Falling For The Tycoon

A Night Out

WILLIAM

“Is there anything you'd like me to do before I leave, Mr. Carter?” My secretary asks, a bright smile plastered across her face.

“I think I'm good, Bethany,” I say, looking at my laptop screen.

“Are you sure?” She asks.

I lift my eyes from the screen and look at her, “I'm good.”

“Alright, I was just making sure,” She says and walks out of the office.

She pops her head back in before closing the door, “Mr. Carter?”

“Bethany,” I say through gritted teeth.

“Would like to go to the club down the road for the new year's countdown?” She asks, batting her lashes.

“Don't you have family dinner?” I ask.

She pushes the door open and comes to sit on the chair in front of my desk, “I do but there's a little problem.”

“Which is?”

“I promised my parents that I'd introduce my boyfriend to them on the last dinner of the year but my boyfriend and I broke up a few days ago and I'm too ashamed to show up at home without a date. Do you wanna pretend to be my boyfriend?”

“I’m not interested.”

“Then let's go,” she says, her face pleading. “I know you have no plans for the night, otherwise I'd have known about them.”

She's right, she has learnt a lot about me over the years she has worked for me. She knows I have no plans of f*****g anyone tonight because everytime I have such an appointment, she arranges a hotel room for me because I don't take any of my whores home. I have no family, I don't date but I f**k girls, and I have only one friend who recently got married and is on his honeymoon. So I really have no plans for the night and she won't leave until I accept her invitation.

“I'll go with you,” I say.

“Yes,” she squeals, spinning in the chair. She turns my laptop to herself and switches it off. “Let's go.”

“I hate your persistence, Bethany,” I say as we ride down the elevator.

“You'll thank me later, Mr. Carter. Moreover, all work, no play made John a dull boy. I don't want that to happen to you,” she says.

“Who said it will?”

“Your actions say that loud and clear,” she says. “Forget about…”

“Don't get started with that conversation,” I cut her short.

She comes to stand in front of me and rolls her eyes, “I'll talk about it until you get back to who you used to be before that b***h changed you. You can't keep focusing on work alone and using any spare time you have to f**k different girls in the city, there are so many beautiful things around that you can do. Loosen up.”

I ignore her. I'm hearing this from her for the millionth time. She has said it to me for years now. Five years ago today, my fiance cheated on me with my business rival. That disturbed my entire life. My company started failing, my mental and physical health were compromised, even my relationships with everyone around me were shaken until Bethany hired a therapist for me. I slowly got myself together, returned my company to it's glory and vowed to never be in a relationship or fall in love. Bethany has been like a best friend to me from then and that's why I tolerate her drama.

“Tell me something,” she continues to talk. “Will you forever hate New year's eve because of your ex-fiance? It's been five solid years for Christ's sake, move on.”

“You and I both know I've moved on,” I say as the elevator doors open. “I just like to spend this day alone but it seems like I'll be spending this particular one with you and many strangers in an ordinary club.”

“Ordinary clubs are the best if you ask me. There are all sorts of people and a lot of fun, unlike the luxurious VIP clubs you prefer.”

“Alright, tell me more,” I tease, hoping into the driver's seat of my Benz.

“You're allowed to kiss anyone in the club after the countdown for only a minute, unless they like it,” she says. “It's gonna be so much fun.”

“How do you know about it?” I ask, curious.

She chuckles, “My cousins took me there when I was eighteen, I kissed a guy and accidentally bit him because I didn't know how to kiss yet. I haven't been there since.”

“You're so silly, Bethany. You chose a stranger to be your first kiss?”

“That was a dumb move, I know,” she says and we both laugh. We continue to chat until we get to the club.

I look at my wristwatch as we walk inside and it's exactly thirty minutes to the countdown. Bethany wraps her hand around my wrist and stuttles ahead of me to the counter.

She greets the bartender with a very bright smile and orders scotch for me and a cocktail for herself.

“You need something strong to get out of your shell, Mr. Carter,” she says as the bartender places our drinks in front of us.

Bethany takes a stool and I lean against the counter, feet crossed at the ankles as I watch my surroundings. Everyone seems happy, like nothing on this earth could ever take the joy they are feeling now away.

It reminds me of that night five years ago as I waited at a restaurant for my fiance and she stood me up, only for me to receive a video of her being f****d hard by my rival at exactly 12AM in the New year. The joy I had as I waited that night to tell her that we could start trying for a child before our wedding felt like it was going to be with me eternally but it was taken away in a blink of an eye. That's how cruel the world can be.

I shake my head and lift my cup to take a swig when I spot a girl who doesn't look as jolly as everyone else in the club. She's drinking and laughing and dancing with a young man who I assume is her boyfriend but I can tell she has a lot going on in her mind. I can also tell that she's extremely beautiful even under the dim club lighting and I can't seem to take my eyes off her.

Bethany, who is all along flirting with the bartender elbows me, “the countdown is in a minute.”

I rest my cup on the counter and walk towards her.

The lights go off as people begin to countdown. The countdown is almost over when I wrap an arm around her waist and pull her to myself, palming her cheek with my spare hand. The ruby red glow of her earrings in the dark catch my eye and make me hesitate for a second before doing what I want to do.

I lower my mouth to her face, finding her mouth and kissing her.

At first she doesn't respond to my kiss but that doesn't make me stop. I slide my hand down to her neck and give her a gentle choke. She smiles into my kiss and kisses me back. As soon as the lights are switched on, I pull away from the kiss and quickly camouflage myself into the crowd. For some reason I don't know, I don't want to reveal myself to her. I find Bethany bent over the counter as she kisses the bartender and gently drag her out of the club.