A Piece of Your Heart

I was still a little drunk, so I thought I was only hearing things.

Because hell, who in the world would say something like that to a woman in this day and age, right?

Or was this actually a thing? Was I thinking too traditionally?

Still, he couldn’t be implying what I thought he was implying, right?

“I mean, I’ll buy your time,” Nathaniel said quickly, looking flustered. It seemed that he hadn’t meant for it to sound that way. “Since you feel uncomfortable about me giving you money without receiving anything in return, I’ll buy your time instead. I don’t mean that in a – in a perverted way. You can just accompany me for a period of time each day. Like… a friend.”

I blinked. “Like… a friend?” I repeated.

So he didn’t mean it sexually?

But who in the world would pay someone just to have their company?

“I’ve… been feeling a little lonely nowadays,” Nathaniel admitted. “I was warned not to return to work for the time being, so I’m bored, and I don’t have many friends. I’m always alone at my house, thinking about random things. I think the only entertainment I’ve gotten recently is your performance here at the bar every weekend…”

He paused for a moment before continuing, “And I’ve always wanted somebody to talk to, you know? Most people aren’t interested in knowing about me, and if I ever reveal my true identity to them, they would either feel intimidated or try to win my favor. Like I said, I’m not exactly good with… handling people.”

I looked into his eyes as he talked, trying to see if he was telling me the truth.

His words and tone of voice seemed genuine enough, but I wasn’t sure if I should agree to something like this. It was a little unorthodox, but it made a bit of sense since he seemed like the lonely rich guy type of person. In the novels I read when I was in high school, rich guys usually had a hard time distinguishing which ‘friend’ was genuine or not.

Then again, I knew of an acquaintance who had a ‘sugar daddy’, but they never had sex together. Basically, the man just paid her so she would listen to him talk because nobody ever cared about his worries, so he was really lonely.

But they only communicated through text and online chatting, so there wasn’t much danger compared to being there for him physically.

‘If it’s like that, then it doesn’t sound so bad…’ I thought to myself.

The more I thought about it, the more I hesitantly warmed up to this idea. I may have been doing this for years now, but working too many jobs like this would eventually lead to burnout. I was becoming more exhausted lately, and my creative processes were put to a halt.

The only time when I relaxed was when I was asleep. It was so hard to keep living these days, and I only had myself to rely on.

If I agreed to Nathaniel’s offer, I would only have to listen to him and be there for him as a friend. I would accompany him wherever he went, maybe? What kind of limitations and expectations were there in an arrangement like this?

But as long as he didn’t ask me for any sexual favors or anything weird that went way outside the boundaries of friendship, then it wasn’t such a bad offer, to be honest.

With regard to safety, I could always have my brother or sister check in on me every day, and if I failed to respond to them within a specified period of time, they would call the police. Maybe it was also good for me to set up an emergency alarm in my phone just in case, one that required me to press the power button three times to call 911.

It didn’t take me long to realize that I was actually considering this absurd idea. I must’ve been more drunk than I thought.

Then again, I could always just… try it out.

Nathaniel was still staring at me, looking a little uncomfortable at my silence. The bar was still noisy as always, but those sounds seemed to fade into the background the more I stared into his eyes. It must’ve been the alcohol talking, but gazing at him so closely, I was becoming more aware of how handsome he was. Behind those glasses were bright blue eyes that captivated me, as if they were pulling me right into their fathomless irises.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

“All right,” I finally said.

And I hoped that I wouldn’t regret it.

His eyes widened in surprise. He looked like he hadn’t really expected me to agree. Had he made that offer impulsively, then?

‘What’s done is done,’ I told myself.

“I’ll accept your offer. I can be your listening ear, and I can be there for you whenever you need me, like a friend, but…” I took a deep breath before staring straight into his eyes solemnly. “I want to make it clear that this arrangement is something that won’t involve any deep feelings, especially from my side. You can consider me as a friend and tell me everything, and I won’t say anything or judge you. But I can’t give you my heart.”

I had to lay it on to him straight. In this kind of arrangement, honesty was the best policy. After all my experiences with men, I wasn’t about to risk it with another one. My life had been much better without them, anyway.

I was only taking a chance with this one, but only with several restrictions in hand. There was no way I was going to get my heart broken again. Not this time.

However, to my surprise, Nathaniel only smiled in response.

It was a genuine smile, one that made him look even more handsome. It was a smile that unexpectedly took my breath away, a smile that made my heart instantly skip a beat.

Yeah. I was definitely drunk.

“That’s okay,” Nathaniel said softly. “I can give you mine instead.”