A Storm Is Brewing

Bargaining

"Surprise!"

Christ.

I jumped out of my skin at the eruption of noise, earning a giggle from everyone that had gathered in the office building. Through the multiple smiling faces, including Paula, Amanda, Jacob, my dad, and Rhys, the only one I was focused on was Leah. Her smile was different from the rest; it was a smile that said I'm proud of you, eyes that said I love you, and as she walked towards me, it was a hug that said I'm never leaving you.

Of course, Leah hadn't made getting the business back easy. Leah was serious almost always around other people; this only made it more adorable when she was silly around me. It was like a level of comfort that she didn't have with anyone else, one that she felt she could have with me. Standing there, wrapped in her arms, and listening to the cheers around the room, my mind took me back to the multiple times that Leah had decided to wind me up before she finally signed the dotted line to give me back my business, one she had kept safe until I was ready as promised.

— — — —

Flashback 1

"Le, the papers are here!" I excitedly ran from the hallway.
"Ooo finally! Let's have a look."

She pulled me onto her lap on the sofa, my hands shaking as I opened the brown envelope entitled Sophie Kelly and Leah Williamson. A mountain of paperwork fell out; the solicitor in me began to read from the beginning, out loud, of course.

"Go to the last page. Who reads the terms and conditions?" Leah chuckled.
"I do."
"What, for everything?"
"Always. How do you know they aren't saying they can use your body parts for scientific testing, and then you've agreed to it?"
"Well, they aren't going to do that for me buying some new clothes or whatever, Soph."
"That's the problem." I chuckled.
"What is?"
"You think they won't do that, so you don't read them. In turn, giving them the opportunity to write whatever they want in the terms and getting you to agree. Thus, you're now a scientific testing rat."
"God, you have a problem." She chuckled.

As per Leah's wish, I flicked to the last page. I'll read the rest later. Just above the dotted line, the agreement was set out in simple terms.

I, Leah Williamson, grant the sale of the above firm to Sophie Kelly for the value of £500,000.00.

"Nah, is that a joke?" Leah screwed her face up.

My heart began to beat faster.

"Is what a joke?"
"£500k? It's worth at least £700k, Soph."
"Didn't you pay that for it?"

Why is she being like this?

"Yes. I then owned it for a long time. I held it together and paid more staff to make it more profitable."
"Yeah - but the staff wages came out of the profit, not your account."
"I'm going to need at least £600k, Soph." Leah sighed.
"Oh - yeah. That's okay, I'll - I'll speak to the bank. Maybe I can get a loan or something. I don't have the extra, but I'll get it for you. I promise."
"Yeah, no rush anyway. You still have your old job anyway." Leah smiled.

To be fair, Leah was right. The firm had increased in value, and that was something I should've taken into account. I suppose I just assumed we would do a switch for the original price, which wasn't very solicitor-y of me. Before I could think any longer, Leah spoke again.

"I can't. You are just too cute; I can't actually even wind you up because you just make my heart melt." She chuckled.
"Fucking hell, Le. I was dying off inside there." I playfully slapped her arm.
"I can't believe you were going to agree to give me more money when I have literally done nothing at all."
"Yeah - well, I really want it back."
"Hmm. Maybe I'll make more conditions then."