Chapter 7
Chapter
Seven
XAVI
The echo of Enfield’s shoes on the stone tile floors fades as he walks away. He’s not stomping. He’s not running. Yet, I can hear how angry he is in those steps.
I stare at the door in shock. Of all the scenarios I imagined of this going south, this isn’t one of them.
There’s always the chance that we wouldn’t get along, or maybe there wouldn’t be any attraction.
I can handle all that. I get it. It’s possible, and it makes a lot of sense.
Just because we’re good on paper doesn’t mean we’re going to be good together in person.
It wouldn’t change the situation, of course. We’d make it work. That’s what we promised when we signed the contract.
But this? There’s no way I could have seen this coming.
Minutes tick by, and I feel like I’m frozen as I stare at the door where Enfield disappeared. Everything inside me is frozen. My feet won’t move. My brain is barely moving. Am I breathing? I’m not sure I’ve blinked since he left the room. I just stare, wondering…
Did that actually happen? Maybe he’s not here at all? Maybe this is my stress of meeting the man I’m supposed to spend my future with conjuring a worst-case scenario, so no matter what happens, I’m aware of what could have happened and clearly anything is better than this.
That’s it, right? I imagined it? Please tell me I imagined it!
I close my eyes to try to rein in the swirl of emotions in my chest. I’m not sure if I want to laugh or cry or… demand a redo. That’s not a thing, but it needs to be a thing. If this is my reality, a redo needs to be a thing.
What did I do in my life to make this happen?!
My eyes open just as Enfield steps back into the room. I don’t visibly startle, but I jump a little internally. My heart tries to lodge in my throat.
Our eyes lock, and once again, I can’t take a breath. Please, please make him… not what just left the room. Make it a mistake. An act? Perhaps he has a riotous sense of humor, and he’s having me on. Yeah…
“Where am I staying?” he asks.
His voice is calm, even if stiff. Can I even find my voice? It takes me several breaths before I can get words out.
“Upstairs,” I say barely above a whisper. “Third door on the right. Or wherever you want.”
If I’m expecting anything in return, I’m disappointed. Enfield gives me a single nod and leaves the room. Once more, I listen to his footfalls disappear. I missed when he returned to the room. My brain was swirling too loudly to hear.
Now that he’s gone and I likely won’t see him again, I turn on my heel and try to catch my breath. Tears spring to my eyes because this can’t be happening. This can’t be the life I’ve been given. What did I do to deserve this?!
Swallowing my emotions, I push open the doors and step into the yard. Unsure what else to do, I call my mother. I don’t know why, but a part of me is filled with dread at what she’s going to tell me.
“Hi, baby. Is your man almost there?” she greets. I can hear the smile in her voice.
My mother isn’t devious. She’s kind and thoughtful and one of my biggest, loudest supporters. I can’t imagine she somehow did this intentionally.
I lick my lips. “He’s here,” I say. I must not keep my tone even because my mother knows immediately that something is up.
“What’s wrong? What happened?”
“He’s… straight. I know I said that I didn’t care about anything other than the fact that my future partner be a man, but he needs to at least be bisexual, Mom.”
My mother doesn’t answer. I can’t tell if that’s a good thing. “What do you mean he’s straight?” she asks.
“I mean, he lost his shit when he realized I was a man.”
“Did he hurt you?” There’s a note of worry and anger in her voice.
I sigh. “No. He didn’t come near me at all. But I don’t understand why you chose this guy.”
Another moment passes without my mother’s answer. “Baby, let me call you back,” Mom says, voice clipped. “Give me a minute, and I’ll see if I can find some answers. Okay?”
Nodding, I close my eyes. “Yeah. Thanks.”
“I’ll call you back.” I nod as she hangs up.
I’m at least mostly convinced that she didn’t do this on purpose.
While I wait for her call, I pace the yard.
I’m at the end of the patio. Not near the pool or Shapiro’s outdoor room.
I’m close to the front of the house, but there are tall shrubs blocking my view of the driveway. I’m completely secluded back here.
It takes my mother far too long to call back, and I get more and more anxious. I’m nearly trembling when she calls.
My mother doesn’t sound happy. “I called Betty, Enfield’s mother. She says that he had an affair with the Duke of England. That suggests he’s lying.”
I shake my head. “That’s seriously what we’re going on?” I ask, my voice feeling high and horrified. “A stupid affair?”
“She said that he didn’t read the contract before he signed it. Apparently, he didn’t read it at all during the past week. She said that he signed it. You both did.”
My chest heaves as I struggle to keep myself together. “You’re saying that I’m stuck in this situation? That’s not fair, Mom! I read the contract. There was nothing in there that stated I was marrying an irate straight man who didn’t know he was betrothing himself to a guy.”
“I know, baby,” she says. “I don’t… I’ll talk to your father.”
In my gut, I know that it’s not going to matter. She can talk to whomever she wants, but Betty is right. The contract is signed. By both of us. It’s gone to lawyers and trusts and company boards or some shit.
“I’ll talk to your father,” Mom confirms. “I’ll call you later, baby. I love you.”
“Love you too,” I say and drop my phone into the grass. What do I do? This isn’t real! It can’t be.
Crouching down, I pick up the phone to call Sparrow. “Hey,” he greets. “How’s the hubby-to-be?”
I’m not sure how to answer. I’m not sure which words to choose. I don’t think I can keep my voice neutral when I want to scream and cry and demand a different outcome.
“What happened, Xavi?” Sparrow asks when I don’t answer right away.
I close my eyes, trying to keep my tears from falling. “He’s here. He’s pissed. He didn’t know he signed a contract to marry a guy, and he’s straight.”
“Wait—what?”
I nod, knowing that he can’t see me. This time when I close my eyes, I don’t stop the errant tears from falling. “According to my mom, who just spoke to his mother, he had an affair with a duke or something, and apparently that makes him gay now in her eyes.”
“I—is the contract ambiguous on gender? I’m confused.”
“I don’t know. I don’t think so.” My brain is all over the place so I can’t think clearly. “No. There’s an entire section on kids and how we’ll have them. It’s spelled out that we’ll have them through surrogacy. Two—one of each of our genetics. Not surrogacy because I’m watching my figure.”
Sparrow snorts.
“Yes. The entire contract uses he/him pronouns. There’s not a she/her anywhere in sight.”
“So he didn’t read it.”
“That’s what his mother says. He didn’t read it before signing, and apparently he didn’t read it the entire week before coming here.”
“So he’s pissed.”
“Wouldn’t you be? If you came into the situation and you’re suddenly forced to spend your life with a woman? I’d be pissed.”
“Neither of us would be in that situation because we’d both have read the contract.”
I huff and wipe my eyes and cheeks. “It wasn’t supposed to happen like this,” I lament.
“He’s supposed to come in and we’d lock eyes.
There’d be a little shyness, maybe. But you know, attraction.
We’d awkwardly hug and shake hands at the same time because we don’t know what to do.
Then we’d sit and talk, and conversation would come easily.
We’d talk until it’s late but didn’t realize it got late, and he’d walk me upstairs, where he’d kiss me chastely goodnight. This isn’t supposed to happen.”
“He didn’t get your memo.”
“What am I supposed to do, Sparrow? I’m so….”
“Disappointed?” he supplies, and our conversation from a couple weeks ago echoes in my head. Frustration fills my chest, and I want to scream at someone. At Karma, maybe. What did I do to deserve this?!
“Yes,” I mutter.
“Where is he now?”
“I don’t know. Upstairs, I guess.”
“Tell me what happened.”
I give him a play-by-play as best I can, though I was too stunned to remember every detail right this second.
“He seriously screamed at you?” Sparrow demands.
“No. Not at me. Not even toward me. Just… he hollered at the situation, and he definitely screamed at who I’m presuming is his mother when he called them.
” Did he address the person he called? “The second call was someone named Nash. I don’t know what that was about, but Enfield stopped yelling and instead left the room. ”
“Can you get out of it? There must be some protections built in for situations like this, right?”
I shake my head. “No. Not unless one of us gets violent toward the other person or something.”
“How about if you have an affair under contract? What then?”
I laugh. “Yeah? Who am I going to have an affair with?”
“I’m right down the road, cherub,” Sparrow teases.
I laugh again. It feels good, and yet brings a fresh wave of tears to my eyes. “I’m not doing that.”
“I think one of my brothers will take one for the team. Or one of my cousins. Honestly, your options are pretty wide open.”
I close my eyes, a smile still lingering, but as I think about it, no hope grows. “I don’t think so.”
“You’re seriously supposed to remain married or engaged when someone is cheating on you? What the fuck?”
Swallowing, I shake my head. “I don’t know, Sparrow. I… can’t do that. I’m not that person.”
He sighs. “What do you need, Xavi? Anything? Want to come over?”
I glance at the house and up to the second floor. There’s a light on in the window. The room I told him was his. The one right across from mine. “I don’t know,” I answer. “I don’t know what to do right now. My mom is going to talk to my dad.”
“You don’t sound hopeful about that outcome.”
“I’m not. Contracts are binding.”
“What’s your plan?”
“I don’t have one,” I murmur and close my eyes again. “Maybe he needs some time to cool down, and then we’ll talk and… everything will be okay?”
Sparrow doesn’t answer. We both know that I’m going to be disappointed. Again. This is the beginning of a lifetime of disappointment.