Billionaire Happy After

Old friendships

The cafe had agreed to meet his... friends? acquaintances? enemies? at was only a couple minutes away. It was fairly full, but since it was mostly morning rush people just grabbing a coffee and going,Christian found a parking space outside and a somewhat secluded booth in the back inside quickly.

I hesitated when he sat down. "Do you want me to wait at another table? Or in the RV if you don't think it'll take long."

He hesitated for such a long time that I thought he was freaking deaf and hadn't heard me. "Stay," he said finally.

"You sure?" I asked.

He gave me a sideways glance, resting his chin on his fist. "You can be a buffer."

"Happy to be of service," I replied, rolling my eyes, but I sat down beside him anyway. It made me a little curious to know who he was meeting and why that person required a buffer, but I didn't ask or try to continue the conversation. I wasn't stupid enough to think Christian wanted to talk, or at least that he wanted to talk to me.

Instead I just pulled out my phone, hoping the cafe had Wi-Fi. It did, thankfully. Internet, saving people from awkward conversations since 1980-something, or whenever it was invented.

I did notice the moment whoever Christian was meeting walking though, even amidst my aimless scrolling through Twitter. From our side of booth, it was easy to see the entrance, and I felt Christian stiffen beside me as the bell above the door chimed. I glanced up to see a couple entering. The girl had long blonde hair, blue eyes and clear skin, looking a little like the cheerleader captain in every high school Rom-Com. The guy she was with as... Ares Karl ? What was he doing in New York?

As they got closer, I realized that it wasn't Ares. This guy had darker hair and a slightly different face shape or bone structure that didn't give him the same 'boy-next-door' nice guy look that Ares possessed. Their features were similar enough that the two had to be related. Besides, what are the odds that Christian's friends with two people who look so alike without them being related?

...About the odds of my going on a road trip with a guy who looks like my ex.

I really shouldn't count on the odds of, I decided.

"What do you want?" Christian asked as soon as they sat down, choosing to completely skip introductions and other such formalities.

The blonde blinked, then rolled her eyes "Hi, I'm Helen," she said, extending a hand towards me and ignoring Christian's question.

I couldn't tell if they were friends of Christian and knew his antics well enough to tease him, or if he hated them because they teased him like this. "I'm Georgia ."

"And this is Asher ," she continued, gesturing to the possibly-related-to-Ares-Karl guy.

"Nice to meet you."

He smiled and nodded back.

Christian cleared his throat impatiently. "What do you want?" he repeated.

"You want to talk here?" Asher asked.

"You guys were the ones who said you wanted to meet here,"Christian pointed out.

"Actually, you told us to meet you here and hung up before we could protest," Helen replied.

He shrugged. "So?"

"It's not exactly something you want to talk about where other people can overhear."

"We're pretty secluded," Christian dismissed. Most people were in line at the front of the shop, not the back where we were. "Just tell me now."

"It's something better discussed in private." I didn't think she was trying to be mean, but Helen's eyes slid towards me as she spoke, and I finally realized what she was implying.

I shifted in my seat to stand up. "I'll go."

She didn't try to deny it, instead just gave me a part sheepish, part apologetic smile.

"Stay, Georgia ," Jacen said in a falsely polite tone. "Don't be rude, Lena."

"No, it's fine, I can move to another table," I insisted, standing up. I didn't know Christian or his friends well enough to stay for sure.

"Sit down," he ordered, grabbing my arm and tugging me back beside him. I tried to make him let go, but he tightened his grip on my wrist. He wasn't looking at me, but the implication was clear- he wouldn't be letting me leave any time soon.

Asher raised an eyebrow, which Christian returned with a hard glare, though he kept the rest of his expression neutral. The two of them stared at each other for such a long time that I looked at Helen, but she was just watching them, not looking all that surprised.

That is some intense eye contact.

They're either going to jump at each other or they're going to... jump on each other.

It wasn't until Asher sat back and said, "Alright if this is how you want to play it, Ian." that Helen reacted, shaking her head at him. But he wasn't looking at her, he and Christian still seemed engaged in a 'who-will-look-away-first' stare down.

Helen cleared her throat and stood up. "Anyone want anything? It's on me. Ash?"

"I'm good, Elle," he replied.

"I insist," she said through gritted teeth.

He glanced away from Christian to look at her. "Just coffee."

"Ian?" Helen asked.

"Americano."

She turned to me. "What about you Georgia ?"

"Um, lemonade?" I wanted to smack myself as soon as my impromptu choice came out. I felt like a little kid sitting with a bunch of adults discussing things to grown up for me to understand. Of course, my drink choice had to reflect it too.

"Come give me a hand, Asher ," she said, making me realize the real reason why she decided to take drink orders. I had thought she simply wanted to ease the tension and break Christian and Asher's glare contest. They probably wanted to discuss how to approach whatever they wanted to talk to Christian about with me here.

Things would be a lot easier if Christian would just let me leave.

"You might want to make sure we don't run out on you guys while both of you are gone," Jacen said.

Asher hesitated, exchanging a look with Helen, then sat back down.

I jumped up. "I'll help you."

Christian's hand clamped tighter around my wrist, it almost felt like he was trying to make my hand to fall off from lack of blood circulation. "It's just a couple cups. Helen will be fine."

For f**k's sake let me leave Christian !

Helen glared at him, then turned and walked to the long line at the counter. s**t. s**t. s**t. Christian may have been keeping me around as a buffer, but I could tell Helen was the real peacemaker in the group.

"So, Georgia ," Asher said, making me turn to look at him. "What university are you thinking about going to?"

"Uh, I'm not really sure," I stuttered.

"How about the ones-"

"You know," Christian interrupted, cutting Asher off. "You could use right now to tell me whatever was so important instead of making small talk."

Asher gave him a hard, exasperated look. "You know what this is about."

"No, you refused to tell me, remember?"

"You know it's bad, Ian."

"Are we going to play the pronoun game now?"

This is like a damn ping pong match.

"You should hear it from me instead of a news show."

"Why don't you give me another hint, I think I'm losing."

I glanced over at the front of the cafe. Helen was waiting at the counter for our drink orders. Maybe she'd make it back in time to stop... Whatever this was.

"This is serious. Let Georgia leave, Ian. She's not going to keep you from finding out."

Christian kept his face neutral, but I felt his hand tighten even further on my wrist, something that I hadn't thought was possible. "Find out what?"

"Fine," Asher spat. "Anne found a good enough lead to start building a case. He's going to find enough evidence to prove your dad murdered Helen's foster parents."

What the f**k.