The Boy I Married [hold]

05 ⎟Pestilent Voice

After four seemly endless hours of negotiating the contract, deciding and planning, Jacob and I had finally come up with a plan legitimate enough to pass for a real business. I watched him scribble his signature on the dotted line of the hand written contract the both of us had written up before sliding the paper and pen over to me. The contact entailed every single aspect of the way the business was to be ran. Because I was majority share holder, I had the final say in everything regarding the roastery. We intended to run Balzac's as a partnership. The goal was to keep the place the same while also modernizing it enough to be up to date with what was popular and trending now. He and I even discussed the possibility of making Balzac a franchise, but that was put on the back burner until further notice.

My hands shook with excitement while I signed my name to the paper just below his. Despite the excitement, there was still a pestilent voice in the back of my mind shaming me for making such a big decision without Justin's permission. The money that I was investing into the coffee shop was strictly mine. A part of me felt as if keeping a separate account despite the one Justin and I shared was the intellectual thing to do. I never wanted to be one of those women who relied solely on the income of her husband. If anything were to happen between him and I, I wanted to be sure that there was enough for me somewhere stashed for a rainy day.

Once the contact was signed and dated, we made copies and stored them away. My promise to pay off the debt wasn't void. With a minute bit of information and a click of a few buttons, the money he needed was transferred into his account.

Jacob sat in silence. His eyes immediately lighting up once the notification of my money transfer was complete. "That's an insane amount of money to just send someone," he staggered out.

"You're not just someone, you're my business partner. One thing you should know about me is that I am a very hard worker. Without a shadow of a doubt you can trust that your father's place will be in good hands."

He looked at me with widened eyes, his bank balance still holding the tip of his tongue hostage. It wasn't hard to notice the shock lingering. Jacob and I discussed alternative incorporations we could spice the roastery up with. If we wanted the shop to be financially stable, time was of the essence. Everything about this plan seemed rushed and unrealistic, yet still the both of us put forth the effort to make it happen.

Looking at how quickly the both of us wanted the place up and running, we needed to have the renovations as fast as they could happen. Tomorrow.  He and I searched endlessly until we could find the best interior designers money could buy.

Maybe the decision to do this was beyond impulsive and inconsiderate, but in this moment it felt nice to have something that now belonged to me. This shop would be a project that I could turn into something amazing without Justin having to be attached to it.

And that was it.

For a moment, I fought with myself internally. That was the reason this decision was irrational. My need to prove that I could have something successful without the likes of Justin. I hated myself in this moment for even thinking that way about him.

Time diminished before us quick. Jacob scheduled a meeting for tomorrow so we could go over the finalizing decisions before we said our momentary goodbye. Traffic back home was light. The way time and sunlight slipped away so fast shocked me. I hadn't talked to my husband all day. I knew it'd be a different time for Justin, but I didn't care. I missed the sound of his voice. His phone rang a handful of times before he decided to finally answer.

"Brooke baby," he exclaimed. His words stringing along together sloppily.

"Hey babe," I laughed. "I'm sorry I didn't call you once I made it back home. It completely slipped my mind." The people surrounding him were cheering in the background. "I was a little busy. How was the show tonight?"