A Promise
1468 Words
Maddie Thorn
Looking over at the clock. Midnight already and I’m wide awake. Sighing, I headed upstairs to my office, pulling up my email, Dominic’s four emails sitting and waiting for me. I pull up the first one, his father’s estate, and how he wants it to be distributed. It took me hardly any time to finalize all the transfers and accounts Dominic delegated for the millions he received from his father’s death.
I sent the completed plans over to his email without a second thought. My phone buzzes a second late. I rolled my eyes to answer the call, “Of course you're up right now.” I teased, putting my phone on speaker and pulling up his email with the “possible suitors”.
“I did get stood up tonight by a friend. I was feeling hurt, I decided to get the best donuts in the city.”
“I didn’t stand you up. As I remember, I never agreed to dinner in the first place. Let's allow you to pick out the sutiors. I assume you got May’s Bakery?”
“Of course, they are the best cure for a broken heart.”
A laugh escapes me, “Dominic Crane, I’m sure your heart is just fine.”
“mmm” was his only response.
For a moment I was terrified I had offended him…but why? I’ve never cared before…
“I see you sent a file over on yourself as a possible match for me. Or was that a clerical error?” I jest trying to lighten the mood of our conversation.
“Oh no, Maddie Thorn. I am a possible suitor for you. The best suitor. I am the city’s richest man and am known for being a playboy. You could have whatever your heart desires with me.”
I can’t stop the laugh that escapes me. “You haven’t changed a bit, Dominic Crane. So What? You protect me, marry me, and say you will give me whatever I want…what do you get out of this agreement?”
“Why, Maddie Thorn, the pleasure of your company, of course.”
“You never wanted my company in school, so what changed?”
There is a pause in the line before he answers, “I’m tired of the search for the perfect woman, Maddie. Neither of us has any family left. Why not just enjoy the company of another person while we can.”
“I have Jane.”
“You and I both know that’s not the same.”
“So you get your trophy wife and all the sluts you want too?”
“I mean I can get us some extra bodies if you want.” He says laughing. “Just let me know if you have a gender preference.”
“Oh my god, you can’t be serious!” I giggled into the phone, feeling more connected to someone alive than I have since my parents died. It’s like a dark hole inside me that isn’t so suffocating around me.
“I would do that for you. I care about you, Maddie Thorn. I have always cared about you.”
“Is that why you broke Ron’s face before leaving school for good?”
“Something like that. Can I come over?”
“Isn’t it like a twenty-minute drive for you?” I asked, but feeling getty at his words.
“Yeah, from my flat, but I’m already on the road. I’m about five minutes away, remember I’ve got donuts.”
“Trying to bribe me with confections now?”
“I was heading back to my flat but with you being a work-a-holici your message came in at the right time.”
“I am not a work-a-holic…okay, maybe a little.”
“I am too, hence why none of my relationships have worked out. Listen, Maddie, I don’t have a lot of genuine people left in my life, and even fewer that have known me from before I started Crane Industries. I’m here. Could I come in?”
“I mean how many donuts did you bring?” I laughed, opening the gate and door from my phone. I stood and headed down the stairs to the kitchen to wait for him.
He enters a moment later, slipping off his shoes, wearing jeans and a smiling grey t-shirt perfectly displaying his hard muscles. Wow, back up there.
“Hi…” I whispered, realizing he was the first person in my home in eight years.
He sets down the box of confections, watching my face for a moment. “Hi there, Mads.”
My smile widens at the old childhood nickname. Dominic's smile matches mine as he opens the box to reveal a dozen different beautiful donuts. I pluck out a chocolate long john, taking a bite of the soft fluffy texture as the cool vanilla cream hits my tongue, mixing with the chocolate. I let out a moan of pleasure, opening my eyes to see Dominic watching my every movement.
“Don’t stop on my account. I’m enjoying the show.” He whispers, his voice husky.
I smiled, “I’m sure you’ve seen much better shows.”
“mmm, not many,” he says, stepping forward, leaning down towards my face. I am completely stunned that he’s about to kiss me. His lips got closer as mine parted in slight request. His tongue shoots out licking the side of my lip before he steps back. “You missed a little cream. Can’t have that now, can we, Maddie?”
I stared at him stunned, unsure of what had just happened. He takes out a caramel donut, “Will you take me up on my offer, Maddie Thorn?”
“I just don’t see what good it will do either of us. We could be dead in a year anyway. What is being legally tied to each other going to do to change that?”
He pauses for a moment, running his fingers through his golden hair before his blue eyes are on mine again. “Alright, then we can try it for a year. If, after next year’s purge, we decide we want to go back to not being tied to each other in any way. We will go our separate ways.”
“Why after next year’s purge?”
“So, I can ensure you are protected on the night of the purge.”
“Oh and how do you plan to do that, Dominic Crane?”
“Agree to be my spouse for the next year and I will show you everything you have been missing.”
“Why do you think I’m missing anything from my life?”
He swings his arms out as a way of showcasing the white space around us, “Maddie, you’ve forgotten what it means to live…let me show you again. If I don’t, then drop me in a year and I’ll leave you to your own life.”
I sat back, crossing my arms, “f**k you, Dominic. You barge into my life after all these years and ridicule me at every turn.”
“That has always been our relationship, Mads.”
“Well, you don’t get to go right back when it’s been fifteen years. You wouldn’t even have spoken to me if your father hadn’t died.”
“Would you have spoken to me if he had still been alive?” He counters.
“Well no.”
“Exactly, events have brought us back together. Like I said, why not enjoy an old friend's company, especially if a year is all you believe any of us have left.”
I sighed, letting my head fall back, my eyes searching for any reason to say no. The purge dom is a reason to say no, but I don’t even know who he is and I’ve been formally invited to the club now…Dominic said we could do whatever we wish in this agreement. It would just be like two friends living together. I could seek out my masked dom during the year…Dominic’s resources could help me as well.
“Okay, I will marry you for the next 363 days. If we decide to divorce, I want it to be finalized before the purge. We will also need a prenup.”
“Why before the purge?” He asks, c*****g his head to the side.
“I will not spend a lawless night with you with the agreement to divorce you the next day. That would be a rocky and uncomfortable night.”
“Trust me, Mads, in the next 363 days. I will make sure you never have an uncomfortable night again.” He whispered, leaning forward and slipping a ring onto my finger.
- Writer
