The McCain Marriage Contract

"You're not fooling anyone with that innocent look of yours," I said to her.

Mavis looked at her cup of coffee and tried to feign ignorance. Of course, she knew exactly what I was talking about but she wanted me to expatiate. "I don't know what you're talking about, Valerie," she said. "I honestly don't."

We were having breakfast at The Burnt Toast Cafe, my favorite breakfast spot back then when I still worked in the office. I decided to have breakfast with Mavis there for nostalgic reasons, and also because it was close to the office so that she wouldn't be late to work. Like the name implied, the cafe served burnt toast as their top bestselling item and it was surprising how many people showed up every morning to place order upon order. I had to give it to them though; theirs was deliciously distinct from whatever one tried to make at home with their own toaster. Whatever secret ingredient they used was working wonders for them.

Mavis and I looked like we owned the place, being the regulars we were and getting the preferential treatment that was due us, very much to the dismay of the other customers. We didn't give a hoot though.

"So, just how extensively did you use my gift?" Mavis blurted.

I smiled shyly. "I appreciate the gift, Mavis. It was very thoughtful of you."

"Forget about the thoughtfulness, dear. Were the items put to good use?" She wasn't backing down from the question.

I must have blushed or done something or the other with my face to indicate that her gift was indeed put to good and perfect use, much more than once, because Mavis gave such an evil grin. "Nice," she said dragging the word for effect. "You and Raymond must name the child that emanates from your numerous encounters after me. I think I've earned it," she said with a wink.

Something in me churned at those words. I had toyed with the idea of having a baby with Raymond so many times but not long enough to consider it as something that could actually be possible. Right now we were more of partners in crime than an actual couple.

Somehow it didn't feel strange that I was freely discussing my life with someone, Mavis for that matter. Even though I wasn't telling her every teeny tiny detail, I had someone I could sit with at The Burnt Toast for breakfast. Someone who thought to buy me gifts when I was traveling, someone who often called to check on me. I had been totally by myself for a very long time and I forgot how friendship, or the semblance thereof, felt like. It was nice to have someone you could call your person, even if an abundance of half-truths and incomplete stories stood between both of you.

"So, who are you seeing these days?" I asked. I was becoming unusually chipper around her, and I cared about her and wanted to get to know her. Unlike earlier when I just needed her help at my wedding. She smiled. Actually, she blushed. It was her turn to be all mushy. "Charlie," she said.

"Charlie the web developer?" I asked in shock. When we were still work colleagues that nitwit was always rude to me. As a matter of fact, he was rude to everybody. What could kindhearted Mavis have seen in him? "No, Charlie the front desk officer. It's short for Charlene," she said. "I'm bisexual."

I hadn't known that. I didn't know much about Mavis or anybody else. Besides the fact that I grew up as a loner mostly, I lost trust in people after Raymond left me. It seemed so redundant to find a way to blame him for everything that had happened in my life, but if one looked at it critically it was not very far from the truth. What he did messed me up in so many ways, especially because it was unexpected, and I found it difficult to see the good in people after that experience. I didn't even give anyone a chance. To think that I worked with Mavis for a long time and didn't particularly consider her someone I could talk to. Yet here she was, telling me what could probably be the biggest aspect of her life. She made her choices and she owned them with her chest. That was much more than I could say for myself.

"Oh, dear, I'm so happy for you. I didn't know that. Thank you for sharing with me. Perhaps we're on our way to becoming great friends," I said with a smile.

"To great friendship," she said raising her cup of coffee.

I nodded and raised my cup too. "To great friendship."

After breakfast with Mavis, I rushed off to see my dad. I was thankful for one thing -- that everyone I knew resided within or around San Francisco. I couldn't imagine things being any different. It was just like the universe conspired to make things easy for me, if one believed in that sort of thing. At the facility, I went in to see my dad and his doctors had more good news: he was on the road to recovery.

Raymond and I had a stronger and better relationship now with a whole lot of sex in the mix, but I didn't think that gave him the right to call me at any point he wanted. I understood his desperation, although it annoyed me slightly. Even though we were beginning to get along, he very desperately needed to get to the root of his dad's bargain with me. Another thing it meant was that he wanted to get rid of me from his life as quickly as possible. Even though I understood that he needed his freedom again, I was pained still. It didn't prevent me from surrendering my body to him every time he wanted me and when I wanted him back.

I had better things to think about, better things than my marital situation. For one, my dad was doing a lot better. The doctors give me the best news, they expected him to get much better in the next few weeks. I was overjoyed and excited that soon things might go back to her normal, even though I had been informed also that his recovery might not be wholesome since the extent of damage to his body was not fully determined yet. It was all good still, so long as he stayed alive. That was, after all, where the money I was getting from Tony McCain would come in handy. I was going to use it to procure whatever equipment or instrument, anything at all, my dad needed to feel as near-normal as possible. This was the reason I was in this marriage at all, not even for the preliminary stages of his sickness. I knew there was going to be a lot of financial backlash considering the extent of the stroke and the length of time he had to stay in a particular position as a result. Like the doctors told me very early during his management, he might never regain full motor and sensory functionality of some of his limbs. While I hoped for the best, I had to plan for the worst. All I could really do was be there for him in every way I could.

Something tickled my ankle and when I checked, I saw it was a thread that had come loose from the hem of my dress. It was shameful, this frequent repetition of old clothes. All my dresses had become threadbare from overuse and I didn't want to spend even one dollar on a new one. It seemed like an unnecessary luxury to me; I needed to save up for my dad. Who knew if the McCains would cancel the contract the very next minute, leaving me stranded? It didn't matter to me whether or not my looks befitted the status of a billionaire's daughter-in-law.