The Marriage Contract

Unsteady

I blinked up at Ryland, hearing what he was saying, but still slightly confused on how exactly we were already in Tahiti. "How long was I asleep," I asked standing up, stretching out my tight, sore limbs.

Pulling out his phone, he checked the time, then looked back at me, "Well, it's about 6PM here, so you've been asleep for about twelve or so hours."

I stared at him in shock. I had been asleep for twelve of the almost sixteen and a half hours of the entire flight?

After I had thoroughly stretched out my aching limbs, I glanced out the window to be met with clear blue sky, not a cloud in sight as the plane came onto the landing strip. After coming to a full stop, Ryland pulled our bags from the compartments underneath the seats and began leading me towards the doors of the plane as they opened.

Following Ryland out of the plane, I looked around in wonder at where we had landed. It was beautiful. The sky was a clear blue that seemed to fade seamlessly into the water. Beyond the strip of concrete where the plane had landed were lush spaces of green grass and white sand.

"Come on, Rory. We are meant to check into our hotel in twenty minutes," Ryland said gently, almost whispering. Like he did not want to disturb the peace and tranquility of the island.

We didn't have to go far to find where to check into our hotel. "Welcome to The Brando Hotel on the lovely island of Tetiaroa," a small caramel colored woman greeted us as we walked away from the landing strip.

"Hello," I said to her with a polite smile while Ryland merely nodded in acknowledgment of her presence.

Leading me past her, we continued on into the main building of what I now know as The Brando Hotel. Walking up to the counter behind Ryland, I tuned out as I looked around the inside of the building. It was as serine as the rest of the island. The walls were painted a light tan with the plants scattered around giving a green pop to the room.

As I was studying one white flower in particular, Ryland nudged me, bringing my attention over to him, "Our room awaits," he said with a soft amused smile. Nodding, I followed him out of the main building.

"Where are we going," I asked. As we walked, we seemed to be getting farther and farther away from the lush green grass and closer to what appeared to be a dock.

"You'll see."

I rolled my eyes and focused on dragging my bag along behind me. Just when I think that you were slightly less infuriating.

We walked a few more yards until I could finally make out where we were heading – and it was definitely worth the wait to see. I was right in assuming that it was a dock we were walking towards, but what I couldn't see is that it stretched out far into the clear blue water, then broke off into several others that lead to little hut like houses.

I stared in awe of the pure simplistic beauty of them as Ryland lead me out onto the main dock. We walked past three, four, five and even six of the same matching huts until we came to a significantly bigger one; it looked newer but also more rustic and mystical somehow.

Pulling out a key, Ryland unlocked the door and ushered me inside. Looking around, the inside of the – uh room? – matched the outside very well. All natural, earthy tones covered the walls and was accented by the greenery that sat in the corners. The large California king bed stretched across the back of the accented pale washed wooden wall served as the main focal point of the room, besides the large window that looked out deeper into the clear, blue water. In front of the window was a black baby grand piano that was slightly smaller than the one in Ryland's living room.

To the right of the bed and around a slight corner, you could see the average sized kitchen; to the left of the bed in the same fashion was double doors that led into a large bathroom fitting with an equally sized stand up shower, stand-alone jetted bath tub as well as a double sinked vanity. Back in the main room to the far left corner, just before it met the window was a chest for clothes to be placed in.

As I inspected the chest, placing my clothing in the top two drawers, leaving Ryland the bottom two, I noticed two small, folded pieces of paper, one labeled "Ryland and Rory" in beautiful cursive hand writing, the other had my name simply written in Hayley's familiar script.

Looking behind me, I saw Ryland disappear into the kitchen and I opened the one labeled to me:

Rory-

Give Ryland a chance. A real one, please: You'll thank me later, I'm sure of it.

Love,

Hayley

Reading her note, I couldn't help but to roll my eyes. I could almost hear the mother sounding voice that she would've used if she had said that out loud to me.

Just as I folded my note and shoved it in my pocket, Ryland appeared behind me, "Looks like they left us another note," he said, looking at the folded piece of paper with both of our names on it.

I nodded, "Yeah. I'm not sure I really want to know what's on this one," I said as I eyed the little piece of paper nervously.

"Can't be too bad," he said with a shrug and took the paper from me, unfolding it and reading it aloud. "Ryland and Rory, Welcome to your honeymoon get away! Like we said before, the Island is simply teeming with wildlife and things to explore – other than each other," both of us physically cringed at the way that was worded. "Get the most of the two weeks you have here! Love, Roxy and Hayley." Looking up from the note with an amused grin, he folded the paper back up and put it in his pocket. "Well," he said looking out the window at the slowly setting sun, "I would ask you out to dinner, but I figure room service would be a better option."

"Yeah, I think so," I said as I glanced longingly at the soft looking bed.

Ryland laughed once at me and nodded, "How about a pizza and Pepsi," he asked already picking up the phone to call up to the main desk.

I nodded and walked over to where I had placed my bags, "I'm just going to change," I said. Ryland nodded in acknowledgment as I walked into the bathroom. Dragging my bag behind me, I let it drop onto the floor as I pulled the zipper to open it. As I did, just like my carry-on bag in the plan, a small folded piece of paper sat on top. Grabbing it, I opened it to find another not from Hayley:

Rory-

I already warned you what would be inside, so don't act all surprised when you find it!

Like I said before, you will thank me later... You'll really thank me later for this one. -Hayley

Placing the note to the side, I was immediately nervous about what I was going to pull out of the suitcase.

The first thing that I picked up wasn't completely horrendous; it was a simple black lingerie set that, admittingly, would maybe look half way decent on me if I was actually willing to put it on. Digging deeper into the bag, the pieces continued to get worse and worse, some better than others, but still just was too much – or should I say too little? – for me.

Finally giving up after not finding a single t-shirt, I sighed, threw everything back into the bag and zipped it closed. Deciding to leave the bag in the bathroom closet for the time being, I walked back out of the bathroom to find Ryland, now changed into a pair of gray joggers and a tannish white, loose fitted t-shirt, fiddling with his watch over by the chest.

Noticing my presence, he turned, "I thought that you were going to change or I wouldn't have," he said, glancing over my unchanged clothes.

"Yeah, well...that's the issue here isn't it," I said amused as he looked at me a little puzzled. "Naturally they didn't pack any t-shirts for me." Folding my hands behind my back, I rocked back and forth on the balls of my feet, looking away from him. "So..." Before I could get the bound to be extremely awkwardly put together sentence out, Ryland pulled his t-shirt off an handed it to me.

I opened my mouth to protest that he didn't have to give me the one that he was wearing, but he was shaking his head to stop me before I started, "I have plenty more. I'd prefer not wearing one actually, if that's alright with you," he said almost formally.

I shrugged, "Of course not. Be comfortable," I said, turning slightly red as I took in the sight of his tight, toned chest and sculpted abs. He chuckled slightly as there was a knock at the door, which I was assuming was our food. As Ryland went to answer the door, I slipped into the bathroom to change into the t-shirt.

Coming back out of the bathroom, I found Ryland standing beside the door, holding a box of pizza and two 20oz Pepsi bottles, "Would you like to eat inside or out," he asked gesturing to the two chairs that sat just outside the large window beside the bed.

"Outside sounds good," I said, making my way over to him.

"Outside it is," he said and followed me out onto the deck and over to the set of chairs just in front of the large window. Placing the pizza box down on the small table that sat in between the two chairs, we both sat down and grabbed our first slice of the peperoni pizza that Ryland had ordered. "So what do you think so far," Ryland asked in a conversational tone.

"Uh," I said a little lost for words and awkward. Ryland and I never really made small talk, much less ate together. Even at home I would take my food back to my bedroom and leave Ryland to his own devices in the kitchen. "It's beautiful here," I finally said. He nodded, quiet, taking another bite of his pizza. And again, we lapsed into silence.

The silence was so awkward, that before I could stop myself or actually think of anything better to say, the first thought that came to my head came popping out. "When is you're birthday?"

Ryland glanced back over me, a little surprised, until he chuckled – no doubt at the horrified look on my face. "I was born March 19th," he said with a simple, yet still amused, smile on his face. "And you?"

"May 17th," I said taking a bite of my pizza.

Ryland nodded, "So, why don't you tell me about yourself. I don't really know as much as a normal husband should about their wife," he said with a small laugh.

I was caught off guard again. Was he asking to be polite and keep up formalities, or was he genuinely interested? Pausing for a moment to mull this over, I couldn't come up with a clear answer, so I just answered him. "Well, there's not that much to me actually," I said pulling my feet underneath me. "You know that I'm twenty-one. You know my parents and my best friend. I like to run."

He shook his head, "No, that's not what I meant," he said, shifting to better face me. "I want to know your favorite song. What you do when you're alone. What you aspire to do with your life," he said, trailing off. "That's what I want to know."

And again, I was shocked into silence. No one had ever asked me things like that. No one other than Hayley and my parents had ever cared. The boyfriends that I had here and there never asked things like that; all they were interested in was a way to get into my panties. So having a guy seem to be genuinely interested in things about me as a human being was different.

"Oh," was my brilliant response – once I was finally able to formulate one, that is. "Well, I love music," I said, glancing out at the water that lay endlessly in front of me. "It is like an escape from reality for me. Not that I don't have a very fortunate reality, it can be very free, yet still confining at the same time. Which I am sure that you can understand in many ways," I said glancing over at him, to see him staring out at the water like I once was, although I saw him nod in response to my assumption. "It's like, being the CEO's daughter, I have all of these expectations to live up to. To be the model daughter. To dress like I'm walking on a runway every day. To always know the proper thing to say and to know which fork to use at formal dinners. Not that my mother hasn't tried a million times to teach me, it's just I never really cared.

I have always been a bit different from my family. I take the most after my dad, I guess. I was never much like my mom even though I wish sometimes that I was. But I guess that is why music is so important to me. It makes me feel like it's ok not to be like the rest of the crowd for even a little while." I broke out of my reverie for a moment again to look up at Ryland, only to be caught in his stony silver eyes. He was gazing at me with a completely unreadable expression, although his eyes said something different.

I couldn't find the words to break the intense silence, so I just stared back at him until he decided to do it himself. "I always loved the piano," he said looking away. "Like you, it seemed like it was my break from reality. I hadn't played for almost a year. Until you," he said, looking back into my eyes.

I stared at him quietly staring back into his eyes that showed everything and nothing all at once – I could never pin point an exact emotion that they were portraying. I remembered hearing him play, even though by his reaction, I wasn't supposed to, but I remembered how flawlessly his fingers moved over the ivory keys and how my heart jumped hearing his voice for the first time as he sang This is Gospel.

I wanted to hear him again.

"Will you play for me," I asked quietly, looking into his eyes.

He tensed up slightly at my request, but nodded slightly, "Of course," he said with a small smile and stood up from his seat, offering me his hand. Taking his hand, he led us back into the room. Walking over to the piano that sat in front of the window, he pulled out the bench and sat down, patting the place beside him. Sitting down, me facing him, him facing the keys, he turned to me with a soft smile, "What should I play?"

I shrugged, "Anything."

He smiled again – this had to be the most that I have ever smile – "I think I have one in mind."

Slowly, his fingers began to run across the keys and as the familiar words to Unsteady began to flow, I easily got lost in his voice, like I did the first time...

"Momma, come here. Approach, appear. Daddy, I'm alone. Cause this house don't feel like home. But if you love me don't let go. Oh whoa. Oh no, if you love me, don't let go.

Hold, hold on. Hold onto me, cause I'm a little Unsteady. A little Unsteady...

Momma, I know that you're tired of being alone. Dad I know you're trying to fight when you feel like flying. But if you love me, don't let go. Oh if you love me don't let go..."

The more that I listened to him play and sing, the more I realized how easy it was to get lost in the sound of his voice. How his fingers ran across the keys like it was second nature. How he put so much emotion into what he sang that I could almost feel everything that he was feeling. And by the end of the song, I just about liked his version better than the original.

"Why did you ever stop," I questioned once he was finished, and again, he tensed up.

Looking over at me, I could see his mask slowly sliding back up. He evened out his face and placed a small smile there that didn't reach his eyes, "My father turned his business over to me. I simply did not have the time," he said. Although I knew that that wasn't the entirety of it, I let it drop, in hopes of keeping his mask away for just a little while longer.

Nodding, I looked away from him and ran my fingers over the keys. With a soft smile – which I seem to have a lot of around him – I gently nudged his hands out of the way as I began to let my hands take over.

I had no clear intention of what I was going to play, I just let my heart speak through my fingers as they seemed to find their home over the ivory keys. Closing my eyes, I let all of the penned up emotions free. All of my confused feelings towards Ryland, pouring out into the music that flowed from my hands, and somehow, without my permission, out of my mouth.

"Looking up from underneath fractured moonlight on the sea. Reflections still look the same to me, as before I went under... And it's peaceful in the deep. Cathedral where you cannot breathe. No need to pray, no need to speak..."

As I sang, I slowly began to sway, getting lost in the music that I was creating. Opening my eyes, I stared out of the window in front of me at the calm water as the sun slowly set behind it. The last light of the day was almost gone, and so with the sun sank some of my confusion on how I felt towards the man sitting next to me.

"And the arms of the ocean, are carrying me. And honest devotion was rushing out of me. And the crushes are Heaven for a sinner like me. And the arms of the ocean deliver me...

Though the pressure's hard to take, it's the only way I can escape. It seems a heavy choice to make, and now I am under. And it's breaking over me. A thousand miles down to the seabed. Found a place to rest my head..."

As I continued on in the song, I became hyperaware of Ryland as he sat next to me. The way he would slightly shift and his knee would brush up against the outer part of my thigh. How his breath would slightly hitch when he liked the sound of a note I sang or play. How, as he caught on to the song, he would hum the chorus along with me.

"...and it's over, and I'm going under. But I'm not giving up, I'm just giving in...Oh, slipping underneath. So cold and so sweet..."

I brought the song to a close and pulled my hands away from the keys. I could feel Ryland's eyes on me as I turned my head to face him. His mask was gone. Emotions clearly swam all through his eyes as he gave me a genuine smile, "Did you like it," I whispered, not wanting to break the pregnant, but meaningful silence that passed between us.

His intense gray eyes peered down into mine as he slowly brought his hand up to my face, brushing a stray curl away from my eyes. And instead of pulling his hand away, he left it there to cradle my face with an almost mystified look in his eyes. "Yes," he whispered back simply, a small half smile coming to his face, "Very much."

"Me too," I said, staring up into his eyes, my mind going a million miles per second. Out of habit, I pulled my bottom lip in between my teeth, drawing his eyes to them, then back up to my eyes.

He brought his other hand up, cradling my face in between his hands ever so gently. Like I was some sort of glass. Slowly, he leaned in close to me and brought his lips to mine.

As he did, it wasn't fireworks like all of the romance books said. It was warm. It started in my chest and spread to every nook and cranny of my body. Bringing my hand up, I placed it over the top of his and kissed him back.

And as I kissed him, I came to the realization that as much as I fought it in the beginning. How much I despised the thought of him. I was falling in love with him.