2| An Early Retirement

46 0 5
                                    

-

Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.

-

"Here's my card, please, look the contract over and call me if you have any questions."

The suit's departing words ring through my head as I stare at the tiny white piece of cardstock, his contact details written in neat letters. I lay with my head hanging off the side of my bed and my feet up in the air against the wall, allowing the blood to rush to my brain and my thoughts to consume me.

So many questions filter in and out with every pulse my growing headache brings.

What I need to do now is get a good look at that stack of papers I set thoughtlessly on the counter with an endless pile of bills and other junk mail. To do that I have to get up and face reality, which is not something I want to do.

So, with much reluctance, I flip myself over and shuffle up and out of my room and toward my reality.

It doesn't take me long to collect the contract, a bottle of water, three bags of Doritos, and my will to power through. With my newfound energy, I plop down on my couch and sit cross-legged with the papers in my lap. I take a nice glug of my water before flipping the first page.

I read through the tiny, yet detailed, paragraphs with little effort. It's just a bunch of information detailing party "A", me, and party "B", the CEO. It goes on to say that not only will this contract be binding me to the RC for the next year of my life, but also an NDA that will prevent me from speaking about our deal.

Not that I was planning on doing so anyway.

The rest is filler.

I flip to the next. This page is just in-depth details about what my life is going to look like if I decide to go through with this sham marriage. Which seems to be a life of pure luxury, with my clothes, housing, and all finances taken care of. Not to mention the generous salary that will be transferred to my account weekly.

Rich people amaze me.

I flip the page.

Now this, this is the good stuff. Before divulging my curiosity further, I rip open my first bag of chips and crush a few in my mouth. Now that my appetite is sated, I continue my pursuit.

This page has all the real information. The important shit. The shit that will be required and expected of me as sir Theoren Raven's fake fiancé. Most of it is confusing seeing as we will be expected to be seen and photographed together in the public eye. Not sure how that's going to work with a ghost, but to each their own.

Everything required of me is manageable, a few public interviews, some fake dates, lots of handholding—also odd when your soon-to-be husband is rumored to hate physical contact—, and other small requests. Thankfully nothing is saying I'm selling my body to him.

I don't know why some part of me thought I would become a sex slave, but hey you can't help your inner thoughts.

The contract is simple but detailed. It's not some soul-selling thing either, it's actually benefiting me more than him.

Tempting DeceptionWhere stories live. Discover now