2. I Am in Love

"It's alright, boy; calm down; they won't hurt her; I won't allow it." Peter said.

Immediately, they saw him in the front, guiding the dog away from them. They quickly ran and escaped from the scene, leaving Maria alone with Peter. 

He was able to calm the dog till he left without hurting anyone. After the dog left, he picked up his textbooks and Maria's bag on the ground and handed it over to her.

"I guess this is yours?Peter asked as he handed her bag to her.

"Yes, thank you for saving me," Maria said.

Her heart filled with coolness as she showed gratitude for saving her.

"You are welcome. I am Peter Kelvin, by the way. What's your name? Peter said.

She responded to him very fast, like she'd been waiting so long to hear his name.

"I am Maria Henshaw," said Maria.

They exchanged good pleasantries, and then we were able to go home with smiling faces together before they went in their different directions. 

When Maria was about to enter the small iron-made gate of their home, she saw the shadow of the dog that had been following her since she left the narrow street. She stopped and walked towards the dog who had saved her with a chocolate in her hand.

She stretched the chocolate to him. He bites it from her hand immediately like a hungry man, then she takes him in ever since then and names him Max because of his abilities.

The hall was silent before the arrival of thousands of different students from different families, each holding their backpacks and textbooks, some of whom were freshmen, like Maria and Peter. 

All the walkways became so busy from different lectures on all kinds of studies and school activities that prevented the students from being bored, which is also the main reason for being there.

Peter, in his black T-shirt, was sitting quietly under an apple tree listening to a good melodious song coming from an A-list artist in London. His head was moving along with every sound coming out of the song.

He loves listening to music while reading and studying as well. His full attention was on the music playing in his headphones, but his attention was caught when his blue pen dropped on the grass floor. He attempted to get it up and continue with the poem he was writing in his black diary.

A fair-skinned leg in red shoes staring at the edge of a long white gown, and two beautiful eyes looking directly into my eyes.

"Beautiful Maria," he said.

He could hardly take his simple eyes off her for a minute, forgetting to greet each other.

"Morning, Peter." Maria welcomed him.

He was still amazed to see Maria in front of him; their body language was so different, and the hot weather became cool and calm. He gently picked up the pen and acknowledged her presence.

"Good morning, Miss Maria. I'm happy to see you again," Peter said.

She sat down beside him, and he asked him what he was writing. Without hesitation, he explained the poem from the beginning to the end of it without having finished it.

While he was busy explaining the whole poem to me, I was looking directly at his dancing mouth, and it never stopped.

She was fully into his words and expression of the characters in the poem, and she was imagining each one too. In her mind, she knows this is the right man for her.

As she was reminiscing about the moments she had with her only best friend, Mr. George's smile was odd; his pretense couldn't hold heart again. 

His heart was beating faster in his chest because of the unexpected message he was about to convey to his darling daughter, who wasn't aware that her father had been on a long-term contract because of her, and now there was a new development on the contract.

"Maria, I have something important to tell you, but I don't know how you will take it. Please, I need you to try and understand what I am about to say to you right now."

She dropped her spoon at that moment and focused her eyes on her father, looking at him directly as she moved her two legs outside the dining table, facing them in the direction he was sitting.

"Father, what happened?" Please tell me. She asked anxiously.

"Dear, I have offended you in many ways. I have offended you when I was unable to save your mother because I didn't have money for her heart transplant, which led to her death. I blame myself for her death every day and night, and, ever since then, I have promised to ensure you have the best education in a perfect environment."

"What did Father just tell me?" Maria said loudly. 

Mr. George was trying to explain things, but her curiosity and eagerness wouldn't let her rest, so she stopped him from the long talk and asked for the main reason he brought up the topic.

"Just go straight to the main point, dad." 

"I have signed a contract today," Mr. George said.

Maria adjusted herself and relaxed for a while, with her mood swung into a happy one.

"Wow! That's great news, father. For the first time, your hard work has been rewarded. This reminds me, Dad, I have good news. I have been waiting to tell you, father." Maria said.

She was so excited to hear such good news after a long time of their everyday struggles.

She was carried away by the word 'contract', which sent a good sensory message to her brain, and she didn't even wish to know which type of contract it was. Instead, she told her father she was now a real graduate because she passed all her examinations.

He was so glad to hear such great news from her that he almost forgot to tell her what the contents of the contract were all about. He raised the cup in front of him, and they cheered for more success in their family.

As a man, he was hiding the fact within him; there was a long silence after the cheers, which she was suspicious of before she asked him.

Why are you moody, dad? Aren't you happy for me? Maria asked.

He breathed in and out before he could talk.

"Maria, the contract was about you and Marvin," Mr. George said.

"Marvin John!" Maria asked 

He pushed his food plate to the front side of the table gently and held onto his daughter's hand and said to her,

"I signed an initial contract with Mr. Patrick on my first day at the company. The contract says I must work for his company till you graduate from university, and I agreed to the terms and conditions of the contract."

As she heard what her father had said, she gently unlocked her hand from her father's hand and stood up from where she was sitting with a sad look, then snapped out of it when she got the hunch that if the contract was all about making sure she was a graduate, then it's completed and over, which makes her father free from it. 

But Mr. George continued with the discussion. Maria, now there is a new contract attached to it, which I have to abide by. If I want you to live long, Marvin requested your hand in marriage, and his father made me sign a contract agreement that you would become a wife to his son.

Maria was so furious at her father, her mood changed, and she angrily left the dining hall, crying all the way to her room. She collapsed on her body on the bed like a log of wood; she lay flat with her face down on the soft bed, tears kept on gushing out like a flowing river, soaking the spot her two eyes were facing. 

"Oh great, what a good idea. How could he have done that to his only daughter? Was he trying to sell me out because of money, or was I a burden to him?

Various questions kept on ringing like a bell in her active brain for a month. It got to her physically and emotionally on the day of her graduation. She behaved so sad and slow as she was announced by the MC on the occasion to come forth for her certificate as the best student in the department of microbiology.

Maria, in her long blue gown and her shining black shoes, which were complementing her silver wristwatch, sat down beside her father, and Peter and his parents were next in line.

She could see Marvin and his father sitting next to each other in the front seat, gazing at her. He couldn't take his eyes off her as she walked up to the stage to receive her gifts. Peter and his parents, Mr. Kelvin and Mrs. Kelvin, were clapping and cheering for her like a superstar trying to receive an award.

The MC presented the certificate and the best student award to Maria, who stretched her left hand to receive both, and she was asked to give a speech, but she wasn't in a good mood; her whole body ached, and her heart had been stabbed.

"I say a very big thank you to the entire management of this great institution. I appreciate this a lot. The achievement is dedicated to my mother, who didn't give me up for a billionaire. I am just sad she has passed away, and she's not here to celebrate with me." Maria said very quickly in her calm voice.

After a brief speech, she angrily dropped the microphone on the stage. 

Everyone was so shocked to have witnessed that. Her father quickly went to her, but she ran out of the hall without saying goodbye to even Peter, her only best friend.

Mr. George and Peter searched everywhere for her on that day, but they couldn't find her until she came out of nowhere with her eyes and face red and swollen. She has been crying since they've been searching for her.

"Maria, we've been searching everywhere for you. Where have you been?" Peter asked.

But she just stood tall in front of him for a few seconds, watching his upper and lower lips dance without hearing anything that was coming out of them. She hugged him before he even finished saying whatever he was saying and left without saying goodbye. 

She didn't say anything else. Instead, she went straight into her father's car and slammed the door, then her father left Peter standing alone as he entered his car before he spoke to Peter.

"Boy, don't bother yourself; she will be okay." Mr. George said.

Today, 20th of November 2019, makes it a year she graduated as a microbiologist, and it's also a year of her imprisonment in the Jonsons villa. She had to comply with the contract immediately after her graduation to save her life and that of her father from the wicked billionaire Patrick and his arrogant son Marvin, who had threatened to kill her and her father if they didn't sign the contract. 

Apart from the manufacturing of cars, Mr. Patrick also owns a drug cartel in London, and they are known for their mysterious ways of dealing with whomever goes against their decisions or requests.

He had visited her father in his office on one cool afternoon while he was arranging files. He was a tall and broad-chested man at the age of 50. He strolled into the office in his black suit and white trousers, matching the white shoes he was putting on.

"George, I want to believe you and your daughter have signed the contract, because if you don't, I can't promise you what I can't give." Mr. Patrick said.

He had witnessed his boss's anger once when an employee was fired just because he was trying to correct him in a meeting with a business associate. He allowed him to finish the meeting before he invited him to his office, and he relieved him of his duty without giving him his entitlement.

Mr. Carl sued him in court, but he bribed his way to the top. No judge in London could prosecute him; he had great connections all over the country.

Mr. George was so scared to reply that he stood up from his chair and moved his head downward, facing the floor of his office. He was so scared to look him in the eyes.