Mr. Billionaire, I'm Back!

Chapter 13: Dark Is The Parking Lot

It was ten o'clock when Joanna finally finished her work, and by then, almost everyone had left for the night. Upon leaving the building, she was surprised to find that the parking lot's lights had been turned off. "What a way to end the day," she muttered as she pulled out her phone, and she used her flashlight App to lead her to her car – only to discover that she had a flat tire!

As Joanna hunkered down to get a better look, she heard footsteps behind her, and they were getting closer. She didn't know who it was, so she stayed as still as she could. Then, when the person was almost upon her, she turned off her light, stood up quickly, spun around, and lashed out with her foot.

Much to her dismay, though, the stranger grabbed her foot. She tried to pull it away, but she could not. The stranger's grip was too tight. "Settle down," he said gruffly, and Joanna suddenly realized that she recognized the man's voice – and it was a man, she now knew – and the voice belonged to Brian.

"Brian," she said, "I know it's you, so you may as well let me go. I won't try to kick you again."

Brian laughed, and he let her leg down. "I didn't think you would recognize me by my voice," he said. "It appears that I made a bigger impression on you than I realized." He was delighted by the fact that she had recognized him without having seen him, and a line from Dr. Seuss popped into his mind – Would you? Could you? In the dark?

Brian took a step towards Joanna, and now she recognized him, not just by his voice, but from his unique scent as well. She could feel his breath on her face and around her ears.

Joanna was stunned. It was dark, and she couldn't see Brian, but she had a feeling that he was very close to her, and her heart rate began to increase.

Joanna had feelings for Ken, but her feelings for Brian were nearly as deep. That was why, after only seeing him a couple of times, she recognized the sound of his voice and the smell of his body.

Joanna smirked and said, "What makes you think that I recognized your voice? Isn't it just as likely that I saw you with my eyes?"

Brian laughed out loud. "Are you saying that you can see in the dark?" he scoffed. "What are you? A Cat? An Owl? Or maybe a raccoon?"

Joanna purred like a cat and said, "I am a cat!" And she pushed him away while he was distracted.

Brian staggered backward. He couldn't stop laughing. Sure enough – he thought – she is a cat, and a wild cat at that! He took a step forward, regaining the ground he'd lost, and Joanna shouted at him: "What are you doing?"

Brian stopped once he was within kissing distance of Joanna, and he leaned against her car. "Did you just finish work?" he asked in a not so subtle attempt to distract her and to change the subject. And, much to his delight, it seemed to work.

"It was my first day, and they gave me a lot of work to do," Joanna replied.

Brian: "Is your wrist feeling better?"

Joanna: "Much better."

Brian: "Does it still hurt?"

Joanna paused and touched her injured wrist, and when the pain flared up, she realized that she was being played. She frowned and said, "Don't worry about my wrist. Why don't you tell me why you're here?"

"I was just passing by," Brian lied. Since the moment they'd met, he'd had Danny investigating her past and tailing her. Thus, Brian now knew about her miserable childhood, her doomed marriage, her friends, and her new job with her father's company.

When Danny had seen that she was finishing up at work, he'd called Brian, and Brian had rushed right over.

"You just happened to be passing by my place of employment," Joanna said suspiciously. "And at this time of night…"

Suddenly, an unfamiliar female voice called out from the main door of the building -

"Brian, are you there?" – and Joanna instantly understood that Brian had been waiting for someone; this someone, apparently. Not me – she realized.

Joanna suddenly felt very silly - Of course, not me! It didn't make sense that Brian would be there for her. After all, they didn't even know each other! "Mr. Jones," she said. "The girl you're waiting for is here, so good night."

Joanna was about to leave when Brian suddenly grabbed her arm. This attack made her angry, and she struggled with him, but he would not let go. "What are you doing?" she cried. "Let me go! Did you forget that I'm a married woman? Please take your hands off of me!"

When Brian heard this, his grip tightened for a second, and then he let Joanna go. Once her arm was free, she turned on her flashlight and began to walk away.

When the stranger saw Joanna's light, she turned on the light on her own phone, and Joanna recognized her immediately. The other woman was Elaine Sikes.

Elaine saw Brian leaning against a strange car. She called out to him: "Brian!" She ran towards him, and she was going to hug him, but he hid behind a pillar. This evasion hurt her feelings, and she tried to grab him, but he pulled his arm away.

Elaine scowled and shouted at Brian angrily: "What is this all about? Why are you treating me like some kind of virus? Did I do something to displease you?"

Brian wasn't in a good mood, and what Elaine Sikes had done, had further annoyed him. "Don't do this!" he said. "You are a grown-up now. You can't do the same things you did when you were a child!"