Zara
I don’t look at the contract when I get home. I pull it out of my bag, along with everything else, and drop it on my small dining table like it doesn’t matter. Like it isn’t waiting there, quietly demanding a decision I wasn’t ready to make. I change, wash up and go to bed.
Sleep didn’t come easily.
It wasn’t dramatic – I wasn’t tossing and turning or staring at the ceiling all night – but it was there, just beneath everything. That awareness, that reminder. The damned contract.
By the time morning came, I felt more exhausted than rested.
I spend a better part of the morning pretending I have options. Emails, applications, job boards, newspapers. Anything that could pass for opportunity.
Nothing stuck.
Every listing feels the same; underpaid, overworked or already taken. I refresh pages that don’t need refreshing, reread postings I know I won’t get and send out applications I wasn’t even sure would be opened.
By noon, Callie’s laptop is still open in front of me, but I am not looking at it anymore. I lean back in my chair and exhale slowly. This isn’t going anywhere.
A knock on the door pulls me out of it. I push myself up, dragging a hand over my face as I make my way towards it. Halfway there, my eyes flick to the table. The contract sits exactly where I left it. Untouched.
I slow, sighing at it, before proceeding to open the door. Callie walks past me, dropping her bag on the couch before turning to face me.
“You look like you’ve been fighting ghosts.” She says eyeing me up and down.
“Feels like it.” I mutter closing the door.
She kicks off her shoes and makes herself comfortable, tucking one leg under her as she sits.
“Today needs to end.” She whines, “I am so beat.”
I hum. She takes in the mess on my small table and looks at me.
“Have you been at that the whole morning?”
“Yup.” I get a glass from the kitchen and pour her some juice. I take the seat opposite hers, pulling my knees in slightly.
She leans forward, resting her elbows on her thighs. “I haven’t had any luck. Have you?”
“Depends.” I let out a short breath.
Her brows lift immediately. “On?”
“I may have something,” I say slowly. “But it feels too good to be true. I feel like I will be signing up for something I may not be ready to take on.”
“Why?”
I get up and pick up the contract, passing it to her.
She flips it open and starts scanning the pages. I sit down, crossing my arms loosely.
“I may not have mentioned this, but before shit hit the fan at the hotel, I was housekeeping for someone. A businessman. Andrew Carter.”
She stills. She looks at me with wide eyes.
“Andrew Carter?”
“Yeah?”
She blinks twice. “Andrew Carter, Andrew Carter?”
I frown slightly. “Why are you repeating it like that?”
“Because,” she says. “Do you even know who that is.”
“Should I?”
“You’re serious?”
“I’m always serious.”
“Zara, that man is not just ‘some businessman’”
I stare, growing more confused.
“He is a big shot in the business world. Scratch that, he is the business world. He made his first million at seventeen. Seventeen. Who even does that?”
“He broke away from his family, which is also a major player in the industry, like completely and built everything he has on his own. No safety net. No backing. Just him.”
“That’s impressive.”
“That’s terrifying. Do you know what people say about him?”
“I’m guessing you’re about to tell me.”
“He’s ruthless. Calculative. If he wants something gone, it’s gone. Businesses, people, reputations – doesn’t matter.”
She narrows her eyes at me, her expression shifting slightly. “Why is he interested in you?”
“Your guess is as good as mine. But he is the one who helped me the other night, when that man tried to assault me.”
She looks taken aback, eyes wide. She looks back at the document, flipping to another page.
“Damn!” she looks at me, then back at the document. “That’s what he will be paying you? This is a lot of money.”
“I noticed.”
“I heard he paid well but not this well.”
“With that kind of money, Mauricio’s hospital debt will be gone in less than 6 months.”
“You have to live with him.” She wiggles her brows suggestively. “Disclaimer! There are a lot of scenarios in my head. PG scenes.”
“Calystar!”
“I’m just saying. He is hot, you’re hot. He is single, last I heard, and you need some action in your life. Join the dots.”
“Stop it. That’s the last thing on my mind right now.”
“Fine! Fine.” She closes the contact. “Let’s think this through.”
“I’ve been trying to do that all morning.”
“Okay, pros?”
“Money.” I start.
“A lot of it.” She agrees.
“Stability for now.”
“Also, good.”
“All my problems will be solved.”
“Cons?”
“Him.”
She almost smiles. “Fair.”
“I don’t trust him. I can’t figure him out and I don’t like the way he just shows up and decides things.”
“I think you should take it.” She says slowly.
“Not forever.” She adds. “Just long enough.”
I remain quiet.
“Get the money,” she continues, “Fix what you need to fix. Pay the hospital bills. Get some stability. Then, if you still want to leave, you can leave.”
I swallow lightly. It didn’t feel as simple as she made it.
“I don’t think it will be that easy.”
“Maybe not.” She shrugs. “But right now, it is your best option. And only.”
I breath out through my mouth and reach for my phone, together with the card he had left me. I look at Callie and she nods in assurance, urging me on.
I unlock my phone and type in his number, clicking the messaging button.
I stare at the screen for a few beats before typing.
I’ll take it.
I hit send and for a second, everything goes quiet. I stare at the message, my thumb still hovering over it. A strange feeling settles in my chest, slow and heavy. I couldn’t quite name it, but I couldn’t ignore it either. It wasn’t fear, not exactly, but it wasn’t comfort either. Just something off.
It sounded simple. Go in, work for a few months, pay Mauricio’s huge bill and leave. Clean. Easy.
But this was Andrew Carter.
And nothing about him ever felt simple.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ16SQ4X93Zi
and then Add to home screen.