Finding Mrs Billionaire

Chapter 4

Jessica was stunned at the turn of events. It was difficult to fathom what had just happened. She didn’t think she had done anything wrong. She tried to recollect the events as they had unfolded. She came up with nothing. It would seem that he had already been upset by something, but she was sure that she didn’t know what it was.

She apologized again to her colleagues who were already on their way out. They responded in a conciliatory way. They were not surprised, as they knew from experience that he could be short-tempered with the staff from time to time.

Jessica got back to her desk as her phone began ringing. It was Vincent Koder calling. She picked it up.

Hello Vincent; Jessica is on the line. What can I do for you?

Hello Jessica, I am calling to find out if Tristan is in the office. He did not pick up his calls, and we discussed the Korean trip and the plans for the store.

She explained what had happened this morning to Vincent. He was insistent on the details of the exchange between Jessica and Tristan as if to suggest she had done something to upset him. She insisted that wasn’t the case. He hung up with a muffled remark about checking in again later.

The conversation had angered her. Vincent always had a way to get under her skin most times, but this was a new low even for him. Her mind turned back to that night when he had cornered her at the office party and tried to make her go home with him. She had turned him down, and it had become a little scene. She was sure he still wanted to get back at her for that singular event, but she didn’t care. He was a creep in her opinion.

The office was quite busy and the upcoming trip to Seoul was weighing heavily on her plate. She had meetings with the various teams and needed to get sign-offs from Tristan, but he had still not returned even after an hour.

A call came through on her mobile phone; it was Carlton on the line. She hurriedly picked up.

“Hello Ms. Durden, this is Carlton on the line. I am calling on behalf of Tristan. He insists that you come over to the beach. He is at the base of the Warton beach house, and he wants to speak with you.”

She was confused by this call. He wants to see me at the beach during office hours. That was strange.

“Hello Carlton, the beach,” she asked, confused. “Do you know what's going on?”

“I would rather not make any guesses at the moment. All he said was that you should come alone and that you should hurry.” With that, he hung up the phone.

This was out of the ordinary and very out of place for Tristan. He had stormed out, and now he was at the beach insistent on her coming by herself. She decided it was best to hurry up and get going. The beach was twenty minutes away on a good day. The sooner she left, the quicker all this would be sorted out.

Driving into the house, she parked beside the only other park in the driveway and walked into the house, moving towards the beachfront patio. Carlton was seated reading a paper. As she approached, he pointed to the beach close to the shoreline. She followed his pointing and saw Tristan seated with his trousers folded up and his feet in the water.

Seated looking into the distance as the waters lapped at his feet. He seemed serene, even maybe angelic, his handsome features showing even more clearly. He turned his head to look at her when he heard her approaching and smiled.

“Thank you for coming, Jessica. I have a small problem and need a female perspective.”

Okay, that was quick and straight to the point, she thought to herself.

“Okay, I will be glad to help.” She answered, pondering to herself what she was getting herself into.

He told her everything that had happened to his parents, what they had said. She was all the time thinking why was he telling her all this? What would he want her to do in all this? There was no way she could be of help on this issue. Unless, could it be what she was thinking? No, it can’t be that. Could it?

So that’s about the gist of it. I have one year or else it's over for me and the company. I know my dad; he does not bluff about things like that. So what do you think?

She did not know what to think. This was a lot to take in. He was her boss for crying out loud, and she was not even sure about her feelings towards him.

“I am sure that your parents want the best for you and are worried about what will happen to you when they are gone.”

“I know all that. What should I do about all this,” he remarked a bit coldly.

Yes, that was the Tristan she knew. The one who could become cold all of a sudden and be downright condescending.

She glared at him. He looked up at her.

Jessica nodded her head and continued. “Do you have anyone in mind? Maybe an ex that you could reconnect with and give it another try.”

He brightened up when she said that.

You know what? That’s a brilliant idea. Why didn’t I think about that? I have the perfect person already.

He jumped up and hugged her, then quickly, as if embarrassed, he regained his composure.

“Thank you, Jess. That has taken a weight off my shoulders.”

She was still taken aback by the hug. That was very unlike him. She composed herself.

You are welcome, Tristan. I brought the documents for the Seoul project with me. I would need you to sign off on some of the expenses and plans.

Tristan was wondering why he had hugged her. That was not something he did. No matter how excited he was. “Not a problem, give it to Carlton. It will be at the office when I return later today.”

“Also, Jessica, Thank you for the birthday party earlier today.”

She waited and realized he was not going to apologize, even though she wasn’t expecting him to. That wasn’t his style. He would prefer to hand over gifts as his way of apologizing rather than saying sorry.

They walked towards the house.

“Now that I think of it, you are going to Seoul with me. You are going to help me find a wife.”

She was too stunned to respond.