Billionaire's Escort

Chapter five

Kimberly’s POV

I watched in silence as he left the car and headed straight into his building. Not going to lie, I was hurt at what he had said, and I had in some ways maybe hoped for an apology, but I also knew that I wouldn’t get one. I mean, a man like him apologizing to a girl like me. He wasn’t wrong either. This was the easy way out, but it was at this very moment also the only way out. 

“Where to miss?” James asked without looking at me. 

“Saint Clarence hospital please,” I replied and leaned back in the seat. 

This was going to be one long-ass week.

“Hi mom,” I whispered as I sat down by her bed. 

“Hi, my love,” she smiled weakly. 

She had lost weight again. It was easy to see. Her bones were poking out in different places and her cheekbones were more prominent than they were a few weeks ago. 

“How are you feeling?” I asked as I grabbed her hand. 

Her hand was small compared to mine. Not because it actually was smaller, but it was thinner. So thin I was afraid that I’d might actually break it. 

“I’m fine dear, you don’t need to worry so much,” she coughed. 

“I will always worry mom,” I half-smiled. 

“When will you start worrying about yourself then?” she asked slowly. “I see it on your face. You’re tired and worn out. Are you eating properly? Getting enough sleep?”

“Yes, mom. Work is just hard,” I shrugged. 

“Is your boss working you too hard?” 

“No, there is just a lot to do,” I smiled. 

And this time I made sure that it was convincing. The last thing I needed now, was for her to worry about me. She was fragile enough as it was and she already blamed herself for me working so hard. 

“Has your dad tried to contact you again?”

“He has, but I always decline the call.”

“Good, you make sure not to let him lure you into his lies,” she said strictly. 

“I will, I promise.”

Landon’s POV

Work was dull. There was really not much to do considering I had done most of it already. I only waited for James to come back and pick me up, but he couldn’t do that before Kimberly was done with whatever she was doing. 

‘Saint Clarence hospital.' the text I just received from him read. 

I had made sure that James would let me know where they were going. I was determined to figure out what she had been hiding and this, even though it was a louse way, was the only way. 

‘Call me when you are here.’

So, she was at the hospital which meant that her mother would be at the hospital. It didn’t take me long before I had her mother’s entire file in my hand.

“Marissa Reese, 51 years old, stage four metastatic breast cancer,” I read. 

Marissa Reese… That name was familiar somehow. 

“Claire!” I called. 

“Yes, sir?”

“Find out what the survival rate is for stage four metastatic breast cancer,” I said as I kept reading the file. 

“Breast cancer?” she questioned. 

“No questions, just do it please.”

“Of course, sir,” she nodded and walked out. 

“Law school,” she said quickly before looking out the window. 

“Law school?” I repeated. “Isn’t that a little too much considering…” I trailed off.

“Considering that I f**k for a living?” she asked. 

“I wouldn’t have put it like that but yeah,” I said and felt slightly disgusted with how easily I agreed. 

The way she talked about herself annoyed me. 

“I went to law school,” she said taking me by surprise. “Before all of this. You said you wanted it to be believable and easy to remember right?”

“You did?” I asked sounding a bit more shocked than I probably should. 

“I did yeah,” she said and took another sip. 

“Why did you stop?” I asked. 

“Family stuff,” she shrugged. 

Maybe her mother’s condition was why she stopped? Cancer treatment like this would surely be expensive. 

“Sir.”

“Yes,” I answered while closing the file. 

“The five-year survival rate for stage four breast cancer is 22 percent; median survival is three years, sir.”

She said she had worked for Millionaire Match for two years now, so if she began when her mother got sick that would mean…

“Thanks,” I sighed. “You can go home for the evening.”

“Thank you, sir.”

Kimberly’s POV

When we had picked up Landon from his work, we drove home in complete silence. He looked like something bothered him, but I didn’t want to nag. It wasn’t in my place anyway. I was no more than a prostitute who made the choice to sell myself because it was the easy way out. Yeah, that one still lingered in my mind. 

When we got home, I walked straight to my room, not even bothering to say anything. If this was how the week was going to go, I really had to toughen up. His small comments here and there only made it harder for me to actually pretend to even be in love with him.

I was pacing around, trying to decide whether or not I should take a shower or go for a walk when it knocked on my door. 

“Come in,” I said. 

“Do you have a minute?” Landon asked while scratching the back of his head. 

“Yeah,” I answered and sat down. 

I crossed my legs and folded my hands nicely on my thighs as I waited for whatever he had to say. He could call me a w***e or a slut or whatever he wanted but at least he couldn’t say anything about my posture. 

“I wanted to apologize earlier before we arrived at my company, but I never got the chance to,” he began. 

“With all due respect, you had the chance, you just chose not to take it,” I shrugged. “I am not trying to be a brat here or to be disrespectful in any way, but I won’t let you step on me whenever you feel like it just because you feel like you have the right to do so because honestly, you don’t. I don’t care how many cars you have, how many properties you own, or how many figures are in your bank account. I am a human being, Landon. You may not understand why I do what I do, but I have my reasons for it, and I couldn’t even care less about whether or not you’d understand it because I don’t have to explain myself to you. And just so you know it, if you want this to work, like actually want people to believe that we are a couple, I highly suggest that you start being a bit more careful with what is coming out of your mouth,” I said. “I don’t care how much I need the money… If you keep this up don’t even worry about firing me, because I will quit.”

I didn’t mean to speak to him like that but once I started, I simply couldn’t stop. The words just came flooding out my mouth and there was no way to press pause. I looked at him only to find him staring at me with a humored look. 

“And now you think of me as a joke,” I sighed. “Great.”

“No, it’s not that,” he tried to reassure me. “No one ever spoke to me like that before.”

I couldn’t sense if he was mad or not. His voice showed no real emotion just like his face. 

“I’m so fired, aren’t I?” 

“No, you’re not. Actually, if anything this only makes it more believable,” he smiled. 

“Excuse me?”  

“I’m not used to being told on like that. Or for someone to point out when I am being an ass and to be completely honest with you, it is kind of refreshing to finally have someone who speaks their mind. Everyone is usually too scared to tell me to shut up or tell me if I am crossing a line because they think that I could ruin their future…”

“Which you can,” I pointed out. 

“That’s beside the point. Nevertheless, since you are supposed to be my girlfriend, you are also supposed to be the one who gets to do things like this. Put me on the spot, correct me and tell me if I cross a line. I am not used to lines being drawn but if you draw one as you have now, I will do my best to stay behind it,” he explained. “And I know it won’t do much, but I truly am sorry for the way I have been acting the past 24 hours. I saw you as what your job makes you out to be, but I have a feeling that there’s more to you than just that.”

“There’s more to all of us than just that,” I stated. “People just rarely see it because they choose not to. They see us for what we do, not for who we are.” 

“People like me,” he muttered more to himself than to me, but I heard it. 

“That’s just how it is,” I shrugged. “People are quick to judge.” 

“I’m sorry,” he said looking me in the eye. 

“It’s okay,” I said and offered him a smile. 

“It’s really not but thank you.”

I didn’t know what to say after that and the silence was once again making itself present, but this time it was different. It wasn’t strained or awkward. 

“Do you maybe want to watch a movie?” I asked slowly. 

“Sure,” he smiled.