she was more talented than any woma

she was more talented than any woman I had ever slept with. She just knew how to drive me completely and utterly insane, in and out of bed.

Somewhere between the contract and the dates in my office and all the talks about her Economics paper, Aria Roberts had managed to penetrate a part of my being that I believed had long ceased to exist. This wasn’t something I was proud of, but it was, unfortunately, a fact that I could no longer ignore. I cared about Aria, more than I had cared about any girl or woman in a long time. It mattered to me that she was happy and it mattered to me that she was happy with me. The way things had taken a turn, she was not going to be happy with me if I forced her to stay in the contract. But the alternative was to let her go, and that was not something I would allow happen.

The second option was to force her to continue the contract – the option I had already inadvertently chosen, the minute she talked of possibly breaking it – but to find a way to make her happy with me again. No matter what I had said to her about my reaction to her ex-boyfriend, truth was it was pure jealously.

Something I really needed to keep in control, at least around her, even if I felt it inside. She had said I had gotten too controlling. I wasn’t sure how I could fix that. That was the side effect of my entire existence: being on top of the food chain all my life involved the ability to get everyone around me to do as I say at all times. Mesmerized by my wealth and power, not a single person – other than my mother, and she too had to use emotionally manipulative tactics to defy me – had ever felt the need to criticize my approach. People usually just resigned to accepting me as a superior and did as I said.

Aria was obviously different from most people I knew, so I had to find a new approach. I didn’t have to, technically. I could let her continue the contract and be miserable. Some part of me felt like that was exactly what she deserved. But, no. I would not be able to handle an encounter with her where I knew that she would rather be any place in the world other than with me. If she wasn’t enjoying herself, I wouldn’t be able to enjoy her company. She wouldn’t be the Aria I had grown to care for.

So perhaps it was time to try something new. I picked up my phone and called Aria. She didn’t answer so I kept calling until she did.

“I get it, I am confined to your contract until eternity and beyond – or whenever you decide you are done with me. You made it very, very clear already. What more do you want?” She sounded like she had been crying.

“I want to apologize,” I said as softly as possible. “For my behavior. I am sorry.”

There was silence on the other end for what felt like a lifetime. She must have been shocked. This apology was probably the last thing she was expecting.

“Are you really sorry?” She asked, sounding much less miserable.

“I am. But I am not letting you out of the contract. That’s not negotiable.”

“Then why are we having this conversation right now?”

“Because I want to apologize. Because you deserve an apology. This contract is meaningless if you hate me.”

“Well I don’t…hate you. I never said that,” she said, and I felt relief spread through my whole body.

“In that case, I will see you in the office tomorrow?” I was clutching the phone very close to my ears. “You are out of vacation days, you know. The other tellers might think I’m playing favorites.”

She giggled, to my surprise. “Well, you are.”

“They don’t need to know that. Anyway, I would really like to see you tomorrow at the office and we can discuss the contract and how to proceed in a manner that pleases you. How does that sound?”

She simply said “okay,” which was still better than a “no.” I could work with “okay.”

“Have a good night Aria, I will see you tomorrow.”

“You too,” she said and then hung up.

Tomorrow I would have to employ all the skills I had accumulated as a businessman in negotiation, so that when the conversation was over, Aria would think it was her idea to continue with the contract.

For now I was just relieved and fell into my bed, finally relaxed after a very difficult few weeks.