“It’s okay, mom. I will try my best, okay? I love you, I have to go now!”
I had made up my mind about what was to happen and it was time to follow through. This wasn’t going to be easy. If I knew Zayden at all, then he wasn’t going to make it easy. But if I didn’t break the contract now, I would never be able to look at myself again. I hadn’t signed up to be in a controlling relationship where I was somebody’s puppet. I had signed up to spend time with him in return for a favor that I was going to return. He had taken it too far and convinced himself somehow that he hadn’t bought my time, but me. I was not going to let him get away with that. I had gotten this far in life by living it on my own terms, and I wasn’t going to allow some man to dictate how I lived it all of a sudden because of a piece of paper. I would have to find another way to help mom, and I sure as hell was willing to do anything to this end. I didn’t need Zayden or his money. I was going to be okay.
---
When I reached the bank – after almost two weeks – my heart was fluttering, and not in a good way. It was a little past five so everyone else should have scurried off by now. It made me glad because the thought of having this conversation with Zayden and with people staring through his window was chilling. Actually, the thought of having this conversation with him at all was chilling.
I had to get ahold of myself.
What was he going to do? Take me to court? It was just a silly contract, and maybe not even legally binding. I would pay the twenty thousand dollars he had already given to the hospital back as soon as possible, and then take care of the rest of my
mom’s debt.
I walked in with wobbly feet, my chest shuddering with fear, only to find out he wasn’t in. Of course, the one day he decides to leave work early had to be now. If I didn’t do this now, I would never be able to get out of the contract. It had to be taken care of before I could have a second to change my mind. I headed to the teller’s booth and dialed Zayden’s cellphone. No answer. I called once more and then decided it was best to text him.
With trembling fingers I typed: I’m out of the contract. I can’t do this anymore.
My phone started ringing immediately after. It was him.
“Hi,” I said, clutching my shirt tightly.
“What was that text about?” Zayden’s voice was trembling and for a moment I wondered if he was as scared as I was. He was probably just pissed. Then I remembered I was nothing but a commodity to him.
“You read it. I want out.” It took everything I had to keep my voice straight. “I really cannot do this anymore, Zayden. You are too controlling and it’s not something I can handle. I think you are a decent person, and I always will. Thank you for helping me out and everything, really. I have nothing against you whatsoever, but I cannot live my life as somebody’s possession. I am just the wrong person for this deal. You need someone who will do your bidding and let you control her life. You should have probably figured that out by now. I really enjoyed spending time with you before things got out of control. You don’t get nearly enough credit for just how fun you can be. I am going to miss that, whatever we had, but this is not worth my dignity and never will be.”
To my surprise and utter horror, he started laughing hysterically, and after about a full minute of that insanity, he said, “You are joking right? I mean you’ve read our contract. You signed it.”
The truth was, I hadn’t fully read it as I should have. I skimmed through it and got the basic gist of it – I was to spend time with him, go on dates with him and owed him no sexual obligations. In return, he would pay for my mom’s hospital bills, which I was to pay him back as soon as I got a job out of college – and the rest seemed to just be legal jibber jabber. I marveled at how stupid it was of me to not give it a more thorough perusal, and feared that I had got myself in a situation I didn’t want to be in.
“What are you talking about?” I asked very carefully.
“Aria, you’re a really smart girl, don’t play dumb now. Unless you have found a way to give me the twenty-thousand I already paid back in—”
“Yes, I will pay it to you in installments as soon as I can,” I cut him off.
“You can’t do that. Did you read the contract?” He asked again, now sounding genuinely concerned. “You should never sign things without reading them properly. Just advice for the future.”
“I skimmed it,” I snapped. “And have no idea which part you are referring to!”
“The part where, if you break the contract, you owe me the sum I have already paid on your mother’s behalf. Within 10 days. Oh, and you lose your job, but I guess that’s the part you had already figured out on your own.”
I felt the ground escape from my feet. How could I have been stupid and gotten into something I couldn’t get out of, without even reading the contract?
“You can’t do this to me,” I said, tears running down my face.
“I don’t want to,” he said gently. “I want us to enjoy each other and if you don’t it won’t be nearly as fun for me either, believe me when I say that. I never wished to coerce you into anything, but you are leaving me no choice. We were having a great time until you went and fucked it up.”
“I fucked it up?” I yelled in anger. “I did? Really? I don’t recall telling you who you could or could not speak to and trying to control every aspect of your life!”
“I was looking out for you, god damn it! Don’t you see that? That jerk hurt you and yet you were standing there being nice and friendly, willing to go on coffee dates with him, as though he hadn’t wronged you in any way.”
“It wasn’t a date and never was going to be. You’re the one who doesn’t see it! Spending all that time with you was what really helped me move on from Rick. This whole year I had been moping about how hurt I was, never fully able to accept what he had done.” I was crying. “Then you came along – and – and – I saw how much fun I could have and what I was missing out on while nursing a heartache. You helped me get over him, and that coffee was going to be a symbol of my new-found strength. To show I didn’t care. But you just saw me smiling at another man and decided all on your own that I was wronging you in some way. It was not okay for you to tell me to stop talking to him, Zayden. Do you understand that?”
“We’ve already been over this. It doesn’t matter anyway, Aria. You’re stuck in this contract, whether you like it or not. It would be immensely helpful to the both of us if you just accepted it and tried to enjoy yourself.”
I felt like I was trapped in a windowless room with nowhere to go. How could he be okay doing this to me? There was no way I could produce twenty-thousand dollars in such a short time, and he knew it.
“I won’t enjoy any of it. I promise you that. And I’ll try and make it so you don’t either,” I said with all the spite I could muster, then hung up before he could reply.