The Billionaire’s Conquest

The panic attack

Estephan held on to the steering wheel as tightly as he could while he brewed anger in his mind, no one had ever spoken to him like that. That lady didn’t even put a filter over her mouth as she spoke. All he did was tease her a little bit, why did she feel that much insulted? He thought. This was the first time he met someone who wasn’t scared of him or the title he represented. She spoke to him in such an arrogant tune that made him a little skeptical on who she really was.

But she was a lady, an investment banker, no title, no wealth or family name backing her up.

So where did all the gut come from? He thought to himself. She called him a low profit investment and a misogynist for crying out loud. She has bitten a lot more than she could chew. He wasn’t going to let it slide.

As Diane walked out of the car she walked straight into the neighborhood supermarket market and straight up to the counter. The place had the smell of lavender air mist, which was seemed to have being used to mask the smoky atmosphere that was there previously present. It was a fair sized supermarket packed with a lot of shelves and 3 payment points with cashiers on stand by to ease the follow of customers. Diane walked up to one of the cashiers who was without an attending customer

“Please what direction is to your restroom” she asked with a tune in which you could tell that she was very much in a hurry.

“By the left end of this hall way” replied the cashier as she pointed it out to Diane.

Diane walked in a swift motion towards the restroom and as she got in she closed the door rapidly.

She placed her hands on the sink and began to hyperventilate. She was trying so hard to get oxygen into her lungs and out into the atmosphere. Her face had already changed color to red as she struggled to breath for minutes. She was having a panic attack again, it has been a while since she had one. She thought she was all better, but this was a clear sign she wasn’t. She searched her hand bag for a brown paper bag in which she always kept handy for emergencies like this. After pouring out everything she had in the bag into the sink, she was still unable to find the brown paper bag. She placed her back on the other side of the door and with her red eyes and face and a little tears dripping down the corner of her eyes she began squatting slowly still she got to the floor.

She remained like that for over 10 minutes and slowly she caught her breath again. As she stood up from the restroom floor, she parked her bag and replaced everything she had thrown into the sink when she was searching for her paper bag. After she had done that, she splashed a little water on her face, and using a little face towel from her bag, she dampened her face.

This panic attacks began after she got a text from Jayce, which said in summary that he was leaving and wasn’t interested in the marriage anymore. He ended with the popular saying that it wasn’t her fault and she deserved better. Of course she deserve better, she knew it, he knew it and everyone who knew him was also aware of the fact that they never thought he could land a girl like her in a million years. But then she was so in love with him that every other thing didn’t matter to her at all. After that incident the panic attacks began, she had to stay with her mother and sisters for a few months as she would wake up in the night, out of breath and unable to move. This continued for months and got worse with each passing month. She was booked to see a psychologist by her general practitioner and he told her that she didn’t need drugs to cope with the condition, the psychologist assured her she would get better with time and she should try breathing into a paper bag whenever she had a panic attack. The psychologist told her that the brown paper bag will serve as a holding chamber to trap more air which helps her to breathe more easily. She hasn’t had a panic attack in months and forgot to put a paper bag inside her bag but just as the psychologist promised, the panic attacks did get better with time. She opened the door of the restroom and trying to maintain her gait walked out using her other hand closed the door shut . She tried to think back to the trigger for the panic attack she had just experienced. It was nothing else but the fear of losing her job and going into a s**t load of debt. She had a loan to pay for a house that isn’t even marketable, she had bills to pay which also included the bills for her house and her mother’s house where her mother lives along with her two younger sisters. With all the scary load of debt that she had incurred, it wasn’t a surprise that the thought of a job loss triggered the panic attack. She walked around the supermarket and picked only her essentials and walked back to the cashier with a basket less than half filled. Within 5 minute she was done with the mall and she walked back home.

After her experience with Jayce, she made sure she never gave someone a chance to belittle her, to take her for granted or even to love her. But she could have at least kept her mouth shut for just this once and save her ass but no she had to go all full b***h mode on the CEO of Dune global. If they lose this deal, the company would not be able to bear the effect. Her boss will totally get her fired when he hears that the deal was lost because of her, and Estephan will definitely fire her even if he decided to buy the company, so either ways she was screwed.

Estephan drove back to his office, everyone thought he was done for the day and had gone home. There was no usual protocol as he alighted from the car and entered into his office building and for the first time in a while he felt less constricted and a little free. He didn’t have anyone following him and watching his every move. He got into the office and went straight to his mini office bar, he grabbed the remaining bottle of whiskey from that afternoon and another rock glass. He poured a considerable about into it and returned the bottle back to the shelf taking into consideration that he was driving himself home. He walked back to his office desk and drew up the acquisition file of Great Monument Bank. He scanned through it for a minute and drew up the phone number of Mr Thomson, the General manger and gave him a quick ring using the office line.

“Good evening Mr Thomson” Estephan said

“I guess you know who is speaking” he added

“Come to Dunes Global tomorrow morning, along with your team I will review and sign the contract for the acquisition.

“But there is a little condition attached” he said.

The very next morning Diane went to work with her heart in her hands, she kept wondering when the deed will be done. Will she be called to the office privately and be served the letter or will there be a public humiliation? She was definitely feeling another panic attack brewing up.

She got into the office building and quickly got on an elevator to her floor and still brisk walked to her office. She wasn’t in the mood for any form of chitchat and just wanted the day to be over as soon as possible. She had another thought where he will keep her on her toes for a few days and still end up firing her. All her imaginations all lead to her being layer off.

“ You are here a little later than your usual time”Tracy said as she walked into Diane’s office

She wasn’t able to sleep last night with all the thoughts of today. She managed to get a little sleep at the early hours of the day which lead to her sleeping beyond her wake up time.

“Mr Thomson wants to see you” Tracy said.

“He said I should let him know immediately you arrive” she added

That little brat of an Estephan wasn’t wasting any time at all to get her laid off. A moment ago he just wanted her laid but now he was totally uninterested and even a little harsh toward her. They could have at least waited till the end of work, but the sooner the better I suppose.

She walked into Mr. Thomson’s office, he was still having his morning coffee and sat on the couch very close to the door. His office had this weird smell just like Jayce’s former apartment, she couldn’t quite figure it out.

“You sent for me sir” she said as soon as she entered the office.

“Good morning to you too” Mr Thomson replied trying to indicate that she hadn’t greeted him first while entering his office. She was a bit anxious, you could hear it in her voice and see it on her fingers as they had a little tremor. Where was the confident tune she used on the CEO of Dune global yesterday? Obviously tucked away nicely.

“ I have news for you and you are not going to like it” he began while still sipping his black coffee.