The Billionaire's Runaway Bride

CHAPTER NINE

MILA'S POV

I walked into the dinning room with a big yawn and some fe stretches. My night had been pleasant to say the least. As I took a seat next to Carter who was already munching on some sausage, I said my greetings, and drew the tin of coffee towards me.

"Morning Carter!"

"Good morning Mila. Slept well?"

"Sleep has never felt better, trust me." Chuckling, I drew the China kettle and poured some hot water into the cup containing coffee.

"So I was thinking...." Carter started off, and I nodded in attentiveness as I stirred my coffee and proceeded to pour some milk. "Okay actually, Nathan invited us both for his exhibit later tonight, after which we go have dinner."

"So what exactly where you thinking?"

"If you would oblige?"

"I definitely would. It's Nathan! Plus I would really appreciate more time with him. To get to know him."

"Perfect! We leave by 6. Until then, take care" He wiped his mouth with a napkin, stood up and took his suit that was hung on the next chair.

"But it's Saturday! Where are you going?" I asked in disbelief and suprise.

"Is Camilla Monteiro missing someone already?" He teased casually as he put on his suit. "I have a few things to tend to at the office, I'll be back immediately I'm done."

"But I'll be boreddd" I drawled. "I was counting on your company today."

"Don't let Felicity hear that you'll fell bored with her in the house." He chuckled.

"It's f*****g weekend! She's gone to spend it with her girls. I'm really all alone."

"Oh no, you're not." Carter and I, both turned to see who it was.

"Peggy!" Carter rushed over to the teenage girl, who was definitely my age or may be a year older, and gave her a bone crushing hug. If I had gotten the name correct, this might be Felicity's second daughter.

"Hey! It's nice to put a face to the name. I'm Peggy. Peggy Anderson. My mom is Felicity, the..."

"I know whom your mom is." I interjected. "It's really wonderful to meet you too Peggy. I'm Camilla Monteiro, but feel free to call me Mila." I grinned, and she winked.

"I'm in love with her already Carter." Peggy piped.

"There you have it! Your company." Carter gave a toothy grin.

"I was already informed about that one. Chop chop! off you go then."

"Away with me, then" He added. "But before that, when did you get here" He directed his question at Peggy.

"It's not been up to an hour. Mom left for home the moment I came. She knew you were going to be away, and she knew Mila needed the company as well. I'll be taking Mom's shift for the next two weeks. It's gonna be fun!" She said the last part to me.

"Oh I see. Welcome back hon. We will talk about you and school when I return." He quickly wore his jacket and made for the door.

"Have a nice day!"

"Have a nice day!" Both Peggy and I said at the same time. We both look at each other and said..

"Jinx!"

"Jinx!" Then we burst of laughing.

"Have you heard breakfast? Come join me." I invited.

"I already ate this morning Mila. I'm just fine." She smiled.

"So what's your day gonna be like?" She asked.

"I honestly don't have any idea. I never ermmm.... I never have plans, to be honest. I'm just always indoors." We had the front door opening again, and looked to see who it was. It was Carter.

"What are you doing here? Thought you left already."

"Oh yes, I did leave, but I forgot to do something!" He responded as he rushed past us. After a few minutes, he was out and gone again, like he had never come.

"What do you say about hitting the salon, and then, go see a movie together? I think it's cool." Peggy asked.

"I think it's a plan!." I beamed. "I will be done with this" I pointed at my food "quickly, and go make myself look presentable. I also think that salon plan is just at the perfect time. I'm supposed to attend Carter's family dinner tomorrow and I obviously look like shit." I scoffed, while I used my hand to comb through my tangled messy hair.

"Your hair colour is a pretty one. Brownish red is beautiful" Peggy complimented.

"It is? I've honestly never really taken time to think about what I love about myself. I don't even know what my best feature is"

"That should definitely be your lips. Very kissable." She smoldered.

"Naughty youuu" I laughed heartily. I quickly ate up, and went to the bathroom to do my business. I came out of the bathroom to see a note and a card I hadn't even noticed when I walked into the room initially.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That's my card. Peggy is around,

which means you are going out.

Have fun!

~C~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I smiled and picked up the master card. In as much as I may not have any need for it, I was going to go along with it. I put it in my purse, and went ahead to scan through my closet for a perfect outfit. It wasn't a date, neither was it a night affair. My blue boyfriend Jean, black body hug turtleneck, and black sneakers would serve me just fine.

I barely looked at the mirror, as I just passed it a d headed for the door.

"You don't look bad" Peggy beamed. "Let's get going then." I nodded, and left the house.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"My point exactly isn't that Dante didn't deserve happiness or redemption..." The lady argued.

"You're calling him Dante again!" I giggled

"Oh?! Sorry about that. My point exactly is that Julia deserved better than Gabriel."

"There you go again!" Peggy said to the lady. She and another customer in the salon had gotten themselves into a discussion, or should I say, arguement concerning a particular movie; Gabriel's rapture. I was busy being pampered and attended to, by the hairdresser, while I entertained myself with the drama. "There you go again! Like you said, Gabriel deserves, or rather, seeks redemption and happiness. Julia should always bear in mind what she had signed for. He had a broken soul, and that on it's own was gonna take a long time to fix. If she really loves him, that shouldn't be a problem for her."

"Julia was broken too!" The lady countered. "She was f*****g molested! but she handled it well."

"Gabriel handled his as well. And mind you, he was always there for Julia, as a friend, lover and protector. He never gave her a reason to doubt his love for her"

"Oh! Let's not forget how he treated her initially. He didn't act like she meant a thing to him, always humiliated her in the presence of other students"

"Now let's get one thing straight" Peggy stated. "Julia humiliated him and questioned his judgment in presence of other students, most time. Don't forget the argument they had about Dante. She started it." She chuckled in unbelief. "As for initially; like the movie painted, Gabriel had his demons. You don't expect the man to just leave his arms wide open for anyone to come in. That was only humane for crying out loud."

"That was still unacceptable" The lady maintained her take.

"I honestly don't see the point in this conversation because they were both living life. Nothing is perfect, and we should learn to accept that fact. Realistically, life has it's up and downs. Everything cannot be so smooth and rosy. They both deserved each other. They complete each other." Peggy finished.

"I can't believe she called me a child because she lost an argument." Peggy muttered in shock. We were on our way to the cinema to watch a movie. My hair and nails were done beautifully, atleast that's what Peggy told me. I so much loved the new look she gave her hair too. She had it dyed from black to red. It fit her pale skin perfectly! Had she had green eyes, I would compare her to the red haired beauties I normally read about in these novels. Her blue eye were not bad either. I looked at her in mock suprise after she talked.

"Now you agree that was an argument and not a conversation huh?" I laughed.

"It was a conversation, until the 'advanced aged' woman decided she was to mature to see things from the perspective of a teenager. Urgghhh!! I'm 19 for crying out loud!" She grumbled, and I looked at her. "Fine! I'm still 18, until October atleast." I smiled in suprise. "Fine!!! October 21st. Happy?!" Peggy muttered in disbelief.

"Yes I am! But that wasn't the reason I looked at you Peggy. I didn't even have an idea of your age until you said it yourself. I was looking at you because you're cute. You're acting really cute." I said. "And don't mind the lady who called you a child, she once was one, and it's a pity she hasn't outgrown it. A baby in an Adult's clothing." I huffed and turned to see a suprised and grinning Peggy looking at me.

"You do have quite the touch of sarcasm and humor, Miss Monteiro. The lord bless Carter, if he ever goes against you." She chuckled.

"Hey!!! Don't say that. The woman clearly hasn't outgrown her childish nature. Calling you a child because you won her in an argument? Wow!"

"I said it wasn't an argument!!" Peggy gasped in exasperation, as she walked ahead of me, and I couldn't just stop laughing. I caught up with her again, and we continued our leisure chat as we strolled through the roadside walkway, heading to the Cinema.

When we eventually got to the cinema, we bought our tickets and waited for the present movie being displayed, to be over, so we could go in for ours. We had waited for 5 minutes already, when Peggy shrieked in pain and annoyance.

"What is it?" I asked in concerned, as I quickly looked by my side to see if there was anything out of the normal. I didn't see anything to be worried about, until I looked at the Peggy who had her hair in the hands of another lady, as she struggled to get it out of the woman's grasp.

"Who the hell are you?" I seethed, as I made a grab for the lady's hair, which pulled off before I could tell it was only a wig.

She shrieked in shock, as she let go of Peggy's hair, and made for me. By that time, there was a crowd around us already, and some were making videos already. Sick people!! Instead of trying to douse the situation. She came at me and we had a power tussle, grabbing each other's clothes, and throwing slaps at each other. Never had I thought I would find my self in such a situation. Right now, the only thing I could think of was defending myself, and to do that, I had to throw a few slaps too.

This horrible people were still making videos! The lady made a grab for my hair, but before she could get a hold of my hair, Peggy pulled her by her arm, and turned her in a way she was backing me, and the next thing was a slap. I had the loud gasps from the crowd, as more people took pictures.

"How dare you?!" Peggy growled, as she and the woman struggled with each other. I instinctively tried separating the tussle, which I later on realized was a wrong move, as my cheek stung painfully. Had this mad woman just slapped me? Again?!

Before I could take any other action, a young man finally came in between us. Finally! someone amongst this group of fools had a brain.

"Leila!! What do you think you're doing? What is wrong with you??" Oh! He knew the crazy lady.

"You are wrong with me!" The lady screamed. I took time to size up the dude, and boy was he fine!

"Really? You leave me, and aggressively come after two random ladies to fight them. And it's my fault?" At that point, Peggy pulled the man's arm, and her eyes went wide in suprise.

"Miguel?" Peggy called. She knew the man too? What in Heaven's name was going on. I just watched in utter confusion.

"Peggy. What are you doing here? What's going on here? You know Leila?"

"Wait! This is the Leila?" Peggy asked in shock.

"Oh yes! I am the Leila! his Leila!" The lady spat.

"Wait a minute, what's going on here?" The supposed Miguel queried. "Leila what the hell are you doing?"

"Trying to teach the hoe who thought she could mess with me, a lesson! Oh yeah! I should be the doing asking the questions Sir! What was my supposed boyfriend doing with this lady at St. Luciano's restaurant yesterday? You both were even pecking and hugging each other in public!"

That was the moment I understood what the whole drama was about. Miguel had been cheating on his woman with.... I think Peggy, because she has clearly shown she knows the man. Ooops!!!

"Wait a minute! You think I'm cheating on you?" He asked In disbelief. I almost believed he was innocent, atleast for the sake of Peggy. I didn't believe she could do something like that. But how long had I known her? just 5 hours! And I couldn't say she had no idea he had a woman, she clearly called the lady's name. But this wasn't something to fight about either. A cheating man?

"Leila, this is Peggy!! My cousin I told you about. Aunt Felicity's daughter!" Ooops!! Miguel looked really angry. "And to think I was just telling Peggy about you yesterday." He added. Ohhh... That's how Peggy knows her. Wow! This is one hell of a drama.

"It was nice meeting you Leila," Peggy sarcastically said to a dumbfounded Leila, as she wiped a few creases off her blouse, with her hand. Leila had lost some color off her face already. "I have to leave with my friend, whom I'm sure you've graciously met. We have a movie to watch. I honestly don't look forward to seeing more of you in the future."

Peggy pulled me away, and to the entrance of the cinema. First it was the Adult baby in the salon. Now, it's her cousin's suspicious girlfriend. A lot of things had really worked on her nerves today. If it were me, I would have been on my way home, for an alone time by now, but Peggy was pulling me eagerly into the hall. I didn't miss the look of apology Leila had on her face, while we left.

We had gone halfway way through the movie, when I tapped Peggy on her thighs. She turned abruptly and gave me a questioning look.

"I'm sorry about today." She shook her head slightly and smiled.

"Life happens Mila. Life happens. Don't get distracted now, I can feel the movie is about to get real!" She faked a squeal, to which I chuckled.

The rest of the time passed, and we were on our way out of the cinema, recalling a few scenes we had found to be quite epic, when I sighted a familiar face from a distance.

"Isn't that Nathan?" I muttered.

"Nathan?" Peggy asked. "Where did you see him?"

I wasn't expecting that she would have heard what I said, but I pointed towards his figure nonetheless.

"Oh now! That's him. Who's the lady?" She asked, and I noticed a look in her eyes, but decided against talking about it.

"I don't have an idea, but what I know for a fact is that she wasn't the same bimbo on his arms last night." The moment I said that, he bent his head to give the lady a kiss. Oh well!

"Typical Nathan" She smiled, but I could bet on all my Dad had left to my name, that it was fake. "Come on! let's go home." She suggested. On a normal day, I would have gone over to say hi, but today was different. It was either Peggy hated this man to the bones, or she loved him extremely. But whichever it was, I didn't want to make her feel uncomfortable, so I took her hand and walked out of the cinema with her.

"So earlier on, you had mentioned going on a date with Carter?"

"It's not a date! We were invited for an art exhibition, after which we'd go have dinner." I explained.

"But that's a date." Peggy maintained.

"No ma!"

"Do you have a dress for this ermmm.... engagement?"

"Now that seems like a perfect term. No I don't. Or maybe I do! I don't know, I'll go through my stuffs when we get home."

"Now that isn't satisfactory. Let's trying getting you an outfit incase you find nothing you fancy at home."

"On a second thought, you're right. Let's go get me something good." I had Carter's card moreover. I should get something really nice with his money. I giggled inwardly. It's always sweeter spending someone else's money.

"Let's go" Peggy intertwines both our arms.

"Where to?" I asked

"Green Acres Mall" She responded casually. "You fancy the place right?"

I became mute. I honestly had no idea of where she was talking about, or anywhere else for that matter. Okay, in other not to make the situation exaggerated, I do know a few places in New York City, but I hardly went out, and that was something I earnestly wanted to change"

"I..... I don't know where that is." I confessed, feeling a little embarrassed.

"You don't know Valley Stream?" Peggy replied casually.

"I know Valley Stream."

"Good! It's in Valley Stream."

"Okay"

"Come on, there's no need to be embarrassed. No one has been everywhere! Plus, I know you're not the outdoor type." Peggy reasoned.

"You're right, but I honestly have no idea what would happen if I ever went out alone. I'd probably get lost!." I laughed.

"But that's part of the process. Getting lost, asking questions, and finding your way eventually. Remind me the reason I would be here for the next 2 weeks. We would go out often! It would be so much fun!"

"I totally look forward to it." I grinned.

We got into a cab, and made for Green Acres Mall. On getting there, we went into some designer stores, tried on a few outfits, and dropped them. I wasn't seeing something I really liked. That was until we walked into an average looking store.

"How can we be of assistance, Madames." The store attendant asked.

"We would like a gown. Preferably short, and something quite artistic." The attendant smiled and led us into a closet. She handed us over to another man, and explained what we wanted.

"Something artistic shouldn't be much of a hassle." He said as he went through some of the clothes on the rack. "We should have something for you two soon!"

"Not us two. Just her" Peggy informed.

"O...." The attendant began, but I cut him off.

"Please find something for us both." I firmly stated.

"Okay, Ma'am"

"Thank you." I smiled, and looked at a confused Peggy. I had thought of a better plan. How about Peggy tagged along. She wouldn't be a third wheel, because Nathan was also going to be present. Then I would know for sure, what issue she has with him.

"I was hoping you would accompany me to the art exhibition."

"And be a third wheel? I would really love to give you and Carter your space."

"You wont! Remember I told you that his friend tinvited us. You both could keep yourselves company. I just don't want you alone at home."

"Fine! Moreover, I can hardly say no to an outing invitation." She pouted.

"Voila!" The store attendant exclaimed. "I found the perfect gowns. Hope you both don't feel odd about twinning? Though it's not completely alike."

He brought out to gowns. One was gold, and the other was emerald green. Both were made with satin, and designs with lace of same colours around the very deep sweetheart neckline. It had identical openings at both sides of the waist, and back had a crosshatched closing. The gold gown had a slit at both sides of the knee, and the green one had a slit right on the right knee.

"I love the gold!" "I love the green!"

"Jinx" "jinx""

We both laughed. I had opted for the gold gown, and Peggy went for the green.

As we looked at our reflections in the mirror, I couldn't help but gasp. We looked beautiful. Goddd! The green colour did justice to Peggy's red hair, and her shape was just perfect. She was a slim girl, but had abundance in breasts and butt! Her hip wasn't as prominent as the other two, but it worked just fine. Generally, she was one of those girls that could be classified as 'hot'. Meanwhile, I was more on the chubby side, though I couldn't be classified as close to being fat, but I did have flesh. I had small boobs, but big butts and hips. I didn't have a completely flat tummy but it could pass, unlike Peggy who had very flat tummy.

In conclusion, we were both different, but very beautiful.

"This is good" Peggy commented. "Tho, it doesn't give off the artistic vibe, but I can pass. It's simple and classy."

"We would take them" I announced. How much for both?

We paid for the clothes, and began our journey back home. It was 5pm already, and I was hoping we'd get home before 5:30. We had to have our baths, and get ready before 6.

"It wasn't up to 15 minutes, and we were in front of the penthouse."

"It didn't take long, thankfully." I smiled, as we walked into the elevator.

Just as I had stepped out of shower, my phone rang out.

I quickly walked out of the bedroom, and headed for my phone, which was just on the bed. I looked at tge caller ID and it was Carter.

"Hello?"

"Heyyy" He said on the other end of the line.

"Hi Carter"

"I'll be late for an extra 30 minutes. I hope you don't mind?"

"Know it's fine."

"Alright then. Till we see."

"Wait!" I called his attention, with hopes that he hadn't hung up already.

"Yeah?"

"Ermmm.... I told Peggy she could tag along. I hope that's okay?"

"That's fine. I just hope she doesn't feel like a third wheel."

"Third wheel? I thought Nathan was coming"

"Of course he is. But he may have company"

"I already gave her my word, she wasn't going to be a third wheel."

"Just let her know the actual situation of things, let her make a decision."

"If you say so. Bye."

"Bye." And the calm ended. I wore my bathrobe, and made my way to Felicity's room. After knocking on the door a few times without getting any response, I proceeded to open the door. It was empty. I checked the bathroom and no one was there. I decided to check the kitchen, as I thought she may have been eating.

When I got there, it was also empty. Where else could she have gone?

"Peggy!" I called. "Peggy!!!"

"Yeah, what's the matter?" I looked to see her walking down the stairs, into the sitting room.

"You were up?"

"Yeah."

"But I just looked around for you, and I didn't see you"

"Let me guess, you checked my mother's room?"

"Yes?" I replied unsure and she chuckled.

"We all have our rooms in Carter's house. Mom, Annabelle, and I have our rooms here. Sorry i didn't inform you earlier."

"No it's fine." I smiled. "I wanted to tell you something."

"Go ahead." She encouraged.

"Carter just called. Nathan may be coming with a extra. Most certainly, the woman from earlier, and I kinda spoils our plans. I wanted to know if you don't mind."

"It's even Nathan. No wonder. He is the one into the art stuff."

"I don't think it's his own exhibition. He was just invited, and thought to bring us along. So are you coming?" I pouted, and tried doing a puppy dog eye.

"Fine! No need to stress your eyes. I'll come along." She agreed, and I leaped in joy.