Contractual Obligations

I woke up alone in the living room.

Blearily, I sat up, my back aching from the cheap air mattress. Sebastian was nowhere to be found. The rental car was gone too.

I groaned. If I hadn’t sold my books, I would only have the limited money I received from Sebastian or my father. My father hoarded money like a madman, and he’d even grumbled when he bought this house, despite him being the one to offer.

This was one of the times I was glad I had my own money. At least when Sebastian disappeared, I had my own income to be able to fend for myself beyond the pennies I got from my family.

We didn’t even have food in the house.

He said the office wasn’t open, but with his absence, I wondered if he wound up finding a place to work from. Maybe he had to get things ready for the office to open himself. I wasn’t sure what he did in his day-to-day but it seemed like there was always something to do.

It took me forever to get up from the half-deflated, uncomfortable mattress. I desperately needed caffeine and to write. I grabbed my backpack and stuffed my laptop in it. I checked to see if there was a coffee shop within walking distance I could go, and luckily, there was one about a mile away.

I left the house, not bothering to tell Sebastian where I was going because if he was working, he wouldn’t be back until late anyway.

For a Thursday morning, the place was packed. I secured a table in the back. But as soon as I opened my laptop, my cell phone rang.

“Hello?” I answered, feeling frustrated that I hadn’t even gotten one word written.

“Where are you?” Sebastian asked, his voice tense. I internally cursed.

“I’m just on a walk.”

“It doesn’t sound like a walk.”

I rubbed a tired hand over my face. “I’m getting coffee. I figured you were at work.”

“I was going to be back soon, so you wouldn’t have been without a car long. Heather drove my car in. She left with mine a few days before we moved.”

I rolled my eyes, glad I was on the phone. Of course he’d have Heather fucking drive down here, and she’d be glad to do it.

And my car was probably sold. I hated that I didn’t know it’s fate.

Having Heather on top of everything else was too much. Hot tears blurred my vision.

“You can’t exactly blame me for leaving. There’s no food and you didn’t tell me when you would be home.”

Sebastian was silent for a moment.

“Come back soon. Didn’t you order mattresses yesterday?”

“They should be delivered later.”

“All the more reason for you to be here.”

“I’ll be back in time to get them,” I said, and then hung up the call.

I threw my phone on the table. If Heather was at the house, I would be happy to stay at the coffee shop. I’d rather walk straight into my own execution than walk in on them doing anything.

An hour later, as I finished my coffee, I channeled my frustration into a particularly gruesome scene.

I felt better once I packed up. I made sure my laptop wasn’t in sight as I walked back. It took twenty minutes, and in the late summer heat, I was sweating by the time I arrived.

Sebastian had made me mad, so I couldn’t care less in what state he saw me. But when I walked in and saw Heather in the living room folding the new blankets Sebastian and I had bought, rage clouded my mind.

She probably didn’t deserve my ire. She was nice enough to me, and she was a good assistant.

I always imagined they could have a sweet office romance. She was everything I wasn’t. She came into his life organically; I was forced on him. She worked with Sebastian, spending more time with him than I ever could doing a job that he obviously valued. Heather seemed smart and competent. I had to play the airhead rich girl who loved posting about myself on social media.

And every time I saw her, I thought of Jessie’s words on my honeymoon: Sebastian could have someone else, someone he loved and trusted. Someone he connected to.

If it was anyone, it would be her.

Heather looked up when I opened the door, and her eyes widened for a fraction of a second when she saw me sweating. I knew there was a high chance that she’d report back on how I looked.

“Um, hi,” Heather said in a soft voice.

“Hi,” I replied. “I didn’t know you would be coming into town today.”

“Sebastian wanted me to drive his car here. Then I fly back and bring yours.”

“Mine?” I asked. “I thought my car was sold?”

“Sebastian said you liked your car,” Heather said slowly, sounding confused. “Why would you sell it?”

“I do love my car,” I rushed to say, but trailed off. I couldn’t exactly say that I figured my attachment to the car wouldn’t be considered. If my life was perfect, I’d get everything I wanted. “Thank you. Are you sure you can do it? I can’t imagine driving across the country twice.”

Heather shrugged. “I’m getting mileage pay and free stays at nice hotels. Sebastian also threw in some company-paid spa time at the hotels. It’s fine.”

I pursed my lips. While I was happy to get my car back, I wasn’t excited to hear how my husband had no problems enticing his assistant to drive across the country.

“Okay,” I said. “But if it is too much, I can fly back and do it.”

“No,” Heather said firmly. “Sebastian would kill me if I let his precious wife spend two days driving.” Her voice was hard, her mouth set into a frown. Was she . . . bitter? “You need to get settled in anyways. It really is fine.”

As much as I’d love to know why she sounded angry that I was his wife, the last thing I needed was to get into a fight with her. I knew which side Sebastian would take.

“Okay,” I told her. “Thank you for being willing to do it.”

“Lily?” Sebastian asked, coming around the corner. He was wearing a T-shirt and jeans instead of his usual dress shirt. Of course he would dress down when Heather was here. “You’re back.”

“I am,” I said.

“We need to move the extra bedroom set into the guest room.”

I blinked, confused. But then I remembered that no one knew Sebastian and I slept in different rooms. To everyone else, we were a real couple. Why would we sleep apart if it was real?

I figured Heather had known, though. How could she not when she was sleeping with him?

“Uh, sure,” I said. I gently set my bag on the floor, hoping Heather didn’t try to put my things away.

Sebastian gestured to the heavy wooden pieces leaning against the wall, and I walked to one end to help lift it.

“Wait!” Heather said, looking scandalized. “You’re making her lift it? All the way up the stairs? I thought you would hire movers! Don’t—”

“She insists she can do it.”

Heather looked at me questioningly.

“It’s fine,” I replied.

“But . . . movers could—”

“No need to hire movers for this,” I said. “We got it.”

Heather continued to look nervous, up until Sebastian asked her to open the door to the guest room. It was an exercise in teamwork for both of us to maneuver it up the stairs, but we managed it.

“Watch your toes!” she called from the doorway as Sebastian and I gingerly set the heavy piece down. My muscles screamed and Sebastian looked as winded as I felt.

The bed itself was only two pieces, and a frame keeping it together. Luckily, the second piece was much easier to move.

“It’s not going to be able to hold a box spring and mattress,” Sebastian said. “I hope you know how to set this up.”

“I already thought of that,” I explained. “A platform bed will work.”

“A what?”

“A metal bed frame that takes the place of a traditional box spring. It’s way smaller and folds down.”

Sebastian raised his eyebrows. “It’s sounds like you have this figured out.”

“It’s a pretty bed frame, but not practical. Sometimes we have to make it work.”

“Yeah, sometimes you do.” The words were quiet, almost as if I wasn’t meant to hear them. I wanted to ask what he meant, but he strode from the room before I could.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Heather watching me with a confused expression. I didn’t want to dwell on it, but wondered what she would ask Sebastian when I was gone.

I wanted to ask what plans they had tonight. Was he taking her out to see the city? Was she about to get the food tour I couldn’t have on my stupid, restrictive diet?

I shook the thought out of my head. Getting an answer would only make me mad, and I had no room for more anger.

Sebastian left to drop Heather off at the airport, leaving me the rental car in case I needed it.

I kept my mind off of him by trying to find a new bedframe in town. As easy as it would be to sleep with the mattress on the ground, I wanted my room to feel put together. I wound up finding a used one on Craigslist and was able to meet up with the person immediately.

Thankfully, the person didn’t recognize me and was even nice enough to help me shove the thing into the car. I was incredibly grateful to them. Even though I worked out, hauling that bed frame up the stairs had me exhausted.

The Nashville heat didn’t help. When I returned to the house, I felt it hit me the moment I climbed out of the car. The fiery, oppressive weather made getting the metal frame into the house the last thing I wanted to do.

As I worked up the energy to get my task done, I noticed our only neighbor was outside. Her curly blonde hair glowed in the sun. When she saw me, she smiled widely and waved, as if she was excited to see me.

Maybe she thought I was someone else.

Still, I waved back. People in Nashville were much friendlier than I was used to.

“Do you need help?” she called over to me.

“It’s okay,” I called back. “I’ve got it. Thank you, though!”

Her kindness was almost too much. I figured I needed to get inside before I either passed out from the exertion or told her my entire life story.

She seemed like such a sweet girl. Maybe if I wasn’t only here for a year I could get to know her better.

After getting the platform bed inside, I set it up while waiting on the mattresses to arrive.

Once the delivery drivers came and went, I worked on other things, desperate to keep my mind off Sebastian’s whereabouts.

By the time he was back, my room was set up, and I had just finished his room. When his car pulled into the driveway, I had just opened my laptop to work on my manuscript.

The front door opening was enough to make me slam the laptop shut as if I were watching porn. I couldn’t wait until I had a desk in my room so I could shut and lock the door while I wrote.

“You’re back,” I said. “You must have been busy.”

“Heather had some questions about the move, and there was a lot of traffic.”

“The mattresses are here, and your bed is set up.” I got up off the floor. “You or I can look at a couch tomorrow.”

“I start going back into the office tomorrow to set things up.”

My heart sunk at the words. Once he was back at the office full time, I would barely see him. It wasn’t as if things were perfect now, but I couldn’t stop thinking about him shopping with me at Target.

But it was going to end. Sebastian didn’t even take weekends off.

It felt weird to leave it like this. The first day we moved was peaceful in a way I didn’t expect, but it seemed like we were slipping back into old habits.

Which sucked, considering I’d liked shopping with him.

I could only nod before going into my own room, shutting and locking the door behind me. I did my nightly ritual, which was me removing my makeup, brushing my teeth, and making an Instagram post.

By the time I woke the next day, things would be back to normal between us. Except now, I didn’t have Jessie to run to when things got hard.

I was alone, and I had no idea how I was not only going to survive this year, but escape at the end of it.

Photo: a pile of suitcases and an air mattress.

LilyRMiller: Wow, moving is hard work! But look at our new little home. It’s SOOO cute. Can’t wait to make so many great memories here! *heart emoji*

NinteyNinePercnter: I find it hard to believe with all that MONEY you have that you can’t afford movers.

SebandLily4ever: Leave them alone!!! They’re just like us!

TwoLives: No pic of her, I bet she’s pargenant.