The Billionaire's Housekeeper

“No! I won’t do it. I won’t marry him. Why can’t we find another way? Why can’t we reason with him? She countered with tears in her eyes. She had always wanted to marry for love and not for convenience. What would happen to those dreams of hers? But Andrew was unrelenting. “This is the only way, Laura. It is either this or I will go to jail. Please, Laura, think about it. Laura felt her heart squeeze at the thought of seeing him behind bars. How could she even let that happen? They had always had each others’ backs since they were young. So, why was she having a hard time doing this one thing for him? Laura dropped herself on the bed, her tear-streaked face caressing the sheets of the bed. Andrew joined her on the bed, trying his best to comfort her. He knew she had always wanted a fairy tale wedding but this was their only play. “Cheer up dear. I know how you feel but you must brace up.” He said encouragingly. Laura pushed him away, her words filled with rage. “Why Andrew? Why would you gamble away all that money? You know how hard we have struggled to get to where we are today. We have had to do things we are not very proud of – despicable things, really despicable things.” The memories of the horrible things they did while in college still haunt her. On one occasion, they blackmailed a very wealthy cougar after getting Andrew to take pictures of her in bed with him. That money saw them through from their second year until their finals in college. “Then this shouldn’t be any different,” Andrew shot back. He could be cold and selfish when he wanted to. Laura landed her palms on his cheeks, leaving his face red and flushed, “how dare you utter those to me?” “I thought we agreed that after the last time, we would never do any of this again, “ she yelled. Andrew chided himself. He had gone too far with his words this time, but his stupid pride stopped him from accepting it openly. Instead, he just walked out of the room, leaving Laura to ponder deeply on all he had said. Fresh tears flowed down her cheeks. She was going to marry someone she had no feelings for just to save the only person she loved the most in the world. At depressing moments like this, Laura always felt the need to take a cold shower, letting the cool water run down her beautiful frame as if to wash off her sorrow, but this time she lacked the strength to do so. All she wanted to do now was to lie down and sleep believing that she would wake up to find this to be one hell of a nightmare. *** Luther couldn’t believe he was getting married. When Andrew had suggested he marry his sister, he had thought it ridiculous not until he showed him a picture of her. He knew Andrew was only trying to save himself. He had given Andrew a job contract worth hundreds of thousands with an upfront payment of fifty percent, but after 6 months, nothing had been done. Luther had been furious and was going to have Andrew arrested but a picture of Laura changed everything. He lifted his cup of coffee to his lips and the cold liquid irritated him. It must have gotten cold while he was fantasizing about the beautiful Laura. “Sam!” He yelled, but there was no answer. What in the world was wrong with his housekeeper? Recently, she appeared to be somewhat depressed and moody. Usually, she had this liveliness about her that infected anyone who came very close to her. “Silly!” He thought to himself. “How could he be that bothered about his housekeeper?” His father would literally be turning in his grave. He winced at the thought of his father in the grave He hadn't yet come to terms with his father’s death, even though it had been 3 years since he passed away. “Sam!” He yelled again, suddenly remembering his cold coffee. His deep masculine voice seemed to have gotten her attention this time as she scrambled from the kitchen to the living room to meet him. “You called sir,” she said, sounding unusually professional. He studied her briefly before correcting her. “For the umpteenth time please drop the sir; you are more like family now. And Oh! Is there a problem? You seem troubled,” he added. How could she tell him she had been acting this way ever since she learned he was getting married? How could she tell him she was in love with him when he only saw her as “just a family member?” Samantha felt like a kid caught red-handed with a finger in the cookie jar, “I am sorry sir – sorry Luther.” She corrected herself nervously. Luther observed her and asked again, but this time more calmly, “Is there a problem? Are you alright?” Samantha thought he looked genuinely concerned, “No, there is no problem. I am okay.” He took great pride in understanding his employees, especially those that worked closely with him, so, he knew that there was something on her mind, but he couldn’t force her to share it. He picked up his cup of coffee, “please can you get me a fresh cup.” Samantha stretched her hands to receive the cup and their fingers brushed momentarily, causing her to spill some of the coffee on him. She reached over to him instinctively and in the process toppled over him, the coffee cup on the floor in pieces. Everything seemed to stop for a minute or two as they both stared into each other’s eyes, each not moving a muscle. After what seemed like an eternity, Samantha realized herself and pulled herself up. “Oh! I’m so sorry. I am so clumsy. I’ll clean it up.” She said as she hurried out of his presence. “What had just happened?” He asked himself, still dazed by what had just transpired between them. “How could he be having such moments with his housekeeper when he was about to get married to Laura – beautiful Laura,” he emphasized, as if trying to convince himself that marrying Laura was the best thing for him Samantha soon returns to clean the spilled coffee and pick up the broken pieces of the cup. “Here, let me get that,” she said while trying to dab the coffee that spilled on his top with a napkin. Her touch was strangely sweet, sending a warning impulse across his insides. Luther knew that if he allowed her to continue, he would lose every sense of restraint in him. “I’ll take it from here Sam,” he said as he slowly relieved her of the napkin. “Thank you,” he managed to add as she left for the kitchen. *** Laura woke up with a throbbing temple, her eyes sore from so much crying. Memories of her predicament flashed in her mind, causing her renewed pain.” In a little while from now she was going to be Mrs. Laura Castro,” she thought to herself. She felt like she was going to puke as she rushed to the bathroom. Laura staggered out of the bathroom, “where had that jerk gone to anyway?” The answer was behind the door as she heard a thud on the main door. Laura managed to find her way to the main door, each step causing her head to ache even more. As she opened the door, Andrew came and he reeked of alcohol. “You have been out drinking again, haven’t you? She questioned him. She knew better than to talk to him when he was in this state. The slightest taste of alcohol seemed to get him drunk and he knew this, yet somehow he still indulged in it. “I had just a bottle or two with the guys. I needed to clear my head.” He said, sounding more stupid than he looked. Laura scoffed, “And here I was thinking you had learned something from your last drinking episode.” Andrew laughed at her outburst as he fell on the couch, “good night Sis.” He said mockingly. Laura slammed the door shut as she stood over him, watching him sleep like an overfed infant; a part of her wished it was his face she had slammed and not the door.