Chapter Seven
Aria
“So let me get this straight; you are going over to see the guy tomorrow, in his house, without being certain your mother’s bill will get paid on time?”
I shrugged. What was she expecting me to say? Like I hadn’t considered this in my head over and over again. Too afraid to ask him directly about the money and how it was due in two days, I had instead devised a careful plan, which would hopefully help him make the right decision in my favor. Stacey, unfortunately, did not sound very convinced by my plan.
“I can list at least a hundred ways in which you showing up at his house in a super sexy outfit and seducing him into submission can go wrong.”
“Well, do you see me having any sort of a choice here?”
She looked like she was deep in thought for a moment. “I mean, no, not really, but I am worried, Aria. This guy has already hurt you once.”
“Yes, but he also ended a long off-and-on relationship with his ex-wife and risked the wrath of his mother for me. It’s kind of sweet?” I said hopefully, trying to phrase it into a question.
“Oh he’s sweet, alright. That has never quite been in question. He has been a sweetheart to you since day one.” She saw my raised eyebrow and paused. “What? All those flowers and that dress and he sent your work for publication!”
“And he showed up at school,” I said, just remembering. “I forgot to tell you?”
“What do you mean he showed up at school?”
“He came as a guest lecturer in Mr. Weber’s class after I didn’t speak to him for two weeks.”
Stacey burst out laughing. “This guy! I don’t even know what to think. I mean, well it’s kind of obvious that he is in love with you, isn’t it?”
“Woah, woah, woah! Calm down there, don’t go around throwing big words out like that,” I said, pretending to be horrified, when in reality the thought of what she said made me feel delighted.
“Come on, Aria!” Stacey’s whole face was lightening up in realization, as though this conclusion should have occurred to her a while ago. “It makes perfect sense! That’s why he didn’t want you talking to Dick; because he is in love with you so he got jealous! Not because it was in some stupid contract.”
“Yeah, he kind of admitted to being jealous,” I said thinking back to our phone conversation. “But that does not mean he is in love with me! It has nothing to do with it.”
“Yes, it does,” she said a different voice, and I realized Nick had been standing by the door and listening to our conversation the whole time. “Guys don’t just get jealous unless they have genuine feelings for a girl.”
“Well, he did have feelings… feelings of control! Feelings that he owned me because he gave me money, and…you get the gist.” I smiled at Nick. “How long have you been standing there anyway?”
“Heard the important bits,” he said and shrugged. “And Stacey is right, the dude is obviously in love with you, but you need to be cautious given… prior circumstances.”
“What do you guys want me to do, exactly?” I asked, annoyed because it seemed like they were ganging up on me somehow. “Let the hospital bills not be paid? Let my mom lose everything?”
“That’s not at all what I am saying, Aria, and you know it,” Stacey said, looking as annoyed as I was. “It’s just… I am just saying be careful. You know this guy very well by now, and you are going back despite disliking some of his ways. If you are expecting him to change a little, sure that could happen, but a complete 180 is unlikely, and you’re just wasting everybody’s time if you go back with particular expectations in that regard, because it will end just like it did last time.”
That made way more sense than I liked. Stacey was right, I couldn’t go in there thinking everything was suddenly going to be different. Most likely, he would still have controlling tendencies, and I would have to learn to talk him out of it without wanting to storm out every time.
“I will be careful, I promise,” I said finally. “You guys are absolutely on point about this. But you understand that I am in a sticky situation, right? There are only two days until payment, and I have so far been completely unsuccessful in coming up with a plan to do it without Zayden’s help. As much as I hate to admit it – and would never ever admit to him, God no – I do need him right now, so I will have to make more compromises than not.”
“As long as you are aware that’s what you’re doing.” Stacey smiled. “There is nothing wrong with a little compromise, Aria.”
Nick made a coughing sound.
“What?” Stacey snapped looking at him. “Are you trying to say something to me, Nicholas?”
He looked like he had a bullet fast approaching his face and finding a direction to duck in to dodge it. “No. Uh, I mean, like. Yeah, sure. We compromise. Both of us, all the time.”
He was trying hard not to meet her eyes.
“You think I don’t compromise enough!” Her face changed completely in realization.
I started feeling uncomfortable about being there. It was one of those rare moments, when I became very aware of the fact that Nick and Stacey were a couple in a real relationship with real relationship problems – and not just bickering about blogs and video games - and I was intruding on their private moments.
Trying not to draw attention to myself, I slowly got up, but their fight was getting heated and I was sitting right smack in the middle of the two, so there was no way to escape without drawing attention to myself. I thought it was best to just announce my departure at that point, so I said softly, “I am really tired, guys, I have a long weekend ahead of me, so I am gonna be off now.”
Without waiting for an answer, I began to march off, but Stacey stopped me. “Wait! What do you think, Aria? Do I not compromise enough?”
“I don’t know,” I mumbled, feeling uncomfortable to be summoned into the conversation. “How would I know?”
“You live with us! You see us together all the time. You must have an opinion!”
“I don’t,” I said not entirely truthfully. In all honesty, I did think that Nick made the majority of the compromises and Stacey made the majority of the decisions in their relationship; however, this seemed to work for them, and wasn’t that kind of the point? There certainly wasn’t a universal rule of conduct that worked evenly for everybody, was there? Something that I would need to keep in mind as well; every two people are different, and need to find their own unique ways to make it work, no matter how crazy or ridiculous it may seem to other people.
“You guys really need to talk this out among yourselves, but I will say this, I have harped on this over and over again the entire time the two of you have been together, and to date, I would be harder pressed to find two people that are completely perfect for each other. And that remains true even if one of you may be more…” I looked at Nick with a half-smile, “….compromising.”
Then I walked away, not letting Stacey stop me this time, and feeling kind of pleased with myself for the way I handled the situation.
Dealing with other people’s problems, however, was much easier than addressing your own. I could write an essay on Nick and Stacey’s relationship, and relationships in general, and people in relationships. I could write an essay on love even, in a heartbeat. Yet, when it came to understanding the best approach to handling my situation with Zayden, I was always at a complete loss. I had a plan but I wasn’t sure how it was going to work. Knowing him and his weaknesses, I didn’t doubt he would physically cave in a second, but would he make the payment?
A part of me wished that we had gotten comfortable enough with each other that I could just straight up ask him whether he was planning on making it, but I had tried in my own way, hadn’t I? And he clearly wanted to keep me in the dark and was enjoying taunting me like this. That was the kind of thing I needed to learn to be okay with if I was determined to continue whatever this was. Zayden Sinclair loved playing games, and he wasn’t going to stop anytime soon, was he? His games weren’t entirely unstimulating. I wasn’t saying that I enjoyed feeling like I was constantly in the middle of a mental tug-of-war, but it was refreshing to always be left wondering what was going to happen next. It kept me on my toes, and I could at the very least safely say that having Zayden Sinclair in my life meant there was never a dull moment.
---
On Saturday, I woke up early in the morning to groom myself thoroughly. After spending hours cleansing, toning, exfoliating, and waxing, I felt much more relaxed about my upcoming encounter with Zayden. Not that seducing him was ever going to be the difficult part; he would get excited even if I showed up in a rucksack, but I wanted him to feel that I had put in some effort, so that he saw that I cared. Which is why I had purchased the sexy lingerie that was staring at me with anticipation.
My nerves began to bubble up again. Never before I had worn anything of this sort. Best I had done was purchase bras and panties from Target separately to match the colors. This deep red and sultry corset from Victoria’s Secret had cost a fortune. If I didn’t wear it, I could just return it, since I was feeling guilty about it anyway.
But if I thought about the opportunity cost – something my line of work had just hardwired me to do all the time – it amounted to a very, very small price to pay. After all, if Zayden was happy and he went ahead and made the payment, then I would have a lot less to worry about altogether.
With that in mind, I stripped naked and put on the red lingerie. When I looked in the mirror, I gasped. The outfit had superpowers. My breasts, half-covered, were popping out tight and firm, and so much bigger than I had ever seen them. All my curves were highlighted to perfection, and I felt more attractive than I ever had in my entire life. Zayden was in for a treat, I thought happily, then got nervous again. What if he didn’t even want to sleep with me and was just calling me over to officially end the contract? I had woken up this morning to the dream that Ned took me to Zayden’s office instead of Zayden’s house, where a room full of people were waiting in anticipation, including a camera crew from the local news station. It was some kind of a training session on how to fire somebody, and I was the test subject.
Needless to say, waking up from that dream was unnerving. Of course, I knew deep down that Zayden wasn’t actually ready to let go of me just yet.
Trying not to dwell on that too much, I started putting on the rest of my outfit. A simple black halter dress that was a little too short perhaps, but served the purpose of getting Zayden’s immediate attention. The lingerie corset had been so effective in doing its job that even through my halter dress, my breasts looked like they had been carved to optimal perk. Even I wouldn’t have been able to turn down what I saw in the mirror if I were a guy.
Feeling satisfied, I put on my makeup and tied my hair back in a loose bun, letting strands fall evenly on the contours of my face. This caused the back of the halter to be open, adding to the seductive look I was going for. I finished it off with a pair of Stacey’s red stilettos, which were to match what was underneath the dress when it came off, and that made me feel tall and slender. A little bit of sexy perfume and a cute red purse later, and I was ready to go.
Ned arrived 10 minutes later and instead of buzzing up, Zayden called me.
“You ride is waiting for you downstairs,” he said on the phone.
“Did you have to deliver the message remotely? We have a buzzer, you know?”
“Oh yeah, Ned wanted to utilize the, uh, ‘buzzing’ service, but I thought it best to not pass up on an opportunity to make this phone call.”
“Well, I hope that you feel satisfied,” I said, amused.
“Not yet, Aria. You know what I sound like when I am satisfied,” he chuckled. “This is obviously not it. Now tell me, what are you wearing?”
“I have to go. Ned is waiting for me downstairs.” I couldn’t suppress a smile, so I felt glad that he couldn’t see me.
“I pay him to wait for you,” he said, unconcerned. “Tell me, so I can prepare.”
“Prepare for what?” I asked playfully.
“What do you think?” He was starting to sound frustrated.
“I don’t know. To discuss the contract, I suppose.” I tried hard not to burst out laughing.
“Maybe. But that’s not what I am talking about and you know it. It has been a difficult few weeks, Aria. I have been dreaming about it every single night.”
“About what?” I asked innocently.
“Come here and I will show you.” His tone had an abrupt change. “Ned is downstairs, it’s rude to make him wait.”
“What the hell? You just said–”
But he cut off before I could finish my sentence. More excited and nervous than I had felt all day, I walked downstairs to find a black BMW waiting for me.
Chapter Eight
Zayden
I kept checking the time at an alarming frequency. Tonight was going to be exciting. I had sent my entire staff home so it would be just me and Aria in this big house with so many rooms. And so many beds.
She didn’t know it yet, but I had already made the payment to her mother’s hospital bill earlier today. I wasn’t planning on telling her until later, either. She needed to see the error in her ways and learn to never cross me like that again. The fear that I would maybe not make the payment at all should be an excellent way for me to regain the upper hand in this dynamic.
To my great disappointment, I realized that during the past month she had completely stolen that position from me. Asking to break the contract! Even though it had all turned out pretty well in the end, she had unintentionally manipulated me into making some big changes in my life. I didn’t remember the last time in my life somebody had had such a profound impact, and not necessarily in a positive way.
But it was all okay, because she would be here any minute, and I missed Aria far too much to waste the time pondering over my own mind games. Tonight was about reconciliation.
When the doorbell finally rang, I got up instantly to get it for her, and when I saw her I forgot almost everything, even my name.
“Your mouth is hanging open,” she said with a radiant smile, walking inside comfortably.
What? I couldn’t quite process anything that was happening or anything she was saying. All I knew was that Aria had somehow managed to get even hotter than I had ever seen her before – I didn’t even think that was possible – and all the blood in my body rushed away from my brain and everywhere else and deposited itself into my groin.
“Say something. You’re making me nervous,” Aria said, now sitting cross-legged on my couch. With those deep red stilettos, her legs looked like they were out of a fashion magazine catalogue. I just wanted to grab them, pull up her skirt, and take her right there.
“You look… exquisite,” I said, unable to find the perfect word to describe exactly how good she looked.
“You’re talking to my boobs?” she said following my gaze.
“No.” I was still glaring at them. “But sure, those too. Did they get bigger somehow?”
She chuckled girlishly. I had never quite seen her like this before, acting so feminine, sitting cross-legged on the sofa, wearing deep red stilettos!
“You’re trying to seduce me?” It wasn’t a question, as I realized what was going on, and couldn’t help feeling excited.
“Why on earth would I do such a thing?” She batted her eyelashes innocently, playing with her hair.
“Why wouldn’t you?” I grinned. “You had some of Zayden and you just had to come and get more.”
“I don’t know what you are talking about.”
“Oh, that’s how you want to play, then? Game is on.”
“I don’t know what you are talking about,” she said again, this time with a hint of a smile lingering around her lips. Her lipstick matched her shoes perfectly. I thought of how I would be smearing it up all over her face soon enough and felt myself getting hard.
“Are you hungry?” I said to change the subject, so that I didn’t give in to my temptations just yet. Although she would probably like that, the important thing here was to win, and it was getting increasingly difficult as her breasts were almost outside of her dress. I wanted nothing more than to kneel on the floor and suck them until she came.
“I am so, so hungry, not for food though,” she said with a look that made me almost change my mind about dinner.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said mimicking her and turned around to walk towards the kitchen. Looking at her was not going to help the situation in anyway whatsoever. “Follow me.”
Even the staccato sounds of her heels was increasing my desire, so I walked as fast as I could, trying to think about dinner instead of the dessert that was to come after.
“Where are we headed? Your house is huge!” I heard her exclaim behind me. “What mind-blowing concoction has your chef come up with today?”
“I sent him home,” I said causally, arriving at the kitchen and then turning to look at her. “I sent all the help home.”
“But, dinner?” She screwed her mouth and then gasped. “You don’t expect me to cook, do you? I mean, well, I guess I could, but I am not dressed for that. I suppose I could change.”
“Aria, stop mumbling. We are grilling. Well, I am, outside on my balcony.”
“Then why are we in your kitchen? It’s such a nice kitchen!” She looked so excited about everything in this house that a part of me just wanted to ask her to move in with me and be done with it. I thought of her tiny apartment and wondered if it would, in fact, be worth finding her a better place to stay. I highly doubted she would be okay with it, though.
“We are here because I marinated some steaks earlier that we will take outside and grill.”
I opened the fridge and looked around for a suitable beverage to offer her. She had said she liked beer, so I had gotten her some Belgian Ale, but perhaps she would want wine since she was dressed all seductive. It suited the role she was currently playing.
“Beer is fine,” she said, noticing my hesitation. “Thanks, I didn’t even think you kept any in your place!”
“I don’t.” I shrugged. “But since you were coming over–”
“Thank you, Zayden.”
“And I did something else you might appreciate,” I said, removing the steaks from the fridge. “I marinated the steak in curry powder. Thought it would give you your kick.”
The look on her face right now was worth all the curry powders in the whole world. She looked absolutely delighted, like she couldn’t believe that someone would do that for her.
“What?” I grinned.
“When was the last time you cooked?”
“I don’t remember,” I said honestly. “I never have to and don’t have the time anyway. My chef does an excellent job without my interference.”
“Then why are you cooking – or grilling, I guess – now?”
“Because, Aria…” I spoke like I was explaining two plus two equals four to a very difficult infant. “I really like you.”
Her cheeks blushed so hard upon hearing those words that they almost matched her lipstick. “I... I really like you too.”
I raised my eyebrows quizzically. “Really? I never quite got that from you, based on the fact that you were trying to break the contract only a month ago, so that you could get as far away from me as physically possible.”
“It wasn’t like that,” she said, the joy from before beginning to wane from her face. “You know what it was about. I have never answered to anyone in my life before, Zayden, not even my parents. So I just don’t have a way to deal with somebody trying to control me other than cut them off.”
“Did it ever occur to you–” I cut myself off mid-sentence, realizing what a waste it would be to get into this right now. “Nevermind, let’s not dwell on this now. Let’s go outside.”
I offered her my hand – and she struggled before deciding to take it – and escorted her towards the balcony. “Close your eyes,” I said on the way there. “And no cheating, Aria. I’ll know if you cheat and if you do, your mother’s bill might not get paid.”
She stopped walking and looked at me with a slight hint of annoyance mixed with amusement. “Is that what it is going to be from now on? ‘Oh Aria, breathe at rhythmic intervals of .05 seconds, or your mother’s bill might not get paid!’”
“Just close your eyes. Trust me, you will like this!”
After a brief moment, she finally did, and I reached for her hand again. When we were at the balcony, I said, “Now open.”
She gasped loudly; I was sure all the neighbors in a 5-mile radius could hear. “What – what did you – why?” Her eyes were starting to tear up.
I had the whole balcony decorated with heart-shaped red balloons and scented candles, and in the middle was a table with her favorite bottle of champagne and two chairs underneath a crystal chandelier. It was like Valentine’s Day had thrown up all over the balcony. We were facing the view of the mountain, with a beautiful lake on its foothills. The scene was as romantic as it could get, and Aria’s tears and inability to form a complete coherent sentence was what convinced me that I had done it. I had won.
“You did all of this for me? By yourself?” she asked when she could finally speak properly again.
“Do you see anyone else here?” I lied, and shrugged. I had thought of it, so I did have some say.
“Oh, Zayden!” she said, and threw herself at me, almost knocking out the steaks I was holding in my left hand. I tried to carefully place them by the grill, but it was difficult to move because Aria was holding on to me tightly. After I finally managed to place them away, I drew her closer for a proper embrace and stroked her hair. “Do you really like it that much?” I said grinning, very pleased with myself.
“You just want to hear me say it, don’t you?” she mumbled against my chest. “Yes, Zayden. I like it that much. This is hands down the most romantic thing anyone has ever done for me. Or anyone I know. Not even Nick for Stacey.”
“Great, I have outdone a nerdy little kid, I should be proud of myself.”
“Shut up, I am in the middle of a very special hug with a very special guy, let me enjoy this,” she mumbled.
We stood there holding each other for a long time.
---
“This is delicious!” Aria closed her eyes, devouring the steak. It was satisfying to watch her enjoy something I created. “I don’t know why people haven’t been putting curry on their steaks since the beginning of time.”
“I think we can use this moment to firmly establish the fact that I am a genius.” I smiled.
She giggled. “You’re running a multibillion-dollar corporation at such a young age, and running it so well at that, and of all things, a steak recipe is what makes you declare you’re a genius?”
“Priorities.” I shrugged. “And I am not all that. I was handed everything, I didn’t earn it, really. Born with a silver spoon and all.”
“But you had the skills to handle what was given to you. Oh God, Zayden, is this modesty? You are capable of such a thing?” She made an expression of complete shock.
“Very funny. In any case, you will be way ahead of me by the time you’re my age. You are really bright, Aria. I don’t know if anyone has ever told you this.”
“Nope, never heard it before.” She winked.
“Have you thought about what you want to do after you finish college?” I found myself asking.
She shrugged. “I am studying to be a loan officer ,so that is what I plan on doing, I guess.”
“Would you want to come work for me instead?”
“Newsflash, I already do,” she chuckled.
“No, not something trivial like that.” I waved my hand dismissively, but upon seeing the change in her expression, I added, “I mean… not like there is anything wrong with working as a teller while you are getting your degree. Again, it’s more than I did when I was your age. But I am thinking more like finding a suitable long-term position for you in my bank.”
“There is a lot of time left between now and in the long-term,” she said slowly, as though weighing every single word before speaking it out loud. “You may not even want to, you know.” She shrugged.
“I don’t know. What are you talking about?”
“I am assuming that when this contract is over, you would like to move on to newer and hotter women for more exciting adventures.”
It took a lot to spit those words out.
“That’s a big assumption. Do you really think this is all,” I gestured around the balcony décor, “just about the contract?”
“What is it, then?” she challenged.
“That is for us to figure out as we go along,” I said, looking away from her. Not once had I actually thought beyond the contract; I assumed that Aria was just going to be around forever. Now that the thought crossed my mind, I felt a weird sort of a gloom, and didn’t want to dwell on it too much.
“Speaking of the contract, since we are finally on the subject, what is going on with that?”
“That is for us to figure out as we go along, too.” I smirked and had to duck because she tossed a grape towards me in mock-anger. “Come on, let’s go inside, it is starting to get chilly,” I said, to change the subject. Plus, my restraint wasn’t going to last very much longer, and unless Aria was okay with my neighbors potentially seeing me rip her clothes off, which I highly doubted, we had to at least make it indoors soon enough.