In Love With Mr. Billionaire - Chapter 11: Chapter 11

The weekend came sooner than I wanted it to. The past few days have gone by faster than the speed of light for me. One moment Aaron had dropped me off home after our first date, with a promise to meet me at the weekend, and the other I was sneaking out of my house to get to the cab that I had intentionally called at a distance to my house to spend my day with him.
My happiness when I got home after my dinner with Aaron was short-lived. It was not long when my family had come back from the Jenkins ball, evaporating everything nice I felt like steam in the air. They had come back early since Lahaina did not wish to stay at the party when the man she had gone to meet had decided to not attend it.
Her fury that day was immeasurable. Her face had turned almost red with the emotions she was feeling and her outburst had caught everyone off-guard. Usually, when Lahaina lost her calm, Juliea would be by her side asking her to calm down but that night, she had decided to stand at the side, allowing Lahaina to blame her step-father for everything.
Lahaina had screamed at him in anger, blamed him for Aaron's absence and called him names for asking her to attend an event when there was no reason for her to be there. Initially, dad had stayed calm. He welcomed everything she said to him with a placid look on his face. It was clear he had expected the outburst the moment he saw Aaron not present at the ball and found Lahaina's anger just.
Then all hell broke loose. My father was never a patient man. One mistake and he would do everything possible to ruin a life. Since I had experienced it first hand, I had always been wary of his temper.
On the other hand, Lahaina was never at the receiving end of it. She would do things that would normally piss him off and he would never bat an eye to it. I had always wondered why it was the case. Whether it was because getting on Lahaina's bad side would mean getting on Juliea's bad side, which could cause huge damage to his business or was it that he actually was fond of Lahaina because she shared the same mindset as him.
But, that night it had all changed. For the very first time, my father had lost his temper at my step-sister. What had amazed me was how, even though the fury, the one that I was terrified of, was there in his eyes, his words were the only thing he had thrown at her. I was used to dodging stuff thrown at me.
"Who the fuck you think you are? Aaron Woodwords doesn't give a shit about you James Marshall. You want his money? The only way you can get it is through me, so you better get your shit together and take the back seat while I do the work," Lahaina had screamed at him.
"You will not speak to me in that tone, girl. I'm doing everything I can to convince Ethan so that you two get together!" My father had warned. His voice had gone higher than Lahaina's, echoing around the walls of our house.
"Oh yeah? Are you? You said Ethan was on our side! You said Ethan wanted me to marry his son so that both our companies would do better! But is it working? Is your friend doing anything? Because the way I see it, not even Ethan knew why Aaron had all of a sudden decided to cancel the deal and not attend the ball!"
"Shut up, Lahaina!" My father's voice got higher, "I already talked to Ethan and Aaron will not be going against his father. I have planned it well!"
"Fuck your plans! Fuck this party! Fuck the deal! Fuck Ethan! and fuck you!" Lahaina had screamed at him and locked herself in her room for the rest of the night.
I had not planned to stay there spectating the whole thing but when the topic of my father's conversation about Lahaina marrying Aaron had come up, I failed to walk away like it was nothing. Whenever I met Aaron, there was always this thought of my father wanting him for Lahaina going on at the back of my head. After hearing Ethan and dad talk about the arrangement, I had an idea that they were trying to get them together, but now hearing them say it out loud and clear, added a certain weight to it.
'Aaron will not be going against his father', I repeated the statement in my head and it made me realize how much of a fool I was to think there could be anything between him and me. Maybe he was interested in me, maybe he was not, but if it ever came down to what would be a better choice, it was definitely going to be Lahaina.
A lot of upper-class families married in their circle to help their business get better. I knew a few of my dad's colleagues and friends who had arranged marriages with each other since it was beneficial to their work lives. It was a very common thing from where I belonged and the more I think about my step-sister and Aaron getting together, the less far-fetched it felt.
Lahaina was good at business, she knew what she was doing when she was working in her office. I, on the other hand, was only ever following Laci's orders and arranging things for her. Of course, it was going to be Lahaina.
"Don't tell me you were whoring out again," my father said to me when he saw me dressed as nicely as I was that night.
"It was Nadia's birthday. I was with her," the reply was automatic since it had been rehearsed multiple times before I decided to go to the dinner date. Technically, I wasn't even allowed to attend parties with her, but he was too furious with Lahaina that night to deal with me.
"Don't you dare step out of this house without my knowledge. I don't want people to find out I have a slut for a daughter," he said, dismissing me with a wave of his hand. I did go to my room without a word. Usually, his words hurt me, made me feel worthless, but that night they had done nothing. I had been too lost in my own thoughts to take notice of his hatred for me. The range of emotions I had felt that evening, which had started from excitement by getting to know more about Aaron and had ended with despondency by realizing it was never going to lead me anywhere, had made me feel sick to my stomach.
My cab stopped at the site where my cafe used to be. The road was blocked ahead since the entire area was under construction. The safety signs were put up all around the place along with another sign which said special authorisation was needed for entry. Men in construction gear were working inside, some lifting heavy blocks, some with building equipment and others instructing their subordinates to work more effectively.
I stepped out of the cab, looking around the place in complete awe. In just a month and a half, the whole place had transformed. The place where my cafe used to be, now held a large building which was in its final stages of construction. Half of the walls at the bottom were already whitewashed and the tops floors had men installing glass windows in them. Even looking at it in its half-built stage, I could imagine how magnificent it would look in its finality.
A little guardpost was built just before the roadblock and a big, burly man walked out of it. "The area is restricted," he said, suppressing a yawn.
That was my cue to not argue further and leave. A more sensible person would do that. I had failed to come up with a reason to convince Aaron to cancel the weekend plans with him, but I can always say that I was denied entrance as an excuse. It had become more important for me to maintain my distance from him after our first and probably the last date night together.
As much as I was trying to deny my feelings for him, the past week, deep down, I was still looking forward to seeing him again. Knowing the future held nothing for the both of us, walking away from the site was the more sensible thing to do, and yet I couldn't force myself to not ask the next question.
"Is Mr Aaron Woodwords in there?" I asked, to which the guard frowned. Then as if he had just remembered something, he straightened himself and nodded.
"You must be Caroline Marshall," he said. Without waiting for confirmation from me, he rushed inside the guardpost and mumbled something on a phone.
This will be the last time, I promised myself. This will be the last time I will be seeing him. If all went well, he would soon be with Lahaina and if it hurt to think about it now, it was going to hurt more if I kept myself in his company more. With that promise made to myself, I waited for him to appear through the construction site.
Moments later, Aaron was making his way through the swarm of workers towards me. He was wearing his usual office clothes, minus the suit jacket. His sleeves were rolled up and the white shirt was spotless despite him being around the construction workers. He was wearing a yellow safety hat and carrying another smaller one to his side.
"I had started to think you weren't going to show up," Aaron said then ordered something to the guard at the side. He went back to his guardpost and came back with a pair of steel-toe boots.
"Would it be so bad if I didn't really show up?" I asked. The future was uncertain, but I wanted to know if my absence would make any difference to him.
"Not really," he said and I felt my heart sink to the ground. Aaron moved closer to me and placed the safety hat over my head, "I was planning to stop by your house and bring you here myself if you didn't."
There was nothing funny but I laughed at that admission. Relief flashed over me like the ocean's waves splashing over the beach floor. Aaron fixed the straps of the hat around my face and I took the time to admire him. When his eyes caught mine, there was a knowing smile playing on his lips, making my cheeks flush.
Next, he took the boots from the guard's hand and I removed my sandals to put them on. They were a size bigger, but nothing I could not walk in. Once I had put on the safety construction gears, Aaron led me inside.
The inside of the site was almost at the stage of completion. I was amazed at how quickly the area was being developed. The art center that Aaron had promised to show me was in the middle, surrounded by tall buildings on all sides. The architecture was Victorian, giving the modern art center an old school feel.
The glass doors slid open as Aaron and I walked inside. Contrary to the outside of the art center where tens of men and women were working around the area, the inside was empty. The smell of wall paint was all around indicating the paint on the walls was still fresh. Intricate designs adorned the walls and ceiling of the place. Though hundreds of display cases were set up all around, the cases were yet to be filled by valuable art.
I looked around, absorbing the scene in front of me. The place was massive and Aaron took my hand to pull me through a narrow gallery that ended in a large hall. The hall was filled with canvases and sculptures covered in white sheets. My hands itched to uncover them to see what lay underneath.
"You can take off your hat here," Aaron said, his voice echoing around the dome-shaped hall. When I turned to look at him, he had already taken off his hat and placed it on one of the wooden tables at the side. He raked his fingers through his hair that fell loose over his forehead in an attractive mess.
I took off my hat and placed it on an empty stand. Aaron walked around to the nearest canvas and pulled the sheet carefully so as not to harm the painting under it. "There are a lot more to come, but I got this batch early for you," he said, taking off another sheet over a greek sculpture.
I was stunned by that declaration. For me? He got it early for me? I was not used to people doing things for me. All my life I was told how unimportant my existence was by my father. He had never done anything for either my mother or me. It had always been us who would try to get his attention. Mom would always do things the way he preferred, always try to please him, to make him see her as something important, but it had never happened.
Even as a child, I would crave my father's attention and love. I would try to be a good daughter hoping that if I was on my best behavior, then maybe someday my father would appreciate me for something, anything.
"Caroline?" I heard Aaron say from across the hall. Almost half of the paintings were already uncovered and Aaron was looking at me with a frown. "You don't like it here?"
He asked and I shook my head. I loved it here. Never being at the receiving end of good things happening, it was startling to have someone do something for me. As much as I was surprised by that change, I was not going to let the feeling stop me from enjoying the moment.
With mom was my last visit to an art museum. Dad had forbidden me to be anywhere near it, calling it lowly, but even if this was the last time I was going to be with Aaron and even if this was the last time I was ever going to be experiencing art, I was going to cherish this moment for the rest of my life.
I shook my head again and said, "I love it. Thank you for bringing me here." I gave him a bright smile and eagerly joined him in uncovering the masterpieces.
It was time for lunch by the time I had briefed Aaron about the various paintings and what they meant. Normally, the meaning of art was subjective. It depended on the person looking at it. Some may admire it for what it was, some may formulate their own meanings, some prefered to see it literally, some liked to dive into the depths and search for the metaphorical picturization. It was hard for some to see anything beyond the strokes of paint and for some, it was the closest thing to magic. I was the latter while Aaron claimed to be the former.
According to him, he never understood why people saw it as anything other than something pleasing to the eye. "The only reason I'm building this is that I had to build something as part of my philanthropy work," Aaron said, looking at a painting of a human eye, filled with different colors. He had said it with such contempt that I burst out laughing.
When I had taken my chance to explain how the colors symbolized the various emotions the artist felt while making it, he shook his head as if the mere thought that the colors could be anything more than just colors made no sense to him. Yet, when we moved to look at another painting, he asked me to explain it to him, which I did with great joy.
After lunch, Aaron was pulled away by one of the designers for his supervision. I had stayed back at the art center, still not over being surrounded by the wonderful paintings. I was looking at one of them in particular, it was of a woman sitting at the top of a snowy cliff looking down as the people celebrated the arrival of spring, when my phone buzzed, pulling me out of my analysis of the painting.
It was Dylan and I answered with a smile.
"Hey, you brat," Dylan said. In contrast to his words, his tone held a lot of affection.
"I still hate you, Dylan," I told him, my voice stern.
"What for?"
"For being a jerk to my best friend."
"Am I not a jerk to everyone, Caro?" That was a pathetic excuse but an honest one.
"What did you call?" I asked.
The cafe was the last time I had met him. He went back to California the following day and the only other time I talked to him was when I called him last month. It was not that he did not call me because he did not care, but it was because he was always so engrossed in work that catching up with his 'favorite cousin' never crossed his mind.
I couldn't blame him for that though. The man was always busy.
"To talk to you, obviously," he said.
"Just talk to me? No reason?" I asked, knowing well there was definitely some reason.
"Nothing. Except there is a charity event in New York next week and you'll be accompanying me to that as my arm candy." See, there it was.
"Why? What happened to all the girls on this planet?"
"I'm trying to avoid scandals, you fool," Dylan said and I nodded. There have been a lot of them recently since he never went to an event with the same girl twice. "You're my cousin, they can't write anything about you. Also, it would keep the other women away if they think I have a date."
"No, ask someone else."
"I did ask your best friend but..." that was news and I pushed him to tell me more, but he didn't.
"Nevermind. Will you be going with me?"
"Oh no, big brother, I don't wish to work as an insect repellent for you."
"How about I give you candy for going with me?" He asked in a serious tone.
"Seriously?" I replied in a bored tone.
"Two candies?" He asked and I chuckled to myself.
"No."
"Three can-" I ended the call before he could complete that sentence. I had already decided I would go with him to that event, but how often did I get a chance to mess with him? Let him cry about it for some time and then I'll call him back to let him know he was saved.
I waved at Aaron as I saw him walk through the gallery towards me. He was talking to someone through his earpiece but replied to my wave with a smile.
He was still talking when he came near me and offered me his hand to take. I looked at him confused and he gave me an assuring nod. Placing my hand in his, I smiled as he guided me towards the gallery.
I don't know where he was taking me but I didn't care. For even if this was the last time when I would be with him, I was going to welcome every moment with him with all my heart.