Chapter6
Regina drove away in a daze after her meeting with Ryder. She had managed to keep her cool the entire time they’d sat across from each other. The whole meeting had been surreal to her, but when he placed the check in her hands, her mind had just stopped right then, and she hadn’t been able to think clearly much after that.
She concentrated as well as she could on getting home and she felt so tired that she thought she was going to go to bed, but she knew that the reality was that her mind was in such a tangle over the incredible change in her life that she was never going to be able to get to sleep that night.
The ride home seemed to happen in an instant. Her attention wasn’t on the road ahead of her, and she’d driven the route from the strip bar to her house so many times, especially at that wee hour of the morning, that it happened in a daze and she was parking four blocks from her house before she knew it.
The realization that she was going to be living in a big house clear at the end of Long Island in a matter of weeks was astounding to her. She wondered if she should keep her little house so she’d have some place to move back to when she was divorced, but then the thought occurred to her that she was going to have a million dollars, if it all went right, and she could live anywhere that she wanted to. She’d be able to afford a place where she didn’t have to drive around a wide area in her neighborhood just to find a parking spot.
Her whole world was going to change. She got out of her car and locked it, pulling her bag onto her shoulder and heading to her home. Step by step she walked, and her thoughts seemed to go in every direction as she passed through the night and the sleeping neighbors around her. She wouldn’t be walking past them in the early hours of the morning anymore. She wouldn’t be exhausted from working and going to school and trying to make it all work.
She was going to be quitting her job and focusing completely on school. She thought of how her time would change. How she would be able to spend time on herself and with her friends. She would be able to sleep and do things that she loved to do, going out to have fun and enjoy herself. She thought about how her health would change; she would have time to go to yoga, she would have time to sleep all she wanted to, to work out, to eat healthy meals instead of grabbing food on the go.
Regina stepped through her front door and walked slowly into her home, looking around at it as if she was seeing it for the first time. It was her home, as it had been since she had moved into it and settled herself, but it looked totally different to her at that moment. It looked like a stranger and an old friend to her; like a living memory. She wasn’t going to be living there anymore, not that she had lived there much while she was a resident.
She had spent nearly all of her time away from it, yet it was still the place that she went back to when she needed to rest or nourish herself or shower and relax at least a little. She was going to leave it; her little sanctuary, and change her entire life. It was a strange feeling; one of shifting sands beneath her feet. She was stepping out of her safe zone into the unknown, and there was no telling what her future would hold.
She drew in a deep breath and let it out in a long slow sigh. Crossing the living room in a few steps, she went into the kitchen and sank down into the chair at the side of the table where she always sat. Before her on the table was the same stack of bills that she had been weeping over the night before, and the eviction notice laying where she had left it. It seemed like nothing at all to her then as she looked at it.
She reached into her bag and pulled out her wallet, slipping the check from it carefully. She’d taken extra care not to fold or wrinkle it in any way. She wanted it to be in perfect condition when she took it to the bank later that morning. She wanted to take her time with the experience of walking up to the counter at the bank and depositing a check for ten thousand dollars.
Her banker knew her and she wondered what he would think when, instead of coming in with a wad of cash to deposit, she would be handing him such an enormous check. She suspected that it wasn’t that common that people deposited amounts such as that in their personal checking accounts out of the blue.
She set the check on the table and looked over at the eviction notice just a few inches above it. A smile formed on her face and she felt a laugh bubble up in her. Had it really only been twenty-four hours since she had sat there weeping over her life and her dire circumstances, she wondered. Was it really possible that everything in her entire life could have changed in just one day, she asked herself.
It was beyond comprehension to her. She sat in the chair and stared at her bills and her new money, and decided that she would do something that she never did; she would take the morning off from school. She would go to the bank, deposit the money, and pay off all of her debts, except for her student loans, which were more than the amount of the check on the table before her. Those loans would be paid with future checks, but everything else was going to be taken care of.
A sense of peace and relief washed over her and for the second night in a row, she dropped her face into her hands and began to cry, though for an entirely different reason the second night. When she had managed to get all of her emotion out, she took a deep breath and decided to get a really good night’s sleep. She was starting a new life, a very different new life, and she could think of no better way to start it than waking up after a solid and long night’s sleep to take her new money and erase nearly all of her debt.
Her pillow had never felt so good. Her eyes were wet, but there was a smile on her face when she went to sleep, and her dreams when they came were sweet and peaceful.
She slept through most of the morning, waking up after nine and sitting up in bed in a sheer panic at first, until she remembered what was happening and that she was doing everything differently. A new life, a new woman, a new everything.
She showered and dressed and laughed a little, realizing that she was going to have all new clothes when she went out shopping with her soon-to-be fiancé a couple of days after that morning. Her closet would be filled, but it would be a new closet in a new home, and everything would be different.
After she was ready and had enjoyed a leisurely cup of coffee, she picked up her phone and called Marie. Marie’s cell phone only rang a few times before she answered it, and her voice gave away her worry.
“Are you okay?” She asked in a short breathless voice.
Regina smiled happily. “Yes, I’m great. I’m beyond great; I’m amazing. How are you?” She returned, wanting to know how her friend was doing.
There was a momentary silence on the other end of the phone. “Well, I’m good, but I’m a little surprised to hear from you at this time of day. Aren’t you in class right now? Why are you calling me?”
Regina laughed then and felt an all new wave of relief and happiness flood through her. “I’m not in class, actually, and thank you for remembering that I would normally be in class right now. I’m at my place. I was calling to let you know what’s going on right now. There are some pretty big changes happening.”
“What’s happening?” Marie asked with a cautious tone.
Not even knowing where to begin, she tried to sum it all up as best she could. “Well, remember that guy I told you about, the one who came to the bar and offered me a job being his fake wife?”
“Yes, I remember that. We just talked about him. I told you to call him and see if he really meant it. Did you call him?” Marie asked with a hint of excitement in her voice.
“I did.” Regina answered with streams of excitement in her reply. “I called him and it went terribly. I didn’t think that we were going to find time to meet and talk, and I gave up on him. Luckily for both of us, he didn’t give up on me. When I walked out of work this morning, he was waiting for me by my car. We went and had a cup of coffee and talked about the deal, and I agreed to it.” She still couldn’t quite believe the words that were running through her mind and spilling forth from her mouth.
Marie couldn’t believe them either. “You… you’re going to do it? You’re going to marry the guy?”
Regina nodded. “Yeah, I guess I am.” She smiled wide and let out a long breath. “There’s so much to tell you, but one of the biggest things is that he’s giving me a monthly allowance of ten thousand dollars, and he actually sat before me and pulled out a check book last night and wrote out a check to me for ten grand and gave it to me.”
Her heart began to pound just thinking of it. “I can pay my rent. I can pay all of it at once. I can pay all of my past due bills. I can pay almost every penny I owe to everyone for everything. I can’t even begin to tell you how incredible that feels to me. I couldn’t imagine this feeling if I tried to.”
“Holy cow!” Marie gasped. “You have ten thousand dollars? For real?” Her best friend asked as if she had to have heard her wrong.
“Yeah, I have ten thousand dollars. I thought I’d see if you would like to go out to lunch with me today. I’m skipping school. I’m paying my bills. I would love to see you and to take you out to lunch and spoil you a little bit. We could do a bit of shopping if you like, too. Let me splurge on you some. What do you say?” Regina was overcome with giddiness as the very real possibilities cascaded through her mind.
“I… I say yes, definitely! Let’s go! I would love to see you and hang out with you. That would be amazing! We haven’t had a real girl’s day in so long. Thank you!” Marie laughed out loud. “Gosh, I’m so glad that you called him and that it all worked out. I can’t wait to hear the details, and you can tell me all about them when we meet up, but for now I want to know how you’re feeling. I mean, I know you must be feeling good, but this is a huge step. How are you really doing?” Marie sounded happy and slightly concerned.
Regina thought about it for a long minute before she finally answered. “My mind keeps wandering to all of the possibilities. Paying off my bills and saving money for the future. I want to pay off my student loans too. He’s going to buy me a new car. I’m getting a new car. Just in time too, my old wreck of a vehicle is on its last leg. Or tire. Something. It’s done, and it’s not going to make it much longer. I get to keep the car when the deal is over and we get divorced. I can’t even believe how lucky I feel right now. It’s crazy.”
She took a breath. “I’m not really letting myself think about the promise he made about the million dollars in the future. We both signed a prenuptial agreement that his lawyer drew up, and it’s legally binding; we’re both on it and it states right there in black and white that I get a million, but I just can’t let myself think that far in advance. I can’t even imagine how much money that is. It’s just too much. I’m just focusing on the ten thousand that he gave me and that’s it for now.”
“Wow.” Marie stated flatly. “That’s… that’s just unreal.” She sounded as if she couldn’t quite believe it either.
“Yeah.” Regina agreed. “That’s exactly what it is. So, lunch?”
“Sure! Thank you. That sounds great. Actually, unless he already bought you your car, do you want me to come pick you up? I can run you around to do your errands and then we can hang out and get lunch. Does that work?” Marie was thinking ahead. Her car was much more reliable than Regina’s. She often stepped in to help her friend when Regina needed it, especially with a good reliable car.
Regina laughed softly. “Yes, that would be really nice, thank you so much.”
They made their plans and said goodbye, hanging up from their call.
When they were done with all Regina’s errands a couple of hours later, they were seated at a swanky restaurant overlooking Central Park from an elevated floor. Regina had been thrilled to take the check into the bank, and she had been right, the cashier behind the counter looked at her in utter surprise, though she had tried to keep her expression from showing too much amazement at the deposit. It was more in one deposit than Regina made in half a year of working.
They paid Regina’s rent in full and the eviction notice had gone into the trash. They had stopped at various places to pay off some of her other bills, and when they were done with that, she had been more than happy to take her best friend out to the best lunch that either of them had ever enjoyed.
After their order was placed, Regina looked at Marie and her expression grew serious. “I wanted to ask you if you wouldn’t mind being my maid of honor. I know it’s not a real wedding, at least… as far as love goes, but it is a legal wedding, and he said it needs to be a really big one, so I need to find myself a maid of honor and do it all right.”
Marie looked at her with eyes wide in surprise. “Your maid of honor! Well, of course I’d be glad to do that. It’s an honor!” She chuckled at her joke, but then grew a little more serious as she continued speaking. “So, this is a real, legal wedding, and you’re really doing it?”
“Yeah, it’s all above board. The only secretive thing is that I’m not doing it for love, I’m doing it for the money. There’s not really anything wrong with it. It’s just a business arrangement. I thought about this a lot over the last day. Marriages are arranged all over the world. I just get paid for this one, and it’s business.” Regina grinned over the top of her glass of champagne. They were celebrating in high style.
Marie raised an eyebrow and gave her a curious look. “Is it all business? Didn’t you tell me this guy is super-hot? Is there anything else on the books for this real marriage of yours?”
Regina held her hands up and shook her head adamantly. “No, absolutely not. We’re definitely keeping it just platonic business. He is gorgeous, but this isn’t about how either of us look. It’s about him getting his inheritance and me getting paid for being married to him long enough for him to get his inheritance. That’s it.”
Marie shrugged. “Okay, well, I thought it was at least worth checking on. I have to admit, after you told me about him I went and did some research online to find out more about him. He’s beautiful, and he’s got a pretty wild reputation. Did you know that?” She raised one eyebrow suspiciously.
“I did know that; he told me he’s a little bit of a wild card. It’s one of the reasons he has to get married. His dad is making him settle down so he won’t be so crazy. He just wants to go live his life, though, and I can totally appreciate that. I don’t care what he does. I’m not in it for the relationship; I’m in it for the money. I don’t really care what he does.” Regina winked at her friend.
“This is the weirdest thing you’ve ever done.” Marie shook her head slowly in amazement as she watched Regina.
“It is indeed. Now I have to figure out how to make this wedding happen. I don’t know anything about planning some big event like this. He wants a really big wedding. I have no idea how to make that happen.” She felt uncertainty rise up in her at the thought of trying to accomplish it.
Marie waved her hand in the air dismissively. “My family has had huge weddings. It’s what we do. Listen, this is easy; just call a wedding planner. I know a couple of really good ones. Choose the one you like best and let them do all of the work. You only have to do as much as you want to do. They’ll take care of the rest of it. Is the wedding part of your ten-thousand-dollar monthly budget? Did I really just ask you that question? It’s so bizarre!”
“No, the wedding is all on his dime he said, though if I was going to guess, by that he means that it’s all on his father’s dime, but whatever. It’s not coming out of the money that he’s giving to me.” She shook her head. “I can’t believe I’m answering that question. My whole life just changed in a single day, and it’s the strangest thing ever. I don’t know if I’m going to be used to it at all the whole time it’s happening, or even afterward. Everything is so different now. Everything…” She trailed off, sitting in a moment of sheer wonder.
It had happened to her at different intervals that day; she’d be sitting somewhere or standing in an idle moment waiting for something or someone, and her mind would turn to the massive change happening in her small world. It was almost more than she could imagine, but she was doing her best to wrap her mind and herself around it as best she could. It was going to take a while, but she told herself that she could do it, and that it would all be a good, good thing. She promised herself that it would be one of the best decisions that she ever made.
Marie vowed to stand behind her no matter what her decisions were and no matter what happened. She was going to make sure that Regina was alright, or better than. It was her duty as a best friend. Good times and bad, and they both promised each other that they would hold to that vow, and that no matter what happened, they would be there for one another. Regina told Marie that their friendship was the real treasure, and nothing in the world could compare to it.