Catch You!My Billionaire

Shifted

The marketplace inside the city downtown is the place where massive amounts of citizens gathered, not to conduct an event or a meeting, but they all go there to find the products at the lowest price possible. The sellers from side to side, promote their products on the crowded wet streets, which will become muddy when the rain starts pouring. They shout from the bottom of their lungs “Buy now, here at a low price!” or sometimes use signages. Every stall has its own specific products ranging from foods, clothing, supplies, and many more varieties. In one lane of the street, people can find any item they are looking for but passing through the crowd can be an obstacle.

After a few minutes of drive, Olivia brought Glen to this marketplace. The moment he laid his eyes on the smoky bit of slimy-smelling place he was disgusted and even pleaded Olivia to leave. “Come on, it’s fine, I swear your gonna like the foods in here”, Olivia said. Glen pulled a puzzled look, he can’t figure out in what world did she find the food here good. The smell, the wet blackish ground, and perhaps people sweating make this place unsanitary. Glen insisted he would never in his life go eat the foods cooked and sold in there.

Olivia laughs and teases him for being over delicate. “Mr. Hopkins, the known influential figure in the country is afraid of street foods”, she chuckles. Her words strike Glen’s heart, in his life not a single person belittled him such. He becomes speechless out of anger, but Glen galloped inside, to show he feared nothing, he agreed. The two walked in the middle of the street, compressing themselves between the people. When Olivia looked at Glen, she noticed he never left his eyes from the crowds around him, but he was bumped a bit by almost everyone going on his way.

“Have you never been in here before?”, she asked since Olivia knows all the citizens in the city must have visited the marketplace once in their lifetime.

“No, I barely go here”, he said, with his eyes staring at the people around him.

“What about the marketplace in your city?”, she asked, but Glen told her the same “No”.

Glen’s shoes are now covered in little droplets of mud. He grabbed a handkerchief from his pocket and was about to wipe it off but Olivia stopped him. She told him, the mud will only be replaced with another set of droplets unless they leave the place. Glen has no choice and put his handkerchief back in his pockets.

Out of nowhere, for the first time Olivia grabbed his wrist and dragged him to one of the stalls “Here!”, she said. The rich, languid sweet smoke and sizzle at the grill, growls their stomach even more. Olivia ordered two plates of chicken and pork barbeque, then when their food was served they sat on a plastic table beside the stall. Before eating Glen reminded Olivia if his stomach begins aching, he has to take care of him.

“You are overreacting”, she giggles, yet still agreed, “Look at how many people are eating in here, their stomach is fine”, she said.

“Because they are used to it”, he leaned closer and whispered aloud

“If you don’t like it then don’t eat it, but I’m telling you, you’re missing out,” Olivia said.

She takes a fork and starts slicing and eating, Glen hesitates at first, however the saucy reddish brown and the scent of barbeque sauce makes his mouth water even more.

“Fine”, he sighs and takes a bite, the sweet-spicy flavor clashes in his taste buds, leaving a delicious taste, he wasn’t expecting.

“This is good”, he said, with his mouth full of chicken barbeque. Olivia smiles, she can’t open her mouth too because it was filled with food. The two ate for almost half an hour, moving from one food stall after another. When their stomachs were full, they strolled a little more on the different stores. Glen and Olivia shopped at the hats, stuff toys, and household items, sometimes they played around with an item, tries it out but returned it, yet they still bought items, therefore the moment they went back in their own cars. They were carrying a couple of bags and placed them in their car trunk.

Four in the afternoon strikes and the two now bid goodbyes, yet before they parted ways, Glen offers he follows her until he makes sure she was at home. Olivia declined and made him remember what her job is. “I encountered more criminals than the number of fingers on both of my hands”, she said. Glen uttered no reply and the two separated ways.

A few drives away from the marketplace resides a new rising shopping mall under construction. Glen peeked on his car window and looked at the construction workers and the materials used. What company builds this establishment? He asked himself, but then at the end of the day, Verselion was not the only company present in the country. “Although it still holds the number one position”, Glen whispered in his mind.

On the road, towards the outskirts of the city is a smooth clear path. Glen drives on his way back to his home in another city. The windy breeze and the swaying trees always leave a peaceful scene in his head, but every time he drives on this very same road, Olivia visits in his memories, not because he misses her, the reason he was questioned about the death of their former mayor. Was he one of the suspected murderers or a witness? Whatever it is, Glen must be careful in every step and decision he makes, so his enemies would never find a single way to falsely accuse him. When the incident crosses his mind, he can’t help but fear and shiver down his spine. The upcoming unknown events of the investigation, make him question what lies in his future, what will the company face ahead of time, and in what situation will his brother end up with. Glen wished at the bottom of his heart, no matter what happens to him, his brother Adrian can handle himself and the company even better than him.

Waiting for the result of the investigation or in Olivia’s trust will hardly achieve any advancement, from knowing the case. If he keeps on stepping aside, one day he might end up on gallows, surprised, and with no chance for retaliation.

Glen reclines the roof of his convertible car, for more exposure to the wind, which blew against his face. A branch on the biggest tree at the side of the road sweeps off after raging wind clashes from the opposite directions, which reminds Glen anything can fall when it faced a strong adversary and is caught off guard. He must be prepared, unlike the branch who fell down seconds earlier. Glen is now certain on making his move, he plans to hire men and conduct his own private investigation. Who knows, he might find golden information he can use against Martin May. Glen presses the car’s gas pedal accelerating the initial speed of his car.

Olivia on the other hand arrives in her apartment at exactly six in the evening. It took her an hour of driving, even though the distance between her house and the marketplace was only a couple of kilometers away.

She opens the door of her house and placed the bags on the ground because of the soft boneless legs, she felt after carrying the bags and climbing on the fourth floor. “Damn that elevator!”, she uttered irritated. Once again the elevator in their apartment building was out of order. Every other week, it malfunctions again and again. Do the tenants jump in it when they use the elevator? Do they press all the buttons, or is it always filled with an enormous amount of people? The questions spiral in Olivia’s mind, which she dumps away at once because it has no use in letting it stay. Afterwards, she stands up to take a shower, since an hour from now her boyfriend Heath will arrive back at the apartment. She must prepare a nice hot meal for the two of them, so when Heath comes home, therefore her boyfriend’s exhausted and drained body would feel somehow refreshed.

Olivia enters their bedroom, she walked towards their drawer to see the time, but all of a sudden a letter lies on the bed.

“To my love Olivia,

I know this is sudden but I think we should have a break from each other. For these past weeks and months, we always fought over the small stuff. The two of us apologize to each other, and we are fine for a day or two, but then a fight spurs up once more, and it feels like this becomes a cycle between the two of us. It was great and lovely to move in with you yet, I never had peace of mind.

When I invited you to go see a movie, you declined over an event. I was fine at first, but a friend told me he saw you at the market with another man. After that, I am done. I am sorry, I need time to recover before I can go back with you again if you still want me in your life.

Heath”

Olivia drops the letter back on the bed and lies down beside it. She spreads her hands apart and takes a deep breath. Earlier this morning, her heart bounces in happiness, after knowing her money can put a meal on a children’s table. Her time also at the marketplace, makes her breath free from all her worries even for a few hours, but all the good emotions in her heart shatter with one letter. “How can he do this to me?”, a tear then falls into the side of her eyes. “I used all my strength and endured every fight we had because I love him. I make sacrifices and try to fix our relationship n every way”, Olivia turns to her side and big droplets of tears begin to flow. “Perhaps, it is really my fault, am I overbearing? Am I the one who initiates our fights, or make it worse”, Olivia blames herself over and over again.

When the night gets deeper, Olivia endures alone a needling pain, stabs and pounds in the apex of her heart. Her eyes become a bit reddish from all the tears she poured out of it. With all the remains of strength she has, Olivia walked outside the living room and picked up her phone in her bag. She sits on their light blue-colored couch and dials a number from her contact.

The phone rings but there was no answer, Olivia called the number once more, this time her friend Emmy picked it up, “Hey Olivia, what’s up”.

Olivia wiped her tears and clears her throat, so her voice won’t crack when she started to speak. “Hey, are you busy tonight?”, she asked.

“Hmmm...let me see, hang on”, Emmy told her and a minute of silence follows their call after, then her friend comes back “I am free tonight, why?”, Emmy asked.

“Can you come over here? I really needed someone to talk to” she said

“Is there a problem”, Emmy’s voice turned down

“Yeah, it is Heath”, the pain in her chest comes stabbing her heart once more, therefore her voice cracks the moment she utters the words.

“All right, I’ll be there, perhaps at eight, I still have work to do, but don’t worry I'm gonna rush in there as soon as I can, ok?”, Emmy said,

“Ok”, Olvia answered and their call ended. She wiped the tears on her face.

Olivia needs to wait for an hour before her friend Emmy arrives, instead of sitting on the couch or lying on the bed which makes the pain grow more. She stands up and prepared ingredients and materials for cooking. An echo in her head, whispers she should talk with Heath, but she knows she can have a decent conversation in such a state of emotion, so she set the idea aside and cooks dinner in the kitchen.