Billionaire Bear

Chapter 1-2

Shirley watched as Robin tossed back her fifth shot of tequila within the past hour. Robin hardly ever drank the hard stuff and Shirley couldn’t help wondering how many of these shots her friend was going to be able to take before she couldn’t remember her own name anymore.

But so far she was handling it all like a champ.

Shirley even felt better for getting out of the house and away from those damn books. She knew that the longer she put it all off, the worse it was going to be. She had maintained a 3.8 grade point average and was all set to graduate magna c*m laude, but that might not happen if she messed up her classes the last semester. She had to knuckle down and do it. That was all. She had to grind it out.

But her mind kept wandering back to Chatham. Where was he? What was he doing tonight? Shirley fingered the necklace that was still around her neck, hanging below her shirt. It was a large bulk under the shirt and she had meant to take it off and leave it in her jewelry box to add to the collection of wonderful gifts that Chatham Rogers had given her, but she just didn’t want to let it out of her sight. She had rarely felt that way about an object before, but she considered the necklace to be her most prized possession. And it was not because of the price.

The sentiment of the necklace was beyond the dollars that it had cost. Shirley treasured the gift because Chatham had given it to her. He was everything that she had ever wanted in a man, in a partner. Why would he not give to her the way she wanted to give to him?

“Wow, this feels so much better. This is exactly what I needed,” Robin said as she took a few chugs of her beer and then began to munch on some fries.

Shirley had to shake her head at the amount of empty calories Robin was consuming. Shirley had never had to worry about her weight no matter what she ate or did, but Robin had a tendency to gain weight if she looked at food and it was almost impossible for her to stop eating once she started.

“I’ll bet Trent would be crying his eyes out to see how much fun you’re having,” Shirley said.

“You think?” Robin replied.

“Hell yeah. The guy wanted to dispose of you because he thinks you are far beneath him, but now you get to show his ass up. Don’t pretend like you don’t think he will be here.”

Robin groaned. “Yeah, you’re right. I was hoping he would be here. How dare he break up with me over a text? That bastard!”

Shirley tried not to laugh, but Robin was one of those people who didn’t really have a credible anger gear. When she got really good and mad, it was hysterically funny.

“I don’t see why you’re so upset about this. I mean, you hardly really dated the guy more than two months. Did you really see a big future with him? Was he daddy material?” Shirley asked.

She was starting to become aware that she’d had a bit to drink herself. She had been trying to just stick with beer, but the Manhattans had been calling her name tonight and she’d had two already. She knew that she should probably slow down, but she was not sure if she’d reached the point of no return yet.

“I know. The guy is a jerk and I thought he was a loser, but he was unbelievable in bed. Why is that? Why is it that the worst guys you would ever really want to be with are amazing in bed but terrible in life? What is the deal there?” Robin asked.

For Shirley those words were starting to hit pretty close to home. Robin had a pretty valid point there. Did that explain her infatuation with Chatham? Was it because he was unobtainable or was it because, if she could possess him somehow, he was the type of guy that she would never want to really be with? The man was amazing in bed: demanding, confident, in control, and constantly pushing the envelope of what she had done and was willing to do. It was a fun little game where he tried to see how much she could take and if he could break her. Shirley was starting to wonder where else there was to go and if there was something that man’s devious mind could conceive of that would break her. Was there something he could devise that would make her say “no”? A part of her didn’t think there was, but the other part of her was dying to find out. She wanted to be there. She wanted to be pushed to the absolute brink of everything and then go that one step farther until she knew that she had no control and there was no turning back.

“That is one of life’s great mysteries,” Shirley replied trying to bounce out of her thoughts.

Robin looked at her puzzled and then a sly smile crept slowly across her face. “So, how is Mr. Chatham Rogers lately?”

The mention of Chatham’s name drove Shirley from her daze of self-reflection and life examination and she allowed a strange little giggle to escape from her. She didn’t think she’d giggled like that since she was a little girl and Missy French found out that she liked Ben Myers and Shirley tried to deny it.

“He’s fine, I guess,” Shirley replied nonchalantly.

“Fine, you guess? Girl, who do you think you are fooling? I know that you think about him all the time.”

“I don’t, really. Why would I?”

“Because that amazing man has twisted your heart and your emotions around to the point that you’re like a little doll that he takes off a shelf when he wants to look at it.”

“Oh, come on. It is not like that at all,” Shirley said.

“Really? Then tell me, who gave you that sexy necklace?”

Shirley reached for the necklace around her neck instinctively to make sure it was still there and to make sure that it was still relatively well hidden beneath her shirt. She should have worn a bigger shirt, but they had decided to leave the apartment on a whim.

“I didn’t realize it was that obvious,” Shirley said.

“Why is that man giving you all these lavish gifts if he considers you a hump buddy?” Robin asked.

Shirley could feel the shock spilling across her face as her jaw dropped open. Robin was very outspoken and always said whatever was on her mind to anybody—no holds barred—and it was always hilarious, but sometimes she got too in your face.

“I don’t think of our arrangement that way,” Shirley said.

“Okay, then explain it to me. I can’t think of anything,” Robin replied.

Shirley thought for a moment but she already knew that Robin was right and there were no answers to be found. She hated to feel like Chatham was using her, but it felt like that a lot of the time. At the same time, though, she had no idea why she kept getting these mixes signals from Chatham. Sometimes the way he looked at her was beyond physical lust and passion; sometimes there was affection there. When he touched her after they had s*x and they were cuddling, he seemed to be in a deep peace with her as if he wanted to stay there forever, but then he would change and he would kick her out of his house and make up an excuse that he had early work in the morning.

“I don’t know. It’s complicated,” Shirley finally said.

“It doesn’t look complicated,” Robin replied.

“Honestly, I’ve thought to myself a lot about it and I just feel like there is something that’s keeping him from getting close to me. I know he has said from the beginning that he doesn’t want a close relationship with anyone right now. He blames it on the fact that he is married to his work and to other things in his life so he has no room to ever get that close to someone, but to me that sounds like he is just hiding something or he is afraid of something. I just don’t know what.”

Robin’s interest was definitely piqued now. She was leaning against her hand and sipping her drink without taking her eyes off Shirley.

“So, you think he does care about you, but there is some external force that is keeping him from telling you how he feels? You sure you haven’t been reading too many romance novels?” Robin asked.

Shirley laughed. “No, I don’t think so. You’re the only one who reads that stuff.”

“I’m offended that you think that,” Robin said feigning hurt.

“I just wish I could find some way to get him to open up and talk to me or find out what is bothering him, but every time I even try to talk to him about anything like that he just shuts me down and shuts me out. And he usually walks out of the room or gives me his pitch about how he needs some rest and I need to leave. That walk out of his place afterwards feels so… cold. It’s brutal. It feels like I’m just being cast aside like I don’t mean a thing to him, but then the next day I get a diamond necklace in the mail.”

“Damn, that’s bizarre. But whatever you’re doing, keep it up; pretty soon you will be able to graduate from college debt free. Use those diamonds to pay off those student loans!”

Shirley rolled her eyes. “I’m not using his money like that. His money isn’t important to me at all.”

Robin gave her a look that said she was crazy.

“Any clues as to what it could be? This obstacle in the way?” Robin asked.

“No, but I’ve been banging my head trying to come up with a solution to it. So far I’m totally blank.”

The waitress brought another round of drinks and Shirley hesitatingly reached for her Manhattan and brought it to her lips. The drink was fantastic as always. She realized this wasn’t the most constructive or mature way to deal with her problems, but it was working for now.

“Well, you’re a very smart girl. I’m sure you’ll think of something. I got to break the seal,” Robin said getting up and heading to the ladies room.

Shirley loved to watch Robin get tipsy. It turned her already outrageous personality up a few more notches until she was just Robin overload. And it was hilarious and fun to be around. They had gone out to cheer Robin up, but as the evening went on, it looked like Shirley was the one who needed cheering up. The more she thought about Chatham, the more depressed she became. Why was the one man she really loved in this world so far away from her?

Her phone vibrated right then with a text message. It was Chatham. That was rather uncanny; it was almost as if he was standing right there and listening to her thoughts.

How did you like the necklace?

Shirley replied back.

I loved it. Want me to come over tonight?

Chatham texted back immediately.

No. I have something very important going on. I will be in touch.

Shirley thought about texting back something angry or at least something to carry the sentiment to Chatham that she was not feeling happy about their arrangement any longer, but Robin returned from the bathroom right then and she just decided that she didn’t want to get in the middle of a text fight. Shirley hated it when people argued through texts. Why not just call the person and use real words with a real voice behind it that could convey tone and intent?

“Is that the mystery man?” Robin asked.

“Who else?” Shirley replied.

“He scheduling your next rendezvous?”

“No, he was just asking me how I liked the necklace. I asked him if he wanted to get together, but he said he had something very important to take care of.”

“Important? At night? Please, he has another girl coming over. Maybe more than one.”

Shirley looked at Robin in shock. She was shocked both that she said that and shocked that it might actually be true.

Shirley just realized that she had never seriously considered the possibility that Chatham was carrying on relationships just like this one with at least one other woman, or more than that. She had always believed that she was enough for him and that he just wanted the special time they shared together to fill in the gaps when he wasn’t working and to serve his most basic, animalistic, carnal urges. But what if he was just a rich player of sorts with a stable of women that he called up when he wanted something new?

Shirley tried to get the idea and the image out of her head. That was wrong. Chatham wasn’t like that. He cared about her. She wasn’t stupid and she wasn’t naïve. She knew when a man genuinely cared about her and when they were feeding her a line.

“Oh, God. What if you’re right?” Shirley asked.

“Oh, honey. I’m talking a bit out of my head here. You know I’m a bit beyond tipsy and you should take everything I say and do tonight with a grain of salt,” Robin said.

“No, you’re right. I can’t believe I’ve been this much in the dark. That isn’t like me. I really conned myself into believing that I’m the only woman he’s with,” Shirley said.

“Well, you don’t know for sure. I’m just speculating. We know there is something weird going on, but to jump to conclusions before you have all the facts is the wrong approach. We need to just keep our heads calm about this.”

“Well, I have to know and I have to know soon. There has to be a way to find out what he’s up to.”

“Well, good luck with that. He isn’t like a regular guy that you can snoop on. The man lives in a two hundred million dollar palace that is harder to break into than Fort Knox.”

“I know. But there has got to be a way to do it.”

Shirley leaned back against the booth exasperated and feeling more than just a little tipsy herself. She needed to approach this problem when she wasn’t under the influence of anything. Maybe she would have a better handle on the problem in the morning.

When she got home and lay down, she was still unable to get those thoughts out of her head. What if she was just a notch on the bedpost for Chatham? What if he wasn’t at all the good man that she felt he was deep inside? Maybe that was part of his act? That might have been why he was so good at business; he had a great poker face and he could bluff anyone into trusting him. Shirley hated to think of herself as a gullible schoolgirl who had just been tricked into believing the most popular boy in school’s lies, but she was starting to feel that way.

As she closed her eyes and finally drifted off, she could hear the echoes of the thoughts still running through her mind about Chatham. She was going to find out what was going on if it was the last thing she did. If she didn’t, she might have to stop seeing Chatham. She just wasn’t sure she could go on this way with a man she was falling more in love with by the day.

She had to know.