A Ruthless Bargain

Chapter 14: Between Pages

Amelia.

He left, again.

I slept without him at home. Then why did he come into the room if he would just turn and leave?

Everything felt too overwhelming for me.

At work the next day I supressed every memory and focused on attending to customers. I felt lighter, letting myself get lost in pages and quiet silence.

The doorbell chimed and a tall man walked in, looking too familiar but I could not place where or when I saw his face.

''Hello.'' I kept the book I was reading aside and walked up to him.

''How may I help you, Sir?''

He smiled, one that didn't quite reach his eyes. ''I need a book, a very interesting one.''

His smile looked....I couldn't place the word but there was just something odd about him.

''What genre do you read?'' I asked, trying to come up with a book for him.

''Horror.'' He said slowly, taking a step towards me.

My legs moved back on instinct and he followed until my back hit the shelf. His hands came up slowly almost touching, my heart was beating wildly in my chest praying someone would come out of nowhere.

I wanted to scream but there were people sitting on the sofa's, enjoying their books and would probably give me side eyes for nothing.

He picked out a book from the shelf, his body still leaning close to mine.

''Found it.'' A sinister smile played across his lips.

I could not see the title but the little image I saw was truly horrific. A lady being tied and a human heart was forcefully being pushed into her mouth.

''Amelia.'' Iris walked over to us and I noticed he had walked back to the counter.

''Everything okay?'' she glanced over to the man then back at me.

''Yeah.'' I managed to breathe out.

Then she walked over to the counter to attend to the man. My heart was still beating in my chest and when I lifted my gaze to look at him, his eyes were pinned on me.

Feeling uncomfortable, I walked through the shelves and decided to do something else while Iris would attend to the customers. I went to the shelves, arranging the books according to their genres, sequence and by noon I was already tired.

I skimmed through my phone but Lucien hadn't replied yet and then I decided to do what I was dreading. Call him.

My fingers hovered above his contact, my heart beating for some odd reason and I closed my eyes, exhaling a deep breath.

Why does calling someone make your heart go wild and your fingers fidget?

Finally after multiple trials I pressed the call button and shut my eyes tightly. The call disconnected immediately.

Did he block me? He was avoiding me and now he blocked me too!

I pressed call again angrily and it disconnected again. I tried multiple times, my frustration evident with the way I kept pressing the call button.

I was miserable.

What was really going on? I could not process myself.

Sighing dejectedly, I picked the lunch I packed and headed to the rooftop. I sat at the long wooden chair, a book in hand and set everything together, waiting for Iris.

I knew she would come. She would always come.

Minutes later, I sniffed the whiff on her perfume and a hand circling my shoulders. ''What's making you worry so much?'' she kissed my cheeks.

''I'm hungry.'' I lied.

I knew she could see through me but left it. We ate in silence, everyone's mind drifting to what was on their minds.

''Tell me what's wrong.'' Iris wiped dirt off my lips and looked me straight in the eyes.

She was worried and I could see it in her eyes but she was getting impatient too. I took a deep breath, planning to tell her everything because she was the only one I had.

''My marriage is a contract marriage.'' I closed my eyes, letting myself realize everything.

Her fork paused halfway in the air, her mouth hanging agape.

She parted her lips to say something but her voice failed her.

I continued, ''And I think I have started falling for him,'' I paused.

''Or maybe I'm just stupid and jealous because he has a fiancé, someone he likes and is actually getting married to. While I....I'm just here to pay off a debt....a contract. He can have whoever he wants but ignores me the moment he sees me with a man.'' I blurted out with a groan frustrated about everything.

The fork Iris was holding fell to the ground now. ''How....when...What? None of this makes sense.'' She breathed out in a small voice.

I knew I had traumatized her for the whole week.

''Let me explain.'' I said, picking up a grape and chewing slowly despite my mood.

''My Uncle sold me off to the man he owed a debt which happens to be my husband. The man on the news and I opted for a contract and gave him rules. Now I have to pay eighty million dollars.'' I explained slowly.

Her jaw dropped to the floor now. ''Eight million what?''

''That is not possible for us. How would you raise that sum of money?''

My eyes stung from unshed tears I had been forcing back in ever since I figured out the magnitude of that money. And again my heart warmed at her reaction. She cared more about how I would pay and get my life back.

''Even if we rob a bank Amelia, we would not get that much in the storage.'' She said in a low voice, afraid to comprehend the issue.

''I know.'' I whispered back.

We sat there for another second, each engrossed in their thoughts. Iris tried to digest every information I told her but she recovered quickly.

''I have a solution.'' She offered after a while.

My whole body perked at the mention of a solution. Solution for that huge amount, was that possible?

What was I thinking when I agreed to eight months and now it was almost three weeks.

I faced her now, waiting for an answer while she seemed lost deeply in her thoughts.

''We need to find you a job.'' She said at last.

A Job? But I already had one.

It was as if she read my thoughts. ''This job will not be able to help you save that sum even after five years.''

I nodded, understanding where she was coming from.

''But that is highly impossible because I have no qualifications.'' My head hung low and I let the tears out.

Uncle Mateo never sent me to school. I was either doing one chore or the other while Natalie, their daughter was sent to a big private school.

''We will find a way.'' Iris patted my back.