Chapter 7 THE CONTRACT

It's been a week now and no sign of Jay, so it dawned on Bella that he was never coming for her; or so she thought. To her assumption, it was probably beneath his personality to go after a little girl for a mere suit jacket he could easily replace, so she went about her activities as normally as possible.

It was a sunny Wednesday in February and she was just returning home.

Getting to the house, she caught sight of cars parked outside and some gentlemen on black suits. At first she gulped, then waved the thought aside as these could just be men here to see her step dad but then the orange Ferrari which was the only different color caught her eyes. Bella found herself wondering where she had seen that car and then assumed it was probably in a movie or something. So she went.

As soon as she stepped inside, she could suddenly feel the familiar scent and chill in her guts, then glancing at the sitting room, she met her doom. Yes, he was here and worse still he was with her parents. He looked like some sort of Greek god but she knew, now was definitely not time to think gods and men, she needed to maneuver herself into her room, get a suicide note ready and die as fast as she could. She was in the action of sneaking inside when her mom called called to her,

"Welcome back Bella. Care to join us?" and then she knew she was doomed and done for.

"Oh, Hi mom," she said with a crooked voice and smile. She walked to the sitting area, "Hi dad,"

She pretended not to see the guest and made her stony face.

"Bella this is Mr Jay Martins, I believe you guys have met right? " her step dad said.

She could then notice Mickey sitting at the far end smirking, if only mother Gaia could command the earth to swallow her.

"Oh yes, we have met," his voice pierced her soul.

"Mr Jay here says you have something of his of which you failed to return, and it's been quite a long time. Could you go bring us that object Bella? " her stony hearted mother said. She did not miss the wicked glint of triumph in his eyes,

"Oh you wicked.. wicked man. You just wait when I get through this,' she thought as she slowly went to retrieve the jacket from her closet. Bella knew that this was definitely not a good way to present the jacket, she tried to soften the rumples and hide the damages but then it seemed like fate was against her and everything else was combating her fora spider had already woven its thick cobwebs around it, in the process of trying to remove them, the suit got a dart tint, she knew she was doomed. Bella shamefully went down with the jacket, at the sight of it, her parents gasped, Mikey chuckled and Bella shrunk more meters into the ground. Then mother tossed her a piece of paper, it was a receipt for the suit, it read '3 million dollars.'

She could feel eyes boring into her soul and that's when her mom started talking.

"Well Mr Jay, just as discussed, the contract is for six months I presume," he nods and added,

"Six months depending on if she works enough for the suit jacket."

"Well young lady, got upstairs, packed up. You'll be living with Mr Jay for the next six months working till you offset your bill." her mother declares.

This sounded like a death sentence and she needed to wriggle out of it so she protests,

"But mom, what about school?" her mom might have lashed out but Mx Jay took over,

'' Arrangements would be made for schooling. But after I get your signature on the contract not to try to run away." she might have fainted or refused.

But then she thought it was all her fault, she could have been upright with her mother the day she asked but since she wanted to play boss, now she would face the consequences. And there she was, signing away her freedom for the next six months with God knows who. But one thing she knew, this person was no regular person to argue with seeing the power he possessed already. And so, she signed the contract.