Debt

two

selyse harrison

The chosen restaurant was luxurious. The ceiling was gold with historic chandeliers hanging low. Large pillars created minimal privacy amongst the tables. A harp rested in the middle of the room, playing heavenly music. Love was in the air for the other couples in the room. A love I always strived to have. I didn't know this was how my future would be. Seated at a romantic restaurant with a man who I'm supposed to be married to, but is more stranger than husband.

"I'll just have water," I gave a small smile to the waitress who was asking for the drink I wanted.

"Okay. I'll be back with your drinks," she walked off leaving the guy and I at our table. He was seated across from me, his knee often grazing against mine.

"What's your name?" I asked him out of the blue, removing us from the silence. We had spent the majority of the day together but he hadn't introduced him. I knew his name was Jack because of our ceremony at the courthouse. But I couldn't recall his last name and I thought hearing it would make me understand why he seems so important.

"Jack Moretti."

The name did not ring a bell at all. This man is rich, above the law, and involves himself in contracts involving humans as payment. My head was steering me towards mafia. But I refused to believe I was in the presence of some mafia boss. Or that my father would ever involve himself with someone in the mafia. Does the mafia even exist in real life?

He flipped the pages of the menu, finding something to cater to his appetite. I was going through the pages but my mind was picking up none of the words. I was so out of body and out of touch with all the events of the day.

"I'm not staying here forever and I will leave you one way or another," I blurted out.

His eyes met mine and for a moment I completely forgot what I had said. They warmed me up and somehow found a way to make me comfortable with whatever may happen to me. It seems they're extremely easy to get lost in.

"Humour me by trying, principessa," he answered enthusiastically with a smug grin that only made me annoyed. His words hadn't intended to make me think, but they did. Was I overthinking things? No.

The facts are he bought me. A grown man in his 20s bought someone who turned 18 only a few weeks ago. You do not do that with good intentions. But Jack wasn't fully to blame. My father voluntarily signed the contract. He signed his only daughter away. Why would my father do that?

"What do you do for work?" I changed the conversation for the sake of my heart which was beating hard from anger after thinking about my father's actions.

Jack wasn't apart of the military. His demeanour was far from what they look for. But my mother said he was a coworker of my father's.

"You ask a lot of questions," he spoke with the slightest bit of irritation in his voice.

"Can you blame me?" I showed attitude, leaning back in my seat as I crossed my arms. He stared at me, running his tongue along his upper front teeth. He was taking in everything about me and seemed unimpressed. Despite me being the one forced into marriage, he somehow seemed even more upset about. It felt like me being married to him was a punishment and I've never felt so unwanted.

We went about the rest of our dinner quietly. The music was angelic and put me to ease. I could daydream and put myself elsewhere.

With my mother at our house, baking cookies together like we always used to do. My friends would be coming over any moment and we would scramble to get the house prepared for them. They'd come over with food, ready for us to feast. Sleep would be the last thing on our minds as we enjoyed movies and talking. Talking all night long until my mother forced us to go to sleep because of our soccer game the next morning. So much laughter and happiness without a care in the world. No responsibilities and no paying a debt that belonged to one's father. I wish it wasn't a dream.

When we got to the house the sun had finally set, so I was able to distance myself from him. He had things to do in his office which gave me alone time in my room. The closet was filled with various different clothing. Clothes I would wear and clothes I wouldn't catch myself dead in. Shoes were perfectly stacked up on the shelving, giving me more shoes than I've ever had. They fit me perfectly. Despite him being displeased with my presence, he truly did prepare for my arrival.

The one thing shocking me the most was the bonnet. It rested on a shelf in my walk in closet. It was satin and purple and I didn't even want to know how he knew my favourite colour was purple or that my hair needs a bonnet at night.

The room was freezing. Any body part not covered by the blankets in my bed were near to frozen. If the lights were on, I knew I would be able to see the condensation leave my mouth with every breath. It made it impossible to fall asleep.

I sighed, sitting up to rest my feet on the ice cold floor. Walking to Jack's bedroom, I knocked on his door and gained a quick response to come in. I was hit with immense heat. His bedroom was the perfect temperature.

"Why is it so warm in here and why does it feel like Alaska in my room?" I gritted through my teeth. I was angry. Was this intentional?

He closed his laptop then turned his bedside lamp on. "Fuck. The vents must be closed. I told the housekeepers to open the vents in the room for air to circulate before you got here, but they must've forgotten," he was angry but I was the only one allowed to be angry. Where else was I supposed to sleep? "I can go open them. It'll take about an hour or two for the temperature to get better," he got out of the bed wearing shorts and a t-shirt. I scrunched my eyebrows.

"An hour or two? I'm exhausted. What about the other rooms?" I asked before he told me all the other guest rooms would be the same. "Okay let's switch. I sleep in here and you sleep in my room."

He let out a mocking chuckle. "You want me to leave my bed?" He spoke to me like it was a stupid idea. When he put it that way, it did sound stupid. "You can sleep in here if you want, but I'm not leaving my bed. Or I can open the vents in your room and you can wait it out," he gave me two options which really didn't feel like options at all.

I was fighting this internal battle and I didn't know what to do. My body made the decision for me when I got into the side of his bed which wasn't occupied.

"Just don't touch me," I mumbled, purely just wanting to sleep. Today was the longest day of my life. Exhausting. An emotional rollercoaster. I needed time to recharge, but that's the last thing I could do right now while laying in a bed beside him.

I dug my head into my pillow, hoping it would muffle my crying. But I was right. Once you start, you can't stop and I really couldn't stop. It was the nasty crying where you can't breathe without sucking in a heap of air but I didn't have that choice. Not with this large man sleeping beside me.

"Oh my god," Jack muttered, before I heard a click. He turned his lamp on and I tried to quiet my crying. It was embarrassing. Earlier today he hadn't acknowledged me when I cried and I knew he was only taking notice of it now because it was disturbing his sleep. "Is your crying going to persist throughout the night?" He sounded disgusted like crying was something beyond his animalistic instincts.

Bringing my knees to my chest, I used my hand to cover my mouth. Shut up, Selyse. Get it together.

"Look at me," he instructed and I was scared to see what his face must look like. He's tired and now he's pissed I'm disturbing his sleep. He already didn't want to share a bed with me and now I was crying. "Selyse." He did it again. Saying my name in a way no one else has and it made my heart skip a beat.

Biting my lip, I brought my head up from my pillow to look at him. He showed no anger. Despite his structured features, his face was soft.

Jack sighed, putting his hand through his hair. It showed off the firm muscles on his arm. "I'm not...I'm not going to hurt you, okay?" His words were kind but he said them with the most raging tone. When my body stayed frozen, he reached onto the ground to put a pillow in between us. It divided the middle of the bed and the small division made me ease up the slightest bit. "Better? Now, go to sleep and stop fucking crying over nothing."

I faced the other way, wiping the tears from my face before closing my eyes.