Chapter 15 THE CONTRACT !

Chapter 15 THE CONTRACT !
Some moment later, a man walks into their booth with a file in his hand. He bows to Sophia before walking straight to Callum and handing the file to him, then he leaves. When he was gone, Callum opens the file and hands a copy to Sophia.
“Go through it.” He tells her.
Nodding, Sophia gets the document from him and begins to read through it carefully. “No party must ask for an extension of time once one year is over.” Sophia reads out aloud.
Callum nods. “Yes. We must keep it strict. I know you do not look like one who would, but I would hate to have you –
“I understand.” Sophia says. “And I agree. Besides, I do not plan to stay around here long enough after the one year is up.”
He looks up at her. “You are leaving Barcelona?” he asks.
Eyes still on the document in her hand. “Spain in its entirety.” She looks up at him briefly before returning her attention to the document.
He nods, looking back at his document too. That was perfect then. Another reason why she was a perfect option. It would be good if she was gone after the divorce happens. He was going to suggest it along the way, but she had suggested it first.
“No intimacy, except agreed upon by both parties, with no strings attached.” Sophia reads out again, looking up at him.
He gulps. “I am told I am irresistible. So I figured since we may be forced to stay in close proximity sometimes, together, that … we may find ourselves unavoidably wanting to.”
Sophia scoffs. “You think I will ask to be intimate with you?”
He gulps again. “You think you will not?” he asks, eyes on her.
She wanted to look away, but she knew that if she did, he will claim that as a victory to his being truly irresistible. So her eyes still on him, not even batting an eyelid, she scoffs. “I could stay two years with you in the same space and I would not glance your way once.”
He scoffs at her words. “Well, Sophia Bennett, as much as I would love to take up that challenge you are throwing right now and prove you wrong, I cannot. This deal comes first.” He chuckles. “So I guess we will ever have to find out.”
Sophia shrugs, “So I guess too.” She says returning to the document. “Wait!” she exclaims, her eyes narrowing down at a point in the document. She looks up at him. “I cannot see anyone in that one year. No one I intend to be intimate with?”
Callum looks up at her. “Yes.”
“But why?” she looks down at the document, then back up at him. “You get to.” She points out. “It says here that you can.”
He crosses his arms. “I told you, Sophia, I am a sexually active man. There is no way you expect me to stay a year without getting it.”
“But I am supposed to?” Sophia questions.
“You may get caught.” Callum defends.
“So can you. So it is better we both do not get any incentive outside, or we both do. Equal grounds, or the deal is off.” Sophia says crossing her arms too, eyes squared at him.
Callum chuckles. “Incentive?” he questions.
Sophia shrugs. “It is the closest word that came to my mind without having to point it out directly.” Sophia says her eyes looking away from him.
Callum chuckles. “Incentive it is then.” He says.
“Do not push it.” Sophia says.
He sighs. “Fine. I will have to find other ways to please myself then, without compromising everything else. Is that okay?”
She nods. “About fair.” She says returning back to the document in front of her. “I get to live with you the entire year?”
He nods. “Yes. I will however assign your apartment to you, as far away from me as you would want should you need privacy. You could even take another floor of the building if you want.”
Sophia nods. “Alright.”
“Do you work?” Callum asks. “I would like you taking the character of a trophy wife, but I have no idea if you already have something you are doing. I may have to ask you to pause it or quit if it is not something that can fit in with the deal.”
“I am not working.” Sophia tells him.
“So you are a rich heiress then? Never had to work a day in your life?”
Sophia shakes her head. “I used to work, once.”
Eyes on her. “Enlighten me.” he says leaning back again.
Sophia gulps, debating whether to actually say it or not. Finally, she makes up her mind. “As an actress, back in the States.” She says looking away.
There it was! Callum exclaims in his mind. That was why she had all these confidence and character in place. She made money from portraying lies on big screens. No wonder she had been able to come up with a story for their act in no time. “Enlighten me more.” He says crossing his arms.
“That is all, nothing more.” She says still looking away.
“Big name, small name?” Callum asks.
“Small name.” Sophia says.
“I doubt that.” Callum says picking up his tab and beginning to punch in some alphabets, and after some seconds, there it was staring back at him in the face. Her screen name was Sophia the First. And no, she was not just some wannabe actress or someone struggling to climb the ladders there, she was a force of her own. A big name of her own in the movie world.
No wonder she had so effortlessly caught his attention last night. She lives for the act. Every move with her must be intentional.
And slowly, Callum realizes that he may have caught a bigger fish than he had intended. Much bigger that he had even planned. This made her more than perfect for all he had in mind, especially since no one would believe someone like her marrying for money or faking a marriage.
A smile spreads across Callum’s mind. This was perfect! Everyone will buy into it, no one will doubt it. She had the perfect cover for this act, and he, he has found his masterpiece on the chess board. She was not just some pawn, she was the damn queen on his board.
“I do not know what you have on your screen, but it will interest you to know that I resigned from that life months ago.”
He looks up at her, his brows furrowing. “Why?”
Sophia shrugs. “Because I wanted to. I did not want that life anymore.”
He gulps. “But … you did leave in a way that you could always return if you wanted to, right?”
Sophia nods. “Yes.”
Callum sighs mentally. “Good. Because I just have one more request I will need you to do as part of this deal.”
Sophia looks at him, her eyes narrowing at him. “And that is?” she asks.
He offers her a smile. The kind that made her stomach flip.
“Sophia the First is returning to the big Screens.”