6: Negotiating with the devil

"Note to the wise: whenever someone insists that he wants to buy something from you, but tells you there’s no real value in it yet, two things are happening: he’s lying, and you’re being taken."

~Michael A. Stackpole

The doorbell rings and I groan and get up from the couch where I'd fallen asleep in last night after Luke left. My head is pounding just like it did last night when Luke came to visit. After falling asleep last night, I woke up to remind myself that Ade was dead and I was responsible for it. I wanted Ade to die, for what he did to me, but that was just because of the anger I felt in that moment and really didn't want that. But as much as I tried to push it off, I couldn't, I was guilty and yet unable to do anything, but wallow in my pain and grief of my reality and that kept me up for another four hours before I finally slept.

I need painkillers more than ever.

The doorbell rings again and this time I drag myself up to my feet and walk towards the door, wrapping my left hand over my head as a way of holding it together so it doesn't explode.

I open the door and there is Anna, holding a cigar to her red lips. She takes a long drag of it and puffs the air out in a unique style that creates a trail of circles in the air. She has to be smoking for long to be able to master that act, I wonder to myself. But also wishes she can just smoke outside.

"And you're hungover, great." She says entering into the room even without me inviting her in. Not like she needs me to, she was in my room yesterday without permission, we are way past that.

She's wearing a red designer gown reaching her knee that hugs her body perfectly and brings out her curves, a black veil over her shoulder, red heels that showcases her nice legs. Pity such a pretty woman is a monster on the inside.

Nevertheless, "Well, come inside," I beckon dramatically, gesturing with my hand. "And I am not hungover, this," I point to my head and then to the parlour a little upside down, "is as a result of the messy life you're dragging me into." as well as the guilt of having killed someone.

"Messy is all of this," she points to the ground and giving the whole room a disgusted look.

I cross my arms, "Did you come here to through insults around, Ms Wilson?"

"I came here to talk and reach an agreement, I hope you were able to go through the sample contract," she says walking into the kitchen where she was yesterday like she owned the place.

Well, she owns the owner of the place so that means she also owns the place.

I step towards the table where I last kept the document, my pen and jotter, "I decided to take your advice and read through and make adjustments to some things I wasn't comfortable with." I see her eyes narrow immediately, but she nods for me to continue, "As for your rules and regulations, I have to ask, are they what you follow yourself or did you make them up for me."

"I didn't come here to be questioned, and certainly not by you." She states, sounding offended.

"You will have to sit down and listen because I will be Ms Wilson for three weeks and according to the section 3 of page 10, the replacement has the right to ask questions when she's confused. And that's what I'm doing, Ms Wilson."

She grits her teeth and I know if she could torch me right now, she would, "Fine! Some of the rules are my personal rules and you have to follow them if you want to replace me without getting caught. Anna ignores that question, "Any more questions before we begin?"

"You barely said anything about your parents," I point out, but there are not dead according to these.

"They haven't been in my life for years and I intend to keep it that way," she replies almost angrily.

She is getting married though, how was she going to do it? Isn't her father going to give her away?

I shut down those question, cross the question out in my jotter and I proceed to ask, "Do you have an active sexual life with Eli??"

She glares at me, obvious not too comfortable with my line of question. "No, sex has been out of our lives for many months now, we are two busy people, Eli being the busiest. Is there a reason you're asking? Because you will learn a lot about why as we go on."

"I am asking because I need to know if they will be a need to have sex with this man who happens to be your fiancé."

"In those three weeks, he wouldn't be my fiancée, he would be yours and so yes, you can have sex with him if the need arises as stated in the #31 rules."

"I don't want to have sex with him," I mutter under my breath, but it's not low enough because she hears me.

"You will once you meet him in person." She assured with a completely certain voice.

I saw the picture of Eli in the document she brought over yesterday, He was a man with olive skin tone, curly black hair that falls to his eyes. He has glasses on and his face is bare of beards. He had round aluminium-grey eyes that seemed a bit weird, but I did not pay much attention to it. His freckles covered nose is well sculpted. His lips were rosy pink, with natural cupid's bow bottom lips. His left brow had a parting that divided the thick hair into two parts and as I looked closer, I realised that was a scar on his brow.

He didn't look ugly, but he wasn't an awestriking handsome either.

I don't know what's in him that I would find attractive but I try not to tear down her fiancé before her because I had no issues with him.

I press my lips together trying to clear the awkwardness.

"But don't worry, Eli wouldn't push you to have sex with him, Jumai did a good job raising him."

And yet here you are running away from your Mr Right.

Let's just pray he stays so busy that sex doesn't come up in the three weeks I'll be there, but that's like praying it doesn't snow in winter.

I shake the thought out of my head, "Moving on."

"Rule #27 states -you have the right to say no to Mr Wilson whereas rule #6 says -do not say no to Eli's requests. Aren't these rules going against themselves right here?"

"Rule #27 was talking about sex and rule #6 is talking about anything that isn't sex, Eli doesn't always ask for much but when he does, do not say no." She explains.

I flip the pages of the document to the settlement page and began to read aloud, "The replacement would be given a settlement offer of fifty thousand dollars which would be paid within the three weeks she will be a replacement and the last instalment would be paid the day she finishes."

"You're reading what I already know," she informs me with a rather boring look.

"Fifty thousand is too small because if I get caught I will be thrown into prison or worse, you said the terms of the contract were negotiable and so I want to negotiate that."

Her eyes narrow, "Payment was a way of me being generous and you're going to negotiate that?"

I smirk watching her struggle to stay in control, "You know how the saying goes, never put a price on yourself and if for any reason you do, do not sell yourself cheap."

"You made that up," she stated with certainty as she stared at me.

I did and I have lived by that rule in the last two years.

I don't deny, "Well, I'm only going by your words that said the terms were negotiable, the payment is amongst the terms of the contract so that applies too unless you're not a woman of your words."

"Fine, how much are we talking about?"

"Two hundred thousand."

Her eyes widen in disbelief "Are you crazy?!" She demands with murderous eyes.

"Yes, that's why I'm choosing to risk my life and freedom while you go off for three weeks doing God knows what."

"Still, two hundred is preposterous! Did you forget that you are going to do this whether I pay you or not?"

I cross my hands over my chest, "Yes but I know that whatever has you coming to such great length is worth the price."

She grits her teeth and drags a deep breath, "Fine, a hundred thousand dollar."

"One hundred and fifty thousand." I prob with a small voice.

I see her brown eyes turn black, "I'm not going fucking higher than that and you can either take that or don't."

I groan and dramatically roll my eyes, "Fine." I sigh aloud although this negotiation went so badly in my head.

"Now we have reached a point of agreement, I will have the contract corrected once I get home and have them brought over and signed tomorrow." With that said she gets up on her feet and takes one step back from the chair she was sitting on.

"I need you to go get bathed, dressed and ready, we have only one week to train you into being Ms Wilson."