Chapter 6 Part 6

"Not forever," Wanda continued quickly, afraid of misunderstanding Bryant. She swallowed hard.

"Why?" asked Bryant with a furrowed brow, his pride as a man slightly touched by Wanda's words about not forever. Is he so bad that he can't be a life partner forever? He has become sensitive about marriage since Selena's escape.

"That we have to get married? It's safer for me, especially since I want to ask for something..." Wanda's sentence was interrupted by Bryant, who confused him.

"Wait," Bryant said as he unbuttoned his jacket so he could sit more comfortably and less cramped.

"W-what's wrong?" Wanda asked hesitantly, she was getting nervous, "should we better decide that I study abroad?"

"No, it's not like that," Bryant massaged his forehead with closed eyes, "why not forever?"

At that moment Wanda took a deep breath, she thought there was a big problem, but it wasn't, "because we don't like each other and the wedding I've been dreaming about all this time wasn't like this.

"What do you mean, like this?" asked Bryant before taking a sip of his coffee to cover up the strange thing that was going through his heart.

"Married without a foundation of love."

Okay, short answer and a little trashy, but Bryant can understand. Women and their feelings. That's reason enough. There is no man in the world who can understand a woman and her feelings.

"Of course. Since our agreement is the same, we will review the terms proposed by each party," Bryant explained, pointing to the envelope in Wanda's hand.

"Then I will also give you the terms that I have thought of as best I can,"Wanda said as she took an envelope out of her pocket and handed it to Bryant. The two of them were busy reading the proposed terms before Wanda spoke. Hm."

"What is this?"she asked. She looked up from the paper she was reading, her forehead furrowed, one eyebrow raised.

"Can I cross out some of the terms I don't think fit?"asked Wanda, showing the pen in her hand.

"Go ahead. I will do the same and then we will discuss it again," Bryant concluded.

They were both busy reading and correcting and even adding some provisions according to each of them. No talking at all. Just the sound of typing on the keyboard and guests ordering food in the background, and it's not too noisy.

"I'm done," Wanda said as she put down the pen and paper, which was a bit full of corrections here and there.

"Wait a minute, there's one more thing I need to clear up before I'm done," Bryant said without looking up at all, just like his hand that was still adding information.

"Then I'll excuse myself to the bathroom for a moment," Wanda said quickly. Actually, that's the only reason. She doesn't really go to the bathroom because she doesn't really like public restrooms. She prefers to wait until she gets home.

Wanda went to the cashier to pay her bill. She couldn't let Bryant pay her bill the first time, she had to pay. Wanda is an independent woman. Yes, that's how she is.

When she mentioned her table number, Ani, the cashier at the BlackBean Cafe, looked around and then went into a room before leaving, looking at Wanda with a reluctant look, "Miss Wanda, you don't have to pay, the manager said the husband took care of it, miss."

"Who? The person sitting with me?" asked Wanda in disbelief, "That's impossible, Ms. Ani. The problem is that she didn't even get up to pay."

"I don't know, Ms. Wanda, the manager said it can't be charged. If you come to pay, I have to say that your husband paid."

"I'll pay anyway, ma'am,"Wanda said, holding out her debit card.

"Don't, ma'am, I'll get mad later," Ani refused. She didn't accept Wanda's debit card as she alternately looked at Bryant and the door. Just then, the door opened and a man who looked about Bryant's age appeared, "You don't have to pay, ma'am. Bryant has already ordered that he will pay. His wife can't pay."

"I will pay anyway," Wanda said firmly.

"I will pay," Bryant's voice suddenly appeared from behind Wanda's back, causing Wanda to immediately turn around and look at Bryant.

"Don't hurt my pride, I will pay. We are husband and wife, in case you forgot," Bryant whispered directly into Wanda's ear.

"Okay then," Wanda agreed. She followed Bryant back to their table.

Bryant immediately cleared his throat and handed Wanda's paper back to her, then reached for her own.

"I want you to live with me in the same house, and our marriage will be legally registered. Those are the only two things our agreement cannot fix,"Bryant said, looking at the changes on his papers.

"As for the issue of not having a room, not cooking food, and everything else, I have no problem with that."

"It's good if you agree that we can live our own lives and not worry about each other. But," Wanda stopped her sentence and read her most important terms again,"I hope you will agree to accompany me and to receive and attend any party of the wedding to which we have both been invited. Wanda pointed to her terms, which Bryant circled in large numbers.

"Not that I disagree, I just want a more detailed explanation,"Bryant replied.

"Why do we have to go to all the weddings we are invited to? Then why should I do all the romantic things you want?"

Wanda swallowed hard again before looking at Bryant seriously, "Let's just say we are even. According to the terms you wrote, you also asked me to accompany you to office-related events and asked me to pretend to be a good wife." Good for you in everyone's eyes.

Bryant nodded his head in agreement. "Okay, let's say we're even."

"What about the length of the contract? When will we terminate this agreement?" asked Wanda when she saw the time stipulation she had left blank herself, as she remembered Bryant had left that blank as well.

"We will separate when we are both out of the news, so our divorce will also be done quietly," Bryant said.

"When will we both start all this? And when will the agreement be signed?" asked Wanda, "I think we both need more concrete proof that is in black and white.

Bryant used the clean white space on the back of their agreement and rewrote their discussion on it. "Sign here for now, this proves that this document has been approved. Tomorrow I will pick you up to move into my house and sign the official document that has been printed.

_"All right," Wanda nodded her head. Wanda immediately put all her things into her bag. She had the feeling that she couldn't continue working on her manuscript because she would have to pack soon. According to their agreement, she would move tomorrow.

Wanda got up, followed by Bryant, and they walked out of the cafe with Bryant in front of them. Something strange happened to Bryant who didn't open the door. This confused Wanda. Wanda immediately walked in front of Bryant and asked, "Why don't you come out?"

Bryant lifted his chin and pointed at the door, indicating that it should be opened for him. The incident that had just happened felt familiar to Wanda. Apparently, Wanda had experienced this incident before. It didn't take him long to remember that Bryant had once acted like this to get Tony to open the door for him. No way!

Wanda showed an annoyed expression, then opened the door for herself, then closed it tightly, leaving Bryant, who was still in the cafe, staring at her in confusion.

Wanda called from outside, "I'm not your assistant, so you have to open the door yourself.

***

Wanda pushed her suitcase into Bryant's house after the man opened the door. Wanda came in and looked at the whole house, which was very neat and simple, there wasn't much furniture in it, just basic furniture.

Bryant closed the door while staring at Wanda's luggage, which was just one big suitcase that was still too small for Bryant to move for an indefinite amount of time. "That small?" Bryant asked as he walked up the stairs ahead of Wanda.

"My room is upstairs?" Wanda asked as she lifted her head to look at Bryant, who was already a bit far and tall from his current position. The man rested his hips on the railing.

"Yes, your room is upstairs," Bryant replied, looking at Wanda.

"Would you like me to help you carry your suitcase up?"

"Sure, if you don't mind," Wanda replied quickly. He wasn't sure if he could carry such a large suitcase up the circular staircase, which was quite high, since the distance between the lower and upper floors was quite far.

Bryant lifted Wanda's suitcase with ease. Even he was surprised that Wanda's suitcase was much lighter than he had expected.

"What have you brought? Are you all here?"Enough, enough and as needed," Wanda replied. She followed Bryant's footsteps as they reached the top floor. Wanda took the handle of her suitcase to be pushed to the room in the left hallway. Wanda was amazed by Bryant's upstairs, really spacious and clean.

On the top floor, there were two hallways, one to the right and one to the left, while beyond the last step was a rather large room with a long white sofa and a table. The most beautiful thing was the scenery outside, which could be seen right away because the walls of the room were made of glass and only covered by a thin layer of white and gray curtains.

Wanda could clearly see the cloudy sky outside and the leaves of the trees blowing in the wind. Really beautiful! Besides, the spacious balcony, which is not decorated with anything, is really plain and simple.

Wanda has found her favorite place to write. She can already see herself moving the table out onto the balcony every morning to write or just have a cup of tea or coffee.

"Over here," Bryant says through the open door. Only his head was visible.

Wanda rushed over and looked at her room, which was completely white like any other room. What a dream room, especially those thin white curtains! God, Wanda was in love with this room!

"If you need any furniture, let me know right away. I'll have Tony order it for you," Bryant said quickly as he looked around Wanda's room.

"Actually, I already know what I need right now," Wanda replied immediately.

"What?"

"I need a portable table that can be raised and lowered, preferably with wheels on all four legs," Wanda said quickly.

"Especially?"

"That's all I need," Wanda replied, smiling at Bryant.

Bryant walked out and stopped at Wanda's bedroom door.

"Let me know what else you need. And there's something extra I should tell you about. Every day there will be a mother who will help with the laundry and tidying up the house. There is also a gentleman who takes care of the gardens and the swimming pool. As for food, each of us will take care of it. Our clothes should also be put in the same place so they don't get suspicious. As for the room problem, I've asked them not to clean the upstairs anymore, only the downstairs.

Wanda nodded her head. "Where are your parents?" Wanda asked, looking around, trying to find a room that Bryant's parents might have occupied.

"We live apart," Bryant answered curtly with a shrug, "what about you? Do you have permission from your parents?"Both my parents are dead and there are no other relatives. Our family is too small and simple.

Bryant just nodded his head, "Disadvantages of being an only child."

"Yes."

"Oh, one more thing, it's better if we start getting used to our nicknames. Starting with affectionate ones, because I consider the ladies and gentlemen who work in this house to be my own family. I don't want them to get confused."

"What should I call you?"she asked.

"Me - you, and just call me Nathan to feel more familiar, because my friends never call me by that name, and neither do my parents."

"Okay, then you can call me-"

"I'll call you by your name, if it's urgent I'll call you affectionately,"Bryant interjected.