Victoria The Billionaires Maid

When I hung up the phone, I still wasn’t completely convinced, but I planned to at least try. I was in my sister’s home and I needed to either look toward something that could sustain me or else decide where to go next. I wasn’t sure I could go back to New York City, even if it had begun to feel like home. I had no place in this world. I never really belonged anywhere I’ve been, and I wondered if that would end up being my lot in life.

I needed to remain optimistic, and when I told my sister I would try, she was pleasantly excited for me. If I did manage to land this job, I would be close to some family, and maybe one day I could even regain forgiveness from my parents and forge a relationship with them as well. If not, I did have Tori, and watching her grow up into a strong, beautiful woman would mean everything to me.

I kept that optimism even when my therapist warned me to not take on too much at once. She wanted me to focus on recovering which was understandable. I’d never been the type to just twiddle my thumbs, so I went against her warning and called the investor. He owned another property in Glendale, so I borrowed my sister’s car and drove the twelve miles from her house to the restaurant where I would have to prepare a four-course meal consisting of an hors d’oeuvre, appetizer, entree, and dessert. I’d been thinking of options and finally came up with a trio of different types of bruschetta, chili lime prawns, and crab cakes for the first course. Then, the entree would be a ribeye steak with potatoes and asparagus followed by a dessert sampler. I hoped to showcase enough technique that I would land this job and finally be able to start over. I could then save up and get my car and a place to live, then I would send for Reece.

New York City was a much larger city than Phoenix, and the culinary scenes were different, but I was determined to put my best foot forward. The new prospect of finally gaining financial security for the first time in my life helped invigorate my spirits and optimism. I arrived at the restaurant with a few minutes to spare, and I used every last one of them to give myself a mental pep talk. This man wasn’t Jonas, and I didn’t feel the same sort of pressure I did at the CHG Seaport competition. There was no one else there, so I only needed to focus on the things I could control.

“You need to stop buying trouble, Kenzie. You’ll do great,” Madeleine had told me on my way out the door.

She was right, and not only because she sounded wise like our mother. God, how I missed her over the years. I missed my father, too. The very thought of living the rest of my days without some sort of forgiveness ate at me daily, especially since I was there in Phoenix with my sister. The two women were so alike that it was quite eerie, yet comforting at the same time.

“Thanks,” I’d responded, and now I was still mouthing the same thing, but to God who must’ve been looking down at me and not punishing me as badly as I was myself.

“Are you ready, Miss Broderick?”

“Yes,” I replied, smiling at the man who held my immediate future in his hands.

It wasn’t long before he exited the kitchen, leaving me to my own devices. I stared at all of the equipment and couldn’t help but compare it to the small kitchen I had back in New York City. It would be a dream come true to open a restaurant here. I took a deep breath, then set forth prepping everything. It seemed funny to be doing this without Reece, but I had to let her chase her dreams for once. I could do this, and finishing just in time, I did.

I made sure to plate each course onto the three plates. I didn’t know why judging tended to be done in threes, but I was quite pleased with the first dishes. Two members of the hotel staff carried the tray of plates out to the others while I went to work on plating the next course. This same routine was completed until every item prepared was taken to the dining room. I soon followed and couldn’t help but twist my nervous hands inside the pocket of my apron.

They were now on the dessert sampler, and I was pleased with the expressions on their faces as they sampled the cake, tart, and three different types of cookies. The recipes were ones near and dear to me but elevated enough to appease the most finicky of palettes. When the last fork had been set down, I winced at the metal clanging but kept my composure.

“This meal was quite delicious, Miss Broderick. We’ve been sampling different menus for the better part of two weeks and yours was by far the best yet.”

“Thanks,” I told him, unable to hide the smile threatening to break free. I wasn’t sure if this meant I got the job or not, so I managed to keep a teensy bit of joy inside until I knew for sure.

“We want to offer you a chance to open and run your restaurant. We-”

“Oh my God,” I blurted out, and upon realizing what I had done, I composed myself again. “I would like that very much.”

From there, the opportunity I had prayed for in New York City finally presented itself to me, but in a different place and by a different man. Thank God for unanswered prayers.

Jonas’s [POV]

Seattle, Washington

I left New York City as soon as the ink was dry on the contracts for Leeann DeSoto. Something felt wrong about hiring her after all that had happened, but I didn’t have time to vet more people.

Despite Kenzie’s accusations, the chef came highly recommended by her previous boss, and it was someone we knew well in the Titan world. I signed my part of the documents and headed straight to Seattle on my private plane. I still didn’t feel too well, although I had no idea why. Maybe this was what stress did to someone. I thought I had a handle on things in the past, but this past week or two had proven me wrong.

I was possibly coming down with something, and if the change of scenery in Washington didn’t help, I would reach out to Kristopher to see if he could figure out what was wrong with me.

There had to be something if for no other reason than the fact that I hadn’t picked up a woman since the competition ended, nor had I allowed my normal flight attendant to distract me mid-air as I so often did.

I got to the hotel where I’d be staying and even though I had the numbers of four different women in the area, I hadn’t even thought about using any of them.

I was now in my bed looking out the window at the Space Needle. The landmark was alit in magenta, and as I locked in on the beams of colored light, a sharp piercing pain reverberated in my skull. I’d gotten a few of these headaches since my fight with Kenzie.

I thought the first time or two had been because of her, yet here I was, almost two weeks later. This had to be tension which would hopefully abate in the coming days. If it didn’t, I would need to see someone.

“Just my fucking luck,” I cursed under my breath.

I turned onto my side and now my sight was set on the cream-colored walls of my bedroom suite. It was certainly more calming, and the longer I stared at nothing, the more familiar it became to me.

Lately, I had been dealing with more than these ungodly headaches. I also had trouble concentrating on almost anything. I was nauseous, and experiencing bouts of stomach issues, but thankfully they went away within a day or so of getting them.

For all I knew, I might’ve been food poisoned. I should’ve checked with Kristopher, but I had decided to go at it alone. Now, I was finally starting to feel a little more like myself.

Tomorrow, I would have the first set of meetings with some investors. I wanted to take advantage of Seattle’s natural beauty and add another west coast property in the process.

“I’m not sure adding a location there will serve Courtland the best right now,” one of my grandfather’s long-term advisers had told me the minute I had mentioned this location.Têxt © NôvelDrama.Org.

“On the contrary, I think it will be perfect. It’s conveniently located, and we stand to attract both domestic and international travelers, especially with its proximity to Canada.”

I hadn’t cared whether the man liked it or not. My grandfather had left me in charge, so he saw something in me that he didn’t in those he considered his closest confidantes. I was the CEO, so while the board could delay projects, they couldn’t stop them from ultimately happening, which was something they came to realize during the first year I’d worked here.

It’d been hell trying to navigate around the corporate red tape, but I had, and the places I had developed were some of our most profitable resorts in all the portfolio.

I might’ve been a screw-up most of my life, but once I settled down and focused on my studies back at Stanford, I poured everything into those classes and emerged more qualified than these very men who dared to question me.

I closed my eyes. I wouldn’t let the upcoming meeting scheduled for the morning upset me. It was likely my dread over the whole damn thing that had my head aching the way it was. I had been working on these numbers for months and I was confident I would be able to sell the others on my vision, too.

You could sell hay to a farmer, a soft voice inside of my head echoed.