Love Contract

Just A Boy, Just A Man

Ani Miramaki was a warm but unusually focused girl. During her early school years, she had dressed plainly and practically gone unnoticed, except for her volunteer work. While she couldn't play a single instrument herself, she had volunteered some time ago to dedicatedly clean the Music classrooms every day. She also could be found doing as much as possible for civic prep, or for any club which needed it. Yet, her focus was always on increasing her studies and indeed she was on the track to graduate early.

In all honesty, she was unconsciously looking for an escape, a bridge to build so that she could leave her current life on her own. There was no doubt in her mind that her parents had never been in love at all. Though they lived together, now she was under no illusions that her mother loved her even an ounce. Bridget often told people that she was only a sister or college roommate to Ani, which made it uncomfortable when male visitors were around. Some, who were not complete idiots, caught on to the truth that Ani was probably her child and those men were always the first sent packing. The Miramaki flat was a revolving door of hosts, partiers and strange men, which tired Ani to no end.

Now in the middle of high school, however, Ani could no longer hide behind her 'plain' appearance and was welcomed into a more normal social sphere. Her popularity was just as much due to her beauty now, as it was her outstanding academics. She had even taken up tutoring to spend time away from home, but truthfully it earned her introductions to parents working in the business fields, as well as work experience. Ani felt as if she was stitching together a pair of wings with which she intended to fly away.

Coming home today, she had found herself pulling an old photo album out of a box, which she hid under her bed. It was scarce but it held the best images of her and her father. He had been a loan trader, but being rather old, had chosen to have a younger woman bear his child. Ani had probably been the only true love in his life, though she had lost him to illness when she was only five. Flipping through the pages, she got once again to the abrupt end of images when her mother had been all she had left. Before sitting the book down again, she saw a small paper object fall out of the back of the book. A loose photo, had it always been there? In the picture, she saw herself standing next to an older boy, but she had no memory of this event. The strange room was also not familiar either and there was an older smiling man in the back of the image. Maybe this had been one of her father's friends or a client? Regardless, she put back the photo and relaxed for the end of the day. Having stored the photobook now under the bed again. This time the mysterious photo was neatly placed inside.

To Ani, the week following the discovery of the unusual picture had become even more strange. Having taken a week off tutoring for her exams, she had handed out a few of her notebooks. At the end of the bell one of her classmates called out to her suddenly, to return it at the front gate. Yet, then an echo sounded. As if someone had repeated her name, when she took the notebook from her friend. She looked around unsure of where the second voice came from. The only stare she met was a gloriously tall and dark-haired man, bound for the college campus. She stared for a moment back into his hungry and evaluating eyes. The rest of the crowd seemed to melt away into white noise. The sensation of his stare was perplexing. Boys had looked at her before, but this was something much more direct and revealing. Her body both wanted to run and be caught at the same time. But as she blinked, the attractive man melted into the crowd. There was something so striking about those dark and piercing eyes. It was a look of someone seeing a long-lost person, but he wasn't familiar, at least not from that faraway. Yet her heart was now imprinted with the image of that man. An apparition of impending adulthood or a maiden's fantasy.