The Agreement

"Honeymoon destination? What's that? I don't remember it being part of our plan." I said to Jordan when he led me back to my room, where I was supposed to get ready to leave immediately.

"Yes love. We just got married, didn't we? And like every other couple, we deserve a honeymoon too. Don't we?" Jordan said to me with a mischievous smile in his eyes.

"I never agreed to a honeymoon. You never mentioned this as part of the plan." I said.

"What plan?" Jordan asked, scoffing.

"The plan you said you had when I agreed to marry you!" I said.

"I know. I remember that. So I am asking you to state the plan in plain words." Jordan said. I stood there looking at him dumbfounded, and the realization hit me for the first. I really didn't know anything about his plan. All he had told me was that he had a plan 'to save Daren's life'. And that was all I knew.

When I didn't answer, Jordan shrugged.

"See? You don't know the details of the plan I had, so how do you know if this was a part of the plan all along or not?" He said. Then he stepped closer to me and held the papers we had just signed up for me to see.

"And as for what you agreed to, look here, on this paragraph, third line." He said, pointing out the line for me. "See there, it reads, 'the bride is to follow the groom wherever, whenever he requires, and stay there for however long he demands'. See now, that's on the agreement of our marriage. And you agreed to it. You even signed on it. Look here, that is your signature." He said to me as he flipped the pages and pointed my signature out to me.

My lips fell wide open as I reached up to take the papers, and Jordan handed it over to me. The paper was bulky. I didn't remember it being that bulky when I signed it. And I began to wonder if it was the same paper I signed, or if Jordan had switched it. Or maybe I had not noticed the volume because I had not been paying attention.

"These are not the papers I signed." I said with a shaky voice. Jordan scoffed again.

"There were several witnesses who watched you sign it, and it has your signature here, here and here." He said to me, flipping the pages to show me all the places I had signed. I did remember signing those, but then, obviously I had not known what I was signing.

"I thought it was a prenuptial restricting me from demanding for your money once we annul." I cried.

"That too is covered here. It's there in the next paragraph." Jordan replied. "But really, this is just an agreement that will guide our union." He said.

"Guide our union or control me, you mean." I said, looking up at him through tears filled eyes.

"If you wanted to fix anything in the agreement, you should have said so before signing it. Now, it's too late. We already signed it." Jordan said. His face and voice feigned concern, but I could tell by the smile in his eyes that he was gloating. Tears poured down my face.

"You did this to me on purpose. We could have signed this anytime before the wedding, but you brought it during the ceremony to set me up, because you knew that I would not be paying attention." I accused him. Jordan threw his head back and laughed, and I wondered how he could do that even while he watched me crying there before him.

"My love, you should be more careful with life. I think you have a bad habit of jumping on things." Jordan shrugged. "I'll leave you with the document to read through it while you get ready, and see everything else you agreed to." He said, then he began to leave, but he stopped. "And, don't even think about destroying it. There are duplicates already." He said, then he left.

I sank into the sofa in front of the mirror, and my hands trembled as I read through the phrases. I realized just how much mess I was in. I had handed my entire life over to Jordan for the duration of our marriage, and worst of all, there was no definite timeline for the marriage. The end of our union was also to be decided by only him. I had no say at all in anything. It was ridiculous! I couldn't believe my eyes. It was like a slave contract, with me as the slave and Jordan as the master! I felt duped, robbed, caged. How could a person be so ruthless?

I felt a tightness in my chest. A mixture of rage, frustration and pain. I was in severe pain, and when the hired hands who were supposed to help me get changed came, they were alarmed to find me in a state of panic, with my chest rising and heaving heavily. One of them attempted to call for help, but I stopped her.

"You need help! You are in a critical state!" She cried with concern. "We have to let the groom know, at least."

"No! Don't tell him!" I pleaded with strained breath. "I will be fine, I promise. Just give me a moment to catch my breath.

The women watched me with worried eyes as I took slow practiced breaths, until I regained myself. I put the agreement aside and remained quiet as the ladies helped me change into a casual floral gown.

"Please, do not tell anyone about this." I begged them.

"We won't." They promised.

Jordan was waiting outside the door when I stepped out. He took had changed into a simpler attire. Dressed in a plain blue, button up shirt, that matched the background of my gown, and black jean pants. I didn't look into his face as I shoved the document into his hand.

"The agreement says I must live with you for the duration of the union." I said.

"Yes, it does." He said.

"So, where do you live?" I asked. "I don't remember you ever mentioning it, and I didn't care because I never thought we would have to live together. Now that things turned out that way, I have become suddenly very curious." I said.

"Well, my love. I live pretty much around the world. Everywhere my business takes me. But for our matrimonial home, I have chosen my private island in Greece." He said to me.

"What?! Greece?" I cried. My eyes widening and my jaws dropped.

"Yes love. You will like the water. Everywhere, for miles and miles. Very blue." Jordan said, his eyes twinkling.