BETROTHED TO THE BILLIONAIRE

Ryan’s POV

Valerie seems like one hell of an adventurous woman. The laughter that leaves her mouth gets me reeling in laughter too, not because I found the whole running funny but because her laughter is contagious.

When we sober up, I stretch my hand at her where she is squatting to help her up. She stands up with my help and we walk quietly to the car with hands entangled.

I open the door for her, and she flashes me a cute smile and gets in. Suddenly, the tension is back.

As high as ever.

I close the door when she is seated inside the car and turn to the other side to get in too.

It is a failed attempt already so we need to re-strategize and come back next time. Dad is hiding something in there that I need to get my hands on.

Sometimes, I just feel like I barely know him. Each time, his behavior seems to be different, especially whenever we argue.

I kick the car engine to a start and it roars to life. Reversing back, I make my way down the path we took coming here.

There is silence in the car as we ride. All of a sudden, the car jerks forward and comes to an abrupt stop.

Valerie and I exchange glances and I try to put it on again all to no avail.

“Shit!” I curse out loudly, hitting my fist on the wheel.

Not today. What if those men are still trailing us?

“What happened?” Her soft voice questions.

“It’s dead”, I say indifferently and step down from the car, fishing out my phone to call John. I turn around and open the door for her. “Let’s walk for a while.”

She does not say anything. The way Valerie keeps mute over certain things that I expect her to be sarcastic about is troubling.

That sassiness is gone. And the forever sarcastic tone too.

She is more serious than I have ever known her to be for the past weeks since I confessed my feelings to her.

John’s phone rings for a while before going to voicemail. I redial the number after checking the time.

He shouldn’t be asleep. This is just 10 pm.

“How will you get your car back?” She asks me with her hands inside her cardigan as we walk slowly.

“I will call someone to come get it tomorrow”, I reply to her and silence falls again, except for the beeping of the phone signifying that John isn’t picking still.

Before I can dial his number again in anger, a call comes in.

“Boss.”

“Why haven’t you been picking up?!” I lash out at him in annoyance. If we were in trouble, is this how he was going to disappoint me when he ought to be alert in case I called him for something?

Just because I asked him not to drive us here doesn’t mean he should retire to bed already.

“I’m sorry, boss. I…”

“Come with a car to pick us up two streets away from Dad’s office. Be fast about it, my car broke down”, I say in one breath, cutting him off.

“Ok, sir”, he answers and disconnects the call.

I let out a sigh and throw the phone back in my pants pocket. When I snap my head towards Valerie in curiosity, she has a smile on her face.

“What?!” I question, wondering why she is smiling.

She shrugs and looks away. “What you just did reminds me of how we first met and how you always acted like a jerk…” she trails off and laughs. “It was interesting. I loved pissing you off.”

I do not say anything. I barely remember how much of a jerk I was. We were both at each other’s throats. We couldn’t wait to get everything done. I couldn’t imagine living with her for a whole month, not to talk of a lifetime but now everything is different.

A lot has changed.

My feelings changed and it is changing everything as well. Maybe this is why she isn’t giving me a chance.

I clearly told her she was the ugliest woman I have ever come across. She also told me she wasn’t going to date any man again after our marriage has been nullified.

Maybe this is why she isn’t considering me. Maybe she doesn’t feel the same way I feel too. Maybe she is still hurt and holding onto the past. Maybe she needs more time.

Avoiding her won’t do any good. We need to do some serious talking.

“You were so secretive, you know?” She suddenly says, more like a question, pulling me out of my trance.

I stop walking, fold my arms around my bosom and ask. “Really?”

She nods. I don’t ask her why because I know the point she is driving at. It suddenly hits me that this might be about Celina again and I seriously don’t want to dampen the interesting mood.

“How do you know I love butterflies?” She demands again, without asking me any more questions about Celina.

Gladly, I reply. “Your mom told me how much you loved to keep them hostage in your room when you were little and how she persuaded you to let them go. When you eventually listened and let them go, you would cry all day till you fell sick.” Laughter escapes my mouth.

Her mom was all teary when she told me about it. I didn’t ask her but she chose to tell me a little about Valerie.

I learned something from that. The fact that she loves butterflies. I have a garden filled with them so I thought taking her there would be the best thing.

I notice her mouth is still wide agape. “Unbelievable!”

“What?!” I laugh again. “The fact that your mom told me or the fact that…”

“My mom is unbelievable. I can’t believe she told you that.”Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

We remain silent and continue to walk when I feel the sudden urge to bring my feelings up again and hear what she has to say.

I haven’t brought it up for over a month and she isn’t saying anything about it either. She is either avoiding me or acting like it never happened.

“Val?” I call and she glances up to meet my gaze. I stop walking. “What are the criteria you look for in a man before agreeing to date him?”

She seems lost. Her face is scrunched up in confusion. When she realizes what I am saying, she shakes her head and continues to walk.

“Hey”, I run forward and grab her shoulders in desperation. I know I said I wanted to give her more time and try to get her to like me as much as I do like her but I need to know what’s up before doing anything. “Why are you been so cold to me?”

“Cold?” She raises a brow. “I’m not cold, Ryan. The cold one is you, not me. Even though you apologized, you were still cold even after that night.”

“I wasn’t cold. I just wanted to give you enough time to process everything and give me a reply”, I grit my teeth in frustration.

A small smile creeps to her face which gets my heart thumping wildly within my ribcage.

“Ryan, this isn’t something we can talk about out here when…”

“Fine”, I say angrily and begin to walk forward. We’ve been at home for months after that night but she never said a word.

Today, we are outside because of a circumstance and she is saying we shouldn’t talk outside when she had the opportunity to come to tell me her decision for over a month that I have confessed my feelings to her, even though we now spend the night in different rooms.

“Ryan”, she calls me back. “Don’t be a jackass and listen to me, will you?”

I halt my step and she almost bumps into me because she is close at my heels. “You never said a word for over a month and now this?”

“You needed time, didn’t you? Or do you still want to come up with an excuse for the contract? The contract is ours, we can go against it if we wish to as long as it is consensual…”

“Ryan, calm down your nerves”, she mutters coldly. She is acting nonchalant like this isn’t something we should be talking about or something I should worry about.

With her two hands on my shoulder, she gazes up at me intently, while I examine her expression, waiting for her to talk.

I can’t read through her. I wish I can.

Before she can say a word, a horn jerks us out of our trance and she quickly pulls away, placing a palm on her face to blind out the car light.

I step away and John drives closer. He pulls over and greets us. “Good evening boss, good evening madam.”

I almost curse at him for interrupting such a delicate moment. Why does he have to show up now with all times when Valerie is ready to tell me what she wants?

My jaws clench in anger as she replies to his greeting and moves to get the door. I don’t know when she enters the car until she waves at me with her head out of the window. “Aren’t you getting in?”

I avert my gaze from John who has a guilty look on his face back to Valerie who is smiling.

Relief wash through me and I get into the car and hold hands with her as the car drives off.