The Billionaire's Lost Love

Chapter2

FIVE YEARS AGO

Andrea's POV

Grrrrrrrr!

I twisted on my bed to turn off my bedside alarm. I checked my phone, and it was 6.30am.

“Monday came so fast” I thought, and for the first time in a long time, I was embracing a new work week with glee.

Andrea Sanders, a 26-year-old middle child, has an elder brother and a younger sister with parents who have been in love for like forever, worked at her dream job as a Sales Representative in one of the leading real estate companies in Los Angeles, Crest Realty.

I have just had the most absurd weekend of all. My boyfriend of three years, Bob, broke up with me via text, and it was funny how I didn't have any lingering feelings for Bob. For someone who comes from a family that has a plethora of couples who are so in love with each other, I sure seem to be the odd one.

My parents have been married for forty-five years and were still so in love. My brother got married to his high school heartthrob, and they were still waxing strong. Even my younger sister had recently gotten engaged, and you could feel the sparks flying from all angles when I had gone home for a visit two months ago.

I quickly got up, glanced at my phone for any new messages and did my best to forget the whirlwind that was on my mind. I proceeded to the kitchen and turned on the coffee maker to brew fresh coffee. While the coffee brewed, my mind raced back to my past relationships.

First, Jeff was in high school. I had a crush on him, but it obviously hadn’t been enough. Then there was Ben from college. I had thought he was the one, but I walked in on him kissing a girl. Now that I thought of it, I didn’t feel hurt at his betrayal, rather I felt sad then.

The coffee maker beeped, bringing me out of my reverie. “I might as well focus on my job since love seems not to be my strong suit” I thought, “Everyone mustn’t get married.” I poured myself a cup of coffee, topped off generously with milk, and headed back to my room to get ready for work.

In the shower, I wondered about having children of my own. I had always wanted children and heaven knows I adored them. “Maybe it will be one of my very lofty and far-reaching dreams” I pondered, “or there is always adoption and, of course, the option of artificial insemination. I could also smother my nieces and nephews with all the love. God knows there will be a brood of them soon.”

“And my best friend’s kids too” I said out loud.

Lucia Knights has been my best friend since our college days in Berkeley, a die-hard romantic who stops at nothing to point out to me that love is all that matters.

“As if I don’t get enough visuals of that when I visit my folks.”

But I love her dearly regardless. She is always in my face and space {we work together} and honestly, I wouldn’t have it any other way. I strolled out of the bathroom with a towel on my head when my phone pinged and a notification popped up from Lucia.

Presentation is this morning. Be early. The CEO of the company we are pitching dislikes lateness.

Like I didn’t know that already. I opened my wardrobe and began to sift through my clothes for what to wear. Five minutes later, in my emerald green shirt that I know complimented my hazel eyes, a straight-cut black designer skirt, my favorite pair of black stilettos on my feet, and minimal make-up on my face, I was rushing out of my apartment to my car with lots of time to spare.

****

Not again! I screamed within as my engine stayed silent even though I had pushed the button to engage the engine twice. This was the 4th time this month. I grabbed the steering wheel with both hands and tried not to scream at the top of my lungs. I watched the traffic lights change to green and the cars behind mine begin to honk at me to move. I tried again; the dashboard lights came on along with the red Check Engine light, but the engine still stayed silent.

I turned on the emergency lights and went down to direct the traffic behind me because panicking wouldn’t do any good now. Guiding the traffic, a new to-do list forming in my head, I began setting new plans in place if I ever planned to make it to work at all today.

After deciding to have my car picked up and taken to the service department at the dealership, I checked in with the office to let them know that I would be late. Still directing the traffic, I was wondering how to get my car to the left side of the road when, out of the corner of my eyes, I saw a dark blue BMW slowly driving past and, despite the chaos going on in my head, I forced a smile.

The BMW pulled over and the most handsome guy I’d ever seen stepped out. He was drop-dead gorgeous, I thought. If only I hadn't been dealing with the latest revelation that love probably wasn’t for me, then maybe, just maybe I would have been tempted to flirt even just a little.

“Hey. Are you okay? You look like you need help” he said.

Who knew Good Samaritans still exist, I thought to myself. Well, the car wouldn’t move itself to the left without some help, so I explained in the best words possible my predicaments without breaking down into tears because it seemed like things just didn’t want to work in my favor of late, especially my car. Yes, it did need replacing, and I have plans to do that before summer ended, but it looked like the car had other plans of its own, and I don't think I could bear being stranded anymore.

He helped push my car to the left and insisted on keeping me company until my Uber got there. She quickly put in a complaint with the dealership. “How long have you been stuck here?” he asked, trying to make small conversations. “An hour” she replied, “Thanks for stopping to help” she added, “and for staying to keep me company though I haven’t gotten your name yet”. “It’s okay, I am actually not in a hurry” he said, “You can just call me a Good Samaritan”, he concluded being cautious because of his status. A pretty face always signaled trouble.

I started laughing. “You're funny and I like that. I love the story of the Good Samaritan anyway, so yeah, I'd call you just that."

We talked for a bit about the benefits of a manually driven car over an automatic car. Thanks to my car being a manual, we were able to push it out of the middle of the road to allow for free flow of traffic. Some moments later, the Uber pulled up, and I had to bid Mr. Good Samaritan goodbye.

The office was in the familiar chaos I had gotten used to when I arrived thirty minutes later. As I made my exit from the elevator on the third floor which housed the offices for all the sales team, I ran into Lucia. “You’re late for the appointment” she said. “I know, and I am sorry”, I replied.

“Are they here already?” I asked. “No” Lucia replied, “They called to reschedule and make a change of plans. Their CEO would be joining the meeting, and he was running late, and it had been moved to be held in their company conference room by 2pm.”

“Damn if today isn’t my lucky day”, I replied. Lucia burst out laughing, “You should dump your car though, and it sure is out for you of late.”

“I actually plan to. It is about time.” “Well, we should use the extra time to ramp up our presentation” I said while bringing out my peace offering to her from my handbag.

“Of course, we can’t let the team down. This deal closes our target for the month and puts us ahead of all the other sales team, plus the bonus incentive is quite handsome. I, for one, really need the bonus”, Lucia replied.

“I definitely need it more than you do. Cars definitely do not drop from heaven.”

Lucia started to laugh. “You know, sometimes I wish cars would drop from heaven. You would have been rid of that rickety by now."

I glared at her. “Don't insult my baby. She has been a good ride for years, she is probably going through menopause. I heard that phase is not easy."

We burst into a bout of laughter that had heads rising from different cubicles to stare at them. “Sorry,” we uttered in unison while trying to suppress our laughter, which resulted in girly giggles. We parted ways when we got to Lucia's desk.

“See you during lunch girlfriend,” Lucia said as we blew air kisses to one another as a parting gift.