Contract of Deception

Chapter 6

Scarlett opened the door of her apartment to Grace, her bestfriend, holding a large envelope. She had been in the shower and Grace had already rang the doorbell 5 times before she was finally able to wash off all the soap suds from her eyes to go open the door.

“I’m sorry, I was in the shower,” she said as she readjusted her towel.

“Here,” Grace passed the envelope to her as they walked into the apartment. “I brought up your mail for you.”

“Thanks”

She quickly took a peek at the envelope, and noticing Wade’s name on it, she decided to open it later after Grace left.

“Must be from one of my clients,” she said, but Grace had already forgotten all about the envelope, instead fixing herself a sandwich in the kitchen.

She smiled to herself and walked back into her room to dress up. Grace and her had been friends for years, even though in their last year in college, they had drifted apart over something stupid, she couldn’t even remember what it was anymore. But they had come back and built their friendship even stronger than it was before. Her parents loved Grace, her little sisters did too, she was practically family at this point. Which is why she had thought up a story to tell her about Wade before she heard about it from someone else, or worse, the internet. Grace would never forgive her for that.

She slipped on a black camisole with black boxer briefs and walked back out to the living room. Grace had turned on the TV and she was watching a show and quietly munching on her sandwich. Scarlett took a deep breath and walked over to her friend.

“Sooo I need to talk to you about something,” she started.

Grace turned off the tv and focused her attention on her. “What’s up?”

“Okay I don’t want you to panic, but I’m seeing someone.”

The next few seconds happened in a flurry, one moment, Grace was holding the plate she had eaten her sandwich in, and the next it was broken on the floor and she was screaming in excitement. Scarlett laughed. Her bestfriend had always wanted her to get in a relationship so they could go on double dates together with her boyfriend, she never stopped telling her that she thought Scarlett lived life like an eighty year old widow.

“What!? How!? When!?” Grace threw a barrage of questions at her, barely able to contain herself.

“We’ve been dating for a while, it’s actually quite serious. And before you say anything, yes I know I should have told you, but I just wanted to make sure it was actually worth it before I shared the news.”

“Who is it? Who is he? Omg Scarlett, I’m so happy for you.”

This was the moment she had been dreading the most. She knew her bestfriend would absolutely flip out when she told her she was dating Wade Simon. Unlike her, Grace was pretty up to date, she read all the magazines and followed all the newest gossip.

“Um…”

“Um??”

“Wade Simon?” She closed her eyes and winced.

“What!!!? You’re dating Wade Simon!? The Wade Simon?”

She mentally prepared herself for the next few minutes and opened her eyes, Grace’s eyes were wide open in shock and her mouth mirrored the same action.

“Yeah… it’s been going on for a while now.”

“What!? How the hell did that even happen?”

“Well, you know my dad works for him. I was at his office to bring something to my dad and that’s how we met, and we just kicked things off I guess, it was love at first sight, if you will.”

She held her breath and hoped Grace would believe her. It was really hard to fool Grace and she really hoped her excitement would cloud her judgement.

“Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God!” Grace squealed as she jumped up and down, somehow skillfully avoiding the broken shards on the floor. “What’s he like? Tell me everything!”

She coughed. She hasn’t thought things out this far, she figured she would just tell her bestfriend the news and Grace’s excitement over the prospect of finally having one of those double dates she wanted so much would weigh over everything. She barely knew the man, what could she possibly say to convince her bestfriend that she was in love with him.

She chuckled in a bid to mask the panic that was slowly creeping inside her.

“You know, he’s just Wade…”

“Just Wade?? Come on, you have to give me more than that.” Grace whined.

She cleared her throat and envisioned Wade in his well fitted black suit in his office, “He’s strong… and he’s voice is like smooth velvet just gliding over your skin.”

She felt like she could throw up, as far as she knew, Wade was not any of the things she was making him out to be… or maybe he was and she just hated to admit it. Grace urged her to go on.

“He’s straightforward, he knows what he wants and how to get it, he’s a really great cook and his eyes light up when he talks about the things that he loves.

Well, at least that bit was true. With the way he successfully put her family in his mercy, he would thrive as a conman if he ever considered it as a career path. His pasta tasted really good the other night, and his eyes did light up when he talked about his beloved company.

Her breathing picked up, she remembered Wade’s hand around her throat and she swallowed. “He definitely knows how to command a room, make it his own.”

Grace squealed again and held her hands, she had taken her position back on the sofa, the broken pieces of the plate still on the rug. And then her face suddenly went serious.

“Is he good to you?”

She twisted her fingers together, feeling a sudden sense of sadness. She couldn’t say Wade was bad to her, but he wasn’t the most pleasant person either, and again, she didn’t know him that well. She felt sad for a life she could have had, she imagined how easy it would have been to answer Grace’s question if she was truly in love and happy with someone she wanted, and someone who felt the same for her. But what she had with Wade, it was just a farce, nothing more.

But Grace couldn’t know that, so she put on a wide smile and faced her bestfriend.

“Yes, he is. He is truly the best.”

Grace nodded in excitement and told her that that was all that really mattered.

“Scarlett how lucky are you? I’m so happy for you.”

They spent the rest of the afternoon talking about any and everything. Grace wanted to know every little detail and she was happy her made up story was convincing enough.

By the time Grace left, after she had made her promise they would go on one of the double dates in the nearest future, Scarlett had cleaned up the mess of the broken plate on her rug, tied her hair in a bun and picked up her paintbrush. Her head was a mess, and if there was one thing that could calm her down any day, it was painting. Her definite strokes on the canvas made her feel like she was in control of at least one thing in her life, and she needed that reassurance, especially now.

Her phone dinged just as the image of clear blue skies came alive on the canvas. It was a text message from an unknown number.

Be ready for dinner at 7. I’ll send my driver over.

Obviously it was Wade. She let out a breath as her phone chimed again.

I trust you must have signed the papers by now, let me know if you have more questions.

She slapped her face with her palm, causing paint to splatter across her forehead. She had totally forgotten about the envelope Grace brought in earlier. She had been too distracted with trying to clear her head. She headed to the bathroom and washed her hands, and then she splashed some water on her face, watching the blue and white colour it had taken go down the drain. After that, she went over to her bed and picked the envelope from where she had tossed it earlier.

The weight of the envelope felt heavier than it did when Grace had handed it to her hours ago, she suspected it was because of the dread she was feeling, whatever was contained in that envelope would decide her fate for the next one year. She took a deep breath and opened it.

The pages were filled with legal jargon; clauses and conditions, but she took her time to go through it, she was determined to understand every word as her eyes scanned the lines intently.

It stated that the contract would be in effect for a period of one year, beginning from the point when she signed the papers, at which point both parties may decide to extend or terminate the contract. She scoffed, there wasn’t the faintest possibility of her wanting to extend this agreement when it was all over.

It outlined financial matters, responsibilities and even the implications if one party breached the contract, it also included a non disclosure agreement, stating that they were not allowed to discuss the terms of their agreement with a third party and other important aspects.

She took a deep breath and willed her shaky hands to sign the papers, filled with dread at what her life had become.