. I want to be strong and yell back at him but this kind of fury makes me feel very small. "I am not yours. I'm not anybody’s."
He stalks forward again and I instinctively shrink away. He doesn't seem to notice. He rests his forehead against mine, the harsh rasp of his breath hitting my cheek. When he pulls me closer, I am too stunned to protest.
"You are mine just as much as I am yours. This hold you've had on me has gone on too long. You walked away from me but when you left you took a part of me with you. I haven't been able to sleep without you walking in and out of my dreams. I can't close my eyes without feeling your presence. You're always with me. I can't live like this anymore."
His lips feather over my forehead and the frustration I feel morphs into a different kind of ache altogether. Maybe this is part of his plan, to hold me the way he used to and make me feel all the things that no other man has ever made me feel.
"You want revenge for the way I treated you. I know that. And you won't believe me but I am truly sorry for the way I left things. You deserved so much more than that. So much better than me. It's better if I assign someone else to come here so we don't have to see each other. It's just hurting us both."
He looks down at me. "If you do that I will void the contract and tie you up in court so long you'll go bankrupt just from all the legal fees. Don't push me on this, Rissa. You have no idea how far I'm willing to go."
"Is this really what you want? It's not healthy for you to keep all this anger inside. You have to move on."
"That's just it angel, I can't move on until my heart accepts the true nature of who you are. A girl who could ditch me for a richer guy and not look back. But the only way that'll happen is if I spend time with you. So you are going to go where I need you to go. You are going to talk to me. And I am going to purge you from my fucking system or I'll destroy us both trying."
* * * * *
I tuck my hands under my legs again as we ride along in silence. We’re being driven somewhere, Finn wouldn’t tell me where, in the back of the most gorgeous car I’ve ever seen. It takes all my will power not to reach out and touch all the shiny surfaces. The things he said to me, no growled at me, are swimming around my head. I'm offended by the fact that he feels he has essentially bought me like a horse but even more, I'm entranced by his assertion that he needs to purge me. That he's obsessed with me after all this time.
I shouldn't have felt such a thrill of pleasure when he said that.