A MARRIAGE OF FATE

CHAPTER FOUR THE CONTRACT

Melody was in the middle of her morning shift at the coffee shop when one of her co-workers approached her.

“Hey Melly, do you know that man over there?” He has been staring at you for a while.” He asked, leaning against the counter where she had been working.

Melody swiveled her head in the said direction. True to his words, she knew the man, and he was indeed staring at her rather intensely.

“He seems to be trying to get your attention, I can cover for you if you want to speak to him.” He suggested with a kind smile.

Melody glanced at the clock opposite her and it was almost time for her lunch break.

“No, he can wait a little longer. Thanks anyway.” She answered, throwing him a smile.

“Alright.” He mumbled before he returned to waiting tables as a new customer entered the shop.

Melody turned her eyes back to Alfred to see him still staring at her, not even breaking eye contact when he noticed her gaze.

They held a staring contact for a few more minutes before Melody was pulled away by a customer.

“Hi, I would like to get…”

Ignoring the expensively dressed man, she directed her focus back to making coffee.

Immediately it was time for her lunch break, Melody quickly checked the same direction as earlier where she found that Alfred was still waiting, his eyes no longer on her.

She pulled off her apron and tossed it on the hook before making her way over to him.

“Alfred.” He glanced up at her as soon as she approached.

“Melody. Come with me.” He said standing from the chair.

“What for?” She did not get a reply however, as he only spared her another glance before striding out of the coffee shop.

Melody rolled her eyes at his mysterious behavior, following after him. She was unsurprised to find him in his car.

“Why does it always have to be in your car?” She muttered as she stepped beside him in the backseat.

“What is this about?” She questioned staring out of the window as the car began to move.

“I have yet to receive any feedback regarding my proposal, so what is it going to be?” He asked with an unreadable tone.

Melody avoided his eyes, playing with her fingers.

“Why are you in such a hurry? I said I will think about it and inform you when I'm ready.” She mumbled with a frown.

“I am not a very patient person, so I would like an answer now, so that we can put things in motion immediately.” He started.

Melody remained mute, string stubbornly away from him.

“I also brought this.” He finished passing her a document.

Melody opened the file, it was a contract for their marriage, and surprisingly contained a lot of pages.

“That also contains a non-disclosure agreement, which means that nobody except the two of us should know about the existence of this contract.” He said, noticing her perplexed expression.

“Is this really necessary?” Melody inquired, feeling uneasy about what she was getting herself into.

“If you're going to sign the contract, then yes, it is.” Alfred answered.

Melody regarded his reply with a frown, sweeping her eyes over the contents of the file. It was also included that the contract could only be broken if both parties signed another document stating so.

“I don't really think it is, and all these conditions… It says here that if I breach the contract I can be sued!” She exclaimed in alarm.

“You won't have anything to worry about if you follow the guidelines.” He answered monotonously.

Melody let out a sigh, annoyed by his robotic replies.

“I have to get back to work.” She muttered with obvious displeasure in her wordings

“So, this can go in two ways, you either sign the contract now and we move forward or you don't and we go our separate ways.” He finally added after casting a glance at his watch, disregarding her demeanor entirely.

Melody was at a loss for words for a few minutes before she finally replied, “Fine!”

She gritted out before begrudgingly signed on the papers

“There! Are you happy now? I am going back to my work now, Excuse me!” She retorted before exiting the car and angrily storming back to the coffee shop.

The bell chimed behind Melody as she stepped out of the shop after the end of her shift. She shivered at the assault of the cold weather and tightly hugged her coat, shielding herself from the cold air.

“Done with your shift?”

Her breath caught in her chest as quickly turned her head to the sound of the familiar voice.

“Edward?” Her heart hammered against her chest at the sight of him.

“Why do you look so shocked to see me? Did you not miss me?” He asked with a charming smile that formed into a pout at the end of the sentence.

“I-”

“s**t! How could I have forgotten about him?”

The next thing she felt was a pair of arms pulling her into a hug.

“I missed you so much, baby.” He said before pressing a kiss to her forehead.

“I…I missed you too, babe” She stammered.

“This is so f****d up.” Melody cursed in her head as she was held in the arms of her boyfriend of five years.

“Did you really miss me? Because you have been ignoring my calls and texts?” He asked with a small frown.

She shuffled on her feet, leaning away from him slightly to meet his eyes which were mirroring his disappointment.

“I-uh I did, it's just that I have been so busy with work and e-everything else.” She stuttered.

“Why? What's wrong? Is it Emma?” He asked with a concerned expression that filled Melody with guilt.

“Hmm, it is always Emma, Isn't it?” She hummed slowly.

“What happened? Is she okay?” he asked again, growing anxious by the minute.

“Yes, she's fine. But the doctor informed me that they found a donor and the surgery will be scheduled very soon-” She began to explain before she was interrupted by an excited Edward.

“That's good news! So, what is the issue then?” He said with obvious happiness in his tone.

“Yes, but there's something else…” She started slowly, avoiding his eyes.

“What is it?” He asked with curiosity, peering at her with furrowed eyebrows and pulling her closer.

“I had to make a deal with someone to afford treatment and surgery,”

Melody took a pause, unsure of how to break the news to her boyfriend. She wrung her hands together expressing the height of her nerves.

Edward glanced down at her trembling hands and grabbed them, wrapping his hands around hers in a comforting and grounding manner.

“Whatever it is, just tell me. We will deal with it together.” He urged with a reassuring voice, giving her an inviting smile.

Melody felt her eyes well up with tears that she refused to let go of, she would not cry, no. Not when she was about to break Edward's heart, she would save her tears for another day.

“It's better if I tell him now and get it over with, no matter how much he might hate me afterwards.” She thought to herself.

She took in a deep breath, deciding to just rip the band-aid off, once and for all;

“I am getting married to someone else.”