Authors: Claire Adams
“Right. Between trying to tell me who I
can or cannot talk to and romancing another woman in your office in broad
daylight, it is so very obvious that the last thing you wish to do is hurt me.
Don’t mind me, I am clearly just blind and stupid.” She was looking at her
fingernails instead of making eye-contact. Her voice sounded solid and
confident, yet there was an underlying tone of despair.
I reached out to hold her hand but she
pulled away. “You are neither blind, nor stupid, Aria,” I said. “What you saw
in here? I was just talking to the woman that was here about a business deal
that had recently gone wrong.”
“I know she’s your wife – or ex-wife or
whatever. You should know that before you begin your elaborate web of lies. It
will just be a waste of time.”
“How do you know?” There was no way she
could. Gina had never been here since Aria began working, and not many people
knew… and then I realized. “I am going to fire Mrs. Brian!”
That piece of shit. She did not have any
right to tell Aria. She must have known what was going on between us. A strange
and unpleasant feeling came over me at the thought of Mrs. Brian taunting Aria
about Gina.
“You can fire every single person who
works for you, but it won’t change the fact that you are a liar.” She was
fighting back tears hard.
“I never lied to you!” I exclaimed. It was
true. Gina was never mentioned because when Aria and I had started the contract
she was a non-entity in my life. And even though we were technically still
married, it was merely in the name. Since the topic had never really come up, I
could have never really lied.
That made her burst into hysterical
laughter. “Whatever. Your wife just walked out of here after passionately
kissing your cheek and you sit there and tell me you never lied to me?” She
shook her head as though she couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
“She is not my wife, she is my ex-wife.
The divorce proceedings have been underway for a while now and we are married
in name only.” I slammed my fist on the desk, feeling the fury begin to swell
inside of me.
“Oh wow, that is a perfectly reasonable
explanation for what she was doing in your office, acting exactly like a
non-ex-wife would act.”
“She was trying to provoke a reaction. Out
of you, funnily enough. And it seems to have worked.” I shook my head. “Listen,
Aria, I never lied to you. Gina and I are working through certain things that
pertain way more to my mother than either one of us. That is the only reason
she is anywhere near me. I have no feelings for her and I am not sure I ever
did, really. For all intents and purposes, she stopped being my wife a long
time ago. That doesn’t stop her from showing her malicious ways; that is just
in the woman’s nature. She somehow figured out that I was seeing somebody in
the office and she walked in here this morning with the intention of scaring
whoever it was away. You. And by reacting like this you are letting her fucking
win.”
“Oh really? Because I care so much about
the games you play with your wife and whether or not you’re winning? Are you
really trying to convince me that none of this is what it looks like? If so,
just save us both the time and yourself the energy, boss man.”
“It’s not a game and she’s not my wife. I
would never, ever want to hurt you.” I looked deep into her eyes, hoping she
would sense that somewhere in my words was an ounce of honesty. With a much
gentler voice, I added, “I really care about you. More than you realize
obviously.”
I regretted saying those words as soon as
they left my mouth. Not because they weren’t true necessarily, but because she
didn’t need to know that. Until this very moment, it was something I hadn’t
even accepted myself, but now I knew it was true. Because the fact was,
watching her look upset with puffy eyes and a little blush over her perfect
little nose was making me feel way more uncomfortable than it should have.
Upon hearing those words, her face seemed
to gain some color. Perhaps she hadn’t even entertained the idea that I
actually cared about her…. I hadn’t entertained it myself, until now, so I
shouldn’t be surprised.
The room was silent for a long time, as
Aria seemed to be weighing my words in her mind.
“If you really mean that,” she eventually
whispered. “I have a request: I would like to re-arrange the terms of the
contract.”
“What do you mean?” What could she
possibly want to change? Sex was not a part of the contract as it is…
“You don’t get to control who I talk to.
Given that you somehow happen to have a wife up your sleeve, I should at least
have sovereignty over who I communicate with.”
“Sure,” I said very carefully. “As long as
it’s not your ex.”
“That’s amusing, coming from a married man
who has been seducing me. If you remember correctly, as a part of the contract,
you’re not allowed to have sex with any other woman. Yet your wife–”
“We’re not having sex!” I exclaimed.
Hadn’t she been listening to a word I was saying? “I told you, Gina and I
haven’t really been married in a while. Whatever shenanigans she was pulling
here before were an act. Part of some evil master-plan she has to win me back.
And by me, I mean my money.”
“So you’re telling me you’re married to
that woman and you don’t even touch her? You don’t have any regards for my
intelligence, do you?” She was starting to sound hurt again.
“On the contrary, Aria, you are one of the
most intelligent women I have ever met. And I can say this with confidence
because I have seen your work. Both as your boss and as someone who worked
through your economics course work with you, I know what your mind is capable
of. I would never underestimate that.”
“Then stop lying to me! You want to have a
wife and keep the contract? Fine! Let me have my freedom back. That’s not too
much to ask is it?”
“
I don
’t trust that guy around you,” I said broodily. “He
has hurt you before and he will hurt you again.”
“And what do you think you are doing?” she
snapped loudly. She had clearly been holding it back so far and now the anger
was flashing red hot on her face.
“I am not hurting you... At least I had no
intention of fucking doing so.” I tried to catch her eye but she was looking
away from me.
“
Well, it
’s a little too late for that,” she said in a barely
audible whisper, making the knot in my chest feel heavy.
“
I am sorry. And I
’m sorry to say that I am not going to be
okay with you talking to that moron. It’s for your own good.”
“I know how to take care of myself. Been
doing it for twenty years without you, thanks. And if you’re going to be sleeping
with other women – and after seeing your wife, I don’t believe for a second
that you’re not, no matter what you say – then I should have the right to at
least decide who I keep company with.”
“For the last time, I am not fucking Gina.
Or anybody else for that matter.”
“For the last time, I don’t believe you.
And I have work to do,” she said, then without any warning stormed out of my
office, leaving me perplexed.
Chapter 3
Aria
These days, being inside an active
classroom was the only respite my mind got. Tired of Zayden, the contract, and
all the drama surrounding it, I had made a newfound resolution to concentrate
on one thing: school. If I was constantly thinking about numbers and graphs and
economics theories, there would be very little time to worry about much else. I
had begun staying in the library late every night and avoiding catching
Zayden’s eye while at work.
As my mind began drifting off in my Public
Finance class, I tried to bring myself back. Focus on school. That was my new
motto. My Econ and Finance teacher, Mr. Weber, and I were on excellent terms;
so far I had aced all his classes with top marks, so he often counted on me to
have the right answer. It was an extremely comforting intellectual environment
away from the royal mess that the rest of my life had become.
Class had just started and after Mr. Weber
finished taking the roll call, he made an announcement.
“Class, today I have a little bit of a
surprise for you.” He flashed his white teeth, as though very pleased with
himself. It made his old, wrinkly features light up a little bit. He didn’t
laugh very often. “
A surprise
guest!
”
Oh, that was interesting. Last year we had
had a guest in his Intermediate Macroeconomics class and it had been
incredible. He had brought in the Vice President of Finance of Dylan Motors –
a multi-billion dollar corporation
–
and he had told us his amazing rags to riches story and taken the class by
storm. Who could it be this time? There was a murmur of excitement through the
whole class and I couldn’
t
help
but
be overcome by enthusiasm myself.
“Our guest has taken time off his
incredibly busy schedule in order to speak in front of you today. Most of you
probably know him by name – if not, you should if you want to get anywhere in
the world of finance. The school and many professors far more capable and
venerated than myself have been trying to get him to come and speak for years,
but he has only now found the time. So we should consider ourselves extremely
grateful.”
You could slice the anticipation in the
room with a knife. Everyone was suddenly sitting upright with perfect posture,
and the guy in front of me, who usually napped through class, was ready with a
notebook and a pen. It was rare for the whole class to be so alert and present.
“Who is it?” a couple of students asked,
unable to conceal their excitement.
“He is a young man – much younger than
myself, to my shame – who has taken a family empire and built it into an
incredible corporation. Students, please let me welcome, Mr. Zayden Sinclar,
owner and Chief Executive Officer of South National Bank!”
Wait, what? I must have heard that wrong…
It couldn’t possibly be? No, no, no. This was just not happening. He wasn’t
going to walk into my classroom right now, it had to be some kind of a sick
joke. Maybe there was someone else with that name? Hah, I was being stupid. One
Zayden Sinclair who was the CEO of South National was more than the world could
or needed to take. I pinched myself hoping to wake up from a bizarre dream and
jumped with pain.
Unable to take my eyes off the front of
the classroom, I waited in a panic. Maybe he would cancel? Could I stealthily
escape the classroom before anyone noticed? I could pretend to faint, nobody
was going to see any reason for me to fake passing out, since nobody knew about
Zayden and I. And I was in Mr. Weber’s full confidence; he would never suspect
me of ditching a class for no reason. Yes, I could totally pull that off!
But just as I was gathering the courage to
fall down flat on to the floor, Zayden walked in, looking like he just zoomed
out of a magazine, and staring right ahead at me. The class broke into a loud
applause as though they had just seen the President of the United States. He
caught my eye with a sly twitch of his mouth, his face ridden with amusement,
and I looked away. I would have a full-fledged panic attack at any moment.
“Welcome, Mr. Sinclair,” Mr. Weber said
cheerfully. “Thank you so much for coming here to speak with our students
today. The class collectively could not be more excited!”
“Is that so?” Zayden asked Mr. Weber with
a slight laugh. “Collectively? Each and every one of them? Are you sure?” He
was facing Mr. Weber, but looking at me from the corner of his eyes.
If there were ever a time to want to
disappear into the ground beneath me, it was right in that moment.
“Of course!” Mr. Weber exclaimed in pure
delight. Gosh, did he have to sound so ridiculously excited? “In fact, I have
never seen my whole class so alert this early in the morning before. Everyone
is awake, for starters.”
Zayden chuckled, sending goosebumps down
my spine. If only he didn’t look so damn good, my life would be so much easier.
“That is very flattering. It is very nice
to see you all,” he said, now directly looking at me. “I have some questions
for you all, before I start yapping endlessly. Any volunteers?”
The whole class raised their hands as high
up in the air as it went. Except me, which was a mistake because it caught Mr.
Weber’s attention.
“Aria, why don’t I see your hand up in the
air?” he asked, looking almost hurt, as though I had personally offended him.
Shit. Great, Aria. What a wonderful way
not to draw attention to yourself. Should have just blended with the crowd!
“Uh, not sure I am quite up for
inquisition just now,” I said, looking at neither Mr. Weber nor Zayden, and
instead focusing hard on the concrete below me. I didn’t even notice how hard I
was clutching onto my dress until my palms started to hurt.
“What do you mean you’re not up for
inquisition?” Mr. Weber asked completely perplexed. He was used to a very
different version of me altogether. I wished there was a way to communicate to
him that I would rather swallow a vile of rat poison than be in that
room
without offending him. “Are you
feeling alright?”