Contractual Romance

4

S A N D Y

I woke up to the feeling of a weight on my chest. I groaned and tried to move my arms but felt restricted. I opened my sleepy eyes and saw a familiar ceiling then looked downward. My eyes widened when I saw Anthony's head resting on my chest while half of his body was on mine. I gulped and stared at our position for a minute before I placed my hands on his broad shoulders. I tried to push him off me but his heavy weight was too much for me.

“Anthony?” I called out in a low voice.

He moaned and turned his head in the other direction. I rolled my eyes and shook his shoulders. He barely moved so I began to wiggle under him, trying to see if I could roll out but before I knew it, he woke up; his head up and eyes wide. He hissed and rolled away from my body with his hands between his head.

“s**t, my head hurts,” he said to himself and groaned.

I sat up and tugged the shirt downward, covering my stomach. I stared at him as he rubbed his head.

“Ow,” Anthony said and dropped his hands. His eyes were shut tight. "I hate drinking.”

“Then quit it,” I said, startling him.

Anthony opened his eyes and turned to me. He eyed my body with narrowed eyes before looking around in confusion.

“What happened? How are you in my bed?” He asked and I got out of bed.

“Don't ask that question like I haven't slept in your bed before,” I replied and crossed my arms.

Anthony sat up, rubbing his face. He dropped his hands and rolled his shoulders.

“I know. I'm just asking because I can't remember what happened,” he said, looking at me.

“We went to a club, you partied and got drunk. I brought you home and you threw up on me,” I said and his face morphed from concentrated to embarrassed.

“f**k, I am so sorry,” he said. “I threw up on your dress, right? I'll buy you a new one.”

“No, thanks. Anyway, I see you're fine now. Take a shower and I'll be on my way home. I'll have one of the cooks make you breakfast,” I said and went over to where my phone was charging. I unplugged it, as well as the charger then placed them in my purse.

“Stay for breakfast?" He asked.

“No, I'm tired and want to head home and rest well,” I said. “My weekend didn't start well. I have only today being Sunday to relax before work starts tomorrow,” I replied and made my way to the door.

I waved at him and opened the door then started walking out.

“I'll make it up to you!” He said in a slightly high tone.

“Whatever,” I retorted and shut the door.

I leaned against the wooden door and took a few seconds to take deep breaths and exhale. I had not forgotten how I woke up with him snuggling up against me. I shook my head and pushed my body off the door when I saw a servant walk into the hallway.

“Gotta stop daydreaming,” I whispered, hurriedly walking toward the servant.

Π•Π

I got home and wanted to just go to bed and sleep to my satisfaction but when I saw my roommate, Regina, I knew that would be impossible.

“Hey, Sandy!” She said from her spot on the floor.

I approached her and looked down at her, seeing what she was doing. She had an art piece on the floor with some paintbrushes and colors scattered around her. Regina was an artist and ever since I met her in college, she's been a close friend of mine. She had an art gallery and was known around for her great art.

“How did your weekend go with Anthony?”

“The usual.”

I sat down on the couch closest to me and glared at the TV in front of me.

“I'm tired of the kind of person that Anthony is. It's like he's not ready to grow up even though he's grown up,” I complained with a frown on my face.

“Yet you've got feelings for him.”

“Ugh, don't remind me. Sometimes I hate how I do. It makes me feel like something's wrong with me in the head.”

“Maybe you two need to sit down and have a conversation about his behavior. Your best friend is always in the news, trending on social media for something or another.”

“It's not that easy, you know. I've tried to tell him but he always claims people just hate him for being human. He forgets that he's a reputable person that people are looking at.”

For years, I've been overthinking, looking for ways to make Anthony see that the way he was living could cause problems for him and the rest of his family. He needed to see how careless he lived for a start but none of that seem to matter to him.

“Have you tried to tell him to get a girlfriend?”

The question made my heart ache. I knew that with the way our friendship was, Anthony was surely going to find someone to be with after living his life the way he wanted and that person would not be me. Sometimes, I wished I could tell him about my feelings but that would ruin everything. The universe was cruel to people who broke the rules of being best friends and having feelings. It ruined things and I didn't want that, no matter how strong my feelings were.

“It doesn't matter. We'll both settle down with people someday. My feelings don't matter.”

I wish it did.

Π•Π

The next day, I went to work and was not surprised that Anthony wasn't here yet. Something told me he went to another party and was hung over and couldn't come to work on time on a f*****g Monday. He had a lot of meetings and places to go yet he wasn't here. I was the one who was going to get tired at the end of the day.

I walked into his office and started to open up everywhere and keep things ready for him to use throughout the day.

The moment I was done arranging his office, the door opened and I spun around to see who it was. Anthony was the one but he had an angry look on his face while he ran his fingers through his hair.

I eyed his body up and down and walked up to him. He didn't look at me, rather his eyes were darting all around.

“Are you okay?” I asked and he finally looked into my eyes.

“I won't be if I don't find someone to f*****g get married to and have a child with!”

He had to be joking.