A Game With The Billionaire

Chapter 32:

Emma:

The memories from last night come back to me as I make myself coffee from Jeremy’s fancy coffee maker. After a lot of tries, I have finally gotten the hang of it but I still don’t understand the numerous buttons. As the coffee brews, my phone rings on the counter and I snatch it up.

Ethan’s name flashes on the screen and I swipe it up to pick. “Ethan? It’s eight in the morning, what’s going on?”

“Good morning to you, my lovely twin sister.” Ethan chips in and I catch myself rolling my eyes at his playfulness early in the morning. The aroma of freshly brewed coffee wafts around in the room and I pour the dark liquid into my mug, walking to the spacious living room, the phone still pressed to my ear.

I take a glance upstairs, hoping to perhaps catch a glimpse of Jeremy, but he isn’t awake yet. It’s not like him to sleep in. I hadn’t even noticed when he came in last night, except there was this urge to go check on him. Jeremy was my best-friend, so I can’t stop caring about him. He looked so down and I couldn’t tell if it was about his grandfather or something else entirely.

“Earth to Emma.” Ethan calmly says, drawing me back to the present. “You zoned out, Em.”

“Sorry.” I shake my head, taking a sip of the hot coffee. “What were you saying?”

“Do you want to have breakfast with me? I am in Imperial Restaurant, we can eat and talk.”

“Is something wrong?” My mind wonders to all possibilities on why my brother wants to talk to me.

“Can’t I just want to talk to my sister anymore?” If I didn’t know Ethan, one would think he was annoyed but as always, there’s this hint of teasing laced in his voice.

I don’t leave for the office in an hour and thirty minutes anyways. “Fine, I will meet you there.”

Emily, one of my best-friends and also Jeremy’s cousin, is in love with my brother, Ethan. That douche doesn’t see it, and sometimes I want to bang his head on the table and say. ‘There’s a pretty girl in front of you, really, really in love with you!’

I swipe up my phone, dial her contact and send her a text.

Me: Morning! Ethan and I are having breakfast in Imperial restaurant; care to join us in this fancy breakfast?

Her reply comes almost immediately.

Emily: Of course. Now I have to debate on what to wear so he can notice.

I feel an immense ache for her, I begin typing.

Me: My brother is a huge douche, Emily and yeah you guys are friends but if he can’t see you as more than that, then he’s so blind. There are lots of men who will worship the literal ground you walk on.

Emily: Unfortunately, we can’t control the person we fall in love with. It just happens, whether we want it or not.

Imperial Restaurant is already bustling even though it’s very early; this is a Roberts’ generational restaurant. Anytime I step through the door, I am always in awe. There are high ceilings with glistening chandeliers, dark mahogany chairs surrounding tables. The bar at the left wing is stocked with expensive as hell bottles. My eyes sweep over to the spiral staircase that leads to the private dining rooms for VIPs.

The waiter guides me to where my brother is staying. Ethan shoots me a grin as I sit down, placing my purse on the table. “Good morning, dear lovely twin brother.”

His grin only spreads widely. “You get the gist.”

“Hey,” Emily’s sweet voice says behind us and both Ethan and I turn to look at her. I keep smiling; Emily’s wearing a light blue floral mini dress with long bell sleeves and a square neckline, her loose wavy blonde hair flowing down her back. “Sorry I am late.”

I watch my brother intently as he looks at her with a twinkling in his eyes. Sometimes it’s hard to tell what he is thinking, like right now. “Emily?”

“I invited her.” I quickly say as she sits down in the chair beside me.

“Right.” Ethan says and grins at her. “The more the merrier.”

Emily tensely smiles and I gesture towards the waiter.

“What can I get for you?” he asks politely, pulling out his notepad.

“I will take the avoca—” Ethan starts saying but Emily cuts him off.

“He’ll take the avocado toast with poached eggs, with a side of bacon.” Emily rattles off his order, followed by her order, and Ethan stares at her in shock.

“How’d you know?” Ethan asks her as I tell the waiter my order.

“That’s what you always order for breakfast.” Emily smiles shyly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ears.

“Well, it seems like someone has been noticing me a lot.” Ethan jokes which causes Emily to blush. For someone who is extremely smart, Ethan can be so foolish sometimes. What type of friend knows your exact order if she doesn’t have feelings for you? It’s extremely clear and yet, he can’t see it.

The waiter returns with our food and we start eating breakfast, throwing in jokes here and there. My mind drifts off to Jeremy and I snap out of it. What in the hell is wrong with me? This is all because we are living in the same house, I need a distraction.

“Ethan?” A woman calls from afar and we turn to look at the woman wearing a mini dress approaching us, her hair is purplish dyed and she looks like those models they plaster on magazines.

“Jules?” Ethan asks as the woman leans in for a kiss. Emily looks away, and blushes furiously. I cross my hand over my finger, coughing. My brother is a well known playboy; he has every lady in New York wrapped around his finger because of his dimpled-smile and perfectly douche-y grin.

“Right.” Ethan’s grin is still effective on her. “This is Jules. Jules, this is my sister, Emma and my best-friend, Emily.”

Jules looks at us with a bored expression. “Hi, Emma.” She acknowledges me with a stiff smile and turns towards Ethan. “Do you want to get out of here?”

My blood boils, she can’t just swoop in and take him away, that’s completely wrong. “But you wanted us to eat together.”

Ethan’s face turns apologetic as he stands up. “I am sorry to cut this breakfast short, but Jules is an artist, she wants to show me some of her art in her studio.”

Right. Before it was Bea, the chef, then Veronica, the Harvard professor and now Jules, the artist. Hell knows who’s going to be next.

Ethan looks at me. “I will text you later, Emma.” And then to Emily, he says. “See you later, Em.” With that, he and Jules lock hands and start to leave the restaurant.

Emily’s shoulders quake and I can’t tell if she wants to cry or laugh. “I don’t think he is ever going to notice me. Every day I keep telling myself to not love him anymore, that I am just going to keep getting hurt, but my stupid heart won’t listen.”

I reach out and squeeze her hand. “It’s not your fault if my very stupid brother won’t notice you.” She looks at me with teary eyes and I sigh.

“So what’s going on with Jeremy?” she asks, instantly coming alive. Emily has never passed up an opportunity for romance; she takes a sip of her orange juice and says. “If my love life isn’t going well, at least yours might.”

“I am confused, Emily.” I opt for the truth. “I need a distraction, Em.”

“A distraction from what exactly?” She looks at me with a sly smile. “From my cousin, Jeremy?”

“I don’t even know.” At times, it’s so hard to pick out my emotions, they are so over the place and getting them stitched together seems so hard.

“Maybe you just need to go on a date, meet new people.” She suggests and I look away

“I would say the same for you too.” Now it’s her turn to look away.

“If only it was that easy.” She says slowly. “But still, it doesn’t seem like such a bad idea. Just dinner is what I ask for; I can set you up with one of my friends. He doesn’t really know you’re dating Jeremy, so that’s a good thing. Will you give it a try?”

I consider my options. At this point, I will take any opportunity that’s thrown my way. Maybe all I need is to sit across from an attractive man and have lunch or dinner or whatever. “Okay, I’ll do it.”

“Yes!” Emily brings out her phone and starts swiping through her screen. My phone pings and it’s a reminder of Daphne’s second book launch party, she is our friend and after working as an assistant for Arya’s husband for so many years, she decided to write her own book, it was a success and now her book launch party is for her second book which is happening in a few days from now.

Emily looks at me, eyes twinkling. “This is exactly what you need right now, Em.”

I sigh. If only it is that easy.