Betrayal (Infidelity Book 1) - Aleatha Romig Page 0,74
to determine if the agreement is renewed. There is even a buy-out clause if two people decide they want to stay together, without the company.”
“What if you two hadn’t gotten along? Could you quit?”
“At the end of one year.”
I shook my head. “One year.”
“The people at Infidelity can explain it better than I, but the year thing is there for a reason. The client is putting a lot of resources into this relationship. They don’t want to do that to have it end in a week.”
I took a deep breath. A week is too short.
“There’s something psychologically reassuring about a year,” Patrick explained. “Every day doesn’t have to be wine and roses. I told you that what I have with Cy is real. We fight. We make up. Make-up sex is awesome!”
I couldn’t believe I was smiling at him and really listening.
“Pat, what? How? How did you even learn about this?”
He shrugged. “I can’t give specifics. Like for example, if you decide to look into this, you can’t tell anyone it was me and Cy, other than Karen, the intake representative at Infidelity. I can tell you I learned about it while I was at Pratt. I didn’t do it, not at first. Then, while I was working on my master’s, I had offers for different internships and decided to take the one here. As I was cooking macaroni and cheese on my tiny stovetop, I made the decision to call the person I’d met while attending Pratt.
“It wasn’t an easy decision. During the intake interview, Infidelity was extremely transparent. Although they put a lot of money and resources into this, not all matches work as well as ours. The thing that sold me was the exclusivity. Infidelity pairs its employees once. They don’t serve as a pimp. If at the end of an agreement there’s a mutual decision to end the relationship, the employee receives a severance package and he or she is done. Clients are given two chances.
“The network is small,” he went on. “Confidentiality is paramount. To the world we are a couple. Cy has an important job. I’m his partner. He’s met Mom and Dad. I’ve met his family. No one,” he emphasized, “knows how we actually met.”
I considered all he said. “You said some of the clients are married.”
“Yes.”
“Do they provide the same… housing and living expenses?”
“Yes.”
I scrunched my nose. “Why?
“Why would an employee want to be paired with a married client?” Patrick asked, clarifying my one-word question.
“Yes? Why?”
“Commitments. The job still pays the same, but since this client is splitting his or her time with the employee and the spouse, well, the employee’s services aren’t required as frequently. Like, say the employee has another commitment… law school, perhaps.”
I shook my head. “I-I can’t believe I’m even considering this, but married men? That’s my hard limit. What if Cy would’ve said no to the design firm?”
“It was in my profile. He knew I had a commitment to the firm. He came into this relationship understanding my priorities. Though I didn’t know him, I agreed to enter being willing to support his.”
“When is your one-year… anniversary… contract renegotiation?”
Patrick grinned. “It was last June. We’re in our second year.”
“You don’t regret it?”
“Little cousin, do I look like I regret it?”
I tried to take it all in, but the more I thought about it, the more questions I had. As in most of my times of indecision, since Del Mar, my thoughts went briefly to Nox. “Pat, what if you met someone else?”
“I’m not looking.”
“No, of course you’re not looking, but what if?”
“He’d have to wait until next June. Monogamy is in the agreement. It was also on my list of hard limits.”
A ridiculous thought occurred to me. “So if I agreed to this, I couldn’t commit to Bryce until my contract was up.”
“They call them agreements, not contracts.” He shrugged. “It’s a legal thing, and yes, but you couldn’t tell Bryce, Aunt Adelaide, or Uncle Alton about the agreement. No one can know.”
Patrick reached for my hand. “Little cousin, I know this is a lot to consider. Like I said, it took me almost two years before I decided to do it.
“Cy said he could get you an interview tomorrow. That doesn’t mean you’ll be accepted. Infidelity has a rigorous intake process. They wouldn’t be as successful as they are and as exclusive, if everyone was granted employment.” He tilted his head. “And they wouldn’t be able to pay as well as they do.”