Who Wants to Marry a Billionaire? (8 page)

       Kennedy had
just finished taming her hair, when there was a knock at the door.  Rita went
to answer it and when she opened the door, there was an enormous man standing
in the corridor.  He wore a stylish black suit, a white dress shirt buttoned to
the collar, but no tie.  Nina thought he looked a lot like the actor Daniel
Craig, if Daniel Craig were 6’5” tall and weighed 225.  He looked confused as
he scanned the three women with serious eyes.  “I am Boris, which of you is
Nina?”

       Nina
wanted to burst out laughing. He had a heavy Russian accent and his name was
actually Boris.  She should have let Elsa rename her Natasha!  She stuck up her
hand, “That would be me.” 

       Boris
made a gesture toward the door.  “Please come.  We do not want to be late.”            Kennedy
smoothed down a flyaway hair, and Rita handed Nina her clutch.  “You look
gorgeous sis.  They will love you.”  Nina felt her stomach roll with nerves,
but concentrated on the beautiful lingerie she was wearing.  She straightened
up a bit, and lifted her chin.  She could do this.  “I’ll see you guys tomorrow
and give you the blow by blow.”

       As usual,
the paparazzi had tracked Daniel to the restaurant, and there was a crowd of
photographers lolling on the sidewalk.  As they pulled up, Boris looked in the
rearview mirror at Nina.  “Do not get out of the car until I am at your door,
even if the valet opens it.  Understand?”

Nina nodded in
assent.

       It wasn’t
Boris’ first time at the rodeo, Nina realized.  The paparazzi paid the valet to
open the door and positioned themselves on the sidewalk for the up skirt shot. 
They didn’t even care if it was a celebrity or not, she realized, they just
wanted something salacious.  Boris whipped around the car and blocked their
view as Nina got out of the car, knees together.  He whispered to her, “Look
down so the flashes do not blind you.  Hold on to my arm, and I will make sure
no one touches you. Ready?”

       “Let’s do
it.”

       Boris
split the paparazzi like Moses parting the Red Sea.  All he had to do was glare
at them, and they backed away.  Boris led her to a private dining room toward
the back of the restaurant and gestured for her to go on in.  He positioned
himself outside the door.

       Daniel
and his parents were already seated, and Nina felt a jangle of nerves.  Daniel
stood up to greet her, kissing her on the cheek.  That made Nina flush.  She
got a grip, and smiled at them.  “I’m so sorry, I hope you haven’t been waiting
on me.”

       Dominique
smiled at Nina.   “Not at all, my dear.  We were a bit early.  It’s very nice
to see you again…and without the bother of work!”  Nina could feel herself
relaxing; Dominique seemed to genuinely want to put her at ease.

       Daniel
gestured to his father, “This is my dad, Wilson DeVere.”

       Nina
extended her hand and he shook it warmly.  “It’s a pleasure to meet you Nina.  Daniel
has told us quite a lot about you.  And Dominique has been so impressed with
your work at the foundation.  Thank you for that.”

       Daniel
pulled a chair out for Nina and she sat down.  He stroked the back of her hair,
“You look lovely Nina.”  His voice sounded so sincere, Nina could feel herself
blush.  But she reminded herself that whatever Daniel said or did, it was just
acting, just business. 

       The
dinner progressed nicely, and Nina found Daniel’s parents to really be very
sincere.  The work of the foundation was clearly important to them, and Wilson
held forth on how those who had been blessed with material success needed to
make sure and give back.  They asked Nina’s opinions about some of the
projects, and really listened to her thoughts.  Nina was happy to see that they
didn’t come across as superficial high society in any way, and she started to
understand how they would be dismayed by Daniel’s tabloid fodder antics. 

       After the
meal, they were all having a coffee when Daniel suddenly reached over and
squeezed her hand.  He turned back to his parents. “So Nina and I are going to
leave on a trip in a couple of days.” 

       Dominique
raised her eyebrows, “I hope not to Cannes.”     

       Daniel
tried not to flinch at the oblique reference to the
incident
.  He turned
to gaze at Nina lovingly, “No, Nina has always wanted to go to India.”

       Nina
blinked at Daniel, shocked, as she had told him no such thing. And then she
blurted, “Mr. DeVere!”

       Daniel’s
parents looked at her oddly, and Daniel went into scramble mode to cover for
her blunder.  “Yes, Ms. Alves?” he said in a teasing voice.  He glanced over to
his parents, “It’s a little pet name…thing…we do.”  He tried to look bland as
he kicked Nina under the table.

       Nina
forced herself to laugh, but her voice was edged with more than a little
hysteria.  “Oh yes, pet names, hahaha.”  Dominique scrutinized the two of them
for a moment, her mouth tightening in suspicion.  Wilson seemed oblivious, but Nina
could tell Dominique’s womanly intuition had alarm bells going off.  

       Daniel checked
his Rolex, “Oh Nina, look at the time, we should get you home so you can start
packing bright and early for our
trip to India.” 
Nina looked like a
deer in headlights as she nodded her head up and down a little too vigorously. 
Daniel pulled her chair back, and it was all she could do to not run screaming
from the room.  She said a silent prayer that Daniel wouldn’t tell Elsa that
she’d almost blown it.

       Getting a
grip on herself, Nina nodded politely at the DeVeres as she stood.  “Thank you
so much for the lovely evening, it was such a pleasure getting to know you.
Daniel…”
she over articulated his first name, “has been so kind and now I know that
he takes after his parents.”   Nina thought she did a credible job of exiting
on a more normal note, but she could tell by the tightness of Daniel’s grasp on
her hand that he wasn’t pleased.

       As soon
as the door to the private dining room closed, Daniel dragged Nina by the hand
across the restaurant to a corner to face off.  “Mr. DeVere?  Are you insane?  Do
you have a brain underneath all that hair?”

       Nina got
defensive and her tone was sassy, “Do you think you could have warned me about
India?”

      
“What’s
wrong with India?  Elephants, Taj Mahal, emeralds the size of…duck eggs?  It’s
very romantic!”

       “Poverty,
parasites, too much…curry.  It’s not a Bollywood movie Daniel!  It’s poor taste
to flaunt your wealth in a developing country.”  She paused, “Besides, I
thought I got to pick where we were going.”

       Their
argument was interrupted by the sound of someone clearing their throat.  It was
Boris.  “Boss,” he said dryly, “the paparazzi scum are taking pictures through
the window of you two fighting.  Do you think you could cool it until we get in
the car?”

       Daniel
looked like he wanted to explode.  “Oooo.  We are going to India, and you’re
going to have fun.  No more arguments Nina.  Now put on a smile and get ready
for the photographers.”

       Nina
stared at Daniel and answered without any humor, “Yes, of course,
Mister
DeVere.”

Chapter Thirteen

       Traveling
by Lear jet was, Nina acknowledged, a ridiculously comfortable way to fly. She
and Daniel had come to a truce as having witnesses made it uncomfortable to
fight.  Daniel insisted that Boris and Kennedy accompany them, and Nina was
sure it was some kind of safety net beyond just having a bodyguard and a
stylist.  Boris magically produced passports and visas for everyone in 48
hours, and then they took off.  In flight, Daniel kept the champagne going and
everyone tried to enjoy the time as they stuffed themselves with gourmet food.

       A couple
of bottles into the champagne, Daniel waved his glass in the air at Nina. 
“You’re enjoying this, right?  The canapés and the lamb chops and the smoked
herring salad?  Admit it Nina, this is fun, right?”  He hiccupped.  “You want
some chocolate mousse?”

       “It
is
fun, but it’s not how most people live.  You have to be aware of that.”

       “You
don’t think I care about people?”  Daniel splashed some more champagne in his
glass. 

       “I didn’t
say that you don’t care, I just think you’ve been living inside the palace
walls too long.  You need a taste of reality along with the beluga caviar.” 

       “Okay,
I’ll make a deal with you.  We’ll take in a few sights all together, then I get
to plan one day and you have to do whatever I want to do the way I want to do
it.  Then the next day, I’ll do whatever you want me to do.  How’s that?” 

       Nina
smiled to herself, she knew exactly what she wanted Daniel to do.  “Okay, it’s
a deal.” 

       They
agreed to start in Varanasi, the oldest city in India, and one of the oldest in
the entire world.  It was a messy, colorful and sacred city filled with amazing
and exotic sights and sounds.  At first, Boris was losing his mind, trying to
shelter the other three as they threaded their way through the narrow lanes of
the old city on their way to the ghats, the steps leading down to the Ganges
River.  But then he relaxed when he realized that despite the numbers of people
opening their stalls in the market, or heading to the ghats, most everyone
seemed pleasant and peaceful. 

       Somehow,
they had managed to drag Daniel from his bed for the 5:30am Varanasi tradition. 
At the bottom of the ghats, small wooden boats piloted by an oarsman awaited to
take pilgrims and tourists out onto the ancient and holy river to watch the
sunrise light up the city.  There was something about this ancient tradition
that made the group speak in hushed voices, and Nina and Kennedy had purchased
little floating votives of candles and fresh flowers that everyone who went out
on the boats released on the river.  They climbed aboard, and the oarsman
pulled them into the center of the river.  It was still dark, and little
floating candles lit up the water everywhere.

       Nina
handed one of the votives to Daniel and gestured to him to set it on the
water.  He looked at her, confused.  “Why am I doing this?”

       “You’re
paying your respect to the mighty Ganges and to Shiva, the god of
transformation who founded Varanasi thousands of years ago.  She smiled.  “Even
if you don’t exactly believe it, it’s still a way of showing respect to the
culture here.”

       Daniel
leaned over the edge of the boat, and set his little floating votive on the
water, and sat staring as it drifted away to join the dozens of others
ostensibly making their way to Bay of Bengal.  After a few minutes, he turned
back to Nina, “It’s beautiful.  So simple, but beautiful.”  And Nina heard even
Boris whisper,
krassivy, ‘
beautiful’ in Russian.

       As the
sun started to rise, the reds and pinks and yellows of the ancient stucco and
brick buildings along the shore began to light up.  Their boatman lazily turned
the boat and started to float with the current in the opposite direction.  They
could see people coming down the steps of the ghats for ritual bathing, and in
the distance there was the sound of chanting and cymbals. On a rooftop, a small
group of yogis were doing sun salutations. Then Nina realized they were heading
toward the burning ghats, the place where people had been cremated for
thousands of years.  “What’s going on there?”  Daniel pointed. 

       Nina
remembered a lesson from her world religions class back at college.  “Dying in
Varanasi is the biggest possible blessing for a Hindu—kind of a one way ticket
to eternal liberation.  Those are the burning ghats.  The fires have been
burning continuously for thousands of years, and people have their loved ones
cremated there.”

       The group
grew silent as the boat approached; a yellow shrouded body was being carried
down the steps.  It was draped with garlands of marigolds, and placed on a
platform made of stacked firewood. There were prayers and then a torch was used
to light the pyre from another fire already burning.  The boatman turned once
again and they headed back to the little dock where they started.

       As they
got out, Kennedy held on to Nina’s arm, “Wow, that was like the most amazing
hour ever.  Kind of puts life in perspective, doesn’t it?”  Nina nodded in
agreement.  “Reading about it is nothing like actually seeing the cycles of
life in such an ancient place.”  But Daniel said nothing.

       After
some breakfast at their hotel, they decided to go visit the old market.  It was
lively and festive, a refreshing change to the somber beauty of their morning. 
There were flowers and spices and beautiful copper work; suddenly a marching
band came through for unknown reasons, and a holy man in an orange dhoti
carrying Shiva’s trident blessed them.  They would get lost, and then find
themselves again. Then Nina heard Kennedy, oo and ah, and she turned to see the
stylist disappearing into a stall of beautiful Benares silk.  Daniel grabbed
Nina by the hand, and smiled, “Come’on, it’s silk!” 

       It was a
riot of color and patterns, with every shade of the rainbow, and many threaded
with gold or silver.  The shop owner pulled out bolts from the shelves on the
wall to show them the possibility of choices.  It was magnificently
overwhelming.  After some time of looking, Daniel gave Nina a little push
toward the door, “Okay, I’m hungry, let’s go find one of those yummy looking fresh
fruit stalls.”  Nina thought that sounded like a good idea, and she liked that
they were relating like friends just out seeing the sights, but before they
left the little shop, she caught Daniel whispering in Kennedy’s ear, and
motioning to Boris to stay with Kennedy, before calling to them,  “We’ll meet
you guys back at the hotel.”