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Chapter 21

"You will notify me if you don't want to do something. The same applies if you want to stop. Quit, and it's over. Immediately and permanently. By signing this contract, you commit to clearly communicate any kind of discomfort or unwillingness regarding any activity."

"This is so fucking awkward."

He has covered the parts involving his name. Don't ask me why—maybe he's famous and doesn't want me to know. Ha ha. He explained it by saying, 'You don't need to know, so why unnecessarily make things more complicated?'

"I don't know, man, this whole thing will probably kill the tension."

"Doesn't have to be. You say no to something, we just move on to something else if we're both okay with it. No need to talk it through."

I nod slowly. "That could work."

He turns the next page of the papers he just printed. Yeah, he's that rich. He's got his own printer. He taps the next section and, like with every other one, sums up what he's written. "We're not going to your place." 

I nod. 

"I've added a few more. The contract doesn't in any way bind either of us to only be with each other. We're free to have other partners, other encounters, without having to tell the other. Our private lives stay private, unless it's important information we need to know. The contract allows either of us to walk away at any time. Not just from one arrangement, but from everything. The money would have to be paid back, though."

I nod again. "Makes sense."

"New rules can be added at any time after both parties have agreed." He flips the last page and we're back at the beginning. "That's all. Does that sound acceptable to you?"

"Surprisingly, yeah."

He stands up to get a pencil. I stay at the table in his kitchen and check the time on my phone. It's almost midnight. "Do you want to read it over again on your own before you sign it?"

"I'm kind of in a hurry." My foot taps nervously on the floor under the table. "It's almost midnight, and I still have to... I mean, I need the money by then."

"Got it." He signs the contract while standing and hands it to me. I don't know if his signature is unreadable because he doesn't want me to decipher it, or if that's just his way of signing. "There's nothing in it that we haven't gone through."

And yet I still hesitate, staring at the words without really reading them. I find myself chewing my fingernails. "Did we talk about the phone you gave me?"

"You give it back to me as soon as you have a new one or I'll bill you for it."

"Right, but... How much time do I have for this?"

"As long as you need."

I nod again. I take a deep breath and sign it, getting up immediately, checking the time. He's busy with his phone. "I really have to transfer the money now."

He puts his phone away. "Done."