The Cynical Bookworm

The day the Adairs moved to Deer Pointe, Marcus had made a show about teaching Freya the value of money. He insisted that she did not know how important it was and how hard he worked to provide for her. Freya suppressed the urge to laugh in his proud face and roll her eyes.

Freya was not the one who spent millions on mansions and foreign cars and expensive vacations, but she sucked it up and nodded her head dramatically and admitted to being frivolous with Marcus’ hard earned, money. While he was giving his speech because he was too broke to do anything else, a neighbor by the name of Beatrice popped up. Beatrice was far too kind and far too eager to help for Freya’s liking. So that was why Freya ended up working at Trice’s Diner on Main St, her father and his loud mouth.

Freya knew better than to upset Marcus at a time when her tuition was barely hanging by a thread. One wrong move and Marcus would not pay for college. So, she took the job and served country bumpkins while rolling her eyes. She missed New York and even Florida was better than this hell hole.

“Freya, table seven.” Cindy said to her as she made her way over to a table with two plates of pancakes balanced on the palms of her hands. Freya took her notepad and walked over to the table. Two more hours until closing.

“Welcome to Trice’s. How can I help you?” When Freya looked up from her notepad, she saw someone she would rather not have seen.

Alec sat with his arm around a busty blonde who looked as ditzy as can be.

“What do you want babe?” Alec asked “babe”.

The blonde twirled her badly dyed hair and said umm for a good minute before Freya rolled her eyes and said

“If you want, I can get you a menu with pictures. That way you won’t have to read and you can just point at what you want.”

“Oh my god, how can you even like talk to me like that?” The girl said.

Freya shook her head. The girl’s voice was more irritating then nails going across a chalkboard and the god awful accent she had. Alec merely sat back and watched the action.

“Well, if you don’t want people to think you’re an idiot, then don’t spend an hour reading a line.”

“Ugh, you’re a bitch.” The girl shot back.

“Did you think of that all by yourself?” Freya said with a smile. “Now, what would you like?”

“I’ll have chocolate chip pancakes and a vanilla milkshake.” Alec said.

“A small iced tea.”

“Coming right up.”

“Can you believe that girl?” Misty said to Alec with a tone of disbelief.

Alec nodded his head and pretended to agree with her. However, he knew it wasn’t Misty’s brains that made him want to go out with her. He watched Freya leave, admiring her rear. She may be a bitch as Misty called her, but she was a bitch with a nice ass.

“She was horrible, babe.”

Freya came back with their orders only to find Alec eating his date’s face as if he was so hungry that he couldn’t wait for his food to arrive. Freya set down the food as loud as she could and watched the two spring apart. The date looked a bit embarrassed but Alec merely shot Freya a smug look.

“Is there anything else I can get you?” Freya asked.

“No, you can leave.” Misty said.

“Alright. By the by, please keep your hands to yourselves. You’re at a family restaurant, not a brothel.”

When Freya went to collect the bill, not to her surprise, she saw numbers scrawled along the receipt along with a message.

I like my girls jealous –Alec

Freya crumbled the paper into a ball, left the diner and began her walk home. Alec was the kind of guy she would tell her mother about and the two would laugh over his promiscuity. One would think after two years, the pain of losing her mother would lessen but every moment only made it harder. Freya arrived at her house to find Marjorie sitting on the porch with a cancer stick perched on her red lips. She only smoked when she was anxious.

“Your father wants to see you. He’s in his study.” Marjorie said as she sent Freya a small smile as if she pitied her.

“Alright. Good night Marge.”

“Sweetheart, can I say something?”

“Yea, go ahead.”

“I know I’m not your mother but you know I love you right?”

“Of course, Marjorie.”

“You also know that I would do everything I could to protect you and keep you happy, right?”

“Marge, where is this coming from?”

“I love you, Freya and I’m sorry. Night, sweetheart.” Marjorie said as she kissed Freya’s forehead and walked back into the house.

Freya shook her head and headed toward her father’s study. Marcus better have something important to say, she was tired. Freya walked in without a knock to see her father sitting at his desk, reading some papers.

“Marjorie said you wanted to see me.”

“Take a seat, Freya. We’ll be here for a while.”

Freya did as she was told and raised an eyebrow at Marcus. He flipped through the papers before setting them before her.

“I need you to sign these forms. Columbia sent them today. Apparently, your health forms were not completed properly”

Freya signed the papers and was about to leave when Marcus sat at his chair and said, “I expect you not to interrupt me and wait until I’m finished to say your opinion. Understood?”

She nodded and looked at him. He needed to hurry up already.

“As you well know, my finances have suffered a great deal over this past year. I’ve lost almost all my assets and the money I have has been liquidated or placed into foreign accounts. Everyone has been doing their share of sacrifices. Marjorie decided not to visit Paris this year and I’ve downgraded to a Ford of all vehicles. However, you have yet to bring anything to the table. I have not seen you contribute to this family in any manner. How can you expect me to pay for your tuition to Columbia when you won’t even help out?

You stay in your room, holed up in your books, some of which cost thousands of dollars as they are first editions. Be glad I haven’t sold them. Anyways, I have come up with a solution to our financial problems and in this solution, you will be the most important asset. This will be a way for you to help out your family because you haven’t done anything thus far.”

Freya interrupted Marcus at that instant. How dare he!

“How dare you say I have not helped out? Are you kidding me? I work twelve hours at a diner rather than enjoying my last summer before college. Speaking of college, if I do recall, it was you who insisted I apply to that school. I was fine going to Florida State but you insisted I apply to Columbia. So, all that tuition is your own doing. And don’t you dare bring my books into this. My mother bought those books for me with her own money, not yours. You have no right to sell what isn’t yours. If she wasn’t dead, I wouldn’t be here. So shut the fuck up, Marcus.”

Marcus merely looked at Freya, his dark, calculating eyes fixated onto her.

“Are you done?” When Freya did not interrupt him, Marcus continued. “Alright, as I was saying, I have come up with a solution. Jonathon Nylund has promised to lend me enough money to start up again. In return, he wishes for you and his son, Alec to be married after your eighteenth birthday, which, if the birth certificate I checked today is accurate, is in one month.”

Freya opened her mouth as her eyes became a hard glassy green. He was selling her. Her own father was selling her! However, Marcus lifted a hand to say that he was not finished yet.

“You and Alec will meet twice a week and you will get to know him. As for your argument, every teenager has a summer job. Your books are mine until you are twenty one, as is everything else that you own. Do not dare speak to me in that manner ever again or I will be forced to take action. As for Columbia, do not question my actions. You are free to state your opinion and argument now. Refrain from obscene language.”

“You have no right to do this! You’re selling me. Isn’t that human trafficking? Isn’t that illegal? How can you think forcing me to marry a sleazebag will do you any good? I cannot believe you even thought you could propose such an idea. There is no way you can make me do anything therefore your argument is invalid.” Freya said, hoping her voice did not crack. Even though she was pretending to be resolute, on the inside, she was a cracked dam, spewing emotions in a torrent.

Marcus lifted a paper. “What I have here is a letter of compliance with your signature. It states that I am allowed, by law, to make your decisions for you.”

“I’ll file for emancipation and sue you!” Freya said.

“Oh, but the other paper I have here gives me lawful access to everything you own and will own until marriage. Therefore, a lawyer and fees for emancipation will be out of the question.” Marcus gave Freya a cruel smile.

“Alec will never agree to this.”

“Oh Freya, you don’t have enough faith in me. Do you think I would leave him a choice? He has signed papers too and besides, Jon thinks you’d be a wonderful wife. He believes in you so much, that he’s threatened Alec with disinheritance if he does not comply. As you can see, I have thought of everything. Is there anything else?”

“Fuck you.” Freya spat, refusing to let tears fall.

She pushed the chair back and walked out of the room, resilient. She would not let Marcus have the satisfaction of seeing her break. She was heading down the hallway when she saw Marjorie who sent her a defeated look. She knew and yet Marjorie had not told her. Freya sent her a glare before walking out of the house and then she broke out into a run. She ran as fast as she could and as far as her feet would take her.

Houses whizzed past her and the streetlights became a blur and her legs burned but Freya ran. When she stopped, she stood on a beach, with the moon glowing down on her and the tide turning in. Freya fell to her knees and let out a sob that was soon followed by countless others.

Never in her life had she felt so used and betrayed. She knew she did not have the best relationship with her father but would he really sell his own daughter? Was that all she was to him? And how could he trick her into signing those papers? How could he?

“Oh Mom, if only you were here.” If Rose was still alive, none of this would be happening. Freya wiped her tears and looked up to the sky. She wished she could be with her mother right now.

Her phone began vibrating and Freya reached into her pocket to shut it off when her hand grazed something else. Freya pulled out a paper and saw Alec’s number. She shakily punched his number into her phone and waited.

“Hello?” He answered.

“Isn’t there anything you can do?” Freya asked without even introducing herself.

“Freya?”

“Yes, it’s me. Isn’t there anything you can do to convince your father?” Freya was desperate.

“Look, I can’t do anything right now. He literally just let the bomb loose one me. He has a valid argument and I’m sure your father has the same for you.”

“Actually, he has signed papers of compliance.” Freya said bitterly.

“You signed them?” He asked with disbelief.

“No, he snuck them in with other papers. I’m not an idiot.”

“Well, for now, you’re my wife-to-be. I promise I’ll figure something out. There’s no way this is legal.”

“Thank you.” Freya said as her voice cracked.

“Hey, don’t cry. This mess will be over and done with in less than a month. Keep calm and carry on for now.”

“Bye Alec.” Freya said before dropping the call. Alec would figure something out. She then realized how desperate she was that she was placing all her faith in a sleazy stranger who might soon be her better half. Her father was the most evil, lowlife, sad, sly excuse for a human being ever to exist.

So, that was how Freya Adair and Alec Nylund’s story really began. It was thanks to two controlling parents and a lack of money that put them in a relationship before even knowing one another’s birthday.