Misjudging the Billionaire

“A guy like you doesn’t have a chauffer just to go to and from work,” she pointed out.

“You wouldn’t know anything about a guy like me because you’ve built a wall around yourself and won’t let me in,” he remarked.

“I know all I need to know,” she said with a heavy sigh. “Men like you are all the same. ‘Oh, look at me, I throw lots of money around and drive fancy cars,’” she mocked. “It’s all you people care about. You don’t know what it’s like to barely scrape by. To live paycheck to paycheck. If you ask me, you people are borderline sociopaths… no offense.”

“Ouch,” he grimaced with his hands covering his heart playfully. “Are you always this judgmental?” he smiled.

“I’ve seen enough of you guys to form a pretty good opinion of what you’re all like,” she said callously.

“A shame, because I haven’t judged you. Not in the least,” he replied.

“I don’t care if you judge me or not, but that doesn’t stop you people from doing it. You come into my restaurant, have me serve you, flaunt your money like you’re better than me, and barely make eye contact because I’m so beneath you. Well, guess what? You’re not.” She could feel herself getting heated and tried to calm herself before she got too worked up over this man who’d forced himself into her otherwise quiet life. Glancing around the neighborhood, she noticed they’d attracted a few onlookers. Two delinquents stood a short distance down the street gawking at the well-dressed man standing by his impressive limousine, and she could see faces peeking out several windows as well. It wasn’t often that a chauffeured vehicle rolled into this area with a man of vast wealth seated in the back. Aside from two days earlier, she doubted it had ever happened.

“So, let me get this straight. It’s wrong of these people to judge you, but it’s okay for you to judge them? And note that I’m saying ‘them’ because I don’t lump myself in with those dicks,” he argued. “Also, I’m pretty sure I made plenty of eye contact with you. Yeah, maybe I left you a bit too much money, but I wasn’t doing it to flaunt it, okay? I guess for some reason I thought it would ease the embarrassment I caused myself. Which, by the way, it definitely didn’t.”

“I only judge the people who judge me first,” she contended. The second part of his defense she couldn’t argue with, however. He had been respectful towards her, and the money he left didn’t seem purposefully ostentatious. He also left out how he likely saved her from some form of assault, proving his humility, and that omission wasn’t lost on her. Perhaps he wasn’t such a bad guy and she had been too quick to lump him in with the snobs she had grown so accustomed to.

“You should be a lawyer,” he joked, flashing his perfect smile. She couldn’t help but giggle, and within seconds they were both laughing heartily.

“Okay, maybe you’re right,” she grinned back at him, finally letting her guard down slightly. “I’ll give you one dinner to prove whether you are or not. One dinner!” she ra

ised her index finger up to his face with a pretend scowl.

“Yes, ma’am!” he accepted with his face beaming in excitement. “When are you free? I don’t want to wait.”

“I have to work the morning shift tomorrow but I’ll be free in the evening,” she said as Burley, who had grown tired of vying for Devon’s attention, planted his butt on the sidewalk with a defeated grunt.

“How does six work?” he asked, still glowing ecstatically.

“Perfect,” Eva replied. Devon’s smile was infectious and she found herself grinning back at him.

“I’ll see you then,” he said as he knelt down to pet Burley goodbye. “And it was nice meeting you, good sir. I hope we get to meet again.” In an instant, Burley was revved up and running half circles around the man once more as Devon playfully growled and batted at him.

“Okay, okay,” Eva intervened with a laugh as she yanked on the leash, struggling to pull Burley away from his new billionaire buddy. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said as she headed back into her apartment house with Burley looking over his shoulder, still panting in canine excitement. She flashed a polite wave to Devon before shutting the battered front door, and he returned it with a bigger one while climbing back into the waiting limousine.

One date, Eva thought to herself as she leaned with her back against the door, wondering what she had just gotten herself into as Burley sniffed at her feet, aching to head back outside and play with his friend. One date, and then I never have to see him again. Two days ago she’d resolved to never see the man again, but that hadn’t worked out so well. This time she committed herself to sticking to her word.

Or so she hoped.

Chapter Four

She made a point to be on time the following morning, arriving to work with a smile on her face and pulling Mr. Jameson aside to thank him for offering her job back. Even though she knew his arm had been forced, she was still grateful to have a source of income again. He reciprocated, welcoming her back and sounding so ridiculously phony in the process that she couldn’t help but wonder how much money Devon Cross had thrown at the curmudgeon.

The evening’s impending date weighing heavily on her mind made her shift a grueling one, with the day dragging on as if no end were in sight. When the clock finally struck 2:00 pm, she punched out and shot Mr. Jameson another fake smile, nodding her head politely as she shoved her way out the door to catch the bus back to her lackluster hovel.

Burley enthusiastically greeted her as always, but she was too rushed to relay the details of her day or humorously ask about his. The reality of going on a date with some handsome entrepreneur had set in on the bus ride him, and she was in a full-blown panic. She’d been just fine the night before, with the entire situation seeming so surreal that it didn’t really phase her. She’d phoned Destiny to give her a play-by-play of what had happened, and her friend had unsurprisingly been thrilled at the prospect of Eva dating somebody with influence. Now, with only three hours until the date, she found herself wracked with nerves and second thoughts. She desperately wanted to cancel but realized she didn’t even have the man’s number. When he’d dialed her the day before, her phone had displayed the call as unknown, and to make matters worse he’d never told her the name of his real estate firm. She wasn’t about to search the internet for variations of “rich Devon Cross,” nor did she dare call Mr. Jameson in hopes he knew more about the man. No, she was in too deep now, and frantically began tearing through her closet for something appropriate to wear while Burley watched with his head angled in curiosity.

She settled on a black evening gown she hadn’t worn since high school and hoped it would be formal enough for wherever they were going. He’d given no clue as to where he was taking her, but she imagined it would be somewhere exquisite. She carefully selected a pair of while gold hoop earrings with diamonds set into them that her grandmother had given her for her sixteenth birthday. With her dress cut low enough to show a hint of cleavage, she felt her neckline would look too naked without a necklace and rummaged through her jewelry box in hopes of finding something that would match the elegant earrings. It had been years since she’d bought herself any new jewelry, but after some digging she landed on an old sterling silver chain that wasn’t perfect but would have to suffice. Under scrutiny it would be obvious that the pieces didn’t come from the same set, but at a glance she didn’t think anybody would notice.

In the shower she debated implementing her tried-and-true method of leaving her legs unshaven to stop things from getting too hot and heavy should the date go well. Being single and having a job that required her to wear dress slacks on a daily basis, she’d begun shaving her legs only twice a week and they were particularly stubbly today. She chastised herself for having such a silly thought when a day earlier she’d promised herself she wouldn’t see the man again after this date, and she certainly wasn’t the type to jump in the sack with a man after only one night. She shaved herself silky smooth, even touching up her thin line of pubic hair, before leaning her back against the wall of the shower in hopes the warm water would help calm her anxiety. It didn’t, but reminding herself that she was in control of her future did mange to settle her nerves. She could make a total ass out of herself and it wouldn’t matter since it would likely be the last she ever saw of the man. With this thought she stepped out of the shower with a newfound confidence and flashed a “you got this, girl” look at herself in the mirror.

Toweling off, she let her hair air dry as she applied the same gold shadow across her eyelids that she had been wearing when she first met Devon Cross only three days earlier. If he liked it then, he should like it now, she thought and immediately scolded herself for caring about with this man thought of her. For the second time this afternoon she’d caught herself thinking too far ahead and reminded herself that this would probably be the last she saw of him. Still, she knew they’d presumably be going somewhere fancy and she wanted to look her best. Even if she never saw this man again, she hadn’t gone out in months and wanted to look presentable. She refocused her efforts, paying painstaking attention to every detail as she finished applying her make-up. With plenty of time to spare, she headed into her small living room where she flipped on the television and plopped down on the sofa. She meticulously painted her finger and toenails the same dark red as her lipstick while paying Dr. Phil only half of her attention. As her nails dried, she reached for the remote and changed the channel carefully as not to mar the tacky paint.

“Fuck that quack,” she commented to Burley as she searched for something a bit more appealing. She tried to focus on a celebrity cooking show but her mind couldn’t stop drifting to thoughts of Devon Cross. There was something different about the guy, of that she was certain, but she couldn’t place her finger on what. I’ll find out soon enough, she said to herself while glancing at the clock for umpteenth time. The minutes dragged on until 5:30 finally hit, and with a half an hour until her date she headed to her bedroom to slip into the black evening gown she’d laid out on her bed. Using a piece of tape as a makeshift lint roller, she patted at the dress to remove all trace of Burley’s hair before sliding her feet into the black stilettos she’d picked out. She did a quick twirl in front of the full-length mirror mounted to the back of her door, then hit the bathroom to brush her hair and apply a few slight touch-ups to her make-up. She looked good, and as she admired herself she realized just how much she’d missed going out. It had been far too long, and she hoped she looked decent enough for whatever five-star restaurant he’d be taking her to.

She lingered by her front window, casting glances down to the street below while waiting for the familiar black limousine to cruise up the street. Instead, a black town car pulled up alongside her building two minutes before six and she watched Devon Cross, dressed to the nines as usual, step out of the back and glide up the front steps with a spring in his step. Showtime, Eva said to herself as she watched him disappear into her building. A few seconds later came the knock on her door, a

nd Burley’s ears perked up at the sound. Trying not to appear too eager, she paused for a moment and took a deep breath before unlocking knob, chain, and deadbolt. She opened the door as nonchalantly as possible and greeted Devon with a small smile.