My Poor Billionaire

Chapter 4

THE POOR BILLIONAIRE

CHAPTER FOUR

"Are you done staring at me? Can you start talking now?" he finally breaks the silence.

"The only one who's supposed to do the talking is you, Raymond Connor," my voice is strong and intimidating. I thank the stars it came out just right.

He smiles, his head bowing slightly, causing his long strands of hair on his forehead to fall in his face, but he pushes them back again when he shakes his head, lifting it. "You are still the strong Clara I hired. I like that."

"And you are still the jerk who thinks he owns every little thing, and I hate that. Plus, the name is Rosa, not Clara!"

My calm reply causes Cara to clear her throat and awkwardly step in between Ray and me. "I guess I will leave you both alone so you can talk," she says as she grabs her laptop from the couch and her bag from the floor. After she throws a 'You have a lot of explaining to do' look my way, she leaves the apartment leaving just me and the almighty Raymond Connor.

"So..."

"Since you are acting like you don't know who I am, I guess I'd better start from the beginning. My name is Raymond Connor, the CEO of Connor Fashions which is the...."

"Only popular fashion company to be shut down because the public and the authorities suspect that they could be involved in some dirty business. Yeah, I know. I read the news," I cut him off quickly.

Raymond gives another gentle laugh and shakes his head. How does he do it? How does he manage to be calm in situations like this? His company just got shut down and he's smiling like nothing ever happened. If I were in his shoes, I would be raging mad right now.

"Yeah, you are right. Connor Fashions got shut down but here I am," he opens his arms wide in gesture.

I fake a laugh, "What a pleasure it is for you to visit your old-time employee. Nice, now you can go upstairs, take that luggage of yours and leave my apartment." I'm shocked at my outburst. I thought I wanted to take it slow, but it looks like my mouth as a mind of its own.

"Oh, you mean our apartment?" he gestures towards me and then him.

Wait, what? What did he just say? Our apartment? Is this guy nuts or something? Maybe the shut-down of the company affected him after all. Because, one, why would he even come to look for me and ask for somewhere to stay in the first place? And two, why would he call my apartment our apartment if he wasn't nuts?

"You are nuts, Raymond. This is my apartment and you are trespassing," I remind him of who holds the upper hand here. It was me, of course.

His eyebrow furrows together for a second but he recovers quickly. "Trespassing?"

"Yes, trespassing. You threw me out of that company like I was no one so what is stopping me from throwing you out of my apartment?" I remind him, still with my hands crossed over my chest. I don't know but this stance works! It makes me feel so confident.

I didn't think I could face Raymond after what happened at the company. I mean, he was one of the richest men in the country and I was nobody. I was just a poor helpless designer... even if you can call me that.

"That was all part of the plan, remember?" his eyebrow furrow again but this time, they don't recover. He has wiped the smirk off his face.

"Plan? Plan of getting rid of all the lazy and unwanted workers, yeah it was. That was all part of the plan," I throw my hands into the air in frustration.

"You mean... you didn't..." he pauses and mutters something under his breath, maybe telling himself to calm the f**k down. "Okay, let me start afresh again. You bought the apartment which is great now where is the rest of the money?"

I chuckle carelessly, "Rest of the money? What money are you talking about?"

"The money for the... you bought the apartment with the money I gave you, correct?"

I fake a loud laugh which earns me a confused look from Raymond and makes me regret it instantly. "I didn't use a dime of your money."

"You... what?," he almost screams in disbelief. " You didn't... you mean you didn't..."

"No, I did not, Mr. Connor," I step right in front of him to meet his eye but I'm no march for him. He's way too tall for me but I still look up to meet his gaze anyways. "The money for this apartment came from my own sweat".

Raymond's eyebrows still furrowed in deep confusion, "Then where's the money I gave you? The cheque?"

"I didn't take it. I tore it into pieces."

"You what?!"

Raymond's deep brown eyes bear angrily into mine as I gazed back. Why was he so mad that I tore the check? It was my money anyway. He gave it to me.

"You know what, you are acting weird so it will be better for us if you just walk upstairs, get your bag and just go," I suggest.

"I'm not going anywhere until you tell me where you have my cheque," he insists boldly, his tone, much deeper and angrier than before, as he walks around the room, frustrated.

Don't flinch, Rosa. He's not your boss anymore. He's just a normal guy, I chant to myself.

"What cheque? I already told you I destroyed it." I reply following him around the small space.

Before he can reply, his phone vibrates in his pocket and he reaches over to get it out. He stares at the screen before shoving it back into his pocket and turns to me with a stern look on his face. "I have to go."

My thank God is left floating in the sky when he walks straight to the door and then out of it. If he's really leaving for good, then why didn't he take his suitcase with him? Or is it a piece of luggage?

I tug at the roots of my hair and scream to myself. What was really happening to me? What will I do if he returns and he most definitely will because he left without his bag? Then, I better be ready for him because billionaires... no ex-billionaires like him are used to having their way with things and there is no way I'm down for that.