Miranda Lee - Contract with Consequences

2012

DONT you think you should start getting dressed?

Scarlet glanced up from the Sunday paper which shed been pretending to read for the last hour or so. She hadnt felt like talking, especially since the conversation always came round to the radical choice which Scarlet had made this year. Her mother had initially supported her decision to have a child on her own by artificial insemination, but lately shed been expressing the opinion that it might not be such a good idea.

Scarlet needed negativity at the moment like a hole in the head!

Okay, so the procedure hadnt worked the first two times. That was not uncommon, shed been told by the clinic. She just had to keep on trying and sooner or later she would conceive. It wasnt as though there was anything physically wrong with her, except perhaps that she was getting older. Which was why shed decided to do this in the first place.

What time is it? she asked.

Nearly noon, her mother replied. We really should make an appearance at the Mitchells no later than quarter-to-one. I know Carolyns planning on serving lunch around one-thirty.

Carolyn and Martin Mitchell had been their friends and neighbours for almost thirty years. They had two children: a boy, John, the same age as herself, and a girl, Melissa, who was four years younger. Over the years Scarlet had got to know the family well, though she liked some members more than others. Mr Mitchell had not long retired and today was their fortieth wedding anniversary, a milestone which Scarlet knew would sadly never figure in her own life.

Janet Kings heart squeezed tight when she heard her daughter sigh. Poor love. Shed been so disappointed when her period had arrived this week. It was no wonder she didnt feel like going to a party.

You dont have to go, she said gently. I could make some excuse-say youre not feeling well.

No, no, Mum, Scarlet said quite firmly, and stood up. Im fine to go. Truly. Do me good. And she hurried to her bedroom, thinking that it would do her good. She could have a few glasses of wine-now that she wasnt expecting. She also wouldnt have to spend the rest of the day defending her decision to have a baby on her own. Because no one-other than her mother-knew about her baby project. Frankly, she was sick and tired of her mum telling her how hard it was, bringing up a child on her own.

Admittedly, Janet King had first-hand knowledge of the subject, Scarlets father having been killed in a car accident when Scarlet had been only nine. Scarlet knew full well how difficult life had been for her mother at that time, both emotionally and financially. Difficult for herself, as well. Shed adored her father and missed him terribly.

So, yes, she appreciated that raising a child without the support of a partner would be hard at times.

But not as hard as never having a child at all!

Just thinking about such a prospect made Scarlet feel physically ill.

Shed always wanted to be a mother, ever since shed been a little girl. Shed grown up dreaming of one day falling in love with a wonderful man-someone like her darling dad-getting married and having a family of her own.

Scarlet had honestly believed it was only a matter of time after leaving school before that happened. Her plan had been to marry young so that she could enjoy her children. Never in her wildest dreams had she envisaged reaching the age of thirty-four still single and without her Mr Wonderful anywhere in sight.

But that was how her life had panned out. Sometimes, Scarlet simply couldnt believe it.

Shaking her head, she stripped off her dressing gown then turned her attention to the outfit which shed already laid out on the bed earlier that morning-a purple woollen tunic dress, black silk polo underneath, black tights and black ankle boots. It didnt take her long to dress-shed already showered and blow-dried her hair-after which she made her way along to the main bathroom to put her hair up and do her make-up.

Neither job took Scarlet all that long. At thirty-four, she had her grooming routine down pat.

The sight of the finished product in the large vanity mirror brought a puzzled frown to her forehead. Why, she wondered for the umpteenth time, had it come to this?

It wasnt as though she was an ugly girl. She was very attractive with a pretty face: cute nose, full lips, blonde hair and a good figure. Okay, so her breasts were on the smaller side, but she looked great in clothes, being tall and slender. On top of that she had a bright, outgoing personality. People liked her. Men liked her.

Despite that, shed had a lot of trouble finding herself a steady boyfriend over the years. In hindsight, Scarlet now realised that her choice of career hadnt helped, but that hadnt occurred to her at the time. Not wanting to leave home and the Central Coast, shed taken a hairdressing apprenticeship in the salon where her mother had worked, a move which had confounded a lot of people. She had, after all, achieved very high marks in her exams and could have pursued some high-flying profession such as communications or law, if shed wanted to.

But becoming a journalist or a lawyer was not what Scarlet wanted out of life. She had other priorities which didnt include more years of studying and even more years clawing her way up the ladder to what some people thought of as success in life. At the same time, she did want an interesting job which she enjoyed.

Despite her teachers warnings to the contrary, Scarlet had loved being a hairdresser, had loved the camaraderie with her co-workers and clients. Loved the feel-good feeling which came with completing a colour or a cut not just adequately but brilliantly. She soon gained a great reputation as a stylist and by twenty-five she and her mother had opened their own salon in a small shopping centre not far from Erina Fair. They would have preferred to locate their salon in Erina Fair-the shopping hub of the Central Coast-but the rents there were way too high. Because of their loyal clientele, their business had still been a huge success.

But only on the financial front. Scarlet eventually had begun to see that being a hairdresser with mainly female clients was not conducive to meeting members of the opposite sex. Being an only child with no siblings wasnt an asset, either. Maybe if shed had an older brother

Not that she didnt try to meet men in other ways. For years shed maintained a group of girlfriends from her school days and they went out regularly together to parties, clubs and pubs where, for some perverse reason, she would always be hit upon by the type of good-looking sleazebag who was only interested in one thing-though she didnt work this out till shed been burned a few times.

One by one, she watched as her girlfriends found nice guys to marry-mostly through their more diverse careers or family connections. Scarlet had been a bridesmaid so many times, she began to dread weddings, not to mention the after-wedding parties where her married friends always tried to hook her up with some guy who was usually drunk and was only there to have sex with at least one of the bridesmaids.

When the last of her unmarried girlfriends had found her future husband on an Internet dating site, Scarlet had tried that method, but it had been an unmitigated disaster. For some reason, she still seemed to attract the wrong type who only wanted the one thing.

Scarlet had never been a girl who liked sex for sexs sake. Not that she hadnt tried it a few times in her younger days; she had. But she had found the experiences so lacking in pleasure that by her twenty-first birthday she vowed to reserve giving her body till she really liked the guy she was with. Unfortunately, shed really liked some of the good-looking sleazebags whod successfully picked her up during her twenties. Even then, thered been no bells and whistles going off for her in bed, leading Scarlet to the conclusion that maybe she needed to be deeply in love to enjoy sex. Either that, or she was seriously undersexed.