not?”
After a brief
hesitation, I heard him sigh. “Yeah, I’m with you.”
Chapter Seven
Connor
I finally got the call
from my lawyer that the paperwork was ready by the end of the day on Sunday.
Most lawyers wouldn’t work Sundays, but mine had been a friend of my family’s
for years. Naturally, I swore him to secrecy. Last thing I needed were my
parents asking questions. It wasn’t their business.
I knew Charlie had told
me that she didn’t want me to help her with a lot of things involving our new
arrangement, but I put them in writing in the document, just in case she
changed her mind. I was relieved that the things she turned down weren’t the
emotional support or the frequent updates so I would know what was going on. It
was all monetary stuff she didn’t want to claim from me, which unfortunately
only made me like her more. I certainly didn’t mind paying for any of it, but
something about her turning away money made her more attractive. She wasn’t one
to squeeze men for every cent, a breed of female I’d had more than enough
experience with in the past. It only made me want to do more for her. Plus, I
decided I’d probably pay for a lot of it before she ever got a chance, anyways.
No one ever said I couldn’t buy her gifts of appreciation. She would need a lot
of medical care and a whole maternity wardrobe. I decided she only turned it
down because she hadn’t the foresight to see how expensive those things really
were, though I knew the truth of the matter was that she was likely too proud
to ask for it. I would fix that problem for her.
At any rate, I didn’t
see her at all that day. Not knowing her phone number, I wanted to just go by
her apartment, but I decided that would have been too creepy. And surprisingly,
I wasn’t in a huge hurry to get everything signed. I wanted her to have the
time to look over everything to make sure it suited her, as well. Sure, the
whole deal was for me and my happiness, but I wanted her to be completely comfortable
with everything, too. She played a very important part in it.
The next day, class
began for the week. As usual, she arrived before the rest of the class began
pouring in. Although I had a tendency to ignore her (and everyone else), I
decided that today would be different. I had a lot to look forward to, and she
was the reason for it all.
“Good morning,
Charlie,” I said with a smile as she took her seat.
“Good morning,” she
replied, seemingly stunned that I’d bothered to say anything. I supposed it
would be a bit strange when I’d never actually acknowledged her in class,
before. “How are you?”
“I was wondering if you
had anything to do after class, today. My lawyer says the paperwork is ready,
and I need you to look over it to make sure it’s to your liking.”
“Well …” She looked
slightly uneasy. “I had another class. But if you really want to get it done
today, I can skip. I haven’t missed any of it yet. I somehow doubt one day will
kill me.”
“Are you sure? We can
wait until you’re done here for the day.”
“No. It’s totally
fine.”
I nodded. “Okay. Meet
me after class, then.”
While I watched her
pull her supplies out of her bag, I had to admit I felt guilty for keeping her
from her other class. I didn’t want to disrupt her life any more than
necessary. I certainly didn’t want her academic career to suffer in any way.
But she didn’t seem too worried about it. Just uncomfortable.
However, an admittedly
selfish part of me felt relief at her acceptance of the earlier time frame. I
simply couldn’t wait to get all the paperwork over with. I needed to move on to
a happier stage in my life. I needed to see this plan take shape. Plus, once I
saw her in person again, I was oddly aware of how much I wanted her to be a
part of my life, even for the relatively short time period required for
gestation.
As soon as the last of
the class had filtered in, I smiled at every single one
Learning to Kill: Stories