“Why don’t you work for my agency? You know that I run an agency for high-profile contract girlfriends or wives, right?” Justin asked. I guess I heard something about it before, but I didn’t know the details. Frankly, I wasn’t interested in these sorts of things and isn’t it sort of like a shady business? I was also finding it hard to believe that Justin was suggesting for me to work as a ‘contract wife’ or whatever it was called. “You mean like…become an escort? Or like a…prostitute?” I asked, unable to find a better word to use. Don’t get me wrong, I had no issues with the profession per se, but I was quite certain that I didn’t want to get into that whole business, no matter how desperate or dire my current situation is. “No! Not like that. I mean, you can sleep with the guys if you want but that’s not the main objective here. Plus, they’re asking for a contract relationship. If you haven’t realized it yet, the key is the word relationship,” Justin said before rolling his eyes

“What about this? Unfortunately, the bag doesn’t come with its storage bag or box anymore so…” She said before trailing off. 12,000 dollars…I could live with that. Goodbye my dear bag, we will never meet again. “Thank you. Could you please transfer that money to this account? Oh, can you give me a thousand dollars in cash and the rest please transfer to this account,” I said. I jotted down Justin’s bank account number. Putting the money in my personal bank account might lead to it getting frozen of confiscated. I didn’t know how that worked at all but better to be careful. “Sure,” the woman said before she handed me cash. After checking that the money was settled correctly, I parted with the last brandname bag that I had and was on my way to immerse myself in a ‘normal life’ by heading to the supermarket. To save up on costs, I decided to take the train instead of a taxi. Surprisingly, I enjoyed walking along the busy street and the busy station along with everyone else. The peop

“Thank you for helping me. I’ll make my payment first then,” I said as I started heading towards the payment sign. “That’s ok. I’ll handle it,” Adrian quickly said. I felt the girl’s curious eyes on me, so I turned to smile down at her before shifting my attention back to Adrian. “It’s ok. You’ve helped me enough. I should go now,” I said before walking out of the emergency room. After providing my personal information to the hospital so that they could process my case and making the payment, I left the hospital to head to my original destination. While waiting for a cab in front of the hospital building, my eyes caught sight of the large metal sign of the hospital’s name. Amsworth General Hospital. It only took me a split of a second to connect the dots together. How come I didn’t realize it the first time that I heard his name? No wonder he looked familiar. Adrian Amsworth, sole heir to the largest hospital and healthcare chain in this country and probably in all other develope

The first place that I visited was a complete bust. There was nothing wrong with the room itself but the man living next door was a heavy smoker and frankly, I could smell all his tobacco. Plus, I didn’t want to live with a heavy smoker always smoking on the balcony right next to mine. The second place was not bad, so I noted it down as a possible option. After thanking the agent, I headed to my appointment with another agent at the third and last place for the day. By the time that I arrived at the third apartment building for the day, the sun was about to set. I spent a few minutes gazing up at the sky as it turned orange while I waited for the real estate agent to arrive. Honestly, I don’t remember the last time that I appreciated the small joys in life like this. Spending money on retail therapy was what I was really good at during my marriage to George and that was what I considered joyful. Now that I think about it, admiring nature and the various things around me wasn’t so bad

“Stop,” he said all of a sudden as he reached for my hand. “Let go…” I said immediately. I tried to pull my hand away, but he only held on to it tighter than before. “Hi there, can I have the usual? Oh, make that double the usual…” he called out at a shop.“Sure thing! You hardly drop by anymore…” a man’s voice replied. “Shit got busy…sorry…” he called back. I looked in confusion at the store that we had stopped in front of. Apparently, it was a patisserie with its display window filled with macarons, cakes, tarts, and the like. “Thanks, bro…” EROS said as he took two bags from the man and paid him. I watched in confusion at the exchange and wondered to myself what I was still doing here and why EROS was still holding my hand. “Here. This is for you…” he said calmly. I raised an eyebrow at him as I stared dubiously at the cute little pink bag that he held towards me. “What is this for?” I asked. “For you. It’s an ‘I am sorry’ gift,” he said and I could tell by his eyes that