After her first day back in a lab since she came back from college, Amy found herself sitting in the VIP room of a classy restaurant she’d never thought she’d set foot in. Live music played in the background and all the food was carried out with a flourish. Sitting opposite the room of her was a high school classmate and now coworker who had brought up the strangest proposal on her first day in the lab.
“Hey, Amery. Thank you for stopping by.”
“So let me get this straight,” she said, setting her stuff down and getting to business as soon as the door shut. “You need me to pretend to be fiancé in front of your grandmother, the head of Krovstoff Group. As in, the Krovstoff group whose hotel we’re sitting in now.”
“Yes. Although it’s not really pretend.”
“Right. Everything’s legal and binding. Just…no actual relationship.”
Jeriah Krovstoff nodded. He seemed eerily calm.
“Why should I accept?”
“I won’t threaten your admission to the lab,” he assuaged her immediately. He still seemed calm, even as he admitted that he wasn’t going to resort to blackmail. “All I have to offer you is the financial support of the Krovstoff Group. Potentially a life of luxury.”
“Seems like you could find a lot of young ladies that would jump at that offer. Why me?”
“Honestly? Because you’re the first unmarried woman I’ve run into since running into this situation.”
“Terrible decision-making standards.”
Jeriah’s mouth turned up in wry amusement. “The fact that we were high school classmates and you’re working in the same lab contributes. And I saw your interview readings.”
Amy felt a shiver run down her spine. The Dreams lab had a very interesting interview using the dream-reader, which let the psychologist—or in her case, employer—have a glimpse into the very thoughts and feelings of a patient—or interviewee. It had been one of her first times on the client-side of the dream-reader; she had been able to review her readings before the interview officially ended, and been quite fine with the whole experience actually. That is, until a few seconds ago.
“You—I…What did you see?” She asked, struggling to keep her composure.
“A clean record,” he told her reassuringly. “A mild anxiety associated with relationships despite constant stable emotional valences was interesting though. I thought it would make you a suitable candidate for a contract-type marriage.”
She let a small sigh escape her. “I’ll admit, I don’t consider myself exactly in the market for romance anymore.” She looked back up at him. If she was hooked up to the dream-reader now, he would be reading all about her surprise that such an opportunity had presented itself again. Instead, all she showed him was a grim acceptance. “I want all living and insurance expenses covered and a stipend for entertainment and savings. And general freedom to live my life the way I want.” She paused. “And the right to a peaceful divorce, without any of this being revealed.”
“Done, with some conditions.”
She nodded for him to continue.
“Generally, don’t embarrass me or shame the family name.”
She pointed out that she hadn’t grown up in the same social society as him, but she’d do her best. “Anything specific?”
“1. Don’t cheat on me.”
She nodded. She didn’t plan on it.
“2. You’ll have to accompany me to social events and talk to people and press. That’ll be an impediment to your usual routine no doubt.”
“I’ll do my best.”
“3. Grandmother wants an heir. So you have to be ok with kids.” He paused, a little awkward for the first time, and she caught on to the implications.
She cringed a little. “Does that mean….”
“Yeah,” he replied flatly. “Although I doubt anyone would notice if it was someone else’s.”
Amy’s face scrunched up in disgust then she shook her head. “That would violate rule one.”
Jeriah laughed, and she thought he seemed surprised. “4. This should be easy for you: Go to grad school and get an education.”
“We’re assuming I can get in.”
Jeriah waved his hand dismissively. “Your application isn’t as weak as you think it is, and Dr. Syis will write you a letter of rec. The Group will pay for whatever tuition issues there are. You just need to graduate.”
She couldn’t keep the excitement out of her eyes when she realized that all her headaches about paying for college could be taken care of—not just college, she reminded herself. Life expenses…anything. “Masters or doctorate? Any specific field? Do I need business experience?”
“Whatever you want.” He actually laughed when she sighed in relief. “You don’t even need to do anything with it after graduating. If you just want to stay home and take care of the heir, that’s your pejorative.”
“What’s the point then?”
“It’s a test of caliber,” he said, sniffing a little.
Amy laughed sarcastically, but the excitement was catching. She could get a degree in ornithology and do nothing but bird-watch and read for the rest of her life. Or she could stay in school for the rest of her life and never worry about working. “What else?”
“Finally, I maintain control of the accounts. I sanction every transaction made.”
Amy narrowed her eyes. “So do you want a brainless nanny or an educated trophy? Make up your mind.”
“I’m ok with either,” Jeriah replied airily. “As long as Grandmother is convinced our marriage is real and you don’t shame the family name, I’m fine with whatever you want to do with your life.”
“I can’t tell if you’re trying to be considerate or just an idiot.”
“I’m a rich little boy who never cared for relationships and needs to have a fiancé in a week.”
“Desperate,” she supplied.
He opened his mouth retort but thought better of it and shook his head with a smile. “So what do you think? Have I scared you off? ” He held up a rose-gold ring with two diamonds set in it, symbolic of their contract. “You don’t have to accept, and you’re free to leave whenever you feel like before the actual wedding date, whenever it ends up being. No explanation needed, and you can keep the ring to sell as severance pay. If I don’t end up as Head of the Group, you can leave too. I just thought you would be reconcilable to the idea.”
She stared at the ring between his fingers. It was the first time since she left Cyril that she considered the prospect of a romantic relationship—it wasn’t exactly romantic actually. But that was what made it so appealing. Her parents would be satisfied that she was married, and she could live her usual life with a lot more money behind her. She could really “settle down” while still chasing her “dreams and silly birds”. Sure she might be lonely, but that’s why she had colleagues and classmates.
She reached out and slipped the ring over her left hand ring finger.
“Deal.”
Notes:
This scene was probably rewritten like 5 times in its entirety without changing what it essentially is: exposition and a place for the original inspiration. The inspiration for the story came from an idle thought for terms of a contract that would kind of be ideal for me.
Amy's character in this scene also radically changed between edits. There was a lot more ranting and complaining in the beginning versions, and a long emo rant somewhere. The sassiness didn't appear until maybe edit 4. I didn't really see that from Amy as a character, but I liked the sassiness and decided to keep it. Her character had to be changed forward in other scenes to reflect bits of this new character trait.
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