Meditative, Bexley had her head reposing on the cold window of the passenger side, her twinkly eyes now glassy, looking blankly at the starless black opaque sky as she was studying the possible ways out of her dilemma. But by her misfortune, in her vain quest – vain since she didn't envisage even for a second to jeopardise her sister and therefore, another option to escape her misery - she predictably ended up realising that the sole exit to the labyrinth she was trapped in was to marry the man she despised the most. An exit that also meant for her that she had to give up on her unhoped-for chance to be with man she had been in love with for a decade. Bexley turned her head on the left and fixed her stare on the redheaded man beside her who was tapping his fingers against the steering wheel as he hummed the lyrics of the old-school hip-hop song played by the radio, his eyes focused on the unusually decongested road. She smiled sadly as at this moment she reluctantly resolved herself to let him be the pipe dream beyond reach he had always been. Tears menacing to fall off her eyes, she looked back out to the window now covered with few drops of rain, mourning alone and quietly, their aborted love story. When the car halted nearby a small bungalow in the popular yet nice and peaceful south neighbourhood of Swerne, Bexley didn't move at all, absorbed in her thoughts. Ezra took his security belt off and stayed silent for a while, watching her worriedly.934Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ471Akf14mA
“Are you gonna tell me what's wrong or should I guess it all by myself?” he asked, his voice interrupting her reflexion.934Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVk1lgnMSpL
“Oh, sorry. Nothing's wrong. I'm just feeling tired, that's all,” she smiled, “Thanks for tonight, by the way. It was amazing,”934Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqE3sU8bMGx
“Glad you like it, hope we can do that more often,”934Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡihxZag7hCH
“Yeah,” she whispered, feeling nostalgic as she was the only one knowing that this date was their first and last.934Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡukoXhusY6e
“All right, let me walk you to the door,”934Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡONsaAZ3w5U
They both hopped off the car and stepped under the timid rain, shuffling along the pavement, side by side in a thick, awkward silence. They finally stopped in front of her house, at the foot of the veranda.934Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4XiwtWoSzP
“Thanks for walking me,” Bexley suddenly broke the quietness between them.934Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpfXdKZFiQQ
“You're welcome,”934Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdy9MEfOPwN
“I'm waking up early tomorrow so...I should get in now,”934Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyYhhn71uXS
“Yeah, sure,”934Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyD1XphgsP6
“Good night, Ezra,”934Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHryMYsGtbG
Bexley barely climbed the first stair of the porch that a hand grasped her arm.934Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEmBSh7vPpT
“Bexley, wait,”934Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg5kffwSJLs
She quickly looked upon her shoulder, casting a questioningly look at her friend who was merely staring at her. He bored his eyes into hers then she saw him peeping at her lips before getting his face closer to hers. Bexley's heart skipped a beat as she foresaw his next move, a move she fantasised about for so long and that was finally materialising. She instantly closed her eyes at the warm odour of bergamot radiating to her, recalling herself how much she loved this fragrance. When she felt his breath fanning on her face, she opened her eyes and saw his lips now few inches away from hers. She looked up to his eyes, boring her gaze into his as she waited for him to kiss her, but then she remembered of Cole's smirking face and the ultimatum that had been given to her hours ago. If she allowed Ezra to kiss her right now, she knew that this decision would make things more complicated than it already was, so she moved away, cutting short the moment.934Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDM8uL1JCjG
“I'm sorry Ezra, but I can't do this,” 934Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfUzqnDqNtd
Ezra straightened his head up, confused at her dodge to his kissing attempt. He didn't say a word for a while then sniggered at her nervously, stroking his beard manifestly upset.934Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXO7NaDGsvF
“You know what?” he said tartly, “I can't do this either,” 934Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6ZFkfHGKIP
“Ezra-” she tried to stop him then he turned toward her all of a sudden.934Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0Fy6RcHM4n
“What?” he snapped with a frown.934Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtsVJyznsjS
“I'm sorry,”934Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8zwjjBDvlu
“What for, huh?” he blurted out a bit angrily, “For ignoring him all night long or for making eyes with your boss during our date?”934Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD6kgKQPDOI
“I-”934Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6jnrlIYq8u
“Do you really think that I was so oblivious that I wouldn't notice the way you two kept staring at each other?” he cut her off.934Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzqTQfdofKR
“This is not what you're thinking,” she tried to defend herself.934Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBD25CXlwas
“Then what is it, Bexley?”934Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKS9GnwhT7C
She stayed mute.934Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRoFlPSWpfI
“Are you in love with him?”934Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKteAtyCh72
“What? No. Never,” she exclaimed with disgust and stepped closer to Ezra, taking him by the hand, “You're the only man I've ever loved,” she confessed to him bluntly forgetting all about her recent resolution, “I've been loving you since high-school,” she continued looking straight into his eyes.934Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtYNINnsiTm
His expression softened.934Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOItSEmKk47
“What took you so long to tell me?”934Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSniwZ8cLWY
“My life was quite complicated back then, and with all those beautiful popular girls swarming around you, I just felt...not good enough for you,”934Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkQZYCZsLrv
He moved forward, cupped her face in his hands and without a warning, he planted his lips on hers. They kissed tenderly for a while then moved away from each other, smiling.934Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKhJt5q07PN
“Let's not waste another minute to be together,” he murmured and she nodded.934Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ1syqf9Ddq
Then the sky rumbled above them and the rain poured.934Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzUVKVGvR5E
“I think you should really go now,” she laughed.934Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5HPodZTZb3
“Yeah,”934Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUFJlMf13uc
He kissed her again and said, “I'll call you tomorrow,”934Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI6QApXzIcn
“Drive safely,”934Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZqbDazinBD
He waved her goodbye and jumped in his car. Bexley watched him driving away with joy overflowing her heart to such extent that she didn't even care about the cool water soaking her hair and clothes. She quickly went inside the bungalow, looking around for her sister, but as she called the elder's name, nobody answered. She marched to her sister's room when she noticed a post-it on the door saying that she would be staying out tonight after she received a call from her friend who had been dumped by her boyfriend and needed some comfort. Bexley sighed, disappointed to not be able to share what just happened with her sister right away, but then she remembered about him ; Cole.
***
Cole peeked at his watch. For the first time in nine months, she was late and that was something unlike her. Maybe she had decided to stand up to him thinking that he was bluffing, he thought, but he knew that the young woman wasn't that stupid to take such risk, she knew more than anyone that he was a man of his words and that what he said, he meant. Yet, he wasn't completely sure that she would come and surrender to his demand since she was as adamant as he was. Suddenly, the doorbell rang and he knew that it was her. He quickly left his office upstairs and went to answer the door, and as he expected it, she was there standing on the sill, dressed in her uniform.934Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWCsYcTjNIV
“Ms. Hamilton,” he said her name with a bright smile of triumph on his face whilst hers was obscured with a despondent look, “You look absolutely bubbly today,” he continued with a hint of mockery in his voice.934Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEVghF5aJYh
Bexley looked daggers at him and passed by him. 934Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWoI9HQFXyd
“I'll be short, Mr. Ramsden. As you might have already guess it, I'm willing to marry you, but I've got some conditions,”934Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA16vJ0lxuZ
“Well,” Cole began closing the door, “We'll see about your conditions later. Let's read the marriage contract first,” he said already heading toward the stairs.934Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡARAkcqkdnn
They walked to his office and both sat down face to face. Cole who was sitting on his armchair, pulled the drawer of his desk and handed her a large brown envelope. She opened it and started to browse through the pages, her eyes moving right and left as she read the clauses, then suddenly she stopped dead on a page, her expression changing into a frown.934Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZEvwY5L6iM
“What is that kissing thing?” she asked pointing her finger at the line, “I won't do it,”934Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe2JSW4gqBO
“Read it to the end,” he said knowing to which clause she was referring to.934Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwPJPh8SgnT
“I did,”934Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyHMN66ob3x
“No you didn't. Otherwise you would've seen that the kissing thing is only in public,”934Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBdQKl2FoIL
“Still, I won't do it,”934Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1kwx7Lq00L
“Do you have ever see a couple who never kiss? Do you want people to get suspicious about our couple?” he said, “'cause if they do, our contract will stop and your sister can say bye-bye to the American soil and hello to Cuba prison,”934Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKOqql0KspE
She closed her eyes briefly, biting her lips then looked back at him. He was waiting for another remark from her but she kept quiet, so he went on, “Anyway, if that's only about getting intimate that is bothering you, don't worry. You'll be my wife only on papers. We won't share the same bed or have any physical contact in this house but outside, we need to act like a normal loving couple to be believable, which means that we will certainly have to kiss each other, hold hands and so on. All I'm asking you, Ms. Hamilton, is to think about it as a professional job and to not get too much pleasure in it,”934Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcr3fim5tGb
“Getting pleasure?” she scoffed,” That must be a joke, 'cause I don't see how pretending to be your wife can bring me any kind of pleasure,”934Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcMDpHMFIbt
“Oh, but I've got deft hands, Ms. Hamilton,”934Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeUvEDamVFi
She grimaced at his innuendo.934Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCnEWEPsNBm
“Plus, many women would've kill to be at your place,”934Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyJiPWNnHdB
“Then you should have ask them,” 934Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH43b2a2pZ9
Cole smirked at her wittiness.934Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡouWqTHJgio
“Don't play too smart with me, . I'm not known for my patience and tolerance,” he threatened again, “Anyway, you'll finish reading the contract later, we have better things to do,” he stood up, “Just don't forget to sign it and give it back to me,”934Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPqKeH3SPOw
“But-”934Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLxENIxXIEA
Cole rolled his eyes anticipating what she was about to say, “Whether you finish reading now or later won't change anything. You're already in. Now follow me, instead of talk back uselessly,” he moved toward the door.934Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiy1VIK0fM1
Bexley got up hurriedly and followed him to the guest room he was guiding her to.934Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2FHtiSp9LX
“This is your room from now on,” he stated as he opened the door, “ On Monday, removal men will take your belongings from your house and get them here,”934Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfb124vGP6L
“Wait, what? I can't leave my house like that,”934Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDB88oZTmxo
“Yes you can and you will. Are you planning to contradict me everytime I'll ask something from you?”934Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEqTMeUygol
“You're not asking, you're commanding, that's different. And according to the contract, I'm not your housekeeper any longer, which means that I don't need to agree to everything you say any more,”934Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNLMUpn5lHA
“You're not my housekeeper any more, but you still work for me so do as I say,” he reprimanded her, irritated, “Now, take off this awful uniform and get ready for our rendezvous. Your dress is in this box,” he continued pointing at the large rectangular red box on the four-poster bed, “and you'll find all the make-up you need in the bathroom. Meet me downstair in thirty minutes,”934Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp0dPs1e9mV
934Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkMANKGxR4L
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