Love Contract

Daniel’s POV: "Set up a meeting with McCoy at 2, and for the last time get me the files for the Josh Henderson case, or else you won't have a firm to work in anymore," I said, my frustration seeping into my voice, as I stared at my incompetent secretary. Her eyes widened, and she stammered, "I'm sorry, sir. I'll get right on it." "Then why are you still here?" I retorted, my impatience showing. "I'm so sorry, sir," she apologized before turning on her heels and hastily leaving the room. I hissed, feeling my temper rise. I shifted my attention back to my laptop, determined to focus on the case at hand. Almost immediately, a knock echoed through the room, interrupting my concentration. "Beatrice, it's like you're begging to get fired," I muttered, frustration lacing my words as I placed my hand on my laptop and glanced toward the door. However, instead of my incompetent secretary, it was my mother who stood there. "Mother, what are you doing here? I thought we agreed to have dinner tomorrow night," I said, surprise coloring my tone, as she walked toward me and halted right in front of my desk. "I know, but there's something important we need to discuss" she said, her voice carrying a hint of urgency. "If it's about the McCoy case, Mother, I'm going to handle it. I've already--" "It's not about the McCoy case," she interrupted, her tone suggesting a deeper concern. I already knew where she was going with this, and I didn't want to have that talk with her again. I stood up abruptly, grabbing my coat. "Mother, I'm really busy," I said, my tone curt, as I started to walk away. "I don't think I have the time. We agreed to meet tomorrow." "Daniel," she screamed, causing me to pause in my tracks. I sighed. I turned back to face her. "Yes, Mother?" "Daniel, we have talked about this,", her eyes searching mine. "And yet, here you are again, Mother," I replied wearily. "Is that any way to speak to your mother, Daniel?" she reproached. I sighed again, trying to rein in my emotions. "I'm sorry, Mother. What can I do for you?" I asked, turning back to face her. "What you can do for me is tell me you've actually been doing something since we last talked,’. "What do you want me to do? Fall in love with the first girl I see?" I retorted with my hands in the air, my annoyance thinly veiled. I turned away, making a move toward the door. "What I want you to do is get an heir for our family business,". I stopped again. I took a deep breath in and slowly let it out. "Mother, we've talked about this. I haven't found anyone. Once I do, I'll let you know," I said, I tried to hide my annoyance but I was sure it was still evident in my voice. I turned back and made another attempt to exit the room. "Well, you better get one fast because if you don't, I'll have you removed as managing partner," she said, her words striking me like a blow, causing me to freeze in my tracks. I turned back to face her. "What are you talking about? You can't do that." She began walking toward me slowly. "Oh, I can. And if you don't get this done soon, I will." She stopped right in front of me, reached into her purse, retrieved a piece of paper, and handed it to me. I collected it from her. "What is this?" I asked, my voice betraying my confusion and apprehension. "It's a piece of paper that says I can. And trust me, I will if you don't start taking this seriously," she warned, her gaze unwavering, before making her way to the door. I stared after her as she left, my mind racing with a whirlwind of thoughts, and then refocused my attention on the paper in my hand. "Beatrice!’, I screamed out. My secretary rushed into my office. "Yes, sir?" "Tell Andre to get the car ready." I went downstairs where I met my driver. I told him to drive me to the bar so I could get a drink because I didn’t want to have to think about this s**t with my mother, at least not sober. I pulled out the piece of paper from my pocket and glanced through it again. Apparently, since my father’s death she now also had a huge share of the company, just as much as mine. If she could get a few more and put the role of managing director to a vote, whoever she supports would have a huge chance of winning. s**t! Why was she doing all this? Going through all this stress. For what? Just so I could get married. I already had a lot of s**t to deal with, I didn’t need a woman in my life adding more to that. The mere idea of being stuck to one person for the rest of my life irritated me. My way of sleeping with them once and never calling them again worked better for me. I placed my glass on the table then slammed my fist on it too. I could literally feel that there were people staring at me but I didn’t give a damn. I needed a way to end this and I needed a way to end it fast, and that was when it clicked to me. A way to end all of this rubbish; I needed to fake a relationship. I didn’t need to get into a relationship, all I needed was to convince my mother I was in one. At least long enough until I could devise a plan to end this whole thing. This could actually work. All I needed to do was find someone I could pay to act like they were in a relationship with me so I could convince my mother. I needed to get back to my office and think about how I could make this happen. I was about to leave, holding my coat, when someone bumped into me from behind and spilled her drinks on me. “What the hell?!” “I’m so so sorry, I didn’t see you there”, she said quickly. “Oh, you didn’t see me there? Well that makes everything better. I mean, my suit’s even beginning to get a bit dry” I said tapping the part of my body where she just spilled drinks on. “I’m sorry mister. I’ll go get a napkin”, she said turning around and grabbing some wipes from the table. “Why don’t you try using your eyes next time, huh”. “Excuse me?” “You heard me. I said use your eyes next time and also your sorry doesn’t make anything better becau-“, I said but she cut in before I could finish. “For your information. You were the one that wasn’t looking before you got up in the first place”, she said pointing straight to my face. “And I only apologized to your sorry ass because I thought you deserved one but apparently you don’t. So why don’t you get your smug face and smug suit out of my way”, she said, storming off before I even got the chance to get a word in. I stood there, furious and embarrassed as she walked out. Confusion and anger battled within me as I struggled to comprehend her outburst, but amidst the chaos and piercing gazes of onlookers, my attention was unexpectedly drawn to a special detail that stood out- her hair.