The Marriage Contract

Chop. It. Off.

"Five more minutes, dad, I promise," I groaned, rolling over and pulling the blankets over my head.

"I'm not your dad, now get up," Ryland's annoyingly sexy voice said, waking me up a bit more, just before my blankets were jerked away, leaving my bare legs and arms exposed to the cold. "And aren't you meant to be 21? Who still has their dad waking them?"

"Jesus, Ryland! I could have been f*****g naked," I yelled jerking the cover back over my now freezing legs.

He shrugged, "I don't care. Put on something presentable. We have an appointment at one thirty," he said simply, walking out of my room, shutting the door behind him. I glared at the closed door for a few minutes after he left, but rolled my eyes and got out of bed anyway.

I ran my fingers through my hair as I made my way to the bathroom. It was just past 11:30 so I had enough time for a shower.

When I was finished, I wrapped a towel around myself and went into the closet. I looked around for a minute before I came across a royal blue, denim high wasted skirt. I took it off the hanger and looked at it, then I had an idea.

After a reasonably long search, I found a thin dark beige, boat neck tshirt that tied at the collar. I pulled it on and tucked it into the skirt. I grabbed a brown leather belt and put it on my waist. I left my hair down and looked in the mirror. Smiling to myself, I slipped on a pair of thin soled vans and a long chained pocket watch necklace that Hayley had given me on my twentieth birthday.

Grabbing my phone and my bag, I walked out of my bedroom to find Ryland on the phone in the living room. When I walked into the room he turned around and paused in his conversation. His eyes rolled over me and I had to fight the smirk threatening to take over my face.

"I'll call you back," he said and hung up the phone, placing it in his pocket. He looked down at he watch, then back up at me, "Come on, or we'll be late," he said, looking over me again, lingering on my legs.

I smirked as he adjusted his tie and turned towards the door. I followed him, uneasily into the elevator as he took his sweet time about pressing the button. Before he could get to it, I jumped in front of him and slammed my fist onto the button for the ground floor.

He looked at me like I had no functioning brain cells as I pressed up against the wall, anxiety rolling off of me in waves. "Are you scared of the elevator," he asked looking at me.

"Hell yes, I'm scared of the damned elevator! It's a f*****g trap waiting to drop me to my death," I answered.

"Rory, this elevator was inspected a month ago. I watched the men do it. There is nothing wrong with it," he said.

I made a face, "I don't care who the f**k you watched! He could've been drunk for all you know! And don't call me that," I snapped, crossing my arms.

He smirked, "And why not?"

"Only my friends call me Rory," I said. The elevator doors dinged and I walked out of the elevator like the boss ass b***h I am.

As we walked out the doors, Ryland walked ahead of me to a black Maserati, parked just in front of the building.

"Huh," I said as I got into the passenger seat.

"What? Surprised that I have a good taste in cars," he asked sarcastically, almost bitter.

"No," I answered truthfully. "That you can drive, period," I said and closed the door behind me. He scowled but started the car and took off down the street.

Within a few minutes, Ryland parked the car outside of Belle Vie. "Uhm, excuse me, why are we here," I asked as we got out of the car.

"Because we are buying your wedding dress," he said casually, walking towards the door. "Like I said earlier, my mother and sister are already inside, and I had my assistant make a few calls, so I'm pretty sure your friend Hayley is here too." I stared at him, shocked. Did he actually consider my feelings?

"Well, why are you here then? Isn't the husband supposed to wait until the wedding to see the bride in her dress," I asked jokingly, trying to be at least a bit friendly.

He shrugged, "I'm paying for it. And I can't have you looking ridiculous," he said seriously.

I narrowed my eyes at him, and grudgingly followed him inside. He walked up to a counter where a woman with blonde hair stood, "Yes, how may I help you," she said with a flirtatious smile, leaning over to give Ryland a good view of her breasts.

I narrowed my eyes at her, but she ignored me. And don't take that the wrong way, I still can't stand Ryland, but its obvious he is here for some type of wedding dress shopping and I'm standing right there!

"Yes," he said looking at his phone, ignoring her. I smirked, "We have an appointment under Steel."

When he said we her eyes snapped over to me. She skimmed over me and her eyes hardened, envious. "Right this way. Your party is already waiting."

She stepped out from behind the counter and let us down a few halls to a showing room. Inside an older lady - who I was assuming was Rylands mother - a girl that looked slightly older than Ryland with the same tone of hair and Hayley sat, awkwardly. When we entered, they all turned back and smiles graced their faces.

"Ah, you must be Aurora! Ryland, sweetheart, you weren't mistaken about how beautiful she is," she said, pulling me in to a hug. "My name is Lanah Steel," I glanced over at Ryland with a raised brow and - I'll be damned he's blushing! It was light, but I was there. "And this is my oldest, Roxanne," she said, releasing me.

"You can call me Roxy," Ryland's sister said as she, as well, brought me into a hug. "It's nice to meet you, Aurora."

"Call me Rory," I said with a smile to both women.

"I thought only friends could call you that," Ryland whispered behind me.

I shrugged, "I like them."

"Rory," Hayley called, wrapping her arm around me. "How's it going," she asked.

"Great," I said with a fake smile that she saw right through.

OK, so the thing is, no one other than our dads, me, Ryland and Hayley know about the contract. Everyone else is completely in the dark - outside the lawyers, of course. And to keep it that way was a part of the contract. If anyone - other than Hayley who I already blabbed to - found out, it'd be considered a breech.

Within a few minutes, a lady that was in her mid or late thirties with brown hair stepped through the door, "So, who is the blushing bride?"

"That'd be me," I said, raising my hand.

"Great! My name is Samantha and I am going to be helping you today. Is there any styles you would like to s-"

"Full princess ball gown," Ryland interjected, not pausing to look up from his phone.

"Uh...yes sir," she said looking at me. I rolled my eyes and followed her to the back. "OK, now what do you want," she asked with a smile.

A smirk lit my face, "The exact opposite."

She was quick to match my expression, "I have just the thing." She led me into a dressing room, then disappeared, coming back a few minutes later with two dresses, "I figure we should give him what he wants, first, and then you smack sense into him."

I smiled at her and let her help me pull on the style dress Ryland wanted. I have to admit, when I got it on, it was beautiful. With the intricate beading on the top and the puffed out Cinderella bottom, it would be any girls dream. But it wasn't me. I knew that, but I walked out anyway.

"Oh, honey, you look beautiful! Ryland sweetheart, just look at her," Lanah said, but his eyes never moved from the phone.

"Yeah, yeah. Bag it up."

I scowled at him and started to say something until Samantha beat me to the punch. "We have one more."

She led me back to the room again and helped me out of the Cinderella dress, and into a more simple one. But as I looked in the mirror, tears almost came to my eyes. The dress was perfect. It fit to my body all the way down to the floor and had a beautiful train. It was a long sleeved dress, with the sleeves and top being a floral pattered lace. It had a plunging V neckline which showed the perfect amount of cleavage without being trashy. I knew in that moment, whether this marriage was out of love or contract, this would be the only dress I would be walking down the isle in.

"Miss Aurora, if I do say so myself, in this dress, you are living up to your name, sweetheart," she said as she looked at me.

"Thank you," I said with a soft smile. "Well, let's go show 'em." We walked down the hall and when we stepped into the room...silence. Not a word uttered from anyone. "Well?"

Still, no one said anything. At the silence, Ryland glanced up, and his eyes locked on me. The normal gray of his eyes darkened as they swept over me. He opened his mouth like he wanted to say something, but nothing came out.

"Rory...you look..." Hayley started, standing up staring at me.

"Breathtaking," Lanah and Roxy said together and laughed.

"I think this is it," I said quietly.

"Indeed, I believe it is, darling," Lanah said with a smile, hugging me.

"We'll take it," Ryland said, finally speaking up.

-

"Girl, did you see his face? He looked like he was about to tear that dress off and f**k you good...in front of his mom and sister too," Hayley laughed as we walked towards the salon.

"Uh huh." Ryland had driven me back to the apartment to pick up my car about an hour ago, all the while telling me how he would like my hair - long, straight and down - for the wedding. He'd had his assistant set up an appointment for me to get my hair done. I had argued and said that I refused unless he took me to get my car and I could take Hayley with me. Needless to say, I won that argument.

As we walked inside, I signed in and in no time, they called me. Hayley said she would go get her nails done while she waited. I nodded, and waved her goodbye.

"So, how do you want it," the lady asked, running a brush through my hair.

As I looked in the mirror, I thought back to what Ryland said; Long, straight and down. A smirk made its way onto my face as I looked in the mirror, "Chop it off."

She smirked, "Boyfriend?"

"You could say that," I said with a crooked smile.

She matched my smirk and picked up her scissors, "I've got you. Trust me."