chapter six

Three years ago.

Alexander slowly closed his laptop and lifted his eyes to Clara.

She sat nervously across him, her hands on her thighs while she played with her fingers

She probably didn't remember him, but he didn't expect her too.

He cleared his throat and leaned back into his seat.

He considered how to approach the subject, maybe a well drafted email would have spared him the stress.

"I've been told three roses shut down due to financial issues"

She stopped playing with her fingers, she raised an eyebrow and leaned in, maybe she had heard wrongly.

"All your funds have gone into your father's dialysis sessions" he continued.

Alexander reached for the desk drawer and pulled out a file.

"I..I don't understand," she tried to think of reasons why he would know that.

"Saint Paul's hospital. Is that right?"

Clara felt her stomach drop, she swallowed and tried to think of a reply,only she did not where this was going and she did not know what to say.

He was looking at her, his expression nothing but a blank page.

"I..l"

She let out a sigh, she still had no response. He narrowed his eyes and opened the file.

"Do you plan on re opening?'

"Yes, once we're more stable"

At least she was no longer an awkward lump of skin and bones. What if he wanted to invest in three roses. Her eyes lit up and the awkward feeling in her stomach faded away

He nodded.

"I have an offer"

He reached for the drawer beneath his desk again and pulled out another file.

"I have been forced to take extreme measures due to personal...circumstances"

He handed the file over to her.

Clara furrowed her eyebrows, she wanted to ask but she doubted he'd gave an answer.

Clara read the first page.

Marriage arrangement between Clara Rose Hayes and Alexander Thomas Ford.

She shot up from her seat

"Is this some kind of sick joke?"

Her voice boomed across the room.

She paused, and looked up at him, she must have been really loud because he was glaring.

"This is an office, Miss Hayes." He said calmly, he adjusted his cuffs and waited for her to return to her seat.

"I don't even know you, I meet you for the first time and you give me this?!"

He picked up a jotter, pulled a pen out of his pockets and began to write.

He tore out the page and handed it over to her.

She snatched it away and her eyes widened.

Was he serious?

This could even get dad a transplant.

She swallowed hard and lowered herself into the seat.

"This is nothing more than business"he clicked the pen and placed them back in his pockets.

"How do you know me?"she asked.

"You can contact your lawyer, if you'd like to add anything to the contract"

"But I have questions" Clara pursed her lips, fiddling with the sheet of paper.

"And I will answer them when both our lawyers are present" he said flatly

He reopened his laptop and went back to his typing.

Clara felt her fist clench, she turned around to leave but hesitated at the door, her eyes dropped to file still in her hands, she considered throwing it back at him

Instead have stormed out of his office and did not close the door behind her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Holy shit" Jade held the paper to Clara's face.

"Is he serious? She whispered

Clara sat on the cold tiles flipping through the file she had taken from Alexanders office.

"Apparently," she sighed.

Jade began pacing across the room, they both knew what this meant, it was a way out.

Completely out, no more dialysis sessions.

Jade asked the question that had been stuck in her throat since she found out that Clara had been to Alexander Ford's office.

The Alexander Ford. He had even offered her a marriage contract.

"Will you sign it?"

Clara's eyes remained fixed on the file.

"I don't know."

Jade took a seat beside her and pulled her into a hug.

When she let go Clara handed the file to her.

"He meant it when he said it was just business" she pointed at a section in the file.

"It's nothing but a title." Clara's eyes wandered to the window.

She really had nothing to lose. It was either this as stupid as it was or let her dad...

She tried to shake thoughts away.

Her gaze returned to Jade.

"How long do you have to think about it?" Jade asked.

"He didn't say." Clara thought about how absurdly calm he was the entire time.

How he had practically ignored her when she asked how he'd known her.

Whatever reason he had for doing this was probably good.

Maybe as good a reason for her accepting it.

She knew she was only delaying the inevitable, acting like she had a choice when the only choice was the one that would save her father.

"I think I'll do it." She whispered.

Jade knew she would, she barely had a choice and Mr Ford had made sure to remind her with the little info dump.

"Would you like me to come with you?"

"No, I'll be fine."

Clara could barely sleep the entire night, she'd fuss and turn in her bed and then pick up the marriage contract and go through it.

Occasionally, she'd hold the sheet of paper in her hands and squeeze.

When her restlessness continued to intensify

She walked to the kitchen and decided to bake some cookies.

She spent the rest of the night, baking cookies and decorating them while music played gently in the background.

The following days and week would go faster than Clara expected

She would put on her favorite dress and take a bus to midtown Manhattan.

She would tell Alexander Ford that she was ready to sign, she would meet his parents and pretend to be a loving fiance, she moved into his apartment and got a separate room.

He would be so busy they would remain strangers not that she cared she spent most of her time with her Dad or with Jade and 4 months in, she'd sit in front of the surgery ward while her father got a kidney transplant.

Three years later, she'd hand him the divorce papers and he said no.