Love At Last

THE UNOFFICIAL CONTRACT

“You don’t think I’m joking, do you?” Cayden wore a serious expression on his face. I had no choice but to conform to the mood. ‘What is this lunatic saying?’ I thought to myself. Watching little Jacek and an ‘annoying’ Cayden play drifted my attention a bit that I didn’t notice when Jacek left my arms and was enjoying the bosom of this dude in front of me.

“C’mon, let’s go and get you registered, miss,” he walked further away from me, gesturing me to come forward. “You’re here to enroll, right?” he asked me when I was only a few inches from him.

“The prize is out of this world. I need that cash” I laid emphasis on ‘cash’. “So what do you say, you up for it?” I knew he was talking about the ridiculous request he made earlier. I scoffed and tilted my neck a bit to stare at his face properly. “What exactly would you have me do?” I finally asked after a few seconds of thought.

“I need a date and urgently, for a particular event of mine. Unless you’d love to be my date…,” he paused to look at me who did nothing but sneer at him, “secure me a date, please,” he concluded with every iota of plea in his tone.

“Get a dating app or something. How in God’s name am I supposed to do that? I can’t and won’t, Mr. Cayden,” I fired. To my greatest awe, Cayden paused in his tracks, turned to face me directly, wearing a ‘sorry’ look. “What?” I couldn’t care less about his facial expressions.

“I need you” he takes his left hand off Jacek’s back and holds on to my right hand. I was surprised but then again, I subconsciously savored the manly and feeling and warmth I got from his grip that it took me seconds to shrug and take my hand away from his. “No!” I refuted firmly and walked past him.

“Why not though?” he immediately came after me but maintained his distance behind me, still trying to convince me otherwise but as he could see, I wasn’t even ready to budge. I couldn’t care less about him or his concerns. ‘Why would I bother myself with this fellow?’ I thought as I kept scoffing loudly to each and every one of his pleas.

I paused abruptly in my tracks which made him bump into me with his arm. I turned around swiftly and gave him quite the stare. “Listen!” I paused for a while, “whatever business you have, is all up to you. What I only care about is my business and that’s it, okay?” I made my point clear and gestured my open arms towards Jacek beckoning on him to come to me but to my utter dismay he flat-out rejected my offer. Oh well, I turned around quickly to continue my journey to the registration office.

“Twice!” Cayden exclaimed and I paused abruptly. “Twice?” I asked, still confused on what exactly he was trying to say. “Twice,” he repeated still. “Are you okay?”I blurted out. “I’ll give you twice the prize of whatever competition it is you’re here today for,” he finally spoke the language I understood and I burst into a hysteric laughter.

“Twice?” I could barely speak, still caught up in my laughter.

“Yes, twice,” he repeated convincingly.

“Seriously?” I asked in a low tone. “Yes!” he replied affirmativelyConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

“Trying to show off your wealth, Huh? … Mr., my answer remains no!” I objected still. The expression I read on his face displayed frustration to a high degree but then again, I couldn’t care less.

“Thrice!” he blurted almost immediately. “I also promise to look up a very good school for Jacek.”

“I’ll do it!” I acceded subconsciously and he let out a really bright smile. Immediately I felt a little bit of regret welling up in me as I watched the newly formed ‘Cayden and Jacek’ duo walk ahead of me. I immediately shrugged and caught up to the two of them.

On getting to the registration centre, after much persuasion, I gave in to let Cayden pay the fees for it. I wasn’t usually easy going so what exactly happened that day left me bewildered, completely. After concluding the processions, we stopped by a snack bar for some refreshments. I couldn’t say no to this particular offer, I felt so out of it. Cayden had coffee, I and Jacek had doughnuts. We talked about random things and I happened to let my guard down a little. The atmosphere felt relaxed and beautiful and so in order to blend in completely, I had to loosen up and relax, especially for Jacek’s sake.

Finally it was time to part ways but then again, Cayden always had something to whine about. He asked for my cell number and after much contemplation, I yielded and gave him the number.

About an hour later, we – I, my grandma and Jacek – were all settled to have the dinner prepared specially by my grandma. As usual, she took it upon herself to serve everyone, herself inclusive and we all started eating in no time.

“How’d your day go?” my grandma broke the silence.

I cleared my throat and took a sip of water from the glass laid beside my food. “Um… it went…well?” I stuttered. “I registered for the competition and it was okay,” I concluded, totally leaving the fact I’d met Cayden out of the story. “Nana, nana, we saw uncle Cayden”, Jacek immediately cried out, completely blowing my cover. Immediately, I noticed the cheerful expression on my grandmother’s face slowly fade.

“And?” she turned to me, and I totally understood the ‘stare’ she gave me. “and?” I repeated, feigning ignorance. “What happened next?” she asked yet again.

“What else would happen? We…just…saw, right?” I said between chuckles.

“Did you speak to him?” Nana asked firm but calmly. “Ummm…”

“Yes!” Jacek affirmed even before I could utter a word. “Shoot!” I muttered to myself. “Umm…,” Nana cut me off. “Why though?” she asked, trying to maintain a warm facial appearance so as not so scare Jacek. I didn’t exactly know what to say so I remained silent.