THE BILLIONAIRE'S CRYBABY
Chapter 58: TIDES

Chapter 58: TIDES

Completely dazed, Fay walked into her room, and plopped on the bed. Her fingers remained on her lip, stroking every bit Ace kissed.

Her head was a mess. So many thoughts struggled to form at the same time. The most important was probably the big question.

Why would he kiss her like that? He upended everything. Turned her feelings upside down. She wondered if she was just a game to him. A toy he could play with every time he was bored.

It made no sense. Her still eyes moved a little, and found her phone on her bedside table.

Stretching trembling hands, she picked it up, and put it on.

She went straight to her browser.

"What does it mean when a man suddenly kisses you?" She typed into her search bar.

"He wants you?" She scoffed. "As the top search too."

Shuddering at the weirdness of what she was doing, she pushed the phone aside. Not even for a moment did she believe Ace could possibly want her.

In comparison to all the other women he must be used to, she was too plain. Too stickly. Not enough curve in her form.

"What are you doing, Fay?" She muttered, and jumped to her feet.

No, this wasn’t going to cut it. She already started the day on a good note. It would be absolutely unfortunate to continue down this lane her thought wanted to.

"Let’s go take our bath," she lifted one finger. "We’ll dress," she lifted another finger. "Then we’ll go to the garden and scout for flowers for our perfume." She smiled.

Walking over to her closet, she pulled it apart, and her smile widened.

The pretty clothes she shopped for were thankfully not affected by the self-made flood. Her underwear was all lined up in the drawer.

To the far left of her closet was the bag where the ingredients for her perfume lay untouched.

"We’re going to be a productive member of the society today."

With a strong nod of her head, she pulled out a pretty simple, flowery gown, and black pantie. Dragging them with her, she placed it on the bed, and let it sit while she prepared her mind to go into her bathroom, grab her soap, and washcloths.

She still couldn’t bring herself to bathe there. It reminded her too much of life that could have been easily lost. Her life.

Taking a deep breath, she began to tiptoe into the bathroom. The rays of sunlight signaling the brightness of the day followed her every step.

To distract herself, she sniffed the air. It smelled like lavender. Perhaps, whoever cleaned her room had sprayed it after with lavender.

It wasn’t a horrible smell. She basked in it, employing it as a tool of distraction.

When she arrived at the bathroom, she shut her eyes, and just relied on her senses.

Slowly, she inched towards the rail, and stretched out her hand. She grabbed the first thing her hand felt, and thankfully, it turned out to be a towel.

It was quickly becoming like a sport she actually enjoyed. Next, she maneuvered her hand to grab her bath wash, and shower gel.

Satisfied with how good she did, she whirled, and hurried out of the bathroom.

Her heart was thumping in her ears when she dashed into her room.

"That was close!" She breathed out.

"Now we just have to leave these things in our new bathroom, and hopefully never go in there again."

She walked out of her room, and went two doors after.

When she returned to her room, she was humming. It was a good bath, and now she felt fully refreshed and ready to start the day.

She wore her dress, brushed her ever growing hair that needed to be cut before it swept past her knees, and packed it into a ponytail.

"Let’s go!" She grabbed her perfume bag from the closet, and skipped out of the room.

She hummed as she walked along the walls of the corridor.

"You’re happy because of him," one of her opposing voices appeared.

"Don’t you ever give a sign before you just intrude in my life?" She mumbled.

"I don’t think it’s because of him? Can’t she just be happy?" The usual antagonistic one said, or was it?

Sometimes, their view strayed far away from their virtues, and she couldn’t tell them apart.

"Look, I don’t have the time to engage you two. I found the garden when I crept out this morning, and I’m going there right now to hopefully get some work done."

"You’re talking to us now." Yeah, that was it.

"She said to leave!" Definitely the milder one.

She skipped down the stairs, and into the living room. "At least you two are a little agreeable today," she said as her head went silent, and she stepped out of the house.

"Oh oh!" One of the voices blurted when she walked into what looked like a mini riot.

Angry men and women screamed at the top of their voices, their faces contorted with pain. They spoke all at once, giving no room to be understood.

Marilyn and Alice looked overwhelmed. Not even the men between them could get the angry voices to quiet long enough to be actually heard.

One head turned and spotted her.

"Who is that?" A finger pointed.

Her heart skipped a beat. Wasn’t this just like the imagination she had when she was lost in her head?

Were they going to push her into their midst now, and hound her?

She was going to turn around and flee, but the desperation and confusion in the faces of the women she considered her solace, stopped her.

Lifting her head up gracefully, she stormed forward, a smile on her face.

She had no idea what to say, but she knew she couldn’t just leave them by their lonesome.

"Good morning everyone," she called in a singsong voice as she approached the riot.

"Mrs Fay, I don’t think you should be here," Marilyn said, quickly hurrying to her side.

"Why? What is going on?" She raised her voice, hopefully loud enough for the people to hear, and calm down.

"I’ll tell you what is going on!" An angry voice suddenly pushed through. "We work at construction with a contract that stipulates a weekly pay. It’s been two weeks already, and we’ve not received a dime. We simply want to know if we’ve been scammed, so we can report to the necessary authorities!"

Scammed? She looked to Marilyn for help, but she was too fidgety to render any.

"You said you work for construction?" She began cluelessly, but relying on her instincts.

It was like a balm was placed on a wound. The angry crowd suddenly quieted, turning their ears to hear her talk.

She had a lovely voice. It was soft and filled with hope. They couldn’t help but be drawn into her. It also helped that she was stunning beyond words.

"What a gorgeous girl," one woman whispered to another standing beside her.

"She really is."

Alice, who was closer to the women, smiled. She stood on her thoughts that Sir Ace had made the right decision in marrying Fay. The girl was simply a blessing.

"Yes ma’am. But can I ask who you are?"

Her heart jumped, as she moved closer to him. "I’m Fay," she said gracefully.

"Fay," her name echoed round their lips, never to be forgotten in their entire lifetimes.

"I understand your grievances. Having worked in construction before, I know how difficult things can get. A whole different game when you work without pay. I’m so sorry for the delay. Yes, there should be a delay. Ace would never purposely withhold the payment of his workers. I believe you’ve all worked a long time with him?"

"Yes ma’am," they chorused.

She nodded.

"Do you think you could give him the benefit of doubt this one time? When he returns, I promise to speak to him about your grievances. I’m asking you, no, pleading with you to trust me, a stranger this one time. Can you do that?"

"You’re beautiful, so I can!" A man from the crowd screamed.

A blush crept up her face, as the crowd broke into smiles.

"But before we leave, we’d like to know who you are," the man who appeared to be the leader asked.

She bit her lips nervously, not knowing if it was safe to answer that question.

"She’s Fay Atticus. Sir Ace’s wife," Marilyn was quick to answer.

They gasped, and hooted. Howled, and clapped with admiration dancing in their eyes.

"Thank you for your understanding."

She was expecting them to leave, but to her surprise, they formed a line, wanting to shake her hands.

She looked over to Marilyn, and Alice, and they shrugged, but smiled with encouragement.

"Could you please do us the honors?"

She nodded, reluctant, and nervous because she didn’t consider herself important enough for all of this.

Dropping the bag she was holding to the ground, she began to shake them one after the other.

Each person she shook thanked her. She was overwhelmed by their kindness.

Her fingers slipped through the last hand. A hardened one. Her heart instantly skipped a beat. Her skin tingles in memory of such a rough palm smacking her skin.

Slowly, she lifted her head to see the face behind the hand.

A loud gasp escaped her throat. Standing in front of her, was her Aunt.