Marriage By Contract

Chapter 21: Time Alone

The bustling of the school hallway did nothing more but increase my frustrating headache. No doubt, I probably look like a zombie. I didn't bother to do anything this morning. I was too tired and if anyone had a problem with that, my ass stood ready to be kissed. The day dragged on and on and I wished it passed as a blur. The clock in every classroom ticked teasingly slow. Torturing me with every second that passed. The dismissal bell rang indicating school was over. This was the only time in school I looked forward to. The time I get to go home. I opened my car door and suddenly it slammed shut. I turned to see Derek with an uneasy smile. 

"Hey."

"What do you want?"

He sighed. "Look, babe, I know Saturday night was kind of...weird. You have every right to be mad. I don't know what came over me." He ran a hand through his hair. "I'm sorry."

I took in his face. He looked stressed. Was he going through something? 

"I'm not mad, just confused."

His arm snaked around my waist, pulling me close. "I know, I know and I'm sorry. So sorry."

I broke free from his hold and stepped back.

"What are we?" I asked.

He was only increasing my confusion. Is Derek even a friend? What exactly does he want? "Pardon?"

"What are we, Derek?" I asked, raising my voice.

People near us stopped and turned but I didn't care.

"Friends right? Isn't that what you want?"

"Well, I don't know if I even wanna be friends at this point."

"What do you mean?" he asked. I hinted a bit of anger in his voice. He stepped closer to me, causing me to take a few steps back.

"I mean, you're confusing. You call be babe and hold me in ways friends shouldn't hold each other. I don't know. All I'm saying is that-"

I stopped myself, not knowing exactly what it is that I was saying. Jason balled up his fist. What, was he going to hit me?

"Let me make it up to you."

"What?"

"Let me take you out on another date- I-I mean, let me take you out again."

"It wasn't a date." I cleared up.

He huffed. "Whatever Lola, just let me take you out again."

I considered this. I'm not too sure going out with him would be the best thing right now.

"No."

He gave me a confused look. "No?"

"No, at least not yet." I sighed. "We can hang out again, but at least not now. I need to think first, and if we're going to spend time together, it'll be at my place. I'll call or text you."

He stepped closer. "Are you avoiding me now? Lola, I can spend time with you whenever and however I want!"

"What? No, Derek, I'm not avoiding you. I just want to be alone for a while."

That was half true. I did want to be alone but I was putting him on hold because he's starting to scare me. This isn't the Derek I met a few days ago. He seemed to change so quickly. Or maybe...

"I'll see you tomorrow." I quickly slipped into my car and drove off.

Susan was hunched over the counter, talking to a random guy I've never seen before. The guy nodded his head and smiled. I cleared my throat, hoping to get their attentions.

"Oh, hey there Lola, this is Nick." She gestured over to the guy in front of her. I gave an awkward wave. Nick walked over to me and grabbed my hand, shaking it firmly.

"Nice to meet you, Lola. I'm the new butler."

Richard would've addressed me as Miss Lola. Boy have I missed him. His smile was somewhat sincere. "Hi." I greeted. Now I remembered mom saying we'd have a butler. Too bad I forgot his name. Though he had no thick French accent like Richard did, the guy seemed quite modest. 

The kitchen fell to an uncomfortable silence. "Okay, well it was nice meeting you." I spun on my heels and dashed upstairs. My room was immaculately clean. Susan's doing. I thought. I quickly changed into a pair of shorts and hoodie. The bed was silently calling my name, and I came to its calling. The silk sheets engulfed me in ways I couldn't describe. Everything felt so soft. I dozed off immediately, allowing the comfort of the bed to take over me.

"Lola, wake up." someone whispered. I moaned and swatted the hand away. "Five more minutes," I mumbled. Jason laughed and my head shot up, turning to face him.

"We need to talk." 

I looked at the time. It was 10 pm and my room was dark. "You ever heard of knocking?" I asked a little annoyed.

"I did but you didn't answer. So I came in to check on you."

There was silence between us. I reached over to my night stand and switched on the lamp. I could see Jason more clearly now. He was leaned over my bed, too close to my face. I looked him up and down, noticing he didn't have a shirt on. Just some basketball shorts. His abs stood proudly as his muscles showed easily without flexing. Damn, this dude is ripped. He cleared his throat and I removed my gaze from his chest.

"What do we need to talk about?" I whispered, rolling to the other side of the bed. He sat down, facing me.

"Our parent are coming over tomorrow."

I sat up straight. "Why?"

He scratched the back of his neck. "I don't know. They just want to see us, I guess." He paused. "They're coming over for dinner. They probably want to see how we're upholding."

He stared at me. "You know what this means right?"

I scrunched my eyebrows. What did this mean? Family reunion or something?

He rolled his eyes and muttered something. "This means, we're going to have to act like a couple. I don't know about you, but I don't want to stress my mom out. Besides. if she thinks we're interested in each other, she'll quit nagging and trying to make something out of us."

I thought over his words. That did make sense. If mom thinks me and Jason are an item, maybe she'll stop texting paragraphs of scolding messages to me. 

"Okay, but only to a minimum. I still hate you." I mumbled.

He looked at me. "Look, Lola, I'm sorry about what I said the other day. I was just mad and we both exchanged some hurtful words. If I did, I didn't mean to offend you. Or hurt you. I would never have the intention of harming you in any way."

But he did harm me, six years ago. Why has he suddenly changed? I haven't forgiven him either. It's just too much to bear. Everything about Jason angered me. I couldn't forget. I would never.

He continued staring at me for what seemed to be the longest time. I shift my gaze away from him. "It's really late, you should probably get some sleep."

He sighed before standing up. "Goodnight." he whispered.

Once the door closed after he left, I thought about our conversation. That seemed to be the first time we talked without arguing or raising our voices. I just hope tomorrow won't turn out to be a disaster. The sooner our parents think we're together, the sooner we'll be able to get their heavy load of tantrums off our back.