My Contract Love Story

"Ashleigh!" the voice shrieked and she jolted out of her seat to see James laughing his head off. She hit him repeatedly as she tried to still her heart and after a while he started apologizing when her hits became more painful.

"You went missing after that call from the secretary so I came to find you" he said, sitting on the chair which she finished dusting.

"I'm sorry James, I just have a lot on my mind right now" she muttered as she wiped the desk down with a wet rag.

"Why? What was the meeting about? You just left with the hot secretary and didn't give us the tea after" he complained and Ashleigh stopped what she was doing. She spun to face in him surprise.

"Wait.... James!!" She exclaimed as James scratched his hair sheepishly.

"Well... he looks fine but he's always out of it anytime I see him" he admitted and Ashleigh laughed loudly.

She had only a few interactions with Mr. Turner and they were very polite and short. Now that she is married to his boss, she may interact with him more, as for the charm she didn't see what made him attractive. He was rather a lanky guy with a rather timid personality; that may also be due to being an assistant to such a man, poor kid.

"I'm not seeing it but if you like him then I'm not one to judge" she raised her hands in the air, smiling as she returned to her work. James leaned back in the chair watching her closely, she skilfully avoided his question and focused on him instead.

"You still are yet to answer my question Ashleigh, why did Mr. Turner call you out of lunch?" He repeated, making her still again. She leaned on the table, facing him squarely.

"He just called me to check in on some things for the executive lounge" she lied, and he nodded convinced.

"Lucky you, you had the opportunity to visit that lounge. If only I had an opportunity to work there, I'd be one step closer to achieving my goals " he sighed looking at the ceiling dreamily, Ashleigh snorted in response.

That executive lounge was the bane of her existence from today onwards.

"It's not all that James" she said, bringing him out of his reverie to give her a dumb look.

"Girl stop playing like that, you know that not just anyone is assigned there. The CEO is the one who personally selects the person assigned to clean because he's very particular about his workspace and workshop" he stated, whispering the last part under his breath.

"Haven't you spent like a week and a half here? You already know the office like the back of your hand"

"It helps me get around easily" he shrugged.

"Okay time's up! Leave now, you've slowed my work by two hours" she ordered, pulling him out of the seat and pushing him out of the door.

She felt a bit relieved speaking to him but she doesn't want to lose focus, so she began pick up the speed. After three hours of dusting, rearranging and decluttering the offices on the floor she was done for the day. Exhausted, she made her way to the her aunt's office where workers were to sign out for the day and she entered to see her working on the desk. Mrs Smith raised her head at the opening of the door to see Ashleigh who stood stiff and her eyes softened.

"Ashleigh dear, please come and take a seat let's talk about it" she pointed to the chair across where her table where she sat, Ashleigh was not moving.

"What's the use? It's already been done and settled" she responded flatly.

"It is done, but you haven't heard the reason why I agreed to your husband's.."

"Don't call him that" she interrupted, glaring at her aunt. Mrs Smith held her breath at the anger of her niece, she felt aggrieved so she could only look at her with pleading. Ashleigh eventually sat down quietly.

"My dear, I cannot say I'm helpless to agree with Mr. Cagliari's proposal. I feel so guilty about this entire situation" she started.

"As Mr Cagliari mentioned earlier, I am very much at risk for being here with you, but when I found out you were alive I couldn't stop myself. I had to find you. I knew I could not help you achieve your goals or give you a very good life than the orphanage but I felt you should just stay with the only surviving relative of your family" she said, Ashleigh looked at her confused.

"I apologize for always avoiding the topic of your birth parents, for not telling you but I am sworn to secrecy by someone who spared my life and gave me the opportunity to stay with you. Your aunt is so powerless, I am only a servant to the circumstances of my life" she explained, tearing up in the process. On seeing her aunt cry, she felt bad for not understanding her point of view and reached over to console her.

"When you get like this, I feel bad aunt. I'm sorry for being so rude to you" Ashleigh apologized guiltily.

"It's okay. My dear, you may get angry, upset and even hate Mr Cagliari so much at the moment but you have learn to work with him and be patient. I know you will want to make trouble for him" she chided, making her grumble in response.

"Mr. Cagliari will be more help than you expect" Mrs Smith said in an encouraging tone.

Seeing as her aunt was optimistic about the marriage, Ashleigh decided to give him a benefit of doubt.

"Aunt I've finished my work for today so I will be signing out" she explained, as she stood up to grab her things.

"That's fine. Mr Adrian has asked prepare for tomorrow morning, you'll be collecting your marriage certificate. " she informed, Ashleigh's nodded in understanding.

She then reached for her employee card and scanned it through the electronic system on her aunt's desk and left for home. At the bus stop, dazed, she stared at the cars passing by, only then realizing this was her last day as a single woman.

"What should I do with these few hours I have left?" she thought to herself as she scrolled looked through her social media.

She decided on buying herself a gift with a bit of the money she has saved so far and her eyes lit up at the thought.

She stood and entered the next bus and settled down in a seat closest to the door, after twenty minutes the bus pulled up at the bus stop across downtown mall and she stepped down and began strolling on the sidewalk as she glanced around. She stepped down and walked in; downtown mall is a newly opened shopping complex where luxury items were sold at high-end stores, she knew because she had seen a lot of influencers talk about the place online.

Up till now Ashleigh could only watch videos of others touring the mall but today she stood in the building. The floors were paved with exquisite tiles, that glistened under the sun rays which entered through the glass ceiling, there was chatter in the air as groups of people walked about the place. She walked past various stores and stopped at a jewellery store, entering to see the workers who greeted her warmly and ushered her in. The shop had glass shelf filled with various types of accessories: earrings, rings, necklaces, hair clips, bracelets and much more. There were also show desks decked with accessories as well.

She stood at the desks and peered at the accessories displayed through the glass with the worker at the other side. Her eyes landed on a slim diamond encrusted bracelet and she looked to the attendant and asked about it.

"You have a good eyes Miss. This piece has been the most popular amongst ladies your age, it has matching necklace and earrings but those come at an extra price" she explained, bringing the bracelet to the top of the table for Ashleigh to have a closer look.

She made a decision to buy the whole set upon seeing it closer and asked the worker to pack it up. Walking to counter, she handed her card to the worker who made the payment and her card with the bag to her. On seeing the price, her eyes went wide in surprise in marvel at how expensive it was. She had also liked to get a dress as well that she would wear for tomorrow's event but the total cost of just this set of jewellery had covered her week's worth of expenses.

"So much for gifting myself" she sighed as she left the store, her bank account was probably crying at the moment.

For the rest of the day, she just glanced through the glasses of various departments stores that cared to display their products and took note of some things she would want to buy and when she was tired, she made her way home to prepare for the next day.