Her Blazing Billionaire

Chapter 1: Becca

It was Friday, the start of the weekend, and I was pretty excited. My band was playing at a gig on Sunday, and I was really looking forward to it. I had told almost everyone at work and including Bridget. Performing with my bandmates over the weekend was one of my favorite things to do. The stage was where I truly felt alive, where I could let go of all my inhibitions and be myself. When I first joined the band, it was hard balancing work and band practice but when it worked out, it was great. I was able to experience so many new things. I met so many interesting people and the crowd always loved me. Bridget's voice pulled me out of my thoughts.

"So, what time is your band performing?" Bridget took a sip of her freshly squeezed orange juice. We were at the office cafeteria at lunchtime, but my tuna sandwich lay untouched while I chatted away about my band's next performance.

"It's seven p.m. on Sunday." I gestured towards the flier I had given her.

"I'll be there," Bridget said, taking the last bite of her burger. "Right now, I have to get back to work."

"Yeah, me too."

"Alright, see you upstairs." Bridget left, taking a copy of the flier with a smile. I waved as she left, looking at my watch. I needed to hurry up if I was going to catch up on work.

I took a big bite out of my sandwich just as my phone rang. I almost choked when I saw the caller ID. My boss. The executive assistant. I chewed as quickly as I could.

"Hello, good afternoon?"

"Becca, good afternoon. How are you?"

"I'm good, thank you." I was nervous. Evelyn only called when something was up. I did a mental check of all the things I was supposed to have done over the past few months to make sure there was nothing left undone.

"How's work?"

"Work is fine, thank you." I was confused and nervous at the small talk. Evelyn was the type to go straight to business.

"Okay, straight to business," The return of her straightforward personality set me at ease. "The company and I have been happy with your work recently. You have been doing really well."

This was a pleasant surprise. I had been expecting the worst and this happened. "Thank you.” I finally said after a long silence.

“You’re welcome,” Evelyn said. "Now listen, the company has a new assignment if you're willing."

"What kind of assignments?"

"Well, you'll have to accompany the CEO to a negotiation meeting in London. "

"Umm…"

"It's okay, you don't have to give me your answer now. You should know though, if you agree, you'll be flying to London on Sunday. You'll have to spend a few days in London while the negotiations are being undertaken. The details of the meeting will be on your desk when you get back from lunch. Go through them and tell me what you think."

"I’ll think about it."

I wanted to squeal. What just happened? Did I just get a promotion? I couldn't stop smiling. I'd be working directly with the CEO of a multi-multi-billion-dollar company. It was a really great opportunity. Not only would I be able to travel to London, I'd also get experience in seeing what it takes to run a company. My life was starting to look up. I wanted nothing more than to dance right in the middle of the lunchroom. I hurriedly finished lunch so I could go through the details that were waiting on my desk.

I turned to pick up my sandwich and the flyers caught my eye. In my excitement. I’d totally forgotten about my performance on Sunday.

"Shit." What was I going to do? I was happy about the new excitement but accepting it would mean that I wouldn’t be able to play on Sunday.

The trip to London was too big of an opportunity to reject. I picked up the rest of my sandwich and rushed upstairs to my station. The document was there as promised. After going through it, I was even more intrigued. I wanted to go and that was what I told Evelyn. She immediately gave me a plane ticket and told me to be ready on time.

Then  I called my bandmate. Cynthia was my closest friend in the band , and I told her about the whole situation and waited for her to respond.

"Oh…" she said, followed by a long silence. "I understand," she finally said. "I'll call Julie and give her the update." Julie was my replacement who sometimes covered for me when I couldn't perform.

"Thank you, Cyn."

"So, you're going to be meeting the big boss and touring London."

I smiled. "Don't start with me Cyn. You know it's not as glamorous as you're making it out to be. I hear he can be grumpy."

"Says the woman who'll be flying in a private jet.  Alright, alright. You know I'm just teasing. Let me leave you to your work then."

"Bye."

"Bye."

I sighed in relief. "London, here I come."