A Wife for the Billionaire
Chapter 89: RICHARD

Chapter 89: RICHARD

"Good evening Sir, should I set the table?" Folake asked, as I dashed into my apartment.

"Good evening, Folake and no, I will be eating out. Just get me a bottle of 1961 Petrus" I dismissed heading for the stairs.

The wine I had requested for was one of Mrs Helen’s favorites, but with the minutes remaining, it was stark clear... I was going to be late.

"You know what," I said, halting Folake who was about to enter the passcode for the lock where I staked my vintage wines.

"I think I’m going to be needing something more exquisite, something worthy of an apology because I fear I’m going to be late"

"So what should I do, Sir?" she inquired.

"Don’t bother, I must retrieve something from the wine cellar, just have a fancy bag and some ribbons ready" I finished, disappearing to the hall where my room was.

By the time I was done bathing, donning my jeans and a vest from the Wellington Edition first launch, and retrieving the wine from the cellar, I was 5 minutes late.

Aaron has been calling nonstop, even for a prick, he feared Mrs Helen. We all did.

It was with good reasons, I suppose. Mrs Helen grew up with a father who was a bully and a drunk. Her mom had met the guy in college and they fell in love. Of course, he wasn’t like that then.

Two years into college, Helen’s mom became pregnant. The most viable option was abortion, but she was too scared to lose her first child. She feared what it would do to her, her morals, her conscience... her heart.

She kept the baby, thereby dropping out of college and forcing a man to become a father. He never forgave her for that, so each day he took it out on her.

They eventually reported him and got rid of him, but Helen’s mom changed after that. She swore that her children would never make the same mistake as she and her resort was, discipline. She became strict and intolerant to fuck ups.

It was reasonable, as a black woman raising three kids on her own while being treated like the villain simply because she was brave enough to out an abusive white male.

Helen grew up hating her mom for not allowing her to have fun like other kids. Her brothers were allowed a certain level of leniency, but her... her Mama never spared the rod.

She thought her mother hated her, it was already worse growing as a kid of color, that she wasn’t allowed to do most of the things others did made it worse.

But in raising her own kids as a single mother as well, though Daniel made sure to send more than enough for the children’s well being. She had told us that she had come to terms with what her mom put her through. If she wasn’t raised with such an iron hand, she would never have raised her own kids after the man she loved left her for another.

We not only feared Mrs Helen, we admired her. Even after she got her husband to divide his properties and businesses into two equal parts, she also made sure he sent monthly allowances for the well being of his kids. The Internet had tagged her ’a badass’ and indeed Mrs Helen was badass.

"You know for someone who claims not to have any romantic intentions with Mrs Helen, your gestures suggest otherwise" Aaron noted, when he saw the package.

He wore an informal cream suit, the kind people wore during vacations.

"And for someone who claims to be fun and carefree, your dressing suggests otherwise" I returned.

Holding up the lapels of his blazer, he said,

"And what exactly is wrong with this? It’s an informal suit, at least I didn’t go wrapping presents and shit"

Rolling my eyes at him, I pointed out,

"I knew we would be late, so I got her a rare wine, added a simple bow ribbon at the neck and packaged it in a fancy bag. That’s hardly enough and you know it"

"At least you know it’s your fault that we are late. If the woman didn’t scare the shit out of me, I would have gone alone. Just pray she’s in a better mood, or else even a dozen vintage wines won’t stop her from whooping our asses." he sighed, reclining his head on the headrest.

"Indeed" was all I could say.

We sat in for a while. I knew he was still angry with me for what I implied days ago. And I hated apologizing, especially when I knew Aaron would be a dick about it.

But if we are to be there for our friend, we had to squash this beef. And Mrs Helen was the type that always noticed when things weren’t as they should be. It will barely take five minutes before she realizes that we weren’t on the same page.

"I’m sorry for implying that you are irresponsible and that you don’t care. You do care, so I’m sorry" I said, breaking the silence.

"No, don’t do that. I want to stay mad at you for a while longer, but of course, you have to go and apologize" he said, looking out the window.

"I know I’m a shitty friend, but please for Chad’s sake and to pass Mrs Helen’s scrutiny because you know she will find out, please let’s just squash this beef or better still, we can pretend to be on the same page though Mrs Helen would definitely see through it" I added.

With his eyes closed, he sighed,

"Yeah, of course the old hag would see right through it. I don’t know how she does, but she would have fared better as a top secret agent for the government than becoming the wife of a billionaire."

"Mrs Helen, a spy? But yeah I agree with you, she would be a fucking badass at it. Now, tell me about this girl you met who has you hypnotized to the point of getting back with Roxy." I said, reclining my head on the headrest.

He opened his eyes, smiled and said,

"You know I can’t tell you, we save the juicy parts for the trio, not the duo. Besides, with what he’s going through, I think he would need this. So yeah, I forgive you, but you better not try that shit again or else I’m gonna have to whoop your ass myself"

"So we’ve got jokes now, don’t we?"

"What are you talking about, oh you think I can’t? Wow, I see someone has forgotten about Marilyn Shaw"

"Oh shut up, I merely let you win, besides I’ve been told that I have got a bit of temperament, too much and a man could die"

"Well, there might be a rematch and I would have you know that you are not the only one with a temperament," Aaron said, snickering.

"What’s funny?" I asked, even though I kinda knew the answer.

"God, I really did you one that day. You should have seen your face, bruised and all"

He wasn’t lying, we had fought because of Marilyn Shaw. The girl, Aaron and I, liked and this was before we began placing bets on who would woo a girl both or all of us liked and the winner is free to have her.

That incident was actually what brought about that solution. It had been on a trip we had taken in commemoration of finishing high school.

We had driven off to a town and we planned to spend the weekend there. We were drinking by the local pub when Marilyn Shaw walked in with her friends.

I don’t even remember how her friends looked, because I had my eyes full on Marilyn. She was a blonde with eyes that glinted silver. She was breathtaking and I was hinged. But so was Aaron.

I had a record for always getting the girl, amongst us I always got the girl. Not really because I was the most handsome, that was Aaron but when it came to charm and playing the game, I was an ace player.

I didn’t know that Aaron had his eyes on Marilyn as well. I just left them and went after the girl. It wasn’t hard, she was swoon within five minutes. Yeah, I was that good and I suppose I still am.

Aaron went behind my back to Marilyn, telling her all kinds of shit about me just wanting to get between her legs and dumping her. When I eventually found out, I confronted him about it and he told me that he was tired of me getting the girls.

According to him, Marilyn wasn’t the first girl, but he was determined to make her the last. He confessed to having suffered in the past in silence while I gallivanted with girls that he liked, but not anymore.

Before we knew what was happening, things got heated and we were at each other’s throats.

I meant what I said about my temperament. I had wanted to really hurt him that day, more than he could ever imagine. But I also loved the guy and so after I had hit him several times, I allowed him to take the upper hand, to beat me senseless.

That weekend was supposed to be a memorable one, and I guess it was, but not really in the way we had expected it to go. We didn’t talk to each other for weeks, but Chad never gave up. He kept trying, shoving and pushing until he got the two of us to reconcile.

Chad has always been the good one amongst us. He was a player, but he had a good heart. He was like the glue holding the three of us together. Through all that we’ve been through individually, Chad was always there. And now he needs us.

I looked at Aaron and I knew he was thinking the same. We have to be there for our boy cause Lord knows he has been for us... countless times.