Only a few seconds passed since that sentence was uttered that my phone started to ring.
"It's him," I whispered to Lory, looking down at the cellphone screen to find Mr. Rowe’s name flashing on it. My heart was about to pound out of my ribcage as my finger hovered over the accept button. I sucked in a deep breath before pressing it. “Hello?” I answered after a moment of complete silence.
"Willow." His breathing was heavy. He sounded anxious and relieved at the same time to hear my voice. “Are you well?”
"Um... yeah," I said tentatively. I had no idea why he was calling. Moreover, I still hadn’t wrapped my head around what had happened earlier.
"He didn't hurt you?" He bit out.
I hesitated to respond as my mind became completely blank. I had zero ideas what he was referring to. It took me a moment to consider that Virgil had already called and told him about the incident. Why would Virgil do that, though?
“Are you speaking of what just happened with Chris?”
“Is that what his name is? Did he hurt you? Tell me his last name. Why were you all alone?”
I recoiled and stared at my cellphone, perplexed by his barrage of questions. Part of me was flattered and honestly excited about his obvious concern for my wellbeing. Another part was disturbed by his probing into my private business from across the country.
“He didn’t hurt me. I’m fine,” I assured. “Mr. Grant happens to be the winner of your illustrious scholarship. Mr. Grant received the grant because of his exemplary conduct and achievements, did he not?” I was rather proud of the pun I had come up with on the fly.
He grumbled something that sounded suspiciously like "little son of a bitch." I had to bite my lip to keep from giggling out loud. Lory just stared at me with her brow raised. I shrugged at her in response.
"I won’t keep you, then. Your flight is early in the morning. I wanted to make sure you were okay." He sounded so sincere in his worry that it warmed my heart.
"Thank you for checking on me. I am sorry I disrupted your night, Mr. Rowe. I promise that I am perfectly fine and my best friend is here with me."
"Don’t hesitate to call me if you need anything at all. Or call Virgil. Sweet dreams, Willow. I will see you tomorrow."
"Goodnight, Mr. Rowe," I said slowly, not wanting the call to end.
No sooner had the call ended than I gaped at Lory. We erupted into a fit of squeals. I was thankful Virgil was not close by. What would he have thought otherwise?
.
Lory and I awoke at the crack of dawn. It was better to say neither of us got much sleep to begin with. But I was happy to dress up for once. I was a ball of nerves and wanted to look and feel the best when I met the man who held my future in his hands. After showering, shaving, and exfoliating to military satisfaction, I sat there patiently as Lory guided me through the steps. My hair was down, soft and slightly curled at the ends to make my hair look thicker.
I dressed in a white flowing summer dress Lory told me I looked nice in. And I had to admit she was correct when I stood in front of the mirror. It definitely highlighted my long legs and nice butt. I only wished I could fill out the bodice a little more.
“Perfect. Perfect. Perfect,” she clapped as she circled around me and checked for anything else I needed to do. I could have missed a spot while shaving. It was better being safe than sorry.
The clock read 8 sharp and my heart pounded wildly knowing that I would soon be on my way.
“How I wish you could come with me,” I told her.
"I will see you soon. Whether it is directly at Quentin in two weeks or if you come back to Atkins again to leave together… it doesn’t matter."
I sighed. “I don’t have a place to stay in Quentin right now. I will be back in a few days at most.”
She only responded with a hum, telling me she knew something I was missing.
"You need to call me every day. Make sure you update me on every small detail."
I nodded. "Of course. I'm going to need your analysis," I teased.
We had stayed up for most of the night, going back and forth about what had happened and what could happen. Lory was fixed on the idea that Mr. Rowe was interested in more than paying my tuition after his call inquiring if I was alright. While I was nervous about his intense interest, I was mostly intrigued by how caring he was. I wondered what Virgil told him about Chris and his actions to act that way.
When the doorbell finally rang, I sucked in a breath and looked around my room. Everything I owned was packed and ready to go. There was nothing but emptiness left in the house apart from that. Lory grabbed my luggage while I did a final check on the things in my carry-on bag. I followed her down the stairs, snickering at her visible excitement. She flung the front door open. Virgil stood on the other side with a polite smile.
"Good morning, ladies." He gave us a curt nod.
Lory stretched her hand out to him. He took it in greeting. “I apologize for what happened last night. It was my fault for taking Willow there.”
He shook his head. “Miss Adams, please don’t blame yourself for the actions of a drunken moron.”
Lory kept her eyes on him. “Willow is my best friend. I consider her my sister. Please promise me that nothing improper will happen when she meets Mr. Rowe. I do not care how rich and powerful he is. If he so much as offends her, I will find a way to pay him back ten times over. He may be richer, but I sure as hell am smarter.”
My mouth dropped open at her words. The last thing I expected was for Lory to bare her fangs and leave nothing unsaid. However, this amused Virgil rather than offend him.
“I assure you that Mr. Rowe only has the best intentions towards Miss Taylor.”
"I sure hope he does. It is reasonable to think he has ill intentions toward my friend, though."
"Okay. That is enough." I tugged on her sleeve to pull her away from Virgil, my face on fire from blushing. "Lory, I am going to be alright. I will call you as soon as I can, okay?"
She pulled me into her arms and I hugged her back tightly. Going from seeing her every day to not seeing her for a few at the least… would be difficult.
"I love you," she said, a sob making her voice shake.
"I'm going to see you soon. Our dreams are coming true, silly girl." I kept my tears at bay.
Lory nodded and pulled away, wiping her tears away. Virgil took my bags and made his way towards his car."I love you more than anything." I gave her one last hug and followed Virgil.
"I'll lock up," she called out.
I waved at her before getting in the car. Virgil closed my door and he turned to say something to Lory. She nodded at him and stayed on the porch as we drove away. I took one last look at the house I had lived in for years, a small voice in my head sure that it would be the last time I would see it.
Virgil drove in silence, leaving me to my thoughts as we sped down the highway. I finally turned to him, curious about the ‘protection’ he thought I needed.
"You told Mr. Rowe what happened last night, didn’t you?"
He didn’t shy away from the answer. His eyes remained on the road as he responded, “Yes.”
"Why?" I asked.
"You should ask Mr. Rowe that."
I sighed, knowing he would not crack and give me the information I needed. I tried a different approach. “How long have you worked for him?”
"Four years."
"Have you ever followed any of his other charitable projects?"
He glanced at me. "Is that how you see yourself? A charitable project?"
I looked out of the window. "It doesn’t really matter. I am grateful he is funding my education."
When he didn't reply, I turned to him again. I noticed the light shake of his head and the indistinguishable muttering. I was sure he called me naive.
It didn't take long to reach the airport. Virgil flashed a card at the security checkpoint before we pulled up beside a jet with the initials RHI on the side. I was led up the stairs and onboard the plane by Virgil without a hitch.
It was my first flight and I was nervous. After I was direct to a plush seat and secured in, Virgil started to walk to the back of the jet.
"Wait!" I tried to get his attention. "Where are you going?"
"I'm going to sit back here." He seemed confused at my question.
My eyes were already watering and I was overwhelmed. "Do you have to sit back there?"
After a long pause, he shook his head. "No."
"Can you sit somewhere closer?" I didn’t want to be all alone and vulnerable. “I've never flown before."
He must have understood because he moved to the seat across the aisle from me. He gave me a reassuring smile as he spoke, “Don’t be scared. Statistically, it is safer to fly than drive.”
Right. Statistically, I shouldn’t be scared. If only I could make the anxiety in my heart die down.
Virgil’s presence kept me grounded and calm during takeoff. He even gave me chewing gum so that I didn’t suffer from ear aches when the air pressure changed. The flight was grueling and long, but it went by quicker than I had imagined. The flight attendant was polite and came often to ask if I needed anything. She even condoned my tinkering with the entertainment system and helped me function it. I must have succumbed to exhaustion somewhere in the middle of the second movie I chose to watch because when I woke up, Virgil was gently nudging me to say that we had arrived.As we got off the jet, I saw a car stop on the runway in a distance. We got off the jet and I was led into the back of the limousine. It was already early evening, and I stared at the Quentin scenery as we passed it. I had been to the central cities before, Fairview was near Atkins and if someone wanted to go out for a trip, that was where they went.But Fairview was nothing like Quentin.Time seemed to flow and ebb a
He let out a soft laugh. "Come. Laura went ahead to prepare our dinner, so I will show you to the terrace. The weather is too nice to dine inside." He took my hand gently in his and led me out the glass door of the top floor.The scenery outside was surreal. I could barely believe my eyes when I saw the sugared stoned of the floor perfectly aligned and stretching throughout the terrace. I smiled at the cozy table setting, complete with candles.But my eyes were stuck on the sparkling water of the rooftop swimming pool."Do you like it?" His excitement made me grin. "It's rare in this city to have a private pool because of the space crunch." He pulled me closer to the pool, showing me how half of it was indoors. "The glass goes down into the water to form a tunnel you can swim through from the outside to the inside," he explained. As beautiful as it looked, the thought of swimming under it made me feel slightly claustrophobic. Well, I wasn’t going to swim there, so I didn’t need to thi
'Please… please, kiss me,’ I screamed inside. My hormones had taken full control of my body. Still, I had the presence of mind to only say, "Okay." His hands inched up gently, cupping my heated cheeks. I closed my eyes when he brushed his thumb across my cheekbones. My heart skipped a beat when his soft lips pressed against mine. There was no urgency in his actions… no sense of dominance. His tender kiss only filled me with sweetness. When he slid his tongue along my bottom lip, I opened my mouth instinctively. He tilted his head to the side to deepen the kiss. God, he tasted like chocolate, wine, spices, secrets, and dreams. His hand moved to support the back of my neck. Tingles ran down my spine and I was certain I would have jumped off a building if he asked me to at that moment. "Mmmm," he hummed, brushing my lips lightly a few more times before his nose skimmed along my jaw. He placed a small kiss below my ear before whispering, “thank you.” I couldn’t come up with a suitable
He offered me a small smile. “Excellent question, Willow. I am comfortable facing this with some control over the situation and the people involved. I have been looking for the right woman and nobody threw me off as you did from the first moment we spoke.” He lifted my hand and kissed my knuckles in a gentlemanly manner. “I want you. I like that you lead an uncomplicated life and have no ties holding you back. I like that you are determined and feisty—” he gave me another flirtatious wink. “And I want you to be mine. I want you to be completely devoted and invested in me… in our family.I was lightheaded from all the information he had dumped on me. The sensation was bizarre; I was hovering over us, watching myself sitting with this handsome yet lonely man.A part of me was yelling profanities at myself for entertaining this absurd conversation. I wondered what I would be called if I accepted this proposal. I couldn’t be called a ‘prostitute’ because Nicholas wanted to marry me. Slave
Was I willing to sign a contract, to be married to Nicholas even though I knew he didn’t love me? Moreover, I didn’t love him either. On the other hand, our feelings could transform into love later on. But was I willing to risk the chance that we might never love each other? Nicholas insisted that I had a choice. That I could leave when I was no longer happy. But if we already had kids by then? What kind of damage would our kids suffer if Nicholas and I split because of a loveless marriage? Was this the right way to marry and bring life into the world? ‘Children.’ I choked up at the thought. Was I really ready to have children? It was clear to me that Nicholas wanted children from the very beginning of the arrangement. Of course, he would want that; he wouldn’t be the one carrying the children around for nine months and suffering through morning sickness and too many other complications. The idea of having children excited me. In fact, the thought of a large family surrounding me w
"However, what are we going to tell people if I appear out of nowhere and marry you?" I peeked at him, fighting the urge to throw myself at him. "We'll have to agree on exactly what the story we tell people is. Coming up with something believable shouldn't be that complicated." I didn't have the level of confidence about the matter as he did. "The non-disclosure clause shall remain in force even if our arrangement is no longer practical for either one or both of us. Nobody else should know about it, regardless of what the future holds." I moved on with a placid nod. The next paragraph spoke extensively about the monetary exchange. Money was the subject of the next segment. As I read through everything he wish to give me, my jaw dropped. It was all spelled out in black and white, from the stipulations he mentioned the night before to the bank accounts I'd have access to while with him. "Nicholas, I can't accept all this. All of this is unnecessary." "It isn't excessive in any way.
"You have to understand, Nicholas, that none of this is familiar territory for me. Since my mother's death, I haven't had someone whom I answered to or update on my whereabouts. This is going to be a challenge for me, and if you really want this to work, you'll have to compromise." He smiled as he said, "I understand. I don't want to alienate you by being overbearing. However, I'd want to point out that there are a variety of other activities you can engage in outside of academics. I'm confident I could teach you everything you'd study at QCU, and possibly more." At this point, the grin had become permanent. "Plus, I'm sure my mother will herd you into working for her charitable projects." When his mother was mentioned, my anxiety returned. "Well, I appreciate your modesty about Nicholas Rowe University, but I think I'll continue with QCU for the time being." As he chuckled, I took a few deep breaths. "Does your family live nearby?" He smiled and nodded. "Yes, Geoffrey, my brothe
The following few hours passed quickly. Nicholas called his attorney right away to schedule an emergency meeting. Afterward, he showed me the best sights in the city all the while riding in the back of his car. We made a quick stop at his attorney's office, where I met Benson and promptly agreed to hand over my life after the contract changes were made. As we left the office together, I had to fight to keep the panic attack at bay. I was rich in the blink of an eye. I had consented to marry a man I hardly knew, have sex with him, and to some extent submit to his authority. I had to remind myself that I had not agreed to the proposal simply because I was desperate to belong. I was not out of my mind. And as the thought gripped me, I got closer and closer to backing away... to pushing Nicholas away. As we got back into the car, Nicholas wound his fingers with mine, nearly skipping and whistling. He slid into the seat next to me, and I couldn't help but note, "You're terribly cheerf