The Billionaires (#1)

17 || Meetings and Dates

Cameron Parker just stood there and stared at the floor. Jorge Billings was on point. “Are these men the reason for the rift between you and your brother?” Jorge asked. Cameron sighed and ran a hand through his hair. This was not something he wanted to talk about, especially after discovering what his brother had done to him; he was hurt when he found out that Logan wanted him locked up in prison.

All his life, Cameron had looked up to his brother; Logan was always the better man that he was. Unlike him, by the time he was ten, Logan knew what he wanted to be. Cameron never knew what he wanted to do with his life; he dropped out of school and lived off his parents’ money. However, after a while, his father got tired of sponsoring his rendezvous and lavish lifestyle.

Cameron was the type of person who moved with time; he bought every new shoe design Adidas or Nike has ever released, and he advanced with Samsung mobiles. He was not the type of a guy to wear suits and ties, thus his father and everyone else looked down on him, and always compared him to his older brother and sister. He was always in his brother's shadows and ended up going on the path of destruction once his father stopped giving him money.

The first time he messed up, Logan was the one to rescue him, even back at school before he dropped out. Cameron trusted Logan with his life and was crushed when he found out that the only person he had close to family, had thrown him under the bus.

Cameron was snapped out of his thoughts by Jorge's voice. "Look, Came, I'm so sorry about what I said yesterday. I was frustrated and I took it out on you." Jorge apologized with a sad smile.

"If I was a lady, I would have been repulsed by your smile," Cameron smirked and sauntered to the table to pour them drinks. He took two glasses and handed one to Jorge, and then they settled on the couch.

"I will have you know that I have been celibate for three months now," Jorge commented after a while, and Cameron threw him a disbelieving look as he gulped down his drink.

"No way!" Cameron laughed and shook his head while his eyes twinkled in humour, but Jorge just nodded and muttered, ‘yup' before placing his glass on the small coffee table.

Jorge placed his feet on the coffee table and leaned back against the couch. He loosened his tie and closed his eyes. He could now feel all the tension from yesterday wearing him out. “What is this? Don’t tell me this is your way of saying you are going to walk down the aisle.” Cameron joked and took a sip of his drink, but when Jorge did not say anything, he choked on his drink and sat up straight. “WHAT?” He asked, and Jorge just shrugged and gave him a shy smile. “So you are going to propose to Sonya Smith? Man, you are whipped.” He laughed and sat back, and then he tilted his head to face Jorge.

"I love her, man," Jorge said and looked into the distance as if imagining her. "The past few months have taught me a lot. I realized that life is too short, and I am not getting any younger." Jorge said. Cameron almost laughed because in all the years he had known Jorge, he had never seen him this serious about someone other than his sister. "I'm 35 years old, but I have nothing to show for it. I want to settle down and have children of my own. And besides…" Jorge smirked and turned to face Cameron. "I have always wondered how mine and Sonya's kids would look like." He said, and Cameron cringed and shuddered at the thought.

“You love her, don’t you?” Cameron asked with a nervous chuckle while staring at the wall ahead of him.

"With my life," Jorge said. Cameron shuddered again; he could not imagine himself loving someone like that, he could not picture himself sharing his life with someone else. "So are you going to tell me what is going on or what?" He asked after some silence, and Cameron groaned.

“You are not going to let this go, are you?” Cameron sighed, and Jorge gave him an incredulous look.

“I didn’t travel two hours searching for you just to tell you that I was whipped.”

Cameron just smirked and shook his head. “Fine, let me get us drinks cause we gonna need it.” He said and got up. He walked to the side table with the two empty glasses and poured some ice and whiskey. He took the two glasses and the bottle of whiskey back to the coffee table.

"I shouldn't be drinking; I'm heading to the office after this," Jorge said, giving the glass in his hand a wary look.

Cameron scoffed and muttered, “You look like you need it more than I do.”

Jorge sighed and gulped down his drink. "Talk," He said while pouring himself another drink.

*****

It was past 8 a.m. London time and it had been about an hour since work started at Billings Corporation. It was business as usual, and although the people were quite loud, they were working, and at the end of the day; it was not how they got the job done, but getting the job done. However, after having adapted to working in silence; Meryl Anderson was having a hard time focussing on her work. It had been only an hour since the day started, but she was already mixing up files and messages. "Meryl, I asked for the July 2016 file, and you gave me July 2006." One of her colleagues said, and Meryl sighed from frustration.

“I'm sorry; I’ll get it for you now.” She gave the girl a small smile, the girl smiled back and left. Meryl pulled on her hair and groaned.

Meryl was never the person to slip up that easily, but after what happened with Jorge yesterday, her mind had been all over the place. She was angry; she was angry with herself and angry with Jorge. She knew he had a girlfriend, but could not help but have some little hope that maybe- just maybe; there could be something between them.

However, every time she thinks they are getting somewhere, Jorge tends to hurt her, and they take ten steps back. Jorge had never made advances on her except for the time he wanted to get into her pants, but a part of her hoped that he felt something for her. Every time she saw his face, she felt like crying because he always wore that signature smirk on his face, the same one that made her lose her senses years back when she cashed it into him. She wanted to cry because even after so many years, her stupid heart refused to accept that he would never be hers.

Suddenly, her thoughts were cut short by the same employee who came to her earlier, “Meryl, I have been waiting for thirty minutes already, and you haven’t even moved an inch since I left, and Cara is still waiting for the copies she asked you to make for her about an hour ago.” The girl said, her face set into a deep scowl. “And your phone has been ringing for the past five minutes.” Meryl’s eyes darted to the telephone on her desk, which was blaring out. “Get yourself together, Meryl, we know that the boss has a soft spot for you and she wouldn’t fire you, but some of us really need this job.” The girl said before walking off.

Meryl glared at her back, her mouth set into a thin and tight line. She sighed and picked up the phone when it started to ring again. “Billings Corporation- Meryl Anderson speaking, how can I help you?” Meryl said in a robotic voice, her face set into a deep scowl.

"Hi, Meryl." A female voice answered. "My name is Sapphire, Mr McEnroe's PA." The girl said, and Meryl's interest piqued as a little bit of panic set in. Jorge and Anita were supposed to go on a business trip to Ireland to meet with Aaron McEnroe Junior, and MJ would go ballistic if she found out that they still had not attended to McEnroe Construction Company. "I'm calling to inquire about the meeting we scheduled with Miss Billings; we were supposed to meet at eight this morning, but we still haven't heard anything from her." Sapphire explained, and Meryl's mouth formed into an ‘O' before she cleared her throat; probably realizing that Sapphire was waiting for her response.

"Oh! About that…" Meryl trailed off as she searched for a file amongst the files piled on her desk. "Uhm…Miss Billings is out on another business trip, and she might be gone for two weeks or more. Her brother, Mr Jorge Billings, is in charge of the company now, and will take over the negotiations with your boss." She explained as she balanced the phone on her shoulders while paging through the files until she found the one she was looking for. She placed the file down and took hold of the phone again with one hand, while she used the other to page through the file.

"Oh! So when is he going to be able to meet with Mr McEnroe?" Sapphire asked nervously.

"It is scheduled for this Saturday at 10 a.m.," Meryl confirmed and closed the file.

Sapphire sighed on the other end. “Uhm…okay. Thanks, Miss Anderson, please keep me updated.” She said hopefully.

"I will, Sapphire, and please call me Meryl," Meryl said with a small smile although Sapphire could not see it.

“Okay, Meryl. Bye.” Sapphire muttered.

"Bye," Meryl said and hung up.

She placed the phone down and took one of the files to the girl from earlier, and then she made copies for Cara and the other employees who asked. After delivering the copies to their destined places, Meryl went back to her desk and started rearranging the files after messing them up earlier. The more she worked, the better she felt.

A few more hours passed and then came lunchtime.

Meryl never left her desk during lunch; she always brought her own lunch from home even though they had a cafeteria in the building. She did not like the idea of other people handling her food.

When lunch started, the ground floor was almost empty; most people went to the cafeteria while others left the building to eat at the restaurant of their choice. Meryl just sat behind her desk and continued working, saving her lunch for the last fifteen minutes before lunchtime was over. She was not expecting anyone, so she wore her earphones and listened to music while working; it was her daily routine and no one really bothered her during that time of the day. However, she was surprised when a deliveryman came to her desk, holding a bouquet of red roses. “Hello.” Meryl greeted.

“Uhm, hi. I'm looking for a Miss Meryl Anderson.” The man said while reading from the signing board in his hands.

Meryl’s eyebrows knitted together as she rubbed her forehead, her scowl deepening. Who would send her roses? “I’m Meryl Anderson.” She said, fixing her glasses on the crook of her nose while wetting her lips, wetting her suddenly dry lips.

“Please sign here for me.” The man said and handed her the board. She took it, signed and handed it back to him. “Thank you, here you go.” He gave her the flowers, and she inhaled their scent immediately. “Enjoy the rest of your day.” The man said before sauntering out of the building.

Meryl merely nodded and placed the flowers down, and then she retrieved the card that was held in a small white envelope. She discarded the envelope and opened the card, her heart melting at the words. How was she not supposed to feel the way she did and make assumptions when he did things like this? Her heart did somersaults when she read the words. It did not say much, but it said enough.

“Beautiful flowers for a beautiful woman;),

Dinner at my place tonight, my driver will pick you up @7p.m.

P.S. Wear something nice;)”

-Jorge