Billionaire Bear

Chapter 2-1

Chapter 2Shirley’s phone buzzed as she frantically tried to turn down the volume. She had forgotten to put her phone totally on silent as she always did right at the start of her class, but with the late night and the slight hangover that she was struggling with this morning, somehow that thought had been misplaced.

Shirley was trying to stay awake during Professor Robert’s English Literature class when she received the text from Chatham. She felt a surge of glee, followed by bitter disappointment, and a nagging feeling that she was doing something very wrong but she didn’t know what.

I want to see you tonight. Come to my place at six. DO NOT BE LATE.

Shirley read the small text over six times trying to decide how she should feel about it. The truth was with all of the gifts she was being showered with and the fact that Chatham expected her to be at his beck and call whenever he summoned her, she felt a bit dirty. It almost felt like she was some kind of a roundabout prostitute. Was that the way Chatham saw her? Is that why he kept showering her with those insanely expensive gifts? She really wasn’t sure what to think about it all, but trying not to think about it made it ten times worse and actually thinking about it made her want to bang her head against a brick wall outside.

“I’ve got an idea!”

The voice came from over her shoulder as she exited the steps right outside the language arts building. She was damn glad to be out of that class and outside in the warm sunshine that was actually starting to feel like a warm, spring day. She had no idea why she was even in that literature class to begin with, but it was required as part of her general education requirements for her degree. Shirley felt that all of the general education requirements were things she had already done in freaking high school and saw no reason to do them again in college. It was definitely a way to charge kids more money for bullshit classes they didn’t need.

Shirley turned her head to see the smiling face of Mark Conner stumbling along behind her. Mark and Shirley had been friends ever since he had helped her get along in one of her algebra classes freshman year. Math had never been her strong suit. Mark was extremely smart, extremely nerdy, and had a huge crush on her. He often made her feel like the star of one of those eighties John Hughes movies where he was the nerdy friend who pined for the girl. It had been weird at first, but he was a very nice, sweet, funny guy and they had fun every time they hung out together.

“You have what idea?” Shirley asked as she continued to walk toward the cafeteria.

She had overslept and barely made it to class on time without any breakfast or coffee. With a hangover on top of that, it was an absolute miracle she had not fallen hard asleep in class. She felt like she deserved to eat something completely devoid of nutritional value and high in fat, sugar, and calories. Diet be damned.

“Well, Robin told me the issue you are having with that rich guy,” Mark said.

Shirley stopped.

“What? She must be more hungover than me this morning if she told you that,” Shirley said. If Robin had been there, she might have caught a box punch.

“Yeah, it just slipped out I guess. But I have a solution to your problem,” Mark said.

“What?”

Mark held up a small device that looked like a gold pen cap at first, but on closer inspection it had a very tiny antenna on it.

“What is that?” Shirley asked.

“It is a wireless camera.”

“A wireless camera?”

“Yeah. I figure the next time you’re at his house, you place this thing on a bookshelf or somewhere—wedge it between something so it won’t be noticed—and then you can watch everything he does in that room on this website I set up for you.”

Shirley looked at Mark in shock.

“You’re serious?”

“Yeah. It will totally work. I mean, if you’re worried about what this guy is doing when he’s not with you. As long as he is in range of the camera then you will see it all. It even records everything on the website so you can time lapse and play it back. That way you don’t have to stand there and just watch it.”

Shirley thought for a moment. She hated that she was actually considering this and it sounded like a great idea, but she was tired of feeling this way. She was tired of not knowing. If there was a chance that she could really be with Chatham, then this was the way to find out and she had to take that chance. It felt dirty, underhanded, and it was a total invasion of privacy. She sometimes wished that she was a horrible person who had no conscience—like Robin—but she wasn’t. Robin would have no problem with this. It wouldn’t have surprised her to learn that this was Robin’s idea.

Shirley grabbed the camera and held it in her hand. It was spectacular that this little instrument could uncover the very thing that was causing her so much pain and heartache. She had to do it. But what if Chatham found out? He would never speak to her again. He would be furious and then she would never know if there might have been a chance for the two of them.

“Come on,” Mark continued. “It’s easier than it sounds. You’re thinking it through too much.”

“I just don’t know. It sounds very underhanded and that just doesn’t sit well with me.”

Mark shrugged. “Well, okay. But if you don’t do this, then you’ll have to just keep wondering.

Shirley thought a moment longer. The she took a deep breath and put the camera in her pocket.

“Sweet. All you have to do is put that somewhere that it will be free from obstructions and that it won’t be seen.”

“Okay,” Shirley said. “Thanks.”

Mark was a good friend and he was trying to help out. Shirley realized how happy she was to have a friend like him.

When she arrived at the cafeteria, she discovered that she was no longer hungry and her stomach was now tied in knots.

This was going to be interesting.