Chapter 5. THE MEETING
1166 Words
Friday came too fast, and I still didn’t have an answer.
I went to the hospital after class, and my mother was waiting for me with a look on her face that told me she already knew what I was going to say.
“They called again today,” she said. “They said if we don’t pay by five, they’re sending it to collections.”
I nodded and sat down beside her.
“I know, Mom.”
“What are you going to do?” she asked, and I didn’t have an answer.
I thought about Michael and his offer, about his father and the papers I’d have to sign, about what that would mean for me and for my future.
I thought about Cletus and his warning, about how he’d said Michael’s family was dangerous, and I wondered if he was right.
I thought about being honest, about what my mother had taught me, and about whether being honest meant walking away from the only chance I had to save her.
“I don’t know, Mom,” I said finally, and my voice broke because I was tired of being strong.
She reached out and wiped a tear from my cheek.
“Whatever you decide, I’m proud of you, Annabelle. You’ve always done what’s right, even when it’s hard.”
I nodded and held her hand, and for the first time since I got the bill, I felt like maybe I wouldn’t have to face this alone.
When I left the hospital it was almost four, and Michael was waiting outside like he’d been there for a while.
“Any news?” he asked, and I shook my head.
He sighed and said,
“My dad wants to meet you. Today. Before five.”
I stopped walking.
“Your dad? Victor Drake?”
Michael nodded, and he looked uncomfortable, like he didn’t want to be having this conversation either.
“Why does he want to meet me?” I asked.
“He heard about you from the news,” Michael said. “He said he admires what your mother did, and he wants to talk about helping with the bill.”
It sounded too convenient, too neat, like something out of a story where the rich man swoops in to save the poor girl, and I didn’t like stories like that because they never ended well for the girl.
“I need to think about it,” I said, and he nodded and didn’t push, which made me trust him a little more even though I was still scared.
But I didn’t have time to think.
Five o’clock was less than an hour away, and if I didn’t do something, my mother’s bill would go to collections and we’d never recover from it.
“Okay,” I said. “Take me to him.”
Michael didn’t smile like I expected. He just nodded and opened the passenger door for me, and the whole drive to the Drake building I sat with my hands clenched in my lap, trying not to think about what I was walking into.
The Drake building was tall and glass, twenty floors of money and power, and the lobby smelled like leather and expensive coffee.
Victor Drake’s office was on the top floor, and the secretary didn’t even ask my name before letting us through.
Victor Drake stood when we walked in. He was older than I expected, with gray at his temples and eyes that looked exactly like Michael’s, except colder.
“So you’re Annabelle Williams,” he said, and his voice was smooth and practiced.
“Yes, sir,” I said, because manners were all I had left.
He looked me up and down, not unkindly, but like he was assessing a business deal.
“My son tells me you’re in trouble,” he said. “Eight thousand four hundred dollars. That’s a lot for a student.”
I swallowed.
“Yes, sir.”
“I can cover half of it,” he said. “No interest, no rush. But there are conditions.”
My stomach dropped. There it was.
“Conditions?” I asked.
He walked to his desk and picked up a folder, sliding it across to me.
“I want you to keep seeing Michael,” he said. “Publicly. Be seen with him at events, at parties, on campus. Let people think you two are together.”
I stared at the folder. My hands wouldn’t move to open it.
“You want me to fake date your son?” I asked.
Victor smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes.
“I want the public to see Michael with someone who isn’t from his world,” he said. “It helps his image, and it helps my company. In return, I pay four thousand dollars of your mother’s bill today.”
I looked at Michael, and he wouldn’t meet my eyes.
“You knew about this,” I said quietly.
He finally looked at me, and his face was miserable.
“I didn’t want it to be like this,” he said. “But he wouldn’t help otherwise, and I didn’t know what else to do.”
I felt cold all over.
“So it was a lie,” I said. “All of it.”
“No,” Michael said quickly. “Not the part about caring about you. That’s real, Annabelle. I swear it is.”
Victor cleared his throat.
“You have ten minutes to decide,” he said. “After that, the offer is gone, and I doubt you’ll get another one.”
I looked down at the folder, then at Michael, then at the clock on the wall.
Four minutes to five.
If I said no, my mother’s bill went to collections. If I said yes, I became part of a lie I didn’t ask for.
I thought about my mother’s voice on the phone, tired and scared.
I thought about Cletus’s warning, and about how much I didn’t want him to be right.
I thought about being honest, and about how sometimes honesty didn’t pay the bills.
“Okay,” I said.
Victor smiled for real this time.
“Good,” he said. “Sign here, and I’ll have the money transferred by the end of the day.”
I signed my name without reading the whole thing.
I didn’t have a choice.
When we walked out of the building, Michael reached for my hand, but I pulled away.
“Don’t,” I said.
“Annabelle, I’m sorry,” he said.
“Don’t,” I said again. “Just don’t.”
I didn’t know if I was mad at him, or at myself, or at all of it.
All I knew was that my mother’s bill was paid, and I’d just sold something I wasn’t sure I could get back.
The fake romance started that night.
And I hated that a small part of me was relieved it had.
- Writer
