The Billionaire Student's Secret.

11

Jade woke up to a pounding headache and someone pounding on her door. Yawning, and wincing when the ache in her head intensified, Jade sent a death stare at the door, which was still being pounded upon incessantly.

Taking her time because each movement hurt, Jade walked to the door and opened it to see her landlord's middle-aged son who doubled as the building's super, glaring at her. Jade thought the man looked like a bulldog, with his beady eyes, wide nose and flabby cheeks.

“What is it?” Jade asked, shielding her eyes from the light streaming in through the hallway with her hand.

“I've been knocking for the last five minutes.” The man replied, his eyes roaming over Jade's disarrayed form.

“Sorry,” Jade lied, not feeling sorry at all. It served him right, waking her up.

The man snorted, “Your rent was due last week.”

Jade lost her belligerent attitude and her tone became pleading, “Oh my God! It totally skipped my mind! Oh no! Just—”

“Because this is your first time of not paying on time,” Bulldog proclaimed, “my father was benevolent enough to grant you three weeks more of grace, against my advice.”

“Four weeks would have been better,” Jade muttered under her breath, going into full panic mode as she wondered where she'd get the money from.

“Excuse me?” Bulldog asked, outraged.

“Nothing,” Jade lied, “Thank your father and tell him I will do my best to pay my rent before the weeks of grace elapse.”

“Huh,” Bulldog scoffed disbelievingly and left, whistling happily.

Jade was sure he was fantasizing about throwing her out already. She closed her door and leaned against it, taking her head in her hands. Her encounter with Bulldog had only served to exacerbate her already excruciating headache.

She went over to her tiny kitchenette and opened the cupboard where she kept some drugs, popped two tablets of Ibuprofen and swallowed them with a glass of water.

Next, she switched on her phone to find a text from Harry.

It read:

Good morning, Jade. Hope you aren't hungover.

Right beneath the message was a link. Jade considered the link suspiciously. She'd heard of many cases where people had downloaded viruses on to their phone just by tapping on an innocuous-looking link.

So instead, she replied Harry on her messenger app:

Jade: Good morning, Harry. I have a bit of a headache but I'll be alright. I hope I wasn't a bother last night.

Harry replied immediately and they began to chat.

Harry: Nope, u weren't a bother.

Jade: U sure?

Harry: Yup, apart from singing loudly at the restaurant.

Jade threw her phone on the bed and covered her mouth with her hand. She never sang in public because her voice was nothing to write home about.

When her embarrassment had died down a bit, Jade picked up her phone and saw two messages from Harry.

Harry: Hey.

You there?

Jade: Yes, just give me some time to die from embarrassment.

Harry: Lol. You weren't that bad.

Jade: On a scale of one to ten, how much of a lie was that?

Harry: 9?

Jade: Harry!

Harry: Sorry. Did you check out the link I sent you?

Jade: Not yet, what's it for?

Harry: It's a link to download a job seeking app. You just upload your resume, look for job opportunities, apply and hope you get picked.

Jade was so glad she did a fist pump, wondering why she had never thought of using an app to seek for employment.

Jade: Thanks, Harry.

Jade was about to tap on the link when something hit her; Harry knew she didn't have a job. She'd taken great pains to keep her joblessness to herself, so there was no way Harry would have known. Except if she had blabbered about it while she'd been drunk.

“Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!” Jade exclaimed as she face-palmed herself repeatedly.

Jade: Apart from singing, what else did I do yesterday?

Harry: Nothing much.

Jade: Please don't lie.

Harry didn't reply for a while. He was probably having an internal debate on whether to reveal everything she'd said, or filter out the most embarrassing and pathetic things out.

Jade: Don't leave anything out.

Harry: You told me about you have no job and your rent is due.

Jade groaned out loud, abashed of what she'd divulged to him. Harry probably thought of her as a charity case.

Harry: You also told me your mum turned you away.

Upon seeing the message, Jade resumed her face-palming torture, “Stupid! Just few bottles of beer and your mouth becomes a leaky faucet!”

Jade clicked on the link and downloaded the application, signing up immediately.

The faster she got a job, the faster she turned her life around.

* * *

Charles shut his eyes and massaged his forehead, looking at how much his hands trembled when he withdrew them from his face. He was still jittery from his narrow escape from Rania. What if she had released a video of him online? The scandal would be enough for Black crafts, his father's company to lose shares. Also, his parents would be so disappointed in him, and Blossom College would probably rusticate him, forgetting all the building blocks, equipment and cheques his family had donated.

Charles was in class going through his notes from a previous class but could not understand a thing.

“I'll never go to Pleasure Palace again,” Charles vowed, reading a sentence he could not understand again.

Some minutes later, Charles perceived a flowery perfume and rolled his eyes, recognizing Darin's signature scent.

Sure enough, Darin plopped down on the seat next to him.

“I'm saving that seat for someone.” Charles said without looking up.

“Whom?” Darin questioned, tapping a lacquered nail on the desk.

Charles wasn't actually saving the seat, he just didn't want to have a conversation with Darin. Darin obstinately did not take the hint but replied, “Don't worry, I'll be out of your hair in a sec.”

Be out of my hair now, Charles thought but said aloud, “What do you want?”

“So rude,” Darin fluttered her lashes, “I like that.”

Charles sighed with exasperation, “Darin, in case you haven't noticed, you're interrupting my studies.”

“But you're always studying Charles,” Darin smiled sweetly, “all work and no play makes you a dull boy.”

Charles slammed his book shut and looked Darin square in the face, “I know how to play.”

“I'll believe it when I see it,” Darin winked seductively.

“What do you want?” Charles repeated when he saw he was getting nowhere with Darin.

“Fine, fine,” Darin changed the subject, losing her flirty attitude and becoming serious, “I need help.”

“That's obvious,” Charles smirked.

Darin glared malevolently at Charles for a second before grated out a faux-cheery laugh, “Oh, Charles. You're so witty!”

Charles mentally groaned frustratedly, what would it take to chase this woman away?

“As I was saying,” Darin continued, undeterred, “I want to turn a new leaf this semester and become a serious student.”

Charles steeled and did a double take.

“No need to look taken aback, I find that insulting.” Darin voiced.

Charles regarded her suspiciously, “Are you for real? Is this a prank?”

“Nope, I'm serious,” Darin placed a lean hand on her ample bosom, “and I need you to teach me, study with me and generally help me get an A+ in all my courses.”

For the first time since the day before, Charles burst out into a hearty laughter, laughing until tears sprung from his eyes.

All the while, Darin regarded him angrily with her lips pursed and her arms folded under her breasts.

“Are you done?” She asked when Charles had quietened down.

“Not quite,” Charles breathed and started laughing once again.

“What is the matter with you?” Darin shoved him lightly.

“Darin, not even with my help would you get an A+. I mean, a miracle can't even turn things around for you so drastically.”