THE BILLIONAIRE'S CINDERELLA WIFE

Episode 4

EPISODE 4

As I stand dumb struck, leering hard at the enticing stranger in front of me, my hands turn slippery and send the tray of eggs heading down to kiss the floor, “we don’t waste food around here,” Pamela’s words bring me back to life, I look at her without shifting my body and I’m surprised to see her holding the tray of eggs, I have no idea what time she jumped in to save them from hitting the ground but I’m thankful that she did otherwise I would have created a smelly, slimy mess to clean up. “Are you okay? You look like someone who...” the young man says before Pamela cuts in, “someone who has never seen a bare chest before,” she giggles as she throws the eggs inside the fridge and impatiently gets back to eating her food. “I’m sorry...I....I was under the impression that there is no one else at home,” I stutter while keeping my eyes away from his. “I said my parents are not home I didn’t say I was home alone,” Pamela mumbles with a mouth full of food.

I take a quick glance at her, not appreciating her response, it would have been better if she kept quiet and focused on her meal, I wasn’t even talking to her to begin with. My guess is this fine man in front of me is probably her older brother, my goodness he is gorgeous, “I’m sorry for startling you, I just came down here to get a glass of milk...I’m Oliver and you must be...ohm...the girl that’s teaching my sister how to win a man’s heart by baking him cup cakes,” he chuckles, his eyes on Pamela to watch her reaction. She squints her eyes at him, tightens her mouth and says nothing, “I’m Rebecca but you can call me Becca,” I extend my hand in anticipation of meeting his but he seems reluctant to extend his to meet mine, for a minute I worry that maybe I have got dirt on my hands so I take a quick glance at it and find nothing wrong. Never judge a book by its cover; here I was drooling over Oliver because of how good he looks not knowing that he is full of himself and does not have the decency to give a guest a proper greeting. It hurts deeply to be continuously looked down upon almost all the time, he must think I have leprosy and he would have gotten it by shaking my hand. I swallow as I withdraw my hand, feeling embarrassed and disheartened, if this is how people with money behave then I guess I can make peace with not having it. I take a step back and return to my seat, fighting the emotions roiling inside of me. I just want to get out of this house as soon as possible.

Oliver grabs a glass and fills it up with milk, I watch as he takes a long sip before marching out of the room, he pauses by the door way and stares at me like he wants to say something but then he brushes it off and walks away.

“Don’t worry about my brother’s behaviour, he is a douche bag,” Pamela whispers to me the minute her brother is out of sight. I clear my throat and decide not to respond to her statement but instead change the subject. “I don’t think they will be a need for me to give you another tutorial you grasped everything quickly and attentively. You are impressive,” I comment, not to please her but because it’s the truth.

“Thank you....well that’s because I had a good teacher, you were very clear and detailed...I’m going to call you again because I will need to learn to bake a cake some day,” she throws me a wide smile.

I’m pleased to hear that Pamela thinks so well of me, she is so much better than her brother. A few minutes later the cup cakes are ready and I let Pamela have the honour of getting them out of the oven, she squeals with excitement at the sight of the perfect golden and fluffy cup cakes. “Oh I can’t believe that I’m the one who made these mouth watering cup cakes, people at school are going to be so jealous,”

“and you will finally get to prove that boy wrong and get to impress him,” I add,

“yes....he will know that he was wrong about me and I’m not some empty headed snob after all,” “do you mind if I taste one?” she ask. “Pamela....these are yours, you don’t have to ask me,” I respond. That being said, she goes ahead and takes a big bite of the cupcake and I observe her face lighten up with delight. “Wow...these taste really, really good,” she gushes, “Come on...have one,” she rushes over to my side and hands me one. I’m not new to how good my cup cakes taste but since Pamela is excited to gush over them with me, I just have to taste one and do the same.

“Hmm you know what?”

“What?”

“These are actually more scrumptious than anything I have ever baked before,”

“You don’t mean that,” she laughs and waves her hand.

“I do...I’m being serious,” I respond, surprised myself by why this is, it then dawns on me that this is actually the first time I have baked using different flour. That’s it! It’s the flour, it’s probably the finest and the most expensive flour that I could never afford. “It’s the flour Pamela....I never got to see its packaging, do you mind if I do?” I confidently ask.

“Oh,” she heaves a deep sigh and I wonder if that means I’m being troublesome, “never mind, I will just...” I begin to say before she interrupts, “it’s not that...the flour is in the pantry and I won’t be able to move the bag because it’s a 50kg bag,” she explains.

“What! 50kg?” I’m amazed by why anyone would order a 50kg bag of flour unless they were running a bakery business.

“Yeah I know that seems like a lot and it actually is, my parents get it delivered from Italy and we use it for about a year and a half, my mother likes to make pancakes every morning,” she shares.

What I’m getting from this conversation is that her mother makes breakfast for her family every morning unlike mine who snores and drools in bed during breakfast preparation time.

Pamela escorts me to the pantry and my jaw drops with astonishment, I have never seen such a packed pantry before, it is a huge room with many shelves that are loaded with different kinds of stock; food and toiletries. You would think it is a store, after seeing my surprised face Pamela explains to me that her parents don’t like shopping for supplies every now and then so they make sure to buy enough house supplies to last throughout the whole year.

That’s a great idea that I wouldn’t mind adopting but I doubt we would ever have enough money to buy yearly groceries when we can’t even afford to buy monthly groceries. I’m always in and out of the shops more than twice a week.

Pamela points me to the flour and indeed it is not local flour, my eyes brighten up at the idea of how this flour could give my cupcakes an advantage but I can’t ask for it. “Would you like to have some?” I’m stunned when Pam offers, I slowly look up at her with my mouth slightly opened, I wasn’t expecting her to offer me some but I guess she read the dreamy expression on my face. I cannot accept handouts, I just can’t, I should learn to do with what I have, besides if I get my customers used to this expensive flour that I can’t afford to maintain, what will happen after it runs out and my customers no longer like the taste of the cup cakes baked using the cheap flour?

“Rebecca....hello?” Pam waves her hand in front of my face, “ohm...I....well...I think it’s kind of you to offer but I’m afraid I can’t accept,” I pull back my hair as I turn her down.

A look of bewilderment flashes across her face, “what is it with you? First you refused when I offered you something to eat and now you can’t accept a simple thing as flour ha! It’s like you are a five year old child that was instructed not to accept anything from strangers.

I hadn’t realised how rude I have been to turn down everything that she has been kind enough to offer me, I wouldn’t be happy about it either if I was her. “A kg or two would be nice, I can bake something for my family and let them taste the difference,” I simper. I watch as her once withered face changes and turns bright and her eyes become smiley, I realise how happy it makes her to be able to do something nice for me.

“It was a pleasure having you around Becca, I will definitely call you again...” she says as she hands me a $50 dollar note, I give her a troubled look as I reach out my hand to accept it. She was supposed to pay me $30 dollars and I do not have change, “what’s wrong now?” she sighs.

“I do not have change” I reply. “Oh...my mistake...I was supposed to let you know to keep the change as a tip,” she says.

“Pam...you are far too kind, thank you so much...” I gratefully say, stopping myself from throwing my arms around her. After taking a glance at my wrist watch; I’m shocked by how fast time has passed by. I wasn’t supposed to here for so long. “Well if you would excuse me Pam...I really need to get going,” I say as I grab my bag and begin to walk outside the kitchen. I almost get lost trying to find my way back to the door that leads outside.

Now that I have been paid more than I expected I can afford to catch a bus to my next destination, it takes about five minutes for a bus to pass by and after a few minutes on the road I drop off by the Lenard’s house. That’s where my father usually works as a gardener during his off days, he loves how big their garden is which allows him to show off his creativeness and the bigger the garden, the greater the work and the bigger the pay.