The Billionaire’s Redemption

Chapter2

“I don’t even know if I should keep trying. I mean, she has a son. That must mean there’s a man in her life” I said pacing up and down the living room.

My suit was hung on the arm of the sofa nearest to me and my sleeves were rolled up. Bernard sat on an arm chair still fully dressed. The living room screamed luxury and class, you wouldn’t expect anything less from a billionaire.

“And she didn’t even want to hear me out. She shut me down before I could even say anything” I added.

“What were you thinking showing up to her house like that? You thought she was going to jump into your arms and come home with us?” Bernard asked rhetorically “Your relationship with her didn’t end on a bed of roses”

“That was four years ago, I was young. I was naive. The new found wealth was getting to my head but I’m different now”

“Are you really?” Bernard asked as he raised one of his eyebrows.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You still play around with every woman who catches your eye. And you throw them out when the sun comes up after you’ve had your way with them.”

“That’s different, Bernard. Those are one night stands, they signed up for it”

“I see” Bernard said unconvinced.

“You’re not being helpful Bernard. Help me think of another girl I can hire to be my pretend wife”

“How about Agnes?” I suggested.

“Isn’t she already married?” Bernard asked rhetorically

“Oh, that’s true she’s engaged”

“What about Lily?”

“Who?”

“She was my prom date back in high school, we just need to find her”

“Why don’t you go back to Rachel after a week when she’s calmed down and forgotten about today’s foolish encounter. We can sit down and make a well thought out plan about how to go about it.”

“It’s no use. She’s got a child.”

“Make no assumptions. The child may not be hers, she could be babysitting for the mother of the child.” Bernard suggested.

“You’re right Bernard.”

“So how do you suggest we go about it?” I asked

*******

“I got your email” Rachel said as I walked into the conference room, where she had been waiting.

She was dressed in a full corporate attire. She wore a knee length fitted dress with heels and she styled her hair in a neat bun.

“I came to personally tell you that I am not interested, Goodbye” Rachel said as she got up and began walking towards the door.

“Surely you did not come all this way to say no” I said as I grabbed her hand just as she was about to walk past me.

“Let go of me!” She commanded and I obeyed.

“Did you see the pay? It’s quite handsome” I added.

“You’re still so arrogant” She said.

“I don’t know what you mean” I scoffed.

“Here, this is the proposed agreement” I said handing her a binded document “If your answer is no after reading it then you can leave, I won’t stop you”

She hesistated but finally collected it from me and went back to sit and read it. Rachel had always been one to put up a show, but it was always just a display. If she truly wasn’t interested, she wouldn’t have come at all.

I watched her flip through the pages and I watched her eyes scan through them, as I walked closer and took a seat on the opposite side of the table.

“The benefits are eye catching” She commented

“You wouldn’t expect anything less from a billionaire” I smirked but she didn’t even smile.

“$15,000 a month is eye catching. No one would say no to this. So you shouldn’t have any issue finding someone else to do it. I’m out of here.” She said closing the document and getting up.

“Woah woah woah, Rachel please. I’m really trying here”

“How self centered can you be? It’s so disgusting how selfish you are!” Rachel spat out.

“Okay, that came out of nowhere” I said and Rachel picked up her bag and attempted to leave.

“Wait wait. Don’t go. I deserved that. You can say your mind, just please don’t go yet. Just think about it.” I don’t know what part of my statement pissed Rachel off but she completely snapped and threw my contract at me.

“It’s been four years you f*****g narcissist.” She screamed “Four years since you threw me out of your home and dumped me like a bag of trash. I called you non stop, I sent you messages, I even emailed you and your company a dozen times but you never answered. I came to your workplace and got thrown out by security. They wouldn’t even hear me out, they said they were instructed to throw me out on sight. Like I was a bag of garbage”

“For months I did everything I could to reach you all to no avail. You ruined my life. And now, you think you can just waltz back into my life because you need me for something and I’m supposed to leave everything and do what you want. You don’t even have the decency to apologize. I’ve been here waiting for you to say you’re sorry, but it never occurred to you to do so. When that should have been the first thing you said. You’re a horrible horrible person, Nathan”

“I’m sorry Rachel” I said

“It’s too late, I don’t want your apology if I have to force you”

“It’s not forced, I mean it. I really am sorry”

“You’re a liar, you’re only saying that because you need me. You can’t treat people like items you picked up from the trash” Rachel said as she held open the door ready to leave.

“And for your information, I called you tirelessly because I wanted to tell you that I was pregnant. George is your son.”

*********

“Wait wait wait, go over it one more time” Bernard said getting up from his chair.

“You heard me right. The little boy I saw is my son”

“And you let her get away? What is your problem?”

“I was dumbfounded. Everything stopped when she said that. I didn’t know what to say or how to react”

“She’s right. You are a horrible person and there’s only so much that I can defend.” Bernard said.

“What do I do now? How do I make it up to her? I don’t want to be like my father who left my mother to raise me alone. How could this happen?“

“You really messed up big time. But we can still fix this. Regardless of her whole tantrum, I still think she wants to let you in. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have come at all. You just need to show her that you’re sorry.” Bernard said with his hand on

“And this is good news, your mother will see her grandchild after all” Bernard added

“That’s if I can get Rachel to forgive me. She wants nothing to do with me”

“What you need is a grand gesture or in this case multiple grand gestures. You need to show her that you’re truly sorry” Bernard suggested

“But are you?” Bernard asked

“I am, I don’t know why it never occurred to me to say it. You’re both right, I’m a horrible person and I need to make this right”

“Schedule the grandest gestures that money can buy. Starting tomorrow, I want something grand and thoughtful delivered to Rachel and my son daily”

*******

“She rejected the car” Bernard said walking into my office.

“And the roses?”

“And the roses” Bernard confirmed

“Why would anyone reject a car?” I asked

“You haven’t changed and she can see that through these empty gestures.” Bernard scoffed

“This was your silly idea, Bernard!”

“No! My idea was a grand gesture not an expensive gesture. You are a billionaire, so what if you toss $100,000 dollars to buy her a new car? It means nothing! My suggestion was that you do something thoughtful, like writing her letters everyday. You haven’t even bothered to meet your son officially but you decided to buy her a car?”

“I know you think I’m a failure as a person and I don’t blame you but I’m actually trying so please cut me some slack” I said as I got up and left him alone in my office.

I went up to the roof of the building and lit up a cigar. This was where I always came when I needed a smoke break or when I needed to think. Right now, I needed both.

Was I really that bad a person? Why didn’t it occur to me to apologize to her? Why am I so stupid? They’re all right, I am horrible and it’s so bad that I’m unconsciously awful. I don’t even notice how wrong the things I do are.

When Rachel and I dated, I truly loved her. I did. But I was arrogant and narcissistic, I didn’t want to be restricted to just her. Not when every girl that saw me threw themselves at me. I wanted freedom to taste with every girl I saw, so I had to get rid of Rachel. I had grown tired of her that the sight of her upset me, I didn’t mean to, it just happened.

If I could go back, I would do things differently. I wouldn’t have thrown her out of my home, I wouldn’t have ignored her many messages. I wouldn’t have gotten a new phone just to avoid her. I can’t believe I have a son that I never knew about. I can’t believe I missed his early years. I wonder the kind of life he’s living, he deserves so much more — his father is a billionaire.