MY CONTRACT MARRIAGE

Chapter One. 

She needed a man. 

Preferably one with one with one hundred and fifty thousand dollars to spare.

Maya Baker stared into the small homemade campfire in the middle of her living room floor and wondered if she had officially lost her mind.

The piece of paper in her hand held all the qualities she dreamed her soul mate should posses. Loyalty, intelligence, humor, a strong sense of family and love for animals. A healthy income.

Maya grabbed a bottle of cabernet sauvignon and thought about her dilemma. Het flower shop was mortgaged to the hilt. The Cafe expansion would take careful planning anr there wasn't a dime to spare. She looked over the Victorian loft apartment and easily calculated there was nothing to sell. Not even on ebay. 

She was twenty seven and probably should be living in a stylish condo, with stylish designer clothes and a date every weekend.

Instead, she took in homeless dogs from the local shelter and bought chic scarves to update her outfits. She believed in living in the sunlight, being open to possibilities and following her heart. Unfortunately, none of those traits would save her mother's house.

She took a sip of her ruby red wine and acknowledged that there was nothing left to do. No one had enough money.

The doorbell rang.

Her mouth fell open, who could be visiting her this hour. She looked at her grungy sweatpants and crop top and wondered if she had time to change. Before she could ran to the closet the doorbell rang again. So she walked over, took a deep breath and reached for the knob.

"About time you answered the door." Laura stared at her best friend Olivia Ryan and scowled.

"You were supposed to be a man."

Olivia snorted and walked in and waved a hand in the air, flashing pink nails, and flopped into the sofa, "Yeah, keep dreaming baby girl. You scared your last date off so I won't be setting you up again."

"What do you mean i scared him off? I thought he was going to attack me."

Olivia raised an eyebrow, "He leaned in to give you a good night kiss. You stumbled and fell on your ass and he felt like an idiot. People kiss after a date dummy."

"He had tons of garlic at dinner, i didn't want him anywhere near me."

Olivia grabbed the glass og wine and took a healthy swig. She stretched out her long legs clad in black leather pants, and hooked her high heeled boots over the edge of the battered table." Remind me again why you haven't had sex in the last decade?"

"Witch."

"Celibate?"

Maya gave up and laughed. "Okay, you win. Why are you gracing me with your presence on a Saturday night? You look amazing."

"Thanks, am meeting someone for drinks at eleven. Wanna come?"

"On your date?"

Olivia made a face and drained all the wine remaining in the glass. "You will be better company, he is a bore."

"Why are you going out with him then?"

"He looks good."

Maya dropped next to her on the couch. "I wish i could be more like you, Olivia. Why do i have so many hang ups?"

"Why don't i have any?" Olivia's lips twisted in self depreciating humor. "So what's with the papers?" she pointed to the papers on the table.

Maya sighed, "I was making a list of what i want in a man."

"What kind of list?" 

"Just a specific list of what i want, am manifesting my man." 

Olivia's eyes gleamed, "let me see the list." 

Maya handed her the list. She settled on the carpet, let the humiliation begin. 

"Number one," Olivia started, "believes in monogamy. Very important to the list. Number two, wants children." she looked up. "How many?" 

Maya smiled at the thought, "I would like three, but i can settle for two. Should i have specified how many in this list?" 

"No, it's okay." Olivia continued, "Number three, knows how to communicate with a woman. Good one am sick of reading books about venus and mars. I have gone through the whole series and i still don't have a clue. Number four, loves animals." she groaned, "Really?"

Maya scooted around in the carpet. "If he hates dogs, how can i continue with my volunteer program at the shelter? And what if he is a hunter? 

" You are so dramatic." Olivia turned back to the list." Number five, has a moral code of ethics and believes in honesty. Should have been number one on the list. But what the hell. Number Six. A good lover." she waggled her eyebrows. "That would have been number two in my list. But am proud the item actually showed up, maybe you are not as hopeless as i thought." 

Maya swallowed hard dreading the next requirement in her list. She watched Olivia read the item over and over again. 

"I think am reading this wrong," 

"Probably not." Maya sighed.

Olivia read the last item on the list. "Needs one hundred and fifty thousand dollars cash." she looked up. "I need more details." 

Maya lifted her chin, "i need a man i can love, with ama extra $150,000 throw in. And i need him fast." 

Olivia shook her head like she just surfaced from underwater. "For what?" 

"To save my mom's house" 

"What are you talking about?" 

"Remember how mom used to jokes about needing more cotton to pay the bills? I haven't told you how bad it is. Mom wants to sell and i can't let her. They have no money and no where else to go. I will do anything to help, even marry." 

Olivia moaned and grabbed her purse. She ripped out her phone and punched in some numbers. 

" What are you doing?"Maya fought panic at the thought that her best friend wouldn't understand. 

" Canceling my date. I think this new item needs to be discussed. Then am calling my therapist. She is very good and discreet and she takes midnight appointments."

Maya laughed, "You are such a good friend Olivia." 

"Yeah, tell me about it."