The Billionaires (#1)

16 || Ground Rules

After his intense argument with Meryl, Jorge had a lot of thinking to do. He had messed up a great deal in the last twenty-four hours and had no idea how to fix his mistakes. It was not going to be easy, especially with the two women, Anita Simmons, and Meryl Anderson; they hated his guts after he fooled the both of them into sleeping with him, based on empty promises. Usually, he would not have any regrets after screwing a woman, but these two women were different; they happened to be close to his sister, and if she were here right now, he would never hear the end of it. Unfortunately, MJ happened to have a ‘soft spot' for them, which led to her banning him from the head office in London, and if by any chance he happened to be in the building, he made sure to steer clear of their way.

Over the years, it had proven harder to avoid Meryl since she was the first face he saw when he walked into Billings Corp. With Anita however, it was a lot easier since he would call MJ and warn her that he was coming, and then MJ would send her out of the building and city since they shared the same office. The problem with Anita and Meryl and every other woman out there was that they all thought they could tame the lion in him; make him fall in love with them, but Jorge was already in love with someone else.

Everyone knew that Jorge was in love with his sister's best friend and girlfriend of almost ten years. However, they also knew how he was a playboy. At the age of 35, Jorge Billings changed women like he changed his gears, but none of those women ever learned; they always go back to him, and some are still on their way- all with the same mind-set and goal- sleep with him and win his heart. Dealing with women had proven to be difficult; he avoided the two women at all costs and did not go to the office today, which was why Jorge found himself at one of the hotels near Heathrow Airport in London at 2 p.m. "Good day, Sir; how may I help you?" The receptionist at the hotel said seductively while batting her eyelashes. She was a beautiful blonde, and on a normal day, Jorge would have loved to add her on his list of one night stands, however, he was not in the mood.

"Hi." He gave her a small smile, causing her to gasp. His lips twitched into his signature smirk at the effect he had on her. "I'm looking for someone; I was told that he was a guest here," Jorge said, holding his breath.

“Oh? Does this guest have a name?” The receptionist asked.

Jorge sighed in relief. “Cameron Parker.” He said, and the receptionist whose name Jorge found out to be Kathy from the nametag, scrolled through her computer.

A few minutes later, she looked up from the computer screen. “I’m sorry; Sir, but we don’t have any guest by that name.” She said, fixing her specs on her nose.

"Uhm…please try Meryl Anderson," Jorge said nervously. He was sure that Cameron was booked into this hotel and hoped that he did not miss him.

“No Meryl Anderson.” She said, and Jorge sighed. “But we have a Samantha Anderson; she booked into the hotel last night, and her boyfriend, Luke Collins, signed into the suite instead of her.” She said.

Jorge frowned.

He did not know a Samantha Anderson, but the name Luke Collins sounded quite familiar.

“Luke Collins, that’s him. He uses his second name and mother’s last name sometimes.” He said with a nervous laugh.

Kathy gave him a suspicious look but did not say anything. "Second floor, Room 101." She said and gave him a visitor's card.

Jorge took the card and thanked her. "Are you sure it is booked under Samantha Anderson and not Meryl Anderson?" He asked her, but she said it was booked under a Samantha Anderson. "Okay, thank you." He winked at her and walked to the elevator. He arrived on the second floor and found Room 101, and then he knocked on the door and waited a few seconds before the person opened the door. "Mr Luke Collins, fancy running into you here," Jorge said sarcastically.

“What are you doing here, Jorge?” Cameron Parker asked in a bored tone, but Jorge merely rolled his eyes and walked past him into the suite.

"You and I need to talk," Jorge said while fixing his black suit jacket. Cameron closed the door and crossed his arms as he watched Jorge who stood with his back facing him.

"You and I have nothing to talk about, Jorge," Cameron said through gritted teeth. Jorge slipped his hands into his pants pockets and turned around to look at him.

“That’s where you are mistaken, buddy.” He posed and stared at him. “We have a lot to talk about; starting with Kyle Martin, Kevin Woods, and Luke Collins.” He said, and Cameron quickly averted his gaze to the ground.

*****

It was 3 p.m. when MJ arrived at Parker's Enterprises. Traveling by cab proved to be harder than she expected. It took her much longer to get one from the old town, and she ended up taking a taxi, which first gallivanted around the city dropping other passengers and picking up others on the way before the driver finally dropped her a street away from the building. When she walked into the building, a lot of eyes were on her.

She walked past the reception desk to the private elevator, and Demi shouted for her to come back and get an access card, but Natalia told her to leave her alone while Mosetsanagape added that she was Sonya Smith’s lawyer. MJ arrived at the top floor, sauntered to Logan’s door, and knocked, but not before staring at the bold letters on the door. “Come in.” Logan’s sharp voice answered. Someone had obviously alerted him of her presence. She opened the door and walked in, and was shocked to find Logan’s office in a mess. There were papers and files everywhere, which was the first sight that caught her attention before her eyes landed on the culprit.

Logan stopped what he was doing and looked at her. MJ caught his eyes, and they just stood there and stared at each other. He broke the eye contact and cleared his throat. “You are late.” He said in an icy voice.

"But I'm here," MJ said and took a seat in front of his desk.

"It is 3 p.m." He glanced at her, his eyes burning in anger.

"Even a blind man could see that." MJ scoffed, and Logan's jaw clenched. She was not going to apologize. He knew it worked in his favour, but she had disrespected him a great deal ever since he met her.

“Listen, May.” He said in a cool voice and slammed his fists on the desk. MJ’s eyes flickered to his. “I don't know how MJ Billings treated you, but this is my company and we work by my rules.” He said.

MJ frowned. What was he talking about? She was MJ Billings – the MJ Billings.

“MJ Billings?” She asked before she could stop herself.

"Yes, your sister emailed me your file this morning," Logan said through his teeth and pushed a file towards her. MJ frowned and pulled the file, her body stiffening at the name written on the cover. CURRICULUM VITAE OF MAY SMITH. MJ clenched her teeth and opened the file, there was not much written inside, but enough to make her blood boil. This was a warning from Sonya Smith, and she did a very good job at conveying her message. She closed the file and pushed it back to Logan, and before she could think of anything else, Logan pushed another file towards her.

“What is this?” MJ asked, but Logan just sat down on his chair and leaned back, waiting to see her reaction. Seeing as he was not going to answer her, she picked it up and opened it. A few seconds of silence passed before MJ gave a sarcastic laugh, catching Logan by surprise. “A written warning?” She asked. “So eager to get rid of Sonya Smith, aren’t we?” MJ asked with a smirk on her face, and Logan froze.

May Smith was not an easy person to deal with as he had expected; she was incorrigible. "Sign it." He ordered.

"Not so fast, Parker." She pushed the file back to him. "You and I don't have any sort of a deal." She said and crossed her legs, the action did not go missed by Logan. "We have no contract whatsoever that classifies me as one of your employees or state that I can't show up at 3 p.m., Sonya is your employee; you should probably email that to her so that she can sign it," MJ said and stood up. "As for this…" she trailed off and picked up the file, and before Logan could register what she was going to do; she tore the paper into pieces. Logan stood up and pushed his chair against the wall, his nose flaring up in anger. MJ threw the shreds on the table and looked at Logan with hard eyes. "Let's start over tomorrow," MJ said and picked up her handbag. "Let's pretend that this never happened, let's pretend that tomorrow is my first day at work; I'll be here first thing in the morning, and after tomorrow, you can give me as many written warnings as you want." She offered, and Logan frowned.

"You are willing to throw your own sister under the bus?" Logan asked and flinched at his own words when he realized that he was doing the exact same thing to Cameron.

MJ raised an eyebrow at him. "What bus? You?" She scoffed and crossed her arms. "I'm sure she has been under you already and even rode on top." She said in an icy tone and Logan froze, but she just waved it off. "Don't fret it, my sister would screw anything with two legs, and besides, sometimes family forces our hand and push us into a corner every now and then, and it is our job to help them realize their mistakes." She said in a singsong voice, and Logan could not help the guilt that overcame him. "But my sister and I are not like other families; in our family, it is an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. So trust me, Parker; you need me." She said and put her hand forward. "You want Sonya Smith; I'll give you Sonya Smith."

Logan stared at her hand in hesitation. What if he was making a deal with the devil? He met her challenging eyes and knew immediately that he had no other choice. He looked between her hand and eyes before clamping her hand in a firm a firm handshake. “Deal.” He said, and she smirked at him before walking out of the office.

Not even a second later, Natalia waltzed into the office. “Well, that didn’t look like someone who was slapped with a written warning on her first day of work.” She said as she stood in front of his desk with her arms crossed, but Logan did not pay any heed to her, he was reading May Smith’s file.

Name(s): May

Surname: Smith

Date of Birth: 01 May 1992

Age: 25

Place of Birth: New Zealand

Residence: England

Marital Status: Single

Current Activity: unemployed

Work Experience: Waitress, PA

Reference: The English restaurant, England

Billings Corporations, England

E-mail: may.smith@gmail.com

Contact No.: 071 820 7354

"Interesting," Logan muttered under his breath as his fingers trailed over the words written in the file