The Contract

Chapter 24 - The Relatives

I sighed and turned to the other side, my eyes slowly fluttering open and I was staring at... I screamed and shoved him down from the bed.

I sprung up and he groaned from the floor. "What the fuck, Pearl?"

"What are you doing? Why are you here?!" I questioned and he shot me a deadpanned look as he got up. "We went to bed together"

I glanced around. "Have you forgotten? I'm your fiancé"

"Why are you here? Shouldn't you be... out?" I asked, getting out of the bed. "So, no apologies for throwing me out the bed?"

I rolled my eyes and headed towards the bathroom. I leaned on the counter and took in my reflection in the mirror. He walked in too and I grabbed my toothbrush.

He leaned back. "The least I could do is stick around, right?" He asked and I glanced at him. "I'm trying to do that" he added, also grabbing his toothbrush.

Lingering, are you?

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We headed down the stairs, his hand on small of my back. We had to pretend to be a happy couple in some way. Rosa glanced at us as she was in a phone call.

Once we descended, I attempted to move away but his gripped tightened and I shot him a glare. "I hope you both had a good night sleep"

"Yes, Mrs Ferrari"

"Great.bTravis, your brother will be touching down soon" she informed and his hand dropped from my back. "Why?"

"The fundraiser this evening" I forgot about that. "So, you better -" his phone began ringing cutting her off. He glanced at it. "I have to take this"

He walked away and she shook her head. "So, how's the arrangements going?" I inquired.

"Not so well, the preparations are supposed to be finished today..." She began walking and I followed. "But..."

We stopped in front of a grand hall. The work going on in there was half done. There were few people around getting things done. "... Rodrigo hasn't even arrived, there's so much to be done. I don't have—"

"What's supposed to be the theme of the event?" I asked and she turned to me. "La nin toro—The Golden Night" she then sighed, "the colour is black and gold"

"I could help out"

"Don't bother"

"I'm also an event planner. I can take care of this. Just give me the rundown of everything and I'll get it done before the event"

She stared at me. "It's not really in your place"

"No, I wanna help out. It's the least I can do" I said, pushing out a smile. At least, I could distract myself a little.

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I directed the helpers on their tasks, moving around and ticking items off my clipboard. I felt at ease when I was in command, and as the caterers arrived, I made my way to the kitchen to greet them.

Then I saw Rosa entering with her group of ladies. "Pearl!" Aunt Giovanni called out, and I walked over.

"Good afternoon, everyone," I greeted. "Why didn't she join us for brunch?" Aunt Maria asked.

"Pearl's been busy handling the fundraiser. Apparently, Rodrigo triple-booked," Mrs. Rosa explained, and they all hissed and muttered curses in Italian.

I was sure they did.

"How's the preparation going?" They walked into the auditorium and gasped. I let a small smile appear. "She did all this?"