Page 10 of The Good Girl

I fought down my nervousness and reminded myself of who I was and what I was doing here. “I wanted to say thank you for the opportunity Mr. Harp.”

“We’ll see how much of an opportunity it is. You have a three month trial period to get through yet.” I was only a little deflated by his words, but that didn’t last long. There was no reason I couldn’t do this job.

I sat in the chair he offered by the wave of a hand and folded my arms in my lap. He didn’t say anything for the first ten seconds and it forced me to look up at him. Was his stare always this intense?

“Good, you’re with me. We have a lot to go over. I’ll tell you now that I’m a hard task master. I work hard and I’ll expect the same of you. More often than not you’ll be here late. You don’t have a family to get home to do you, or a significant other that has a monopoly on your time?”

“No, no one.” I cleared my throat and pulled myself back in the game. He seemed to be studying me but that could be because of how close we would be working together in the future. It made sense that he would want to know everything about the woman who would be just a few short feet away from him, seeing as how he’s so secretive.

Still, his silent stare as if he were searching for something made me uneasy and I was close to losing my nerve when he finally spoke.

“Here, I need you to look this over carefully and sign on the bottom line.” He held out a sheaf of papers before pulling them back. “My word, your position here is not contingent on whether or not you agree to this. One has nothing to do with the other? Are we clear?”

I nodded my head although was in the dark. What does that mean? I got it as soon as I saw what was written there. My hands and legs started shaking as I read and my mind went through a myriad of emotions. I was afraid I’d finally do that fainting thing any minute.

I couldn’t look up, couldn’t face him. “I’ll give you some time to look it over, take your time.” He left the room and I was able to breathe again. I drew air into my lungs and released in a methodical way to keep myself from hyperventilating.

This was a completely different kind of contract to the one I’d just signed downstairs. I bet Julia had never seen the likes of this one. I had a lot to think about and though he’d said to take my time, how much time did I have?

My job wasn’t threatened by my refusal to agree to the terms he’d listed here, but could I trust his word? Everything in me told me that I could. Now the only question left was did I want what he was offering. Spelt out in black and white was a proposal for me to become his mistress. I sat there in a daze for a long time just reading and rereading. There was to be total secrecy if I decided to go along with it.

He promised to provide for me during our relationship with a nice severance package if things fell apart in less than a year but more than six months. There was to be no contact in the work place unless initiated by him. I wasn’t allowed to discuss any aspects of our relationship, intimate or otherwise.

My time would belong solely to him without exception, barring emergency. In short, if I signed the papers in my hand I would be signing away a lot of my personal rights.

I read farther down the paper after I’d taken that in. It read like a Victorian missive between a man and the woman he’d chosen to be his kept woman. I was to be outfitted in a new wardrobe of his choice and basically be his sole property for the duration. I would be available to him anytime anywhere no question.

There was a lot of other stipulations listed on the very precise well thought out document, but most of it seemed more trivial than the more salient points. The most glaring one being that no matter what, I couldn’t say no. Could never turn him away for any reason. And always his needs and his wants came first.

My body was way ahead of me. The mere implications of what it all meant made my untried body go up in flames. There was only one catch. If he was looking for his usual bedmate he’d chosen the wrong girl.

Was I cut out for this? Sitting behind a desk daydreaming was one thing, but could the sheltered girl who’d had less experience than the average high-schooler fulfill the demands spelt out here?

He came back to the room what seemed like hours but in actuality couldn’t have been more than half an hour later. “Well?” He inclined his head at the papers in my hand.

“Um, I think there’s something you need to know. I’m a…” I swallowed hard and turned beet red. I couldn’t say it. But apparently I didn’t have to.

“I know.” How could he know my most intimate secrets? There’s no way. We didn’t know the same people, didn’t hang out in the same places, and I certainly never discussed my sex life with anyone here.

“You know what?” Was that my voice sounding like I’d swallowed a bloated frog?

“That you’re pure.” My mouth dropped open and a million questions went through my head. How was that even possible? It’s not like I’d filled out a box on the questionnaire when I applied for the job.

I got trapped by the look in his eyes and had to mentally shake myself out of it.

“This is not meant to influence your decision in anyway, I just have to.” He ran his fingers gently along my cheek. “So soft.” His hand disappeared as quickly as it appeared before he walked around behind his desk all business again.

My hand shook as I signed my name to the bottom line. I passed it back to him already having second thoughts. Not because I wasn’t melting at the thought of being the recipient of all that leashed hotness. But because I wasn’t sure I could live up to my end of the deal.

He rifled through the papers until he came to the last page where I’d signed and a red flush darkened his cheeks before he locked the contract away. “Good, let’s go.” I stood to follow him as he closed the middle button of his suit jacket. I didn’t ask go where. The contract I’d just signed said without question.

From the second I signed it was like I was transformed. Even before he touched me I was his. It was something in his presence, some kind of physical pull that made us lesser mortals feel they should be honored just to be touched by his shadow. That was overstating it a bit, but not much.

The rest of the day was spent, in a whirlwind of activity. I was transported in the back of his chauffeur driven car with him at my side from one location to the next. I’d never been to this side of town so I was in foreign territory and none of the people I met were known to me.

I was taken first to a salon that seemed not to be doing any business that day until I realized that Jonas had had the place closed down for the day. And so it was at the other places we visited. Whoa! Talk about the power of the dollar.

I was made to try on a whole catwalk worth of clothes. From business suits to lingerie and everything in between. The man thought of everything. I had no idea which ones were chosen since the heavily accented sales assistant didn’t ask for my opinion. All her questions were directed at the man himself who sat in a heavily brocaded arm chair taking in the show. Wordlessly of course.