Billionaires, Bad Boys, and Alpha Males (72 page)

But she had no
choice.
 
She couldn’t just run away
from this.

She entered her
apartment and smiled.

Everyone stared
at her.

Danielle, her
mother and father.
 
None of them
smiled back.
 
And that’s when her
stomach sank.

“Nicole,” her
mother said, “we need to talk to you.”

“Can I at least
get a hug?” Nicole asked, holding out her arms.
 
Her mother and father each hugged her,
but she could tell they were troubled.
 
Upset with her.

She glanced at
Danielle, and her roommate looked away.
 
She had something to do with this—that much was clear.

“To what do I
owe this unexpected pleasure?” Nicole said, grinning to hide her rising anger.

“We’re
concerned about you,” her father said.
 
He was dressed, as always, in tight blue jeans and a blue linen work
shirt with the sleeves rolled up.
 
He was a blue-collar guy who was the head mechanic at Jolson’s Auto Repair
on Route 32.
 

Her mother was
an administrative assistant at an office supplies store in Fulton.
 
She always wore her heart on her sleeve,
and tonight was no different.
 
The
tightness in her lips and jaw were the telltale signs that she was incredibly distraught.

“What are you
guys concerned about?” Nicole said.
 
“I don’t know what you’ve heard exactly,” she remarked, glancing at
Danielle for emphasis, “but I’m doing fine.
 
Great, actually.”

“Sleeping with
your boss isn’t doing fine,” her mother said archly.

Her father
grunted his agreement.

“Who said I was
sleeping with my boss?”

Danielle
sighed.
 
“Look, Nicole, I’m sorry I
called your parents.
 
But I didn’t
know what else to do.
 
You’ve been
sneaking around, lying to me—“

Nicole
laughed.
 
“I wonder why.”

“The point is,”
Nicole’s mother interrupted, “you’re being taken advantage of by a predatory
person.
 
You’re a very young girl,
just out of college—“

“I’m twenty-two
and old enough to make my own decisions.”

Her father put
his hands out.
 
“Now everyone just
calm down a little.”
 
As usual,
nobody listened to his pleas for calm.

“You might be
twenty-two, but we’re still paying for your apartment,” her mother shot back.

Nicole pursed
her lips.
 
She’d known that she
would regret accepting their help with rent.
 
She’d tried to turn them down before
moving here, but inside she’d known that getting started in the city would be
too difficult without some financial assistance in the beginning.

“Now listen,
Nicky,” her father said, walking toward her.
 
“We’re not mad at you.
 
It’s this James character I want a word
with.”

Oh my god.
 
James character.

“His name is
Red Jameson,” she said.
 
“You might
want to at least know his name before you tar and feather him.”

Her mother
shook her head.
 
“Nobody said
anything about tarring and feathering.”

“People meet
people through work,” Nicole said.
 
“It happens all of the time.”

“Not like
this,” her mother said.

“How would you
know?” she asked, her anger boiling over.
 
“Through all your exciting years at the office supplies store?
 
Working with the twelve different
employees?”

Her mother’s
eyes flashed.
 
“Do not speak to me
that way.
 
I am your mother.”

“You have no
right to barge into my apartment—“

“That we pay
for—“

“—And
tell me how to live my life.
 
You
never even bothered to ask me what was going on.
 
You just listened to my obnoxious
roommate.”

“Screw you,”
Danielle said, and stormed into her bedroom, slamming the door.

Everyone fell
silent for a bit.

Nicole took a
breath.
 
“I know you’re worried for
me, but I swear I’m fine.”

Her mother was
still furious.
 
“Do you truly think
this man is going to commit to you?
 
He’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
 
I’ve read about him.
 
Article
after article reports him with a different young female celebrity on his arm.”

“Half of that
stuff is made up,” she muttered.

“And you
believe you’re different than the other girls?”
 
Her mother laughed humorlessly.
 
“You’ll be used up and tossed aside like
the rest, when he’s grown tired of you.
 
And then you’ll likely be let go from your job, and your reputation will
be ruined.”

“You’ve got it
all figured out,” Nicole said, already exhausted.
 
Her mother was notoriously tireless when
it came to these things.
 
She would
never cede any ground.

Her dad, always
the peacekeeper, stepped in.
 
“We
just want you to reconsider this affair.”

“I love him.”

Her parents
exchanged a particularly worried look.
 

“I know you
think that you love him,” her father started.

“But you’re too
young and inexperienced to even begin to know what the word means,” her mother
finished.

“I’m not going
to stop seeing him,” Nicole said.

“Then you’ll
continue this insanity on your own dime,” her mother replied.
 
Her lips were white.
 
“And I mean it.
 
I’ve already taken everything out of the
checking account.”

“I have my own
money in there, too!” Nicole said.
 
A lot of it, in fact.
 
Well
over two thousand dollars she’d saved throughout college.

Her mother
shrugged.
 
“Be that as it
may—“

Nicole’s voice
raised another notch.
 
“What does
that mean?
 
You think stealing from
your daughter is a good example of business ethics?”

“Don’t be
silly.”

“Fine.
 
Do what you want,” Nicole told her.
 
“But I’m not changing my mind. And I’d
like you both to leave now.
 
Please.”

“Nicky,” her
dad said, his voice horribly sad.

“No, dad.
 
I’m tired.
 
I don’t want to talk anymore.”

They didn’t hug
goodbye.
 
Her mother left
first.
 
Her father came back and
grabbed Nicole’s hand lightly.
 
“We
just want what’s best for you,” he said.
 
“Don’t be so hard on her.”

“She thinks she
can just steamroll me.”

“I know she’s
not always delicate, but she loves you.”

“I know that.”

He smiled and
left.

***

The next
morning she awoke before her alarm was set to go off.
 
She’d been tired enough last night to
fall almost immediately asleep, despite the whole drama with her mom and dad.
 

But now, bleary
eyed and semi-conscious, her stomach was in knots.
 
The fact was, she couldn’t afford to
live in this apartment without their assistance.
 
Assistance?
 
They were paying her entire rent.
 

It was only a
few months after graduation and they’d told her she had somewhere around eight
to twelve months grace period before she would be expected to pay her own way
completely.

But that was
gone, now.
 
Unless she tucked her
tail between her legs and promised to end things with Red, which wasn’t going
to happen.

Of course, if
she couldn’t stay in the city anyway, Nicole supposed she’d have to break
things off with him.
 
Where would
she go?
 

Perhaps to stay
with her good friend Eliza, who had a place outside of Ithaca where Nicole
could crash for awhile.
 

She texted Red
before even getting out from under the covers.

We need to talk ASAP.

Surprisingly he
responded almost immediately.

Meet me in thirty minutes at Norma’s at Le Parker
Meridien, West 57
^th
. I’ll pay for your cab fare.

Nicole had
heard of Norma’s, a swanky upscale breakfast spot that was supposed to have the
best pancakes in the universe.

She sent Red a
response in the affirmative, got out of bed and hopped in the shower.

Twenty minutes
later, they were sitting down at one of the small two person tables in Norma’s
fancy breakfast nook.
 
The entire
restaurant was located in the lobby of the Parker Meridien Hotel.
 
Everyone was very chic, and there were a
lot of rich tourists.
 
Foreigners
with their kids all dressed up like they’d just stepped out of a Carter’s
catalog.

Red looked fabulous and impeccable, as
always.
 
He was wearing a
silvery-gray suit, with a dark purple and black striped tie.
 
His hair was rich and full, his eyes
handsome and dark, and he sported a sexy five-o’clock shadow without looking
tired.

Nicole had thrown on a black Polo
waist-belt dress and silver colored high heels.
 
Her hair was draped over one shoulder
and she’d taken her Prada purse along, considering where they were eating.

“So, what did you need to talk to me
about?” Red asked, after they’d ordered coffee from their flamboyant waiter.

Nicole sighed.
 
“I told you, you shouldn’t have gone to
my apartment.”

His expression grew concerned.
 
“What did she do?”

“Called my parents, freaked them out
about you.”

He laughed at this.
 
“Who am I, Saddam Hussein?”

“My parents aren’t sophisticated,” she
said, as the waiter brought over two mugs of dark coffee and the pot with
them.
 

Red glanced at him.
 
“Thanks very much,” he muttered,
distracted.
 
He held the cream
toward her.
 
“Would you like some?”

“Yes, just a splash, thanks.”

He poured cream into her mug, which she
found endearing, then just about the same amount in his own.
 
“So your parents are worried.
 
It happens.”

“It’s not that simple,” she said, a
little frustrated that he didn’t seem to get how serious this really was.
 
But then again, why would he?
 
Red Jameson was a billionaire who was
far removed from needing his parents to help him make rent every month.

“So explain to me what the problem
is.
 
Nicole.
 
Look at me.”

She met his gaze, and he reassured her
with a kind look.
 
His large hand reached
out and covered hers.
 

“I’m an intern in New York City,” she
said.
 
“Think about it.”

She saw his expression change as he
realized what she meant.
 
“They’re
threatening you?”

“They’re not just threatening.
 
My mother follows through on her threats.
 
She’s already taken every dime out of my
checking account, some of which wasn’t hers to take.”

“She can do that?”

“It’s a joint account,” Nicole said,
ashamed to even say it.
 
She felt
like such a child.
 

“Then you have absolutely no money left.”

She sipped the coffee.
 
It really was the best coffee she’d ever
tasted, though she could barely appreciate it under the circumstances.
 
“I have some cash that I keep under my
mattress for emergencies.”

“And how long will that last?”

“Maybe five or six days if I stretch
every penny.
 
I’m finished in New
York unless I stop seeing you.”

Red’s expression darkened.
 
“That’s ridiculous.
 
What do they even know about me?
 
They’ve never met me.”