Chapter 6

KATHERINE

“He did what?” Phoebe asked in shock.

I shrugged. “Giorgio asked me to be his wife,” I said firmly.

She got up from the chair, pushing her specs up the bridge of her nose, as she walked over to where I was. I sniffed back the tears and tried to show a tough side, but it was getting difficult. I felt like everything was against me.

Phoebe stooped down to my level, and then, she wiped off the tears that spilled from my eyes. “Kat, I don’t see why you’re crying. Isn’t it supposed to be a good thing?” She asked softly.

I shook my head, and stood up, suddenly annoyed. “How can you say that? I’m a kid myself, so how do you expect me to get married at this age? Do you know how much people would say vile things about me on social media and in this school?”

“Fuck them, then,” she said easily.

I honestly couldn’t believe what I was hearing right now. It was almost as if it was happening to someone other than me. Phoebe was worse than I had expected. She obviously wanted to ruin my life. Yes, that was it!

I felt her hand on my arm and then she stepped in front of me. “Look, you can’t live your life thinking about people, and I know that there must be clauses attached to the marriage which would enable you to take care of your father’s medical bills, and your brother’s school fees. Is that not what should be more important?” She asked.

I blinked as I pushed my hair away from my face. “How do you know there are clauses?”

She looked away from me, and then slowly made her way to her study table. She picked one of her books and placed it on her lap before turning around to face me. I looked at her curiously, trying to understand what she was up to, and what she was also playing at. 

“I didn’t,” she denied without blinking. “It’s just common sense. You both are not in a relationship, so there is now way it can be a love marriage. Contract marriages has clauses, at least that’s what my W*****d books tells me,” she said dramatically.

I sighed. She was right, it wasn’t really something odd. Still, I couldn’t get over the fact she wasn’t really against the idea of me being with Giorgio for money. 

“Sigh. You don’t need to look so thoughtful about this. I know it’s a hard decision to make, but it’s better than being in the sun fighting for peanuts, and wondering if you’re going to get paid for the little that you did. I wouldn’t want that sort of life for myself, and I honestly wish we could swap roles. A lot of people would make a killing to be in your situation,” she said firmly.

I groaned slightly. She was right, but I wasn’t still sure. It was a whole lot, and I needed to sleep over this and make the right decisions. I couldn’t allow anyone to influence me because I was the one in that relationship. I needed to think before making a decision.

“I have heard you, Phoebe,” I said at last. “I will make a decision based on what’s good for me.”

She shrugged and I slowly made my way out of the room, into the bathroom. I had to be careful with each decision I made from now on.

***

Biting my lips, I looked at the documents that I had in my hands. Hopefully this was thorough enough and covered everything that was mandatory in a marriage. Yes, I had officially drafted the terms and conditions of my future marriage with Giorgio. That was all I had been doing all night, and I didn’t regret it one bit.

“Are you coming?” Phoebe queried.

I looked up and nodded. “Just a minute,” I said quickly.

Taking a quick look at the document, I realised it was perfect, or close to perfection. The only thing left was for Giorgio to accept it. I had not told Phoebe of my decision before she ratted me out to him and some of our friends. It was a dicey situation.

I sighed as I went into the class. My Psychology professor was late as usual, but he came with tests and pairings. I hated it, but it was moving quite smoothly so I didn’t mind much. In between the class presentations, Giorgio walked in like he owned the school. Maybe he did. I wasn’t going to put it past him.

Professor Jackson was livid that he was late to the class, but finally allowed him to get in. There was a bit of tension after he sat, which didn’t ease off to the end of the class. Phoebe tried to talk to me, but I told her I would be right back. 

Grabbing the document, I walked over to Giorgio as he tried to put some of his notepads in order. I tapped him on the shoulder, and he turned with a look of irritation in his eyes, which slowly pulled into curiosity when he realised that it was actually me who tapped him.

“Hello,” I managed.

He looked around, and then, turned back at me. “Hi, Kitty,” he said calmly.

I rolled my eyes as I sat beside him. “Can you quit calling me that? I have no idea why I didn’t put it in the terms and conditions I drafted,” I grumbled.

He rose a brow. “You drafted a terms and condition regarding our deal?” He asked in shock.

I nodded, as I pushed the document towards him. “Yep!”

Giorgio trailed his hands around the document, but didn’t open it to see what it was about, instead he slid it back to her. I stared at him confused. Had he changed his mind?

“What’s wrong?” I queried.

He looked around once again. I looked around too, and I didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary, so why did he keep looking around? I turned back to him, and he smirked.

“What could be wrong, Kitty? Nothing! It’s just that there is a time and place for everything, so we would discuss this after school. Ok?” He said calmly.

I bit my lip as I got up, holding the document tightly. The last thing that I wanted was to look like I was desperate in front of Giorgio. That would definitely hurt me a lot more than I might admit. I could barely look at him in the eyes.

“I guess we would talk later,” I mumbled quickly as I walked away from his table.

That was so messy. He should be the one disturbing me to be his wife and not the other way round. I looked around for Phoebe, but it was obvious that she had left. Oh, well, it is what it is. I looked back at Giorgio and he was looking right at me. 

Fuck!

Against my will, I felt the blush creeping up my cheeks. I turned away from him, and walked out of the class. It didn’t matter much what he thought about me, I had to make sure that he fulfilled his end of the bargain. It was nothing to be shameful of to tell him what I had decided. I needed the money Giorgio was offering also, and I also knew that. I had to play along with everything that he put on the table, while thinking smartly.

This could work out, and I will try to make it work out. I wasn’t in love with Giorgio. In fact, I thought he was quite annoying, but I was going to do all I can to remain on his good side to get that money.

The rest of the day, I was moving from one lecture to the other, but hardly paying attention to the classes. I was consistently thinking about Giorgio and what he might say about the terms and conditions I had drafted.

“Aren’t you going for a break?” One of my course mates queried.

I shrugged. “I would.”

After 5 minutes of staying in the class, I finally picked up my bag and walked to the small Chinese restaurant in school. I liked coming here because unlike other restaurants, you could do things on your own, and mind the business that pays you. So, it was kind of cool.

On getting there, I ordered mushroom and noodle soup. I glanced around and saw an empty seat at the side of a window. I was about to take the chair out when another hand held onto it. I blinked as I looked up. A young man in clipped hair cut, and mildly cur-off pants was looking right at me.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t think it was your seat,” I said calmly.

He shrugged. “It’s fine honestly. Please, sit.”

I pulled my hand back, and he proceeded to pull the chair out for me. I sat back down and placed my purse and documents on the table. When I thought he might leave, he went to the opposite side, and took out the seat there. We were really going to eat on the same table, so much for privacy.

“Well, I would be back soon. I just realised I have ordered any drinks,” I said calmly.

He nodded simply, and took his phone out. I don’t know why I told him that, but it felt like the right thing to do at that moments. I went over and ordered a pineapple juice. At the same time the waitress made me take my orders. 

I walked back to my table with my stomach rumbling. I was about to sit down, when Antonio slammed a document on the table.

“You should never think of marrying this guy,” he blurted out.