I have been done with high school for a year but mum insisted that I stay back on the farm to learn a thing or two about farming. This order came when I discovered that she wanted me to advance my career from a local products model to a full fledged fashion model. For the first time in my 17 years and 6 months of life on earth, I said "No!"
She was shocked. Dad was shocked. I was shocked.
I didn't just say no because I could afford it. I said No because I hate modelling. I did it because she promised it would last till when I entered the University and after that I would be free to do whatever I like.
And on the day I said No, the agent had sent me a contract that would tie me to her and her agency for another three years along with my mum's already signed consent forms and contracts.
Previously, I would have just signed and sent back but that day, I just discovered through some random, old business articles how the most malicious part of a contract is usually hidden within its last 30%. Out of curiosity, I read it and found clauses that I never knew existed.
This prompted me to retrieve the other expired contracts because Mum always shared them with me and I discovered things I never knew I must do but was doing because that was my way of life.
The contract said I must not appear in public without my agency consent. I naturally didn't want to. They had a tough time getting me to attend any kind of party too.
The contract said I shouldn't be known with anybody of the opposite sex except for my family members namely Dad and Daniel. But since I hardly went out, I guess Riley wasn't seen as a problem. And finally,
Mum was receiving 50% of my pay and redirecting it somewhere.
I was livid and confused so I called one of our lawyers and sent him a copy. Instead of him getting back to me, it was mum that called and told me she would be home and we would talk but in the meantime, I should sign the contract.
I said No.
Then Dad came in the evening and asked why I refused to sign the contract and I told him once I finished my ongoing contract and entered school, it would be the end of my modeling career. We had a discussion and he tried to convince me to keep indulging mum because according to him, she would have been a model if not that he impregnated her with Daniel.
One of the things I disliked about Mum was that we look alike in almost every way except for age. Discovering that I was living her dream only helped me stick to my refusal to continue but saying no to Dad was also difficult. I have seen what he did to Daniel just to get him to comply. So I promised to think about it and insisted on only signing the contract after speaking with Mum.
Then I discovered Joshua.
He was one of the stewards on Dad's crew. A very gentle, easy going, pretty boy who had been with the family since he was a toddler. His parents were farmers and one day, Dad had brought him home to join the workforce as his personal apprentice and steward. The boy had his quarters with the other inhouse staff but I always met him hanging around Dad's wing whenever they were around the house. I never thought anything of it until I found him and Dad in the pool one very hot Sunday. He was giving my Dad a head and I was watching from my window.
From shock to fear to surprise to disgust to anger to disappointment and finally, my mood settled on mischief. I went to Dad, told him I knew about the boy and if he wanted me to keep his secret, he has to defend me to mum. Mum arrived the next week and he stood with me.
She was infuriated and pointed out that if I stop working, they wouldn't be able to use my accounts for certain transactions again. Dad said he would sort that out. I Didn't understand what they were talking about and could clearly see that Mum had mentioned it by mistake as they wanted me out of Dad's study immediately he signaled her to shut up. But then, I didn't care. I got what I wanted.
Four months later was my birthday and she had called me the previous night to discuss my relationship with Riley. I had just discovered that Riley could be cheating on me with multiple girls both in school and at home. Honestly, I expected him to be cheating in school and couldn't bring myself to dwell on it because I was doing the same with Sylvester. I was looking forward to joining him and I believe that once I join him in NewYork, he will get rid of all the flies.
But the possibility that while we were together at home, before he went away to college, Riley had already been cheating on me with my classmates, former beauty pageants co contestants, Girls on the farm and the list goes on? That possibility had me restless and sleep deprived for weeks. I wanted to confront him but I had no proof. Someone had only mentioned it in passing to taunt me at a birthday dinner I was made to attend by Mum.
So when Mum said Riley already agreed that our relationship be announced with plans of formal engagements, it came as a relief to me. If we were declared, everyone would know to not mess with my man.
After my eighteenth birthday party, Dad, Mum and I went to visit our family lawyers and that was when I knew they had passed the florist business and lavender fields to me. Including Uncle Ron's house.
The family would still control everything but it now belongs to me. But since the power of Anthony would be with Dad and Mum till I am 28, I would only have access to a salary as the owner and 40% of its ROI every 6 months. I am not to bother myself with any other thing.
It was later that I discovered that what Mum really wanted was for me to take over the florist business as Riley's wife so they could keep using my account for activities they refused to tell me about.
Then came the instruction to stay at home for a year to learn the business. I was furious but this time around, mum would have it no other way and Dad was not even around to help. I suspected that his travel during that time was planned to ditch me. I had no choice than to concede because she made me choose between schooling and working in Arizona or staying at home for a year before leaving for New York.
All my life, I have worked as a model, with my face on many kiddies products and even our own businesses. I have walked local runways and ventured outside the state. Mum would have had be running around the globe if Dad didn't put his foot down in exchange for a kept secret. All the freedom I have now. The freedom to stop working, the freedom to spend my own money the way I want without being monitored, the freedom to use my own money to purchase a house in my own name in Newyork city, the freedom to even attend school outside Arizona, I got them all because Dad stood up for me. But in exchange for all that, mum insisted that I stay back home for a year while my classmates went out to colleges.
Her first excuse was that I wasn't matured yet and even at eighteen, I am too naive to take care of myself. Then she insisted that I learn to mix and talk to common people by working on the flower fields and the florist shop for a year. It is supposed to improve my interpersonal relationship and social skills.
True, if I have my way, I would probably never step out of the farm. Everything I wanted and needed was there. I don't talk to most of my classmates and Riley isn't around to take me out, but still, I don't think it's that bad. What does attending to elderly flower garden lovers who come to the florist have to do with my social skills? How will working with the farmers make me a better person? If I want to learn anything, shouldn't I be learning them where my mates are? Which is school. It didn't make sense to me and I wanted to refuse. I mean, why shouldn't I? I had all the cards. But Dad added a Ferrari to the mix. A yellow Ferrari.
A girl that can refuse that, I have not seen.