Love, Lies and Billionaires

Thunder crashed as the rain poured unapologetically, which set the mood for Maren as the car drove along the dark, straight road.

She counted the cars which passed by hers as they were so few and she tried to get her mind off the words she was going to be hearing soon.

With her head resting on the glass, and her eyes watching the raindrops roll down the glass, she wondered what exactly she was going to do when she got to her destination.

It seemed everything was happening so fast and confirming that William actually isn’t the father of her child, was one of the largest events that clouded her mind though she didn’t let it show.

The car swerved into an estate and began on another straight road, but this time Maren knew this road and looked ahead as she sat up.

It didn’t take too long as the car slowly reduced its acceleration and entered through a sharp-edged gate and made its way to the parking lot.

The driver turned off the engine, and all went silent except the rain, which didn’t seem like it was going to stop anytime soon. Maren peeped through the window but could barely make out the building as the rain on the window blurred its structure, though lights reflected through some of its windows.

A building she had almost spent half her life knowing.

She turned away from the building and took a deep breath as thunder crashed. She finally took a grip of the door handle and got out to the awaiting umbrella being held by the driver.

Together, they made their way towards the entrance of the building. Maren reached to knock on the door, but paused and looked up at the door, memories flashing back to her.

“I can’t believe I’m back here,” she muttered and finally placed a knock.

There was silence at first, then a voice said from the other side. “Who is it?” The make voice came suddenly, which startled Maren. She was sure she would have heard his footsteps if not for the rain.

“Is Irene home?” she asked, still in shock. There was no response, but she heard the door unlock and opened to them.

“Friend of Irene’s?” The man asked as Maren got in but the driver didn’t. He just turned around and headed back to the car.

It was not until the door was shut and bolted that Maren took a good look at the man, or should she say boy?

He was dressed in a simple round neck and shorts despite the cold, though he has a pair of black socks on. He had bright blue eyes that greatly suited his nicely structured face, which looked so naive that Maren was tempted to ask about his age.

The guy just watched as Maren looked him over till she got to his jet black hair.

“Why don’t you take a seat? I’ll go get her down.” He said, feeling kind of uncomfortable already. Maren watched him climb up the stairs with so much agility and confidence that confirmed that he definitely wasn’t a new staff member.

“Damian, who’s that?” Maren heard her voice before the guy could get further up the stairs, making her straighten up where she stood.

“I friend, I think?” Damian replied.

Maren kept her eyes on the staircase and, as soon as Irene set eyes on her, her demeanour changed. Both women maintained eye contact for a while, exchanging silent words.

“Are you okay, baby?” Damian said, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

“I’m fine, don’t call me that,” Irene said, turning her gaze from Irene. “Just an uninvited guest, but I’ll handle her. Go wait upstairs,” she ordered, but instead of obeying immediately, he grabbed her waist and began kissing her neck, which made Maren wrung her nose in disgust.

“Let go of me, stupid,” Irene said, though everyone in the room knew she didn’t mean it. She managed to pull away his hands, which were already underneath her short nightie and halfway into her panties.

“I’ll be waiting upstairs,” he said and bounced up the stairs with a mischievous grin on his face.

As soon as he was gone, Irene turned back to the lady standing at her door, keeping her eyes on her as she trudged down the stairs.

“You might as well take a seat if you wish,” she spat as she walked to the lower part of her fridge and pulled out a bottle of wine from which she poured for herself.

“Fucking minors now, are we?”

“Minor? I’m twenty-two!” Both women heard from atop the stairs.

“Shut the fuck up!” Irene yelled back and turned to Maren. “Yeah, what he said,” she said defensively. “You’d do worse if you were in my shoes. Drink?”Content protected by Nôv/el(D)rama.Org.

Maren took a deep breath and walked over to a couch. She needed to control herself if she wanted her journey here to be productive, because this was about to be a long night.

She took off her coat and settled on a couch just as Irene handed her a glass containing crimson liquid.

“You look terrible,” Irene said, taking a sip.

Maren rolled her eyes. “Won’t you at least ask me what I’m here for?”

“What are you here for?”

“I need to know something,” Maren said, keeping the untouched glass on the glass round table in the middle of the room.

“Oh wow, now you need my help?” She snarled.

“I don’t need your help. I just want a few words,” Maren shot back.

“A few words, huh?” She poured herself another glass and sat up on the couch. “Since when do you need to hear a few words from little ol’ husband thief like myself?”

Maren rolled her eyes again. “You really don’t have to be so dramatic”

“Coming from the lunatic who ripped my dress in half in front of everyone on her wedding day,” Irene raged. “Wow, I’ve wanted to say that forever. ” She sighed and took a sip of her drink.

Maren chuckled dryly, the memory tickling her wickedly. “Look, I’m not going to play your games, Irene, especially not now. But for the record, if I was in a stable state that day, I’d have done worse,” she sneered.

Irene paused and looked at her. Sensing the bad side of Maren she’d tolerated in the past. “State your business and leave. You’re stinking up the place.”

“I need to know people I’d been with while we were friends.”