Tangled Desires

I pull my skirt down,my eyes trained down as my heels click on the marble floor. I try to ignore the burning gazes I feel boring on my back. 

  I feel like a fucking wh*re. Fuck, I just acted like one a moment ago. 

  Stepping inside that office, I had my resume stacked in an envelope, ready for an interview to be a secretary. 

  Why would I apply for a secretary job when I am a law graduate? Well, even Mr Monroe asked me the same thing when I presented my resume. 

  The answer is simple, I am in desperate need of money. 

  So desperate that when Mr Monroe threw my resume aside and asked me to spread my legs on his fucking table, I did. 

  Well, a girl must do what she has to do to survive, right? I fucking did that. 

  I allowed a man, a total stranger to touch my most intimate parts. I am not a saint nor your shy little maid but this is the first time a man made me feel cheap. 

  It's even crazier how each of his touches drove me to insanity. At that moment, I found myself yearning for more. He saw it, my desperation to have him and he took advantage of that

  Then a contract followed. A contract binding me as Clifford Monroe’s personal slut. His plaything. That's what I signed for. 

  Clifford now has complete control of my body except for one organ; my heart. 

  “ I don't need your heart, I never will. But from today onwards, this body belongs to me. It's mine to use as I please. Do I make myself clear?”

  Like the desperate wh*re he branded me, I nodded, sealing the deal. The dirty deal. 

  I sigh as I open the door to my old Toyota wagon which seems to have seen better days. It was the gift my father gave me on my eighteenth birthday and has been with me for the last seven years. It's also the last gift he ever got me before he passed away. Bless his soul. 

  As I buckle my belt, I think about how my father would react from my today's actions? How ashamed of me he would be. 

  My father was a decent man and so is my mother. My actions today reflect nothing of what they taught me growing up. 

  The morals they instilled in me… fuck those morals, at this point, they can't save my ass but the dirty deal I just made can. 

  Jamming the car key, I twist the ignition but the fucking engine doesn't start running. 

  “ No-no! Not now please!” I hiss, twisting the keys. 

  After several attempts, I slam my hands on the steering wheel, a curse leaving my lips. 

  I can't believe my only means of transport just bailed on me. 

  Since the car is old, the engine has been failing lately. The mechanic last time said I should fix a new one or I can kiss the old metal can as he called it goodbye. 

  Guess today is the day I kiss it goodbye? 

  After a series of curses,i collect my purse and the fucking contract and step down. I make a short call to the trolling company. I don't think a company as prestigious as Monroe Inc. would want such an eyesore stuck outside the company building. 

  I hail a cab and give the driver the drop off location before closing my eyes. 

  The cab finally comes to a stop outside the hospital. After passing my bills to the driver, I push the door open and exit the car. 

  I head straight to the familiar room and my eyes moisten when I take in her now pale skin. 

  My mother. It's been six months since I received a phone call that fateful evening. A call that changed my life in ways I never imagined.

  My mother was involved in a car accident on her way back home. The accident left her in a vegetative state. 

  I sit at the edge of the bed and take her cold hands, planting a kiss on her knuckles. 

  The past six months have been hell for me. I had to quit my office job in California and fly back here to take care of my mother. 

  I have also exhausted all my savings and sold almost everything we owned to take care of the piling bills. Since my mother has to remain on life support every damn minute, the medical expenses have been overwhelming. 

  At some point, I had to put down my dignity and my degree and go for odd jobs. Anything to supplement the little savings left. 

  I know what it means to have no money to pay for bills. Worse would be to have my mother pulled off the life support program and that means losing the only parent I have left. 

  Looking at the once beautiful face which has been reduced to an old wrinkling face, tears gather in my eyes but I fight them. 

  The door to the ward is pushed open and my mother's doctor steps inside. Carlos has been taking care of my mother in the last six months diligently. Sometimes, I don't know what I would have done without him here supporting me emotionally. 

  He smiles at me and I smile back. 

  “ I figured out I'll find you here. Can we talk?” Carlos asks and I nod. He leads me outside the room and to his office. 

  “ Take a seat Kara.” He offers, pointing to the chair opposite his working table. I frown, finding him rather weird. It's so unlike him to be so careful with his words around me. That rings warning bells and all sort of speculations flood my mind. 

  “ What's this about Carlos? You are scaring me.” I confess and Carlos heaves a heavy sigh. 

  “ It's about your mother.” He states and my heart swells with worry. 

  “ Is something wrong with my mother, Carlos?” I ask, swallowing anxiously. He nods. 

  “ The hospital is considering removing her from life support.”