The Arrangement (unenhanced Edition) by AnnaRCase (books to read now .txt) 📖

Amberleigh found it more than a coincidence, that when she ambled into the kitchen the next morning, she found a note from Leo saying he had family business to take care of and would be away for a few days. He promised he would be back in time to take her to her final fitting with Angelique Grimalidi, he  had prepared her a few dishes ahead of time he’d left in the freezer and fridge, and also take out menus for restaurants nearby. He’d also taken the time to star items on the menus he thought were worthy of her palate, as well as cross out ones he thought were lackluster. He even scribbled her little notes on the menus here and there, such as tastes like a yeast infection, or eat this and you’ll shit your brains out.

                Well this sucked balls, as she realized how fuckin codependent she’d become on the chef, and not just for feeding her, but also help keeping her sane. She couldn’t help but wonder if the moment they had the night before at the restaurant, had a big hand in Leo suddenly needing to go away, and without telling her in person, or beforehand. What the fuck was she supposed to do to occupy her hours in this magazine worthy penthouse with just Mr. piece of the furniture Duvall, and three unwilling maids for company?

                Angelina no surprise was thick on the Italian and excuses in broken English when Amberleigh tried to strike up a conversation, though with a bit of satisfaction, Amberleigh was starting to understand more of the language. She’d studied it after her encounter with Grayson last night. It had been a great day, capped off with a fantastic highlight of sticking it to the fuckin man alright.  She was actually seriously looking forward to tonight with excitement, round two, rematch, and oh she planned on coming out on fuckin top no doubt about it.

                Janelle seemed far too busy and distracted to carry on any type of conversation, and dragging one word answer from her lips was like torture. Maria proved to be a more successful endeavor as Amberleigh convinced the woman to eat lunch with her, and they talked about Maria’s children. Ten-year-old Emilio had joined the academic’s team at school and was going to have his first meet against another school soon, and six-year-old Emilia had a Birthday coming up and wanted a pony. Maria came alive with a nice spark when she talked about her children, and laughed over Emilia’s idea to let the pony sleep in its own bunkbed at night.

                Amberleigh couldn’t help but think about what her son would be like, now at six years old. She’d often wondered his personality, and who he looked like now. Jackson had been pretty to look at, was loaded, but had nothing else going for him really. He was an asshole, selfish, the whole works. She hoped their son looked like his biological father, but hadn’t inherited his asshole gene.

She hadn’t given him a name, as she knew his adoptive parents would only change it, and it would only make it harder in the end. She wanted a closed adoption. She knew she’d made the right decision that day without a doubt, but she still couldn’t help but imagine what her life would be like if she had kept her son.

                But there was no use dwelling on such things that would never be, and perhaps soon she’d carry another little person inside her for nine months. Only to give that child up as well. It seemed a tall order, but maybe if she never thought of the child as hers from the start, it would be bearable. Not to mention, she had nothing to offer a child, and the Cobra Club didn’t have a nursery.

                All too soon, Maria had to get back to work. She depended on this job to feed those children she was so proud of, so Amberleigh didn’t want to do anything to jeopardize that. No doubt, Mr. Duvall was watching the maids, and would report back to Grayson if they didn’t do their jobs properly. The butler seemed to be in charge of the maids, as Amberleigh had seen him tell tasks he wanted done from time to time, for instance, they were polishing all the silver in anticipation for the Halloween Masquerade coming up this weekend.

The penthouse was expected to be gleaming and in tip-top shape, and Amberleigh didn’t want to cause them any extra work. When she could get away with it, she cleaned up after herself, including washing her own sheets in the middle of the night so no one would be the wiser.

She forced herself to spend some time in the gym room, though it took an internal argument and staring at herself in the mirror naked, to get her ass on the stair-climber. It must have been one sadistic mother fucker who invented that for sure. Nothing made you feel more worthless and out of shape than that evil machine. Even the reality show playing where rich drunk bitches were fighting up in the club, wasn’t enough to ease the pain. Maria even popped into check on her from the amount of screaming and swearing erupting from the room. Yeah, feel the burn motherfucker!

Naturally, she rewarded herself with some gelato from the freezer afterwards, as she kicked back and watched Youtube. She decided she needed to brush up on her long neglected guitar skills which she learned from an old boyfriend, and learn how to knit. She ordered a guitar and a knitting starter’s kit and was guaranteed two hours delivery.

In the meantime, she decided now was as good as time as any to stage some more photos to send to Ebony. So she changed into her bikini, did her hair and makeup up real pretty like, and asked Mr. Duvall to escort her to the rooftop. She didn’t have access to the roof. She was in fact a prisoner in the Penthouse when it came down to it, sort of. She could slip out and leave if she really wanted, but she had no way to get back up to the apartment, and in the contract it was listed as a term she wouldn’t leave the residence unless accompanied  by Grayson or a member of his staff.