A Wife for the Billionaire
Chapter 54: RICHARD

Chapter 54: RICHARD

"What were they even doing here?" I thought to myself.

"Erm... good evening Sir." Harry stuttered, rising.

"And what is good about the evening?" I snapped.

"Erm... um... Sir, I’m really sorry I didn’t mean to abandon my work or anything, I was merely following orders_"

"Whose orders?" I cut in.

When I gave the order, this wasn’t what I meant. I didn’t mean to take her to my favorite place and watch the sunset together.

"Sir_" Harry began.

"He was simply following your orders."

Sofia interrupted. "In your own words, ’a private and detailed tour’ or have you forgotten already?"

"Sofia, please" Harry begged, pulling her aside.

"No," she said, flinging Harry’s hand away as she fearlessly walked up to me. "He doesn’t get to do that. Why would he give you an assignment, one that he intended to spite you with and then forget about it?"

She stood in front of me now, her brown eyes the color of pure honey in the setting sun and they burned with hate so intense that it felt like she could melt me with her gaze.

Her breath came in rasps. And her head was tilted to the side in defiance, as if daring me to raise my hands on her.

She should be scared. Hell, she should probably be shitting my pants already because I know how scary I get during such moments. A man, a full grown man once peed himself under my rageful gaze.

"This doesn’t concern you, so if you’re done with your tour, just fucking leave already" I laced.

"Please Sofia, just listen to him. Today_"

"And why should I?" She cut in, "Why should I listen to the man who treats people like they don’t matter? And why would he say that this doesn’t concern me, whereas it has everything to do with me. I asked for the tour, and to punish you, he granted it"

I had forgotten how annoying the girl could be, how self righteous and judgy she was. Always ready to paint me the villain. But I didn’t intend to indulge her this evening, so casting her words aside, I said to Harry,

"I don’t care whose orders you were following, the truth remains that you spent more than three hours leading this girl around and we both know that’s against work ethics"

"I’m truly sorry Si_"

"Save your apologies, I want nothing more from you than your resignation letter on my desk before you leave"

I stalked off, stopping to lean at the rail.

"Are you serious?!" the bitch thundered. "You are going to fire him for simply following your own orders. What sort of a man are you?"

I heard shuffling feet, as if she was been dragged. But knowing how stubborn she was, I knew that was a waste of time. Trying to drag her away was like trying to drag a cow away from lush grass.

"Sofia, just come on, you are making it worse, please!" Harry yelled, his voice

breaking.

Perhaps that should make her leave willingly. After all, it was her fault that this was happening to Harry, but when have I ever known Sofia Blake to do as I anticipated?

"You are cruel, so inhumanly cruel" she hauled.

I smiled. I loved getting her this worked up. I knew she would be feeling like punching me now, and in ignoring her I was edging her closer to doing it.

"So that’s it? Just like that you’ve fired a man over something that trivial. What do you even think of yourself? God, that you can do as you please, that you can

speak and it’s final?"

And yet, I didn’t even look at her.

At the horizon, the sun was almost out of sight. Sinking deeper into the West coast, turning the famous West River into a mass of gold.

"No!" Sofia screamed, drawing my attention away from the beauty that lay in front of me. "This is wrong." She continued, her voice breaking "This can never be how it was supposed to be, I’m so sorry, Harry. I truly am."

"Good" I thought. It seemed she had finally come to the realization that it was all her fault. And I wondered what she was going to do to remedy the situation, knowing her, she wouldn’t let it go.

The sky was arrayed in dark hues, dark gray, red and a shade of magenta almost dark blue as a sliver of the sun

remained.

"What are you doing? No, Sofia stand" I heard Harry say and I itched to turn and watch her sink to her knees before me.

"Just let me be, Harry. I can’t let you lose this job on my account."

" Yeah, you shouldn’t," I whispered.

"Richard!" She called.

I ignored her.

"Richard!"

I still ignored her, even as a smile of victory tugged at my lips.

"Mr Wellington, please"

"Now, you are serious" I murmured, before cooling my expression to that of indifference and facing her.

She knelt by the lilies. A sorry sight.

"Finally tired of screaming curses, I see" I mused.

"I don’t care about me, all I want is for you to please allow Harry to keep his job"

I noticed her bouncing her knees, and I couldn’t be happier. The sands must be biting hard on her knees and I intended to make her stay a while.

"Harry, why did you bring her here? And this time give me an honest and tangible answer. Have you fallen for her?" I asked, not looking at her.

The question was merely an avenue to stall, but it couldn’t argue the fact that Harry of all persons brought a stranger to this place. I mean it’s absurd.

"As much as it’s easy to fall for Ms. Sofia,

but I haven’t Sir. I mean, I have a wife and I love her. I brought her here because she deserved it. Ms. Sofia is an exceptional woman and being with her could make one want to offer her the best, and Sir, I thought ’here’ was part of what you meant by ’detailed’."

"Let me guess, she read you didn’t she?" I asked, because that had to be the only explanation.

Harry staggered back in shock, and I

saw the surprise on Sofia’s face, proving that I was right.

"Yes Sir, she did." Harry replied after recovering from his shock.

"Pray tell, what did she tell you?"

"Does it really matter?" Sofia quipped.

"Silence!" I barked.

"Sir, I don’t really recall all she said and I think the deets are too personal to share, no offense." Harry finished, his voice trembling.

"Wait what?!" The question reverberated through my mind. "Did Harry just do that, did he just refuse an order? What had she said to him to warrant this change? Because the Harry I know would never say no to me, no matter how personal"

The bitch was smiling. She must’ve taken this as a victory and she was going to regret it.

"You may go now, Harry." I commanded.

"But_" Harry made to say.

"Don’t make me repeat myself"

The rate at which Harry left the space

gave me hope that the man I knew was still in there.

"Please tell me you are planning on letting him stay, because Harry is a wonderful employee and you would be losing a lot if you let him go," Sofia declared, bouncing her knees.

"And what if I tell you that in letting him go, there is a chance for you to be employed?"

I had loved the idea the moment it bulbed in my mind. Let’s see how loyal the desperate can be.

"Then I’ll have to respectfully decline, getting a job at the detriment of another isn’t my way of securing employment"

"And how many employments have you been able to secure?" I taunted, angry and disappointed at her answer.

"Just tell me if Harry is safe, so I can rise

from here"

"You should stay in that position for eternity because that’s the order of things, remaining below me as your superior" that was what I had meant to say before I remembered the Bogue issue and the promise I made to board.

"Will Harry stay or leave? That’s up to you, do as I’m about to dictate and you will not only save a man’s job, but secure one for yourself." I finally said.

She pondered my words for close to twenty seconds which I didn’t see coming. I had expected her to jump at the opportunity not think about it, but finally she asked,

"What do I have to do?"

"It’s quite simple," I mused, glad to have her entangled in my web, "get Anna Wintour to write about our upcoming collection in their next publication, that’s all"

It was an impossible task, because I had tried and couldn’t get Anna to change her mind, but this was a girl who had managed to get a letter of recommendation from Anna herself.

"You know what you are asking is impossible, right? Nobody, no matter how close, tells Anna what to write"

I walked to the desk, sat, crossed my leg and replied,

"You have two days to get it done or Harry loses his job and you can kiss making your dreams come true goodbye. So, I suggest you better find a way to make the impossible - possible. You can show yourself out, I need my peace and quiet now."

" What was that?" He queried after the sound I heard her make.

"Nothing to concern yourself with," she quickly replied.

"I thought as much, now shoo"

As she rose and left, I found myself wishing she would find a way to convince Anna, because I really needed this.