The Arrangement

Chapter 13

look sat the barrage of text messages on my phone and I know who they are from. Him. Why wont he leave me alone? He already ruined my chances at the job I wanted. My stomach lurches with each one. My phone was on the table at the coffee shop and Jason tries peering over to see what is making my face so pale.

"What is it?" He asks.

I had taken to stopping by the shop whenever I went for a daily jog, which had been often these past few weeks. Running let me clear my head and it gave me an escape. An escape from the penthouse....which was a blessing.

Although, this morning, my jog had not been so much of an escape as it was uninterupted time to think. The second half of the dinner last night had gone smoothly, with Christain and I even managing to really laugh a few times with one another.

When he took my hand to help me up from my chair as we were leaving, it felt almost natural. He had even helped me into a cab, explaining he had to meet a friend for a drink nearby before he would be coming home. The whole thing was more than just polite. It had been friendly, like he had gotten to know me a little and now didn't hate me. Maybe he even liked me.

It would make everything so much easier if we could just get along. The penthouse wouldn't feel like a war zone all the time and maybe I would even start to feel at home in the place I lived. And these were the thoughts I had on my run this morning - thoughts that were filled with possibility, that were filled with hope. But now, here I was with Jason, sitting at a table in the empty coffee shop, drinking a peppermint lattee and talking about a movie he had seen last night. And that was when the texts started coming through, when my attention shifted from Jason's animated recap to my phone. Even though it was an unknown number, I knew excatly who they were from.

"Hello?" Jason asks, waving his hand in front of my eyes. "Who is it?"

"It's nothing," I say.

"If it were nothing, you wouldnt look like you just saw a ghost. Spit it out. What's wrong?" He pushes.

I look at him, seeing the handsome face of a twenty four old barista looking back at me. His kind eyes seemed to,remind me that, at the moment, with my best friend no longer responding to me and my brothers constantly busy with the restaurant, he was the only friend I had.

"Okay. Fine. It's my old boss," I say, eyes downcast. I was picking my cuticles, trying to distract myself from the pain I was feeling on the inside.

"Who is he?"

"He is a head of a big company I used to work for."

"Okay...AnnaLeigh you are not giving me anything here."

I sigh. Then I look at Jason.

"He was...he was trying to get me to...to sleep with him. The entire time I worked there. And when I would reject him he started making me go to private meetings in his office. He would try to touch my leg or my shoulder. Then I stopped going to those, it got worse. He got my personal cell number and would leave me voicemails, or follow me home from work. Towards the end it got really bad."

"Jesus." He says, his hand flying to take mine. I look at our hands and he knows what Im thinking. "Oh, I know you are married. Dont worry. Just friends, AnnaLeigh. But back to this..."

"I tried quitting. For a whole month, even though the job was amazing and I loved the work. I just couldnt deal with his harassment. I even switched my number a few times but he always managed to track me down. I started having panic attacks. I finally told my brothers what was really going on and they gave me the strength to really quit."

"And then what?"

"I put in my resignation and he called me into his office. I walked in and made sure the door was left open. He took my letter from my hands and he whispered in the cruelest voice you can imagine, that I would never work again. He said once I left his company, that was it. He would make sure I was un-hire-able." I look at Jason and Im sure he can see the pain in my eyes. "He told me I should of never said no."

"AnnaLeigh," Jason says and squeezes my hands. "You dont deserve that. Nobody deserves that, but especially you." He grabs my phone and reads my texts.

"Maybe you need to go to the police."

"I have when this all started and again when I quit. But they said I didnt have any proof. And besides he is a powerful CEO and Im just an inexperienced twenty three year old. The odds were never in my favor."

"So you are just going to ignore him?"

"He has messed up alot of my life but...I cant really do anything. He has the power, the resources. Yet I keep thinking he has to run out of steam eventually, right?"

"Have you told Christain? He could probably help - "

"No." I shake my head, looking down. " I dont want him to think Im some kind of damsel in distress. It's...it's embarrassing."

Jason looks at me with so much pity I think I may cry.

"No. Stop that," He says, motioning to my tears. "None of that. Dont waste your tears on your creepy boss. Do you understand me?"

I nod.

"You know what? We are having a day."

"What? What do you mean?" But Jason was already up, cleaning up the counter and closing the cash register. He flipped the sign in the window.

"Jason! Can you do that?"

He looks at me and shrugs. "I dont know. Probably not. But, hey, I just did." And then he offers his hand to me and I grab it. He guides me out of the coffee shop and down the block. And drags me into a nail spa tucked into a basement space on the corner. When I walk in, I was floored by how luxurious the spa looked on the inside because the outside had been so nondescript. The floors and walls were marble as well as the manicure tables. All of the nail technicians were dressed in white and soft, melodic music was playing.

As we enter there is a chorus of 'Jason'. And I turn to look at him.

"As you can see, Im popular." He says to me. "They are all rdgulars at the coffee shop."

An energetic technician bounces over to us, "What will it be today?" She asks.

"The works." Jason says, without consulting me.

She takes my hand nd guides me over to a pedicure station. I take my shoes off and get ready to take my mind off of my problems. And by the time I had a pedicure, manicure, and a facial I was ready to do some shopping. We went to three stores where I had bought two dresses and a great fitting pair of jeans. Which Jason told me my husband would thank me for buying. I couldnt help but laugh. There was something so nice about being around Jason. I didnt have to watch everything I said or look out for the mesning behind his comments. He cared about me because of who I was, not because of my new last name. And he had managed to take my mind off of my old boss, Christain, for a whole day. He was a true friend when I didnt have anyone else to lean on.

Christain Cartwright

My phone buzzes in my pocket. I frown as I get out of the car and pull out my phone. I had forgotten to put it on silent. I always did before any bug business meeting. I was right outside of the meeting place and I needed the focus. Still I couldnt help but glance at the screen. It was a text f om the wife of Mr. Graden, the business man I was about to meet. We were close to closing a huge deal. I inwardly groan. Probably should not ignore this then. But when I looked at the messages I wished I had. She was informing me that she had just seen my wife shopping with another man. And that they had looked rather friendly.