What Jude scrawled at the bottom sounds like a threat, but it’s really just a gruff as a cover up.
He drew this contract up months and months ago and it’s been slumbering patiently beneath the weighted blanket of all of the various documents he’d thrown on top, to keep it carefully out of sight until the right time.
Naturally, he purchased a special jewel-encrusted pen for you to use. Some random quill for everyday run-of-the-mill chicken scratch would never do— this is too important.
The ink must be imported on special order, that’s a given. It must also be a specific shade, for this pen will be used only twice: for your engagement, and then again for your wedding.
No, wait— that’s not right. What if he builds you a villa. One with a large, pretty pond, or even a lake. He could row you out to see the full moon again, and maybe this time the two of you won’t tip the boat over like fools. That mortgage would need to be signed— the bill of sale for the row boat, too!
And…maybe if…there ever comes a time for little ones and their birth certificates…
Ah, see. He knew he was right not to just select the best of his everyday quills. This custom order is going farther than he realized.
Will you, one day, notice that the ink matches his eyes? Will you ever guess that the beautiful jeweled pen could never shine as brightly as you do, to his heart?
One this for sure, he’s going to get a kick out of waiting for you to notice this contract hanging in full view, in three separate places: his office, his library book, and in his bedroom.
Sure, he makes everyone sign everything in triplicate, but no one would expect what they signed to be frames and mixed in with all of his diplomas and certificates, and proudly displayed in a place of pride.
He’ll keep this to himself, his own little secret, until the day your curiosity gets the better of you. Then all of England will hear him laugh.
It wouldn’t be a bitter laugh. Those days are over. He wouldn’t play g at your expense, either. This laughter would feel freeing, like a release— hey, ya just now noticed this thing I’ve put up for all the world t’see? What a near-sighted bird!
He can’t even remember how to smile cynically anymore. Who even was that version of himself? Look at him now, saving up for layaway happiness.
Jude loves himself a crisp, freshly signed contract, and he loves when people adhere to what’s laid out within one even more.
What he loves best, though, is the quiet assurance this thin sheet of paper gives him:
I’m here.
I’m still alive, and I don’t have to feel guilty for surviving.
I have hope for my future, and someone to share that future with.
yousharknotpass
snowghoul
theartofmadeline
ellievsbear
pixelskylines
amandla
