Page 19 of Maid for My Billionaire Boss
Her eyes latched on me, but I stayed focused on the road and didn’t look over. I was serious about the offer but still felt vulnerable to her response. Instead of replying to my suggestion, a smile sparked her lips. “Purple is my favorite color.”
“For a car?”
“No, for my parade.”
“You do know . . .” My words were slow, hinting of bad news. “. . . that unicorns aren’t a real thing?”
She playfully pushed her hand out like she didn’t want to hear it. “Just because you’re a boring old guy who believes only the things you see exist, doesn’t mean there isn’t magic in the unseen.”
I rubbed my chin with my hand, wondering how far she would take this stupid unicorn thing. I couldn’t help but think it was a little silly. Is she even remotely serious? Maybe it’s because she hangs out with her son all day and she’s forgotten what normal adults talk about? It seemed odd to think about, but I ranted in my head the whole way back to my house, and I realized I hadn’t thought about Allen or the shadows on Atalie’s face.
So maybe I didn’t hate unicorns . . .
Itwasanewday, and I had a new idea.
I was going to save my company.
I had the money to take it forward by myself, but I needed to find another project leader who had the vision. Lucky for me, I knew just the man who could help me.
Evan would be an obvious choice, but he only worked until noon every day and I needed someone who could handle the long hours. I thought about another buddy from college, and like the rest of us—a genius in coding, but he had a few quirks.
Maybe not a few, but one challenging one.
He talked like Donald Duck.
I could only understand about every other thing he said, especially when he got excited or upset. He’d slur his words together and all you’d hear was a crackling swishing noise that sounded like an upset washing machine. But he had a heart of gold. I’d never met anyone with a more generous heart than him. I couldn’t even count the times he gave his last few dollars to a random charity can collecting coins or wrapped up his leftovers when he was still hungry and handed them out to a street beggar. He’d never say no to me, especially after I told him how many people were about to lose their jobs.
There was only one sort of negative thing about it.
Although he was a programmer and impressive with technology, he didn’t have a phone because he lived in Indonesia, and not like one of its notable cities. Yeah, I glossed over that last part for a reason. He had gotten recruited as a missionary to work in the isolated swamplands. No internet. No electricity. Totally off-grid. Told ya—heart of gold.
I emailed him, requesting a meeting, and offered to come to his neck of the . . . swamp. Due to limited email access, it took a week for him to get back to me, and lucky me, he replied with an eager invite to visitthisweekend and news of his recent engagement. He was excited for me to meet his fiancée, a lovely Asmat woman. Although, he warned me that their engagement was still a secret because he feared her brothers would beat him up if they found out. Oh, and he requested I bring Tonya so our girlfriends could meet. Even if we hadn’t broken up, Tonya was a high-maintenance princess. Not a girl you could take to a swamp.
Feeling slightly defeated, I closed my laptop, as well as my eyes, hating what I was about to do. I loathed asking for help, especially after what I’d been through this last year. It was painful to have to rely on someone else, but I knew Robert well and since he saw my depression last year, he would need to see my life was stable before he would commit to helping me. He would find my recent breakup with Tonya alarming and worry about my mental health. I had to convince him I was in a good place.
Rubbing my chin, I mused the best way to do that was to prove I had moved on . . .
Cringing slightly, I reopened my laptop, feeling baddishfor not asking first. I felt it was one of those minor logistical things that didn’t always have to happen in proper order. Before I let the moral part of my brain convince me it wasn’t the most appropriate thing to sign up my newest employee for, I emailed back.
Robert- Congrats on your engagement. You lucky dog. Can’t wait to meet her. Tonya and I broke up, but don’t worry, I met someone else who would love to come.
See ya on Saturday,
Trey
Before I lost my momentum, I headed upstairs where I found Atalie. She caught my eyes before I could speak. Even though she did turn toward me, she took a significant step back, placing her in the corner. “Hear me out,” I led, which I found out wasn’t the best way to open a conversation.
“Not interested,” she said flatly, folding her arms across her chest.
I tried a different approach, one that would make her feel sorry for me as I continued to pace toward her, halting my steps an appropriate arm’s reach away from her. “So, I made a mistake.”
“Then say you’re sorry.” Her eyes looked past me like they were searching for the closest fire exit.
I took another step closer, boxing her in the corner. Never thought about corners before, but I decided I loved them. They created such a lovely backdrop for trapping people. “One more meeting.”
“You said it was just one meeting to begin with.”
“Right. That was with Allen, and he bailed. Now I need to meet with a different friend.”
