Resisting The Billionaire

1. Protection or Compromise?

“Oh, the light… I can see it fading…”

The loud, yet meekly orchestrated voice of the actress, lying on the hospital bed in the middle of the small stage of the theater, boomed all across the place, achieving a pique in the curiosity of the small number of audiences, who had decided to enjoin the small staged show on a regular Monday afternoon.

To add to the dramatic effects, the color of the lights on the stage dimmed down a little, in order to show that a moment of glum had fallen upon the audience.

“Well, I do see a light…”

Said the actor, pretending to be an old man, with heavy wrinkly effect make up adorned on his face, wearing glasses with a grey wig, lying next to the actress who had the initial dialogue.

“But it is far and bright and that is what and only I see.”

Their voices were trembling to add the effect of old age and the young bald director, who stood at the corner of the stage, hidden behind the tall pulled back curtains, rejoiced, enjoying the act so far and feeling proud of what his actors were able to pull last minute.

“I had seen a moment like this; a moment of calling…” said the third and the final actress, pretending to be the last of their companion in the nursing home – which was also the central idea of the play – three old people dying together, depressed, sad yet relieved that death had finally become theirs.

“… I remember writing something like this and then reading that throughout my days after retirement, after my dear Earl passed away.”

The second man asked the third one, “Where did you write and read it from?”

“Oh… my diarrhea.”

Just as she said those words, the director and the two actors on the stage, had their eyes bulged in shock and horror, while the entire audience erupted in to a loud laughter.

“No… not diarrhea! Diary.” The director cried in pain, as he immediately lifted the script in his hands and began going through it. he smacked the papers on his forehead, once he realized that there was a major typing error and the word diary was written as ‘dairya’ – making it sound like the one disease, which makes a person’s both ends explode.

The director slid down on the floor, knowing that yet again, his small play was doomed and he could not continue with the same play the next day, since the reviews will be out and his entire plan was doomed.

“Oh, you mean to say your diary?” said the first one, trying to improvise the silly mistake of the last one. She knew that there was a typing error and the last actress didn’t have to be too literal and wished that she would pick up the hints but the last one remained just as hopeless as a kitten on a tree.

“No… my diarrhea.”

The oblivious strikes of the actress made the director lose hope and the audience laugh even louder.

“I loved my diarrhea! I had written so much on it about how shitty my life used to be.”

People laughed and laughed, as loud as they could and the director lost all hopes as he gestured the back stage crew to pull the curtains back and once the curtains were on and the audience began dispersing, laughing how reckless the show was, the actors pulled out from their makeup and wigs, taking off the prosthetics that were applied to their faces.

“What happened? We still have the end and…”

Got up, asking the dense actress.

“You!” the director yelled and screamed at her, throwing yet another tantrum, after yet another failed script and show.

“Forget it! she is not to be blamed entirely.”

Taking her wig off, revealing the long brunette hair, stood up Diana, stripping out from the nursing home gown that she wore for her character, revealing the tube dress that she wore underneath it, flashing her toned long legs and accentuated curvaceous figure.

She took off all the prosthetics off her face and then went on to help the actor next to her, gently removing the makeup off his face.

“What? Diana? How can you say that she is not to be blamed? Couldn’t she tell that it was ‘diary’ and not ‘diarya’?”

The director continued to raise his concern and Diana simply rolled her hazel eyes and shook her head, turning back towards the director, who was also her best friend.

She went to walk up to him, earning quite the lustful look of the guy whose makeup she just took off. He had been eyeing to ask her out on a date for quite some long but she remained playful to dodge him and perhaps, that would be his last time with her on the stage.

She walked up towards her friend and tapped his oval bald head, the dark surface of which shined underneath the bright yellow stage lights.

“Bernard… you will become a great director one day and one day we might as well see you in broad way…”

Bernard sighed, throwing his head down but Diana immediately lifted his face up and cheered him, squeezing his cheeks and shaking her head, proscribing him from being obnoxious gloomy.

“But today was definitely not the day. That day will come when before you expect your actors to have common sense, would yourself gain some and proof read before passing our scripts full of writing errors.”

“I hate you!” Bernard taunted Diana, making her laugh and shake her head.

“I know.”

She moved backstage and finally reached her dressing room, where she picked up her shirt and jeans and threw them on her body and wiped off the remnants of the makeup and the glue that she had applied on her skin before donning herself with the attire of an old lady.

The door to her room knocked and she turned around to find her fellow actor, Max standing by the door.

Max leaned against the doorframe, trying his best to flex his muscles and his tall height of six two. He was definitely a lady charmer, with his soft looks and bulgy body and he himself found his heart attracted towards Diana.

The long, curvy girl with a perfectly petite waste yet beautiful mounds on her chest and her butt also popped out in a nice curve on the back.

But it wasn’t just her body that was beautiful, her face held a charm of its own. Her expressions soft because of those big light brown eyes of hers, her jawline sharp, which gave her an attractive look. The look eyelashes of hers shaded her big brown eyes but lifted perfectly, reaching for her curved and arched eyebrows. Her cheeks rounded back, creating a perfectly contoured structure of her face, with a thin pointy nose resting in the middle, very symmetrically right on top of her plump lips.

“So, Diana any plans for tonight?” he asked and Diana looked at his reflection in the mirror in front of her.

“Yes! I have to go for a shift at my aunt’s salon.”

The man scrunched his nose in sheer agony and annoyance.

“When does that lady ever closes her salon?” he asked and Diana couldn’t help but chuckle.

Her Aunt did hold a knack for keeping her beauty spot open till late.

“Yeah… well she does keep that place open till late. It is Hollywood anyways…” Diana shrugged, “You know how Los Angeles is. People want a do over at any time of the day and besides, most of the customers for make up come at this time, since they have to get ready for late evening events.”

With that Diana picked up her jacket and her bag and made her way out of the make up room.

“Tell Benard to call me if he decides to have another disaster and needs some make up only. This time, I won’t replace any lost artist of his.”

With that she finally left the small theater and exited the building, climbing down the flight of staircase and finally walked down the pavement, reaching for the bus stop. Picking out her wire headphones, she connected them to her phone and played the new Taylor Swift song that she was obsessing over, on her share Spotify account with her cousin Polly – short for Paulina.

Despite of having the same account, the two shared a completely different taste in music. Whilst Diana’s taste was subtle, the other girl had a more closer to her age – gothic emo punk taste in music. The bus waltzed through the different urban areas of the city, passing through the high chic wide streets to the narrow ones, crowded and bustled. One such area in the city was the neighborhood of Northridge East. A cheap but a subtle locality, where even the high class ones would usually pop up to buy from the local businesses, due to its quality and high end performance.

The bus stopped at the very center of the street and Diana hopped off, walking through the narrow streets, where cars passed by, some minding their business and some honking at the lone girl but she simply popped the hood of her jacket over her head and perched it down, walking towards the middle of the street, where rested her Aunt’s beauty salon, which was spread in to three shops.

It was a good and cozy business that her Aunt, a very simple, elegant and a lady in her late forties was able to build on her own, despite of being a college drop out. She was once married and her looks was something she took great pride in but when her divorce came and she was left with just her daughter and no money to her name, she decided to not just depend on her looks and wait on another man to give her protection but instead she took charge of her life and built up a small business of her own, becoming the top beautician in her vicinity.

Opening up the tinted glass door of the salon, Diana was immediately greeted with the cheery hair dresser, who stood at the very front, engaging in a loquacious conversation with a customer over what kind of hair color they required. She smiled and gave a thumbs up to Diana, who also smiled and waved back at her, taking her bag and hoodie off and made her way towards the makeup studio, which was her corner to work at.

She opened up the door of the small covered section of the salon and went inside, turning the lights on of the studio and even lit up the lights on the mirror in front of the chairs.

She moved the makeup carts, that were pushed at the back of the room and brought them closer to the three mirrors, placing the cart in the middle space of the room, so that it would be easily accessible. Soon two of her assistants also came in one after the other. Both of the two were young girls, who were trained by Diana herself. One merely nineteen, was out of her house, to make her ends meet since her family needed the support that she could bring in, with her mother was paralyzed and her younger siblings depended on her. the other was an orphaned girl, who had grown up in foster homes and Diana helped them learn and earn at the same time, urging the two to build a makeup studio of their own in the future. She even helped them in many looks that the two usually would create for their online t****k and i********: profiles.

Diana had a knack for people in need. She loved to be of help of those, who had no one to look after them. She would even bring lunch for the two and not just these two were the ones to get special treatment by her. she was the same to her old assistants as well, who then left the salon to get better pay at different studios. Diana loved to see people grow because she herself had made peace and told herself that the impasse in her life that she was living through was actually for her own good and what she needed or else her life would be the quintessence of chaos.

Diana looked at the clock in the studio and noticed that it was about to be five and her first pool of customers was about to barge in and they did so, just as the clock struck five.

Women from all over the town came for Diana. She had magic in her hands, she could take anything and anyone and transform them through her hands and the power of using the essential tools in to a mesmerizing and dazzling person, that held the center of the attention of the entire crowd. Despite of being in a low ended area, the salon was able to attract customers from even the highest ends of the town only because of Diana and her make up techniques that had homed in the hearts of the customers.

Many women shamelessly admitted that they had gatekept Diana because they didn’t want to share her magic with others and many on the contrary loved to flaunt and show off their makeup artists and recommended Diana further on.

Seeing customers go in and out of the makeup studio, the hairdressers, laughed to their own selves, with some full of envy that it was not them who were bringing those customers in and some actually happy that they didn’t have to work on their toes and stand for the long hours.

The envy of her fellow salon workers was short lived. Because despite of standing for so long and working on her toes, and even giving makeup lessons during the day three days a week, when she was not helping Bernard at the theater, Diana’s Aunt, Emily the short statured owner of the salon walked towards the studio, once the rush hour had resided and many customers had gone. Althea had passed the remaining two customers to her assistants, when Emily entered the makeup studio.

“Hmm, looks like you had a busy day.” She rose an eyebrow assessing the room with quite the sharp gaze of hers that came out of her small blue eyes. Her blond hair were puffed up and back on her head and she wore a tight coat over her petite figure that she tried her best to make tall by the use of six inch stiletto heels. Her dressing was always at the par, emphasizing her position as the owner of the place.

“Well everyday is busy.” Diana chimed and shrugged, cleaning up the place and trying her best to appease her Aunt’s anger that she knew, had no bounds.

“And yet I have to spend more on your makeup supplies then I should, don’t you think?”

Having to pick something out, Emily decided to complain to Diana about the resources that were spent on her.

“It’s prerequisite…” Diana began explaining herself but Emily simply shrugged and left, rendering Diana feeling insulted, just like the usual but she felt glad that at least it wasn’t as bad as the other days when Emily would lash out on her for no reason.

She simply rolled her eyes and went back to collecting her makeup supplies.

“Why do you work under such a rude person?” one of her assistants, the younger one complained.

“Exactly!” said the second one.

“Let’s just make you a t****k account and you show your creations to the world. I am damn sure someone would pay you more than your Aunt and would love to have you at their makeup studio.” Suggested the first assistant but Diana simply had her eyes bulged out and immediately shook her head.

“Don’t even by accident, ever upload my picture on the internet, okay?” she warned the two, who didn’t get surprise by Diana’s demands by that point. Initially they used to be curious and shocked with the manner in which Diana would usually react whenever someone would ask her to join a social media network.

“Yeah! Yeah… we know.”

With that the two went back to their usual routine and soon the salon closed down and Diana made in to the car with Emily, who drove her Chrysler down the four blocks, where their double story house was.

Emily remained indifferent, silent and cold throughout the scathingly silent car ride and Diana did feel her heart scattered by her Aunt’s unjust behavior that also spawned and stem from an incident that was not even Diana’s fault at all.

But at the end of the day, even Diana had no other place to rest and to be safe. Her life was full of horrors and she knew that the comfort and protection that Emily provided her was the utmost peace that she had and will ever see. She was glad that despite of her loath, Emily still had not kicked Diana out of her house and had still taken pity on her.

Soon they arrived at their suburban home and Diana was the first one to get inside, holding the groceries in her hands that Emily had one of her employees picked during the day. Emily always left such humiliating laborious tasks for Diana to work on. But Diana didn’t mind, as long as she had a safe house to be in, she was ready to pick up as many grocery bags as she could.

Picking them up, she made he way inside, where she was greeted by Polly, who just like her mother, short and petite, shared the same square facial structure and stretched back features except for the hair color, which she had inherited form her father, something that Emily’s former in laws never let her forget anyways.

“Mom! Did you get my diet cola? Also, this is your daily reminder that my birthday is coming in a month, so for my sixteenth, I want a car. I already told Dad, so you two sit two like two civilized people and talk it out, how you want to gift it to me.”

Polly ran her hands through her soft treated and blown hair that she tossed around her figure.

Diana always felt happy to see her so spoiled, pampered and happy. Both her parents loved to take care of her and tantrums and it was something that Diana always wished that she had. But even if she didn’t get all of that, she never felt envious of Polly, instead, she felt happy for her and prayed that she always got spoiled that way by whosoever came in to her life.

“I wouldn’t have to consult with your father about the kind of the car I could have gifted you had your dear cousin not existed in our lives.” Emily spoke sharply and bluntly, as she placed her bag on the central console of the small living area of the house, dropping a huge bulldozer of guilt right on to Diana’s heart. She gulped hard as she carried the groceries further in to the kitchen and decided to ignore the daily tormenting taunt doze that Emily shun her with.

But Emily seemed to be in a extra ridiculously tormenting mood, as she followed Diana in to the kitchen, along with Polly and crossed her arms across her chest.

“I would have been able to gift you a Maybach had your beautiful cousin not spread her whorish wings around my fiancé.”

Diana took a pause in her moves, letting Emily’s words sink in before she resumed sorting out the grocery items.

Polly remained indifferent to her mother’s remarks and knew that there wasn’t anything separatist or different of what her mother did every other day and in fact, if anything she wished that her mother would drop the lousy act of being unjust towards her cousin, who was an innocent soul.

She believed that her mother was wounded from the year old deceit that she had received and was trying her best to cope with it. Polly was simply glad that her mother had not reverted back to the menacing cheater of a man that she was engaged to. She did feel fractious that her mother’s safety and sanity came at the cost of her cousin’s dignity and humiliation but whenever Polly would try and defend Diana, the latter would simply ask the former to let things be.

“I don’t care!” Polly cut her mother sharp attaining her attention.

“Do whatever you can but I need a car.”

With that she walked out of the kitchen, grabbing her diet Cola and irritated that once again her daughter didn’t side her to bully Diana, Emily took her coat off and threw it down on the ground and strode her way out, leaving the coat behind for Diana to pick, who didn’t mind and simply did so.

After preparing the dinner and having it with a fratricidal silence, she finally did the dishes and made her way towards her room, where she perched out on the small swing chair in the balcony attached to her room.

She grabbed a book and a cup of coffee. She sat out of the balcony, looking down over the small lawn of the house and in to the dark of the neighborhood and her brain was teleported back to the night when the only good relationship that ever had with an elder person in her life was ruined entirely.

Emily never hated Diana that way, in fact, she was actually quite polite towards her, because since Diana came to her in Los Angeles, she was always a help rather than a burden. She would help her in the house, look after Polly and even assist her in the studio.

Emily put her in makeup school and once she graduated, Diana was given the charge of the makeup studio of the salon entirely and she had been managing it quite well so far.

Diana’s mind flashed back to that horrendous night, when she was all cheery and happy for her Aunt, who had met the perfect guy. Five years younger than her, an investment millionaire who adored her and gifted a huge rock. At their engagement party which was held at Emily’s home, amongst cozy and close friends, Diana remained with the servers of the catering company, making sure that everything ran smooth. That was also the last night when Emily’s behavior was the politest towards Diana. She was happy, drunk and hugging Diana every now and then.

Diana’s mind held very faded memories of that night, with her mind having blocked most part of that night. But she wanted to remember the time when Emily was kind towards her. Diana was wearing a simply black sleeveless dress that Emily had chosen for her. once she was done handling the catering services, she made her way towards the bedroom to grab a shawl, as she felt quite chilly but Ralph followed her in to the bedroom.

The rest was a moment of revolt for her, as he had tried to seduce her at first but she dodged his advances and tried to move out of the room but the heinous man then overpowered her with force and tried to force himself on her. all Diana remembered were her screams and feeling of disgust that took hold of her mind, as Ralph reached out for the lower hem of her dress and tore it off, reaching for her inner thighs. Luckily, her screams were able to grab the attention of everyone else around and Emily and Polly came in to the room just in time to stop Ralph and throw him out of the house.

Emily knew the hard core reality, which was the fact that somehow Ralph, who had failed to at first try and seduce Diana, had infiltrated the family through Emily and tried to get Diana through other means but Emily’s ego was too big to allow her to feel that belittled and thence burning in agony of the pain of the deceit, she painted Diana in her mind as the antagonist of her life and ever since then, she treated Diana cruelly and rudely.

The door to the balcony slid open and against the small fairy lights, extended throughout the railing of the balcony, which had small pot plants hanging down from the ceiling.

Diana turned out of her trance and towards the door to find Polly walked up to her and perched down on the swing and in to Diana’s lap.

“What are you reading?” she asked Diana, cuddling in to her and Diana also smiled, patting her cousin, who was more of a little sister to her.

She opened up the book and began reading to Polly, who slept in to her arms and the two spent a cozy night together. Diana felt fortunate that in moments of despair, she had Polly who never let go off her.

As the next day came and Diana pushed past all the sweet tortures of life aside and went back to her normal routine, she began her morning training workshop to a fresh batch. Many student joined the basic skills makeup course, after reading a lot of great reviews about the course and the makeup artist.

Diana was in the middle of teaching a basic method of applying foundation on the face and had barely touched the skin of her model when a loud thudding sound from the outside startled everyone in the makeup studio.

Loud gushes, squeaks and screams echoed from outside the salon and Diana looked at her assistants for once and then handed them the brushed to take care of the class.

“Stay here!”

She told the entire class, as she moved out of the studio, all the while hearing loud and large number of footsteps echo all over the place.

As she walked out in to the salon, she was greeted by a large audience of men, who looked like part of a security team. All wore black suits, tall and buff with wires running from their one ear to behind their necks.

“What’s going on…?” she wondered, having a mixture of anxiety and fear rush all over her, as she scanned the salon, encircled by those guards.

“We have her! she’s in here.”

Stated one of the guards, as his eyes landed on Diana and he remained peskily incessant in keeping his gaze intact on her.

She gulped hard, as her feet began to turn numb and her heart began drowning with anxiety, wondering what was about to come and happen to her. hearing the fuss, Emily also came out of her office and felt shaken to find an entire entourage of men standing in the middle of her salon.

“What is going on? Is there a customer whose team this is?” she asked nudging Diana, shaking her up a bit.

She looked at Emily and shook her head.

“I… I don’t know…” she fumbled and Emily could sense a hint of fear on her face.

The door to the salon opened up yet once again and somehow even without looking at the doors, Emily felt her heart skip a beat. She turned towards the door and her mind froze, as everything around her came to a halt and for her, the earth had begun to go in to its doom.

Wearing a crisp blue blazer over a white formal shirt, walked in Adrian, who took his sharp thin framed glasses off and revealed his sharp blue electrifying gaze that mortified Diana’s heart. She could instantly recognize those eyes of his. It had been ten freaking years, the last she had seen those eyes and yet her heart still pounded that loudly as she saw his devilishly handsome face.

The only difference was just not just in time but the fact that this time she didn’t know if her heart had skipped a beat because of the love she felt for that guy or because she feared that his presence back in her life is going to bring another nothing but annihilation and ruin her entire existence.

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Welp! This book is going to be full of twists and not in a very dark way but in a very interesting way and I really hope that you guys will enjoy it to the brim!

Thank you for always reading and supporting my work <3