WHEN THE BILLIONAIRE LIKES YOU

VALERIE Alicia slaps me on the face, with such force that I fall on the floor. “I have told you severally, never argue with me. Mom has made it clear that you are not attending the dinner. Stay here in your room and don't try anything funny.” She warns me. “I am sorry.” I force the apology so as to avoid further assault. She looks at me with utter contempt, then retreats and closes the door. I can hear the deadbolt clicking into place and the keys being extracted, then her receding footsteps as she hurries away. She's going to the dinner. I slowly rise up from the floor and walk to my bed where I sit. Looking at myself at the bedside mirror I feel sad for myself. When will this torture ever end? I ask myself. Alicia's parents, Maurice and Stephanie Reigns adopted me when I was around ten years old. This is after my parents died in an accident. Maurice is my uncle, the elder brother to my father. They are a wealthy family and they live a good life, but there is only one problem. They hate me, all of them except their youngest daughter Elsie. Due to their thinly veiled hatred, they refused to take me to college, claiming that I am not intelligent enough to continue with the studies and that they didn't want to waste money on me. My pleas to them to allow me to apply for student loans failed and that's how I ended up with shattered dreams. They went further and made my life miserable by giving me the toughest tasks in the household like washing clothes and cooking, even though they had servants. It was as if I was one of their servants, only that I did all the donkey work for free. I have my own room, in the servants quarters, some distance away from the main house which is out of bounds for me. This is where Alicia has just left for after locking the door. I cry bitterly, wondering when all this suffering will end. This family, which as my closest relatives should have taken good care of me as one of their own, has instead taken me through hell. I have on many occasions wished for death so that I can escape from this suffering, but then I always remember that I have a duty to be alive and unravel the mystery about the death of my parents. That I must achieve before I leave this world so that I ensure that they rest in peace. Sometimes I dream about my parents and my father in particular looks very sad. In one such dream, he told me to be like him. I am yet to find out what he meant. I was not very young when it happened, actually I remember very well that I was in the same car with them when it happened. I remember the sudden loud bang, the screeching brakes and the fire...... My thoughts are disrupted by some commotion outside and I focus my attention there. Then a key is inserted into the lock and turned, unlocking the door. I compose myself to face whoever it is that isn't at the dinner. I just hope that it's not Alicia or their mother Stephanie. I don't have the energy to deal with them. The door opens and I am relieved to see that it's Elsie. I quickly get up and walk to her and we embrace each other for some time. Elsie is the best soul I have ever come across. She has been so good to me even as the other members of her family treat me like trash. Right now she is carrying something wrapped in aluminum foil and it smells nice from the table where she has placed it. “I brought you some food before settling down for the dinner. I know you are starving” She says as she takes a seat next to the bed. I sit on the bed facing her. “Thanks Elsie. You are so kind.” “I couldn't settle for the dinner knowing that you haven't eaten and you must be hungry Valerie.” She knows that I am only served food after everyone else has eaten to their fill. This kind gesture may land her into trouble if her mother finds out. On most occasions when she does something like this, I make sure to throw away every little bit that remains so that no one else finds out about it. “The dinner is about to start and I am so unhappy that you have been restricted from attending.” She says. “Don't worry Elsie, I will be fine. As a matter of fact I need to sleep right now because I am so tired and tomorrow I am supposed to wake up very early.” She looks at me with pity written all over her face. Many times she has wept with me over the atrocities meted on me by her parents and Alicia. “Look Val, I have to go. I will be back to wish you goodnight.” “No need Elsie, I will be dead asleep in the next ten minutes.” We embrace one more time then she leaves. Quickly I pounce on the food she brought me. I was really hungry but I have learned how to control my hunger pangs. Ten minutes later I am in my bed, wishing for sleep to take over. My uncle and aunt have invited the Richmond's over for dinner, and Elsie suspects that her parents are trying to match Alicia with Albert Richmond, the son to the billionaire Richmond family. However, Alicia is a very spoilt girl and Elsie thinks that no self respecting man can accept her as his girlfriend. She has indulged in alcohol, drugs, gambling and every other vice anyone can think about. Her parents have bailed her out of police custody several times and I have heard her mother asking her why she has never thought of becoming a good mannered girl like me. That's the only time I can remember when Stephanie Reigns said something positive about me. Just as I cover myself and sleep I hear some noise, something is vibrating. Looking at the stool where Elsie was seated, I see her phone vibrating softly. poor girl, she must have forgotten to take it with her. I spring out of bed and cancel the call. Then it rings again and again. The caller is a person saved as Maureen. I decide to take the call and alert the caller that the owner of the phone is away. “Please, Elsie is my friend. Just take the phone to her and tell her that it's an emergency. I will call again after about ten minutes.” The caller says after I have talked to her, then she hangs up. I guess that it's about an hour after the dinner started and going into the house where I have been restricted from going can be disastrous for me. But then someone wants to talk urgently to Elsie and I need to take the phone to her. On the seat where she left the phone are the keys to the door. She forgot them too. I decide to take the phone to her, to hell with the consequences. I take only a minute to dress up, then I put on my slippers and walk out. Between my house and the main house is a vast parking lot, now occupied by two big cars, a Cadillac and an Audi. I take a minute to look at them. They remind me of my childhood. My father had an Audi, just like the one here. The one that was involved in the accident. I figure out that if I take the back door then I will get into the kitchen, where I will somehow see Elsie and give the phone to her, then disappear without anyone else noticing my presence. I walk stealthily towards the back door. Just when I am about two meters to the door, the lights turn on and it starts opening. I pray that Elsie comes out and makes my work easy. I also pray that Stephanie stays away because if she sees me here then I will be in trouble. But it's none of them. Instead, through the door walks out the most handsome man I have ever seen. He is in a hurry, walking quickly, looking at his phone as if he's waiting for a call and I am forced to step aside for him to proceed. But he stops in his tracks. “Good evening miss. I am Albert Richmond, and you?” I know right away why I wasn't allowed to be anywhere near that dinner. They feared that the man might notice me, a lowly maid, instead of their daughter. “Valerie Reigns.” I say as I walk past him into the house. If someone finds me talking to him I'll be in trouble. From the corner of my eye I can see him standing still, looking at me but once inside the house I walk to the kitchen without looking back. Luckily for me, Elsie is in the kitchen and she is so shocked to see me. I have never seen her looking afraid like this. For a moment I regret why I came in, maybe I am putting her into trouble. She gestures to me to be quiet and I quickly hand the phone to her and she now understands why I am here. She then takes my hand and we quietly tiptoe back outside. “That was close Valerie. What were you thinking?” She heaves a sigh of relief once we get outside, as we walk through the packing lot to my house. “You left behind your phone, and it wouldn't stop ringing and they said it was important Elsie. I had to bring it to you.” “Never again should you take such risks. Mom would have exploded had she seen you. Now, go back inside, I'm going back to the dinner. Albert has gone out to answer to a phonecall and that's why I went to the kitchen to warm some water.” “Goodnight Elsie.” It's a whisper because she's already gone. Then I start walking the short distance to my house. As if from nowhere, the same man stands in front of me. The man they invited to dinner so as to pair him with Alicia. Knowing the risks associated with talking to him, I try to walk past him. But he blocks my way. “Miss Valerie, may I talk to you for a moment?”