17: Request Denied

Carla

“What?” He barked in a voice so loud and sharp, it made me flinch. I let out a slow breath and met his gaze, refusing to glance away despite how his gaze made me want to avert my gaze from how intense it was.

“I said…” I began but he cut me off, his gaze narrowing and filling with anger as he slowly approached me, making my breath start to pick up.

“I heard what you said. However, it made no sense to me. What do you mean a fuck buddy?” He barked again, and this time, he was standing only a few feet away, his eyes trained on my face.

I cleared my throat and squared my jaw as I responded. “I mean, I have needs like every other person, and it’s only logical got me to want to get off in the time I’ll spend in this contract marriage, so either a fuck body or a boyfriend—-”

“Absolutely not!” He snapped and I frowned at him in confusion.

“Huh?”

“I forbade you from having either.” He affirmed and I let out a huff of disbelief while staring up at him.

“I- I don’t understand… I want—” I was still speaking when he cut me off again.

“That’s gonna blow our cover, Carla. Are you dumb?”

This time, I bristled while glaring up at him.

“I’ll be secretive! They’ll be aware that it can’t get out to the public!” I insisted but he shook his head firmly while giving me an unimpressed look.

“Absolutely not. I can’t trust any fucker you meet to not go to the press with the news in exchange for some money or the likes, so the answer is no.” He responded sharply, his voice leaving no room for arguments and I found myself spluttering while glaring up at him.

“That’s unfair to me!” I cried out and he rolled his eyes as he folded his arms.

“Not really, it’s not: it’s just one year without sex. I’m sure you’ll not die after going a full year without it.” He drawled and I let out an annoyed huff.

“I- it’s more than a single year! That would make it three years…” I muttered and his eyes widened as he stared down at me with a bewildered expression on, which made me silently swear underneath my breath because I hadn’t meant to reveal that to him.

“Wait.” He stated as he stepped closer, the wheels clearly turning around in his head.

“I thought you've been out of jail for over three months…” as he spoke, he trailed off and on feeling too embarrassed, I averted my gaze.

A firm grip on my chin made my gaze meet with his again as he continued.

“Your husband didn’t fuck you after you left prison?” He asked, sounding incredulous, and when I didn’t respond, he let out a choked sound, one mixed with disbelief and laughter.

That made anger and embarrassment to spare through me and I forcefully pulled away from his grip before clearly my throat.

“That’s none of your business.” I finally got out, and he gave me a pitying look for a moment before snorting.

“Of course it’s not. It was just shocking that your husband didn’t touch you at all..,” he ended up trailing off, then the side of his lips twitched and I wished that I could claw his eyes out right now, especially when he continued speaking in the next moment.

“This means you must feel like a virgin all over again.” He added and I wished the ground would open up and swallow me up at once.

Wanting to take the conversation back to where it was at, I cleared my throat as I spoke.

“This is why I want to get a fuck buddy or a boyfriend, so…”

He ended up cutting me off.

“You still can’t get any of that, I forbid it.” He remarked in a firm voice, then his eyes trailed over me as he continued.

“It’s a little pitiful that you’ve not gotten some in years, but you’ll live. You can get some toys to keep yourself satisfied in the one year you’ll spend in the contract marriage.” He drawled and I bristled as I folded my arms.

“But Lena is aware. Why is it such a problem for me to get a boyfriend who’d also be aware? It would be someone that I trust as well!”

He rolled his eyes. “Clearly, everyone you trusted turned their backs on you. Who else can you trust with something this important? That’s why I’m against it. Lena was here before the plan started, that’s the difference.” As he spoke, I felt the anger and irritation within me grow more and more, and without bothering to respond because I had run out of points to make, I whirled around and stormed out of the sitting room.

~~~

I had barely made it into my room when my phone began to ring, and after glancing at the caller ID, my mood worsened because it turned out to be my mother. I considered ignoring it again but ended up deciding to speak to her and finally get this done and over with, which was why I accepted the call.

“Hello, mother.” I said with a flat voice as I walked over to my bed and flopped over it.

“My child! How I’ve missed your voice so much!” My mother’s familiar voice rushed into my head in the next second and I rolled my eyes in irritation while resisting the urge to snort.

I’d be lying if I claim to not have missed that voice. However, it also brought me pain, because when I was at my lowest and would have given anything to hear this voice assure me everything would be alright, this voice was nowhere to be found cause the owner completely deserted me.

“What do you want?” I finally said into the phone cause I have no strength to try beating around the bush right now.

“Do I need to have a reason to call you? I just missed my child’s voice and decided to call.” She said into the phone and this time, I didn’t bother hiding my snort.

“Cut the bullshit, mom. You didn’t call me for over three years. Heck, I’m shocked you still have my number.” I pointed out without mincing my words.

“I want to explain a lot of things to you, my child. There’s a lot you don’t know yet, and a lot you don’t understand. Would you like to have tea with me? We can catch up on all that we’ve missed out on each other’s lives.” As she spoke, I was consumed with rage. I was so annoyed that she was speaking so casually, after literally deserting me!

Inviting me to tea??

Fuck her and her tea!

“Thank you for the offer, but I’d like to decline it” I finally said into the phone while rolling my eyes.

“If there’s no other reason you called, I’d be ending the call right now—” I was still speaking when her voice cut me off, losing the faux sweetness that was there moments ago.

“I saw some pictures of you and Zade on the internet. What’s that about?” She asked and I rolled myself.

Of course that’s why she called.

“Nothing.” I responded flatly, then quickly added before she could get another word out.

“Goodbye, mother.”

Then I ended the call just as she was starting to say something else.

I let out a loud exhale as I flopped over to my front, letting my eyes fall close as I inhaled and exhaled again.

My parents still managed to rise on their feet after Zade’s father took the company away from them. Yet they both turned away from me when I needed them the most. They refused to bail me despite having the money. I don’t understand what they want with me now after three years, but I sure as hell want nothing to do with them again.

When I sat up and reached for my phone this time, my mind instantly went over to Sebastian, and I decided to put a call through to him. Thinking about him alone was enough to make my heart warm a little, and I patiently waited for him to accept the call.

When he didn’t answer the first two rings, I began to wonder if he didn’t want to speak to me, but he answered on the third ring!

“Hey, seb! It’s Carla!”

~~~

Seb and I were meeting up this evening in a cafe, and I was excited as hell. I put in subtle effort into my outfit this evening, and I liked how pretty and cute I looked in a fur coat, fishnets, a pair of shorts, leg warmers, hand gloves, then I wrapped up the look with a pair of chit boots.

Before leaving, I stopped by Ella’s room to bid her goodbye.

At the cafe, Seb looked hot as ever, and I found it hard to stop checking him out every now and then. We caught up a little over steaming cups of coffee and slices of cake.

“I had no idea you were engaged, to Zade of all people.” He stated and I chuckled awkwardly, hating that I ran into him again in such a time of my life when I wasn’t technically a free bird, cause this was supposed to be my chance to shoot my shot at him again!

Ugh.

“I- I know, right? It just kinda happened.” I muttered through an awkward laugh before taking a huge sip of my coffee which scalded my tongue.

Seb frowned at me, like he was trying to figure me out before speaking. “Are you sure about this though? Cause Zade… Zade is scary, to put it lightly. Did you really think this though?”

I felt so touched that he was concerned about me and my stomach swooped a little as I nodded at him.

“I believe so.”

It was at the tip of my tongue to tell him that it’s nothing but a contract marriage, but I didn’t dare utter those words.

“Meeting with you is quite risky, but cause I was desperate to see your pretty face again, I couldn’t resist.” He suddenly revealed and at once, my heart was thumping in my chest.

“I- it’s risky?”

He nodded once, lips in a thin line.

“Yes. Zade forbade me from seeing you, and we’ll be unable to text because he might try to check my texts at random moments.”

As he spoke, my mouth fell open and I couldn’t believe my ears.

“What??!!” I cried out and he shrugged, a resigned but annoyed expression on.

All that I was feeling within me right now was anger and rage, how dare Zade do this? What the fuck is his problem??