CHRISTMAS WITH THE BILLIONAIRE

TEXAS, 10th december 2023 NOELLE WATSON'S POV "You're not going to San Francisco and that's final!” Mom roared at me, gasping. Her face was all reddish, she was looking at me wide eyed with clenched fists as if she was ready to fight me to hell on this. I sighed helplessly, not knowing how to convince her to let me go. I gained admission to Stanford university, San Francisco to study economics. But mom refused to let me go despite my pleas. "Mom, please, you know how much I wanted to go to Stanford." I pleaded with puppy eyes, going to hold her. "Don't touch me! Don't f*****g touch me! It won't work, not this time! You're all I have in this entire world. I'm not letting anything happen to you. You will go nowhere near San Francisco. You will stay here where I can watch you and care for you. There are lots of awesome universities here in Texas, why must you insist on going to San Francisco? I said no and that's final!" She shouted. "Mom! You don't need to watch me all the time. I will be nineteen in a month. I'm a full grown adult." I said calmly, hoping to convince her. "You're no adult. You're my baby. You're a teenager, my child. You don't know what I went through to have you and keep you safe. Okay, if I agree to let you go, how about the tuition? Twenty thousand dollars is not a joke! Assuming we still had your father it would have been a cake walk, but we don't. I can't afford it right now, you know how things are. My business is not earning that much. I worked so hard to buy this house for your sake, you know I would do anything for you, but I'm never gonna let you go to San Francisco.” She said tiredly and fell on the sofa, with tears running down her cheeks. I felt exasperated. Why was she creating such drama just because I wanted to go somewhere? It's not as if I will die or get kidnapped by some creep over there. I sighed and decided to try again. "I'm not asking you for the tuition. I told you I got a vacation job at an exclusive billionaires' resort. It's just a month's job and I get paid forty thousand dollars. That's enough for the first year. Plus I heard the tips are good. I can even make up to a hundred grand. I'm not a lazy girl, you know that. Once I'm in Stanford, I will work hard to pay the bills. I won't be a burden to you. Indulge me just this once, I really want to go. I have never asked you for anything so passionately in the past. This is my dream mom." I whispered, going to kneel beside her. "You can never be a burden to me, baby girl. You're my life, the only reason why I held on till now. Baby, you can't go to San Francisco. You won't understand it. I can't bear to be separated from you. You won't leave Texas. Let's live here quietly. No one needs to notice us. We will eat well and be happy. Is that not enough? Please." she whispered, and began to cry profusely. I hugged her and frowned as my head worked fast. I know I'm her only child and relative. She told me dad died while she was pregnant with me and his family wanted to hurt her. She never told me anything else, I never asked either. I always see the pain in her eyes whenever she talks about dad. She must have loved him a lot, his death must have scarred her badly. She's extremely possessive of me. But this is my dream at stake here. It's either Harvard school of business or Stanford. But fate directed me to San Francisco. Why can't she see that? I was worried about money and a well paying job popped up, is that not God's work? God wants to give me Stanford as a Christmas gift. I already got admitted, but she's not letting me leave. I know we're a middle class family. We own a decent town house, drive a toyota car, we feed well and I went to a good highschool. Mom owns a boutique and it manages to pay the bills, letting us live comfortably. But I don't want a mediocre life where we're just managing to scrape by. I want to climb high in the corporate ladder. I want to work hard and become someone powerful. This is my dream and ambition. Why does she keep insisting that I remain average for life despite my intelligence and ambition? She never lets me out of the house, she always picks me up from school. I'm already an adult, I need my freedom. Girls my age go on dates, but I have never been on a date because she wouldn't let me out of her sight. This is really frustrating. I felt her tug at my hand, making me look at her. "Dear, you won't go to San Francisco. Please stay here and go to school here. Don't leave. I won't let you leave." she whispered with a pleading gaze, hugging my arm like a puppy. I nodded at her, however my mind was already made up. I won't let her continue to dictate how my life is supposed to go. I went upstairs to book a flight to San Francisco and locked my room, pretending to brood while I secretly packed my bags. I won't f*****g stay here forever. God forbid! I had withdrawn most of my money from my card, preferring to hold some cash. The only freedom she gave me was allowing me to operate a personal account, one in which she pays my allowance. Otherwise, I would be afraid of the debit alert from my transactions alerting her to my plans. I packed my laptop, phone and all the documents I needed into a bag, shoving them into my wardrobe. I took my bath and went down for dinner, getting ready to give her my silent farewell. I hugged her tightly after doing the dishes, it was the goodbye hug I was giving to her. But she doesn't need to know that. I went upstairs and waited till she retired for bed to sneak away. She had seized the house keys, however I found the spare. I had already crept out through the back door, heading to the emergency exit behind the shed when I felt the backdoor unlock and my heart immediately skipped a beat. I quickly hid behind some old furniture. My heart sank as my mother walked straight towards my direction. Has she caught on?