The Billionaire's Housewife

Running up the stairs, Ava's six inch heel clicked rather noisily. She was hungry and sleep deprived, but above all, she was so late for work and she knew it. What possible excuse could she give her boss for being this late. Suddenly the heel of the left shoe broke in half. "Great, as if my day couldn't get any worse" She cursed under her breath, taking off her shoes and struggling to catch her breath. As she ran into the office, the work day seemed to have begun in full swing, she tried to sneak her way to her workstation hoping that nobody would notice. Her boss, Yolanda stared at her, hands akimbo, Ava's eyes mellowed as if to say sorry but her Boss was not having it. "Ava Walker, My office now"! Miss Yolanda instructed. Ava knew she was in trouble and she bemoaned her fate as she made her way barefooted to Miss Yolanda's office. "What is your reason today, Ava"? Miss Yolanda asked settling down into the seat behind the desk, the plaque on the desk introduced her as Attorney Yolanda Dean, CEO of Yolanda and Associates. She was a slim tall black woman, the type you'll see slaying on the runway and not in some old boring court. "Don't tell me that your grandma's cat died or that your neighbour's cousin's cat died or…At this point you should have run out of family cats to sacrifice for your lateness" Her voice came again. Ava closed her eyes briefly, she had indeed sacrificed a lot of cats for excuses. This time however, she had a legit reason just like the other times but she was too ashamed to tell her employer that she had a night job and her grandmother was bedridden and she had become her primary caregiver. No, this rich girl born into affluence wouldn't understand, besides she was nominated employee of the year the previous year, all these would seem like excuses to slack on duty. She opened her eyes, her heart beating loudly "I am so sorry ma'am, it's never going to happen again" she said clasping her hands together. Miss Yolanda looked at her from her dishevelled hair to her oddly buttoned blazer. She shook her head and Ava quickly buttoned properly. "Indeed it's never going to happen again, you are supposed to be the receptionist but since it seems that our clients welcome themselves in, I don't think we need you anymore, I'm sorry we'll have to lay you off" She said with a note of finality. Ava froze at the spot, She couldn't believe her ears, tears streaming down her cheeks, She opened her mouth to speak but she could barely make a sound. "Please ma'am" she said almost in a whisper "I need this job…my family needs this job". "It's sad to let you go" Miss Yolanda replied, "Despite my initial reservation about you, you have really turned out to be one of our best hands but you haven't been bringing your A-game lately and with all the other interns and paralegals to pay, the firm can't afford to pay the salary for a receptionist that doesn't show up when they're supposed to or looking like they're supposed to" She added glaring at her. Standing up and going through the cabinet behind her, She took out an envelope and handed it over to Ava. Ava had a lot going through her head, how can she afford her sister Olivia's Med School tuition or even her grandmother's treatment, she couldn't wrap her head around her ugly situation. She received the envelope with a gloomy look on her face. "This is your severance pay, I really wish I could help you" Miss Yolanda said, just then her eyes glistened as if she remembered something, "There's an opening for a nanny downtown, it may not seem like much but the pay is good, you can negotiate your terms" Miss Yolanda wrote down a phone number and gave it to her. "Be grateful Ava, there aren't so many well paying offers for college dropouts" Yolanda added walking towards the door "Good luck on your future endeavours, Call me if you make up your mind and need a letter of recommendation" Yolanda added and walked out of the office. Ava walked down to the parking lot barefooted and close to tears, Her job might not have seemed like much but it was one of the best deals she could find with the qualifications she had, the pay was modest and some of the clients complimented her looks and tipped her heavily while making passes at her on their way out, Most of those encounters were disgusting but Ava just had to play along, she had bills to pay. But now, she had nothing, only an envelope and a piece of paper.. She wondered how she would break the news to her grandmother or her sister Olivia who had always told her to live her life and stop sacrificing herself for others, how could she? Since the death of their mother, she had seen it as her responsibility to take care of her family. Fresh tears streamed down her cheeks, she could almost see her ex-boyfriend, Leo laughing at her, his gold tooth flashing in the sun, he had always thought that she was haughty because she made money and always had plans for it, now that she was jobless, she could really learn to be a good girl. She shook off his image from her head and wiped her eyes. The road underneath her feet was scorching but Ava couldn't feel it, her mind was heavily preoccupied with what her bleak future held for her. A sleek sports car screeched, blaring its horn loudly in her direction, startling her and she fell to the ground. She immediately felt embarrassed, noticing now that she was drawing attention from passers-by. "This day just keeps getting worse" she grunted in pain and stood up hastily, packing the spilled contents of her tote bag. She bowed her head in apology to the driver and turned immediately to leave but a hand held her back, it felt warm and masculine. "Ava" a deep raspy voice called out, her heart fluttered. "Ava" the voice came again, this time softer.