✔️ The Arrangement (A Kinky Romance) [1st Draft]

An Eye Toward the Future

"Why do you still work here, See? I mean, you've got a rich fiancé and you're set for life. You should go to school – do something you love, you now," Gina suggested. "I mean – you could do anything you wanted to."

"I'd go back to school if I could," Tiffany agreed. "You really should consider it. You can't do this forever, girl – and why should you? Do something bigger with your life."

Gina looked at Selene thoughtfully. "If you could only do one thing the rest of your life, what would you do?"

"Help people." Selene answered immediately. "Assuming I had the resources to do it, the knowledge to make it effective, and the skill to hold it all together."

The two women looked at each other, then turned back to Selene.

"Business Management," Gina said.

"There are some classes also that are focused on the running of non-profits," Tiffany added. "You might even want to take some psychology classes or something like a social worker would take."

Gina nodded in agreement. "If anyone can do it, you can. Mrs. Robinson loves you – and she's just one of many. It shows you are good at winning people over. That is a great thing to have for gaining donations."

"Not to mention you've been out there, so you know what's important and what's hard to get. You have insight few others do."

"Geez, you two," Selene said, throwing her hands up. "I'm starting to think you don't want me here anymore."

"No," Tiffany protested. "We love you. We want you to do better for yourself. I mean, this place is great, but... there are so many opportunities out there that you can take advantage of and we wouldn't be very good friends if we didn't want the best for you."

That's when realization hit Selene. There was a future she needed to start looking toward. She was getting married, they had houses, they had assets together. It wasn't just about tomorrow anymore – it was about months and years from now.

"Oh, she's getting it now," Gina said excitedly.

"Wow," Selene breathed. Suddenly, there was a whole world open to her in a way that had never existed before. "I really do need to start thinking more about all this. I never had any of those kind of options before."

"I'll admit to being jealous," Tiffany told her, "but something tells me you really deserve all the breaks you can get. I also have a feeling you're the kind of person who helps make a difference. We need people like that. Now, find me a Nick!"

The girls laughed, then returned to work as usual, though that conversation had really resonated with Selene. After a few days of pondering, she brought it to Nick to see what he had to say about it all.

"If you want to go to school, then you can go. If you want to quit working, you can. If you want to start up a charity of your own – then let's get it set up," he told her. "I want to see you happy and whatever career will make you happy, then I'll back you all the way."

Selene sat back against his chest. "I never really had these kinds of options, even in my dreams. There's so many things out there."

"Well, Gina and Tiffany are right. A BA is good, and you can take courses specifically for charities. You can also try doing some intern work with another charity to test it out first," he suggested. "I'm sure we could get you a good close-up look at any number of them."

"That would be interesting," Selene admitted thoughtfully. "I honestly... I never had the ability to think about things like this before. It's both scary and exciting at the same time."