Authors: Claire Adams
“Why are you telling me these things?” I
asked softly. “Why now?”
“Because it is important that you
understand. I don’t expect you to ever forgive me, Zay, but maybe you will understand
why I was always the way I was and why I want so badly for you and Gina to work
out. It’s not for my sake, not at all.”
“Why then? Because if you haven’t picked
up on it yet, mom, Gina is only around for your sake. She is what you want for
me, not what I want.”
“I know you feel that way right now
because you’
re hurt
–
”
“I am not hurt. I don’t love her. She
means absolutely nothing to me, but that doesn’t matter to you does it? You
have decided that she is the perfect woman for me and you will just continue
emotionally blackmailing me into trying to make it work with her. Whether or
not I am happy in the process doesn’t matter to anybody, does it?”
“Have you been listening to a word I have
said?” She was getting teary again. “I love you very much, Zay. You are my son,
and no matter what happened in the past, I want to make it up to you by being a
better mother now. Of course your happiness means a lot to me. It means
everything to me. I have very little else to live for.”
“Then why don’t you give a shit that I
don’t want to make things work with Gina?”
“Because I have been where she is now, and
it’s a terrible, terrible place! If I had gotten a chance to make things better
with your dad, I would have given everything I had to make him happy, and I
know she will do the same. She used to make you happy once, and I just want to
see that again.”
“Would you care if I told you there was
someone else I am certain I would be happier with?” I didn’t know why I had
asked that. It wasn’t like Aria and I were going to spend the rest of our lives
together. Hell, she barely even spoke to me, yet I was having this
conversation, as though she were ready to seamlessly take Gina’s place in my
life.
“You’re only saying that to shut me up.
Believe me Zay, just give her another chance. She will make you happy again,
you will see.”
“So we are back to square one, then? You
want what you want and obviously think you know what’s better for me than I do
myself. Why are we even having this conversation?”
“Because I had to tell you I loved you, I
don’t think I do it nearly enough,” she said, crying openly now.
“It’s not necessary that you do. I have a
lot to get done for work, so you should go back to your room.”
She didn’t say another word but hugged me
tightly before leaving with tears in her eyes.
---
The next day Aria was already at the bank
when I got there, and she was by herself. Taking the opportunity, I strode over
to her desk.
“
Hello,
” I said, unsure of what I was hoping to achieve from
this interaction.
“Good morning, Mr. Sinclair, how may I
help you?” she asked with a fake bright smile.
“We’re still at Mr. Sinclair, then?” I
frowned.
“Depends. Am I allowed to talk to whomever
I want yet? You still married?”
I shook my head and walked back to my
office, not having the energy or the will to deal with this for now, and then
buried myself in paperwork for the next few hours.
No matter what I did though, I couldn’t
take my eyes off her. The way she moved in her body-hugging dress sent tingles
of excitement throughout my whole body. Aria had such an incredible presence.
Every customer who walked up to her would leave looking happier than they were
walking in. She exuded the kind of charisma that very few people I knew could
muster, and this was when I knew for certain that she was going through a bunch
of issues in her personal life.
The truth was that I missed her
incredibly. She had been great in bed, despite only having sex once before me.
It was like she had this inherent talent that drove me completely mad. And it
wasn’t just the sex that I missed, I missed talking to her, hearing her laugh,
and working through her schoolwork together.
When I had first thought up the contract,
I never imagined that this girl would have such a powerful impact on me. It was
supposed to be a game, a challenge to show myself that I was capable of making
any woman want me. To an extent, I could say I had succeeded. Then why was the
fact that she would refuse to meet my eye frustrating me so much? What could I
even do to make her stop being so distant?
The answer was obvious: I had to end it
with Gina and let Aria do whatever she wanted. She wasn’t like other girls, she
would never be okay with doing things my way. That was one of the things I
admired about her. In asking her to compromise her ideals, I was forcing her to
be someone she was not and there was no point in even trying to pursue that
person. If I wanted her back in my life, just the way she was, I had to do it.
I thought back to my conversation with my
mother last night.
From her feeble attempts
at motherhood, I had at least gathered that she thinks she wants me to be
happy. Surely this meant she wouldn’t threaten me with more suicide attempts if
I could explain to her what I really wanted? Maybe I would take her out to
dinner and forgive her for everything I was holding against her, if she were
able to handle this without pulling any new shenanigans.
With new resolve, I dialed Gina on my
cellphone and walked out into the hall so that I could make sure Aria heard the
conversation.
“Hi,” I said when she answered. “About
that deal you wanted to make with me? I don’t think so. I don’t love you,
Gina,” I said more loudly. “And you don’
t love me. Let
’s not waste any more time on facades and
pretenses. I don’t hold anything against you, and if you ever need anything, I
will be glad to help out, financially or otherwise.”
“Zayden! You can’t do this! Not like this,
over the phone! Come home and we can talk about it properly. You don’t need
to–”
“I am done talking about it. I am just
done. Can’t you respect me enough to understand that? It’s over, Gina. Take as
long as you need to move out, and I would appreciate it if you let me tell my
mother myself. Goodbye,” I said and hung up before she could make any more
protests. She called back immediately so I shut my phone off. Then I looked up
at Aria. She was pretending to be typing something intensely on her computer,
but there was no way she hadn’t heard that conversation.
Next order of business: I made a second
phone call from my office.
One hour later, Rick,
Aria
’
s ex-boyfriend
, was inside my office.
She was now actively looking towards me with genuine curiosity.
“Hello, Dick,” I said when he walked in.
“It’s Rick actually,” he said looking
slightly confused. “Is there a reason why you asked me to come here today, Mr.
Sinclair? Can I help you in any way?”
“Yes,” I said looking at Aria. “Go talk to
Aria over there.”
“Huh?” He looked like someone had dropped
him right in the middle of a bizarre dream. “
I don
’
t understand.
”
“You’re not very smart, are you?” I
scoffed. “What is there not to understand? Go talk to Aria.”
“Was there something particular you wanted
me to say to her? You understand my confusion?” He screwed his nose.
“Nope. I am giving you permission to talk
to her because that’s what she wants, I think. But if you hurt her again, you
won’t be seeing the light of the day for a very long time. Are we clear?”
He nodded, looking utterly confounded.
“You can go now,” I said and got back to my paperwork.
Chapter 5
Aria
I had to be dreaming! There was no way
that my ex-boyfriend was walking out of Zayden’s office.
Even though I had been trying hard to
pretend I didn’t care what Zayden was saying on the phone, I had been very
alert when he ended it with his wife. In spite of myself, I couldn’t help but
feel a little excited upon hearing that conversation, which was obviously
happening loud and clear out in the hallway for my benefit. There was no way I
was going to let him know that it made me feel better though. Perhaps it didn’t
even have anything to do with me and I was over-analyzing all of it. But as
Rick walked towards my desk, I was starting to get a good idea of what was
going on.
“Hi,” Rick said and smiled at me. “So, I
was apparently called here and given permission to talk to you.”
Zayden was unmistakably focusing all his
attention towards us, and knowing full well he could hear whatever I was
saying, I said, “
Well
,
it’s not up to anyone to give you permission to talk to whoever you want, is
it?”
“Hey, it’s Zayden Sinclair, I’ll eat a hat
if he tells me to. Can’t go too wrong with being in a billionaire’s good
graces. I don’t know what is going on between the two of you but–”
“Nothing is going on between the two of
us,” I said quickly. “And nothing is, or ever will, go on between you and me either,
Rick. So just go home, and for your own good, stop taking instructions from
strangers just because they happen to be influential people.”
Like I had any room to talk.
He looked hurt and my anger was definitely
misplaced at him, but I didn’t care. Giving him permission to talk to me! What
was Zayden trying to pull? There did not need to be such a huge show, and he
didn’t have to make Rick come all the way here just to prove a point. A small
part of me couldn’t help but be happy, though. Clearly, he must have been
regretting the situation and he was trying to change it.
“Okay, then, I’ll get going,” Rick said
with a pained expression.
“I am sorry, Rick. I didn’t mean to offend
you, but seriously, there is nothing between us. I am telling you so you don’t
get your hopes up, I would hate to lead you on. Nobody deserves that.”
He probably did deserve it from what he
did to me.
“Well, I am going to back off then.” As he
walked away, I heard him mumble “what a damn waste of my time.”
When he was gone, my phone rang and I
immediately knew who it was.
“Come into my office,” Zayden said and
hung up without even letting me answer.
I went without having any idea of what to
expect, trying to calm the nervous feeling in the pit of my stomach. What’s the
worst that could happen? He had, after all, just made the effort to show me
that he was capable of making some changes. But did he really have to call Rick
here and make a whole scene of it? No matter how excited I was, I couldn’t help
my temper.
“Why did you call him here?” I snapped as
soon as I walked into his office.
He raised his eyebrows in surprise.
“Wasn’t it obvious? I gave him the permission to talk to you!”
“Who do you think you are, god? You can
just swing people around like puppets and tell them what they can or can’t do?
If you were trying to make the point that you are not going to be controlling
anymore, the best way to do it would not have been by controlling another human
being and giving them ‘permission,’ as though you owned the rights to their life.”
Upon hearing that his eyes got red with
what seemed to be anger. “What the fuck do you even want from me, Aria? I just
ended a very long and complicated relationship with my ex-wife, something for
which I will have to face more consequences than you can imagine. And I let
that guy talk to you. Why isn’t any of this shit enough?”
“Oh, the sad consequences of not having a
beautiful blonde woman as a trophy wife. I feel your pain,” I said and
immediately regretted it. I was being bitchy for no reason, while he was making
the effort. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean–”
“You have no idea what I will have to
endure for ending that relationship.”
“Tell me then. Give me an idea,” I spoke
more softly. “What was the whole deal behind you and your wife?”
“My mother thinks that Gina is an angel
who descended from heaven. She almost tried to kill herself because of our
divorce, and I have been forced to try couple’s counseling ever since. She then
invited her to come live in my home, making more threats about taking her own life.
I didn’t have a choice in any of this, but I don’t expect you to understand.
You have already made up your mind that I am a lying scumbag–”
“
I don
’t think you’re a scumbag!” I exclaimed, cutting him
off. “I did think you were lying to me. I had no idea… about your mom… you
never talked about her.”
“Well, she isn’t exactly my favorite topic
of conversation.”
“
I am sorry, Zayden,
” I said his name properly for the first
time in a while and the effect on him was visible. His tense face lightened up
considerably, and his muscles relaxed. “If I had known about your mother, I
wouldn’t have been so harsh… you have to understand what it looked like to me…
like you had been lying all along.”