Confessions Of A Billionaire 1 (3 page)

Madison felt like she was running out of air so she closed the window then turned off the computer. She sat back staring at a black screen when Shirley, one of her “golden agers” walked in.

“Willow tells me you’re going on one more date with your Internet guy just to make sure,” Shirley smiled.

It took a moment for Madison to remember what she’d been talking about with Willow. That the conversation had only been fifteen minutes ago seemed ridiculous.

Shirley was a gossip who loved to hear the details of young unattached life and Madison had no qualms in humoring her. When they first met, Shirley tried to set Madison up with her son, a man almost twenty years her senior, but Madison had gracefully declined. She couldn’t think of an easier way to lose a client.

“She did, did she?” Madison gave a mock angry look. “It’s true, I’m seeing the podiatrist again tonight.”

Madison stood up and began to walk Shirley over to the mats where they began each session with a series of Pilates movements designed to help Shirley’s hip replacement.

“So why
don’t
you like him?”

“That’s a good question,” Madison smiled. “Maybe I do after all.”

Chapter 4

“Are you kidding, I did you a huge favor, you should be paying me for this,” Émeric said. He was watching his brother’s disgruntled face as he clicked through his new profile.

“I can’t pretend to be somebody completely different. I can’t lie that well.”

“Sure you can, everything gets better with practice,” his brother was making a joke but Connor couldn’t smile. “Come on, that’s what you wanted!”

“What I wanted,” Connor responded, “was to not tell anyone exactly who I was, not to outright lie to them. I’d have to memorize the new details of my life to go on a date.”

“I think I know more about dating then you do,” Émeric was satisfied with his answer. “This will be good for you…you don’t have to find
the
one
right away, consider this practice.”

Connor had to look away from the screen; the sight of himself was beginning to get to him. Not only had Émeric put down false information about him, like his alma mater, his yearly income—which Connor thought was a balls question anyway—what neighborhood he lived in, and of course his occupation, but he’d also used the most ridiculous photos of Connor, the really horrible ones where Connor looked like a prig. If there were three photos in all his life that made Connor look like a womanizing, wise-ass, these were them.

“It’s already done, you can edit if you want but your first date is on Friday and she might get suspicious if you change things now.”

Connor had to stand up to keep from snapping at his brother.

“I’m doing this for your own good. It’s exactly what you said you wanted to do and I knew you wouldn’t do it for yourself…Everyone deserves some love in this world,” Émeric patted Connor’s shoulder.

Connor looked over at his brother. It was hard to stay mad at Émeric.

“It’s ok, I’m not mad—but I’m not going on a date.” Connor had his serious face on and his brother put his on too, though it wasn’t very convincing on him. Émeric always seemed on the verge of laughing.

“
One
date, one girl, that’s all I ask… She’s
cute,
I found her for
you
… You only have to see her once, if you don’t like her—adios.”

~

Connor had forgotten how spectacularly terrible dating could be. His brother had set him up on a dinner and cocktails sort of thing. Unfortunately, Connor had known within two and half minutes that Barbara was not a match for him. She was cute-ish, but he probably would have known it wouldn’t work before going on the date if his brother hadn’t pushed things along so fast.

Barbara was obviously a feisty girl in her real-world life. She talked with a complete “screw you,” attitude that Connor was afraid she would turn on him at the dinner table. It wasn’t until half way through dinner that he realized that the attitude was all part of her flirting. He’d been nervous about lying but he’d barely had to say anything at all. He’d asked questions and Barbara carried the conversation all night.

After a dinner of mixed signals, false starts, and way too much conversation, he was exhausted and the exhaustion seemed to creep into the next morning as well. Or maybe that was just the prospect of seeing his father.

He was meeting his family for an “all hands on deck” family brunch this morning. He did want to spend time with his family; it’s just that things could turn bad so easily.

His parents sprawling country house, only an hour outside of DC, sat on 20 acres of the most expensive land in the country. His father had a taste for old-world charm that separated the men after dinner for cigars and drinks, gave his mother her own sitting room, and required the upkeep and help of fifteen employees year round.

His mother was the first to come down. Then his father’s mother, Clara, arrived. Then Émeric arrived and finally his father, Simon Brooks made his way down. No doubt an important business call had kept him.

The family moved out and settled in around the large table that had been moved out on the East lawn, and then covered by large umbrellas so the direct sunlight wouldn’t be too much for anyone.

“How was your trip sweetheart?” his mother asked Émeric as they all sat down. The family immediately fell into discussions about wine making. It was a favored topic and a family function never went by without some discussion of the family legacy.

“How did your date go?” Émeric asked Connor. Not only had everyone been in the middle of a conversation on soil and fertilizer but the question had been asked loudly from across the table. Everyone stopped eating and looked at Connor.

“Are you going out with that lawyer? What’s her name…Rita?” Simon turned his attention on Connor, something that never turned out well.

“No, I am not.”

“Why not? She would be a great fit for you. Nice legs, she comes from a family with power and prestige, well educated, beautiful, how could you go wrong?”

Connor remained silent until he realized his father actually expected him to respond to his ridiculous question.

“I don’t like her. I don’t have anything in common with her, she’s very dull to talk to, and I found her voice to get under my skin,” Connor said with a casual disinterest.

His father scrunched his brow.

“Plus,” Connor said. “I really don’t like her perfume, it gave me a terrible headache.”

“Perfume can be changed,” Simon gave his son a knowing look and Connor could practically feel his mother rolling her eyes. She always took things with grace and good humor. Connor didn’t know how she did it.

“Yes, well my mind can’t be.”

The table went silent.

“So who
was
your date with?” his grandmother asked.

Connor looked to his brother.

“It was an online date. Barbara is a flutist for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, loves chocolate, and is a Sagittarius,” Émeric said.

“Sounds like you should’ve gone out with her,” his father said. Everyone at the table ignored this.

“Terrible choice,” Connor said loudly.

“I’d say so,” his father commented under his breath.

“Well,
I’ve
met someone,” Émeric said bringing everyone to a stand still again.

Simon cut in, “Not in front of your grandmother.” His voice was sharp and definitive.

Émeric stared at his father and Connor could feel a collective intake of breath. Émeric’s eyes flicked from his father to his mother then he refocused on the food in front of him. The energy around the table had turned and a tension was now the pervading feeling.

Connor looked at his father. Simon had had plenty of time to come to terms with his youngest sons sexuality. This family bullying his father was doing couldn’t continue much longer.

Chapter 5

“Long before it was over I knew I really didn’t like him, so when I got home I sent him a really nice email letting him down easy.”

“Oh, my dear misguided friend,” Ana sighed. “I told you not to go out with that guy again.”

Ana was on the phone cooking a late lunch at the same time Madison was cooking an early dinner. Hearing the homogeneous tones of pans clattering made Madison feel like they were in the kitchen cooking together and she was smiling a genuine smile for the first time in days.

“I know, and I should have listened, but the point is that the next day I get this three-page email back. He tells me how he imagined us growing old together, how he really saw a future for us… all the while I’m trying to figure out how much I do or don’t like him.”

“Three pages, my my Madison you
are
moving up in the world.”

“He also mentioned how he doesn’t mind that my nose is a little crooked, that he can live with my height, he’s glad I didn’t have a breast augmentation like his ex did, and that I would make a great mother and probably lose the weight right away.”

“You’re joking.”

“I am not joking.” Madison licked the spoon she was using to stir her stew. “By the way you would really like this, it’s delicious.”

“If you had some of my corn bread you’d have the perfect meal.”

Madison made a face then remembered that her friend couldn’t see it.

“We should Skype next time, I miss your face.”

“I miss yours and your crooked nose,” Ana responded.

“Where did that even come from? I don’t have a crooked nose, and I’m very happy with both my height and breast size.”

“Men are the worst,” Ana laughed.

Madison wouldn’t be able to laugh about it so easily if she didn’t have an Ana to tell everything to later.

“Anyway, I’ve decided that I’m done with dating, online or otherwise…I think I’m going to sign up for a marathon or something instead.”

“Right, because it’s either one or the other?” Ana made her thinking hum on the other end of the line. “Actually, I think this is good for you. You seem happier.”

“I am happier,” Madison surprised herself with the words. “But, I don’t think dating has anything to do with that.”

After a few minutes Ana was gone with a clang of a dish and Madison was left to think about what she’d just realized.

~

Later that night Madison settled in to watch something on Netflix. A romantic comedy was not in the cards, a drama could really bring her down, she hated gratuitous violence… She turned off her TV.

Madison changed, laced up her running shoes and headed out for a run. Sunset was the perfect time to run. The midday heat was overwhelming. She put on her headphones and ran to the beat of the music. Each foot fell in tune with the rhythm.
This
was just what she needed. She made her way through the old city and rounded back to the Trolley Trail. There were always people on it, and it was a straight climb to the top—after which she usually wound around the back roads to make her way back to the old city.

Her muscles felt strong and in the moment she felt perfectly content. The air, her body moving, the perfect rhythm.

When she made it to the top of the trail she stopped and looked around. The smell of trees and dirt was so intoxicating she loathed leaving it behind, but she didn’t like running straight downhill either. Madison stepped out onto the street and began the winding run. The houses here were beautiful, she found herself wondering who lived in them. They must be million dollar houses—or more. Probably stodgy rich commuters from DC, lobbyists who pushed for the NRA, or processed food companies.

Things weren’t really so bad, she would get over the pain of Ben’s lies. She certainly didn’t want to be with him. Now that she knew his real character. It was just the smack of shock and sting of having your world erupt around you. She would even get to like this town, she thought. Madison smiled on her way down the road and realized that maybe she already did.

Chapter 6

Connor surprised himself Monday morning by logging in to the new online account his brother had made for him. He stared at the site for a few minutes, letting his cursor scroll aimlessly down a list of women’s photos. He clicked over to his own profile just looking it over for a long minute, and then he hit the edit tab. He deleted the photos his brother had inserted then uploaded two others that he thought would be a better representation of him.

He read through the laundry list of things his brother had changed about Connor’s actual life. Connor edited his job title to “Sales and Marketing,” which was really just about the truth. He deleted his annual income and left it blank. He deleted his false alma mater and changed the category to read only his highest level of education. That was about all he could do, but it was better.

He wasn’t sure what he was looking for, only that he hadn’t found what he wanted yet. Love seemed like the biggest game of luck and chance. What were the chances that you would meet a person you would want to spend the rest of your life with, then for them to feel the same way about you? On top of that you both had to be open to the relationship at the same time. Statistically it just didn’t make sense that anyone got married—ever.

His parents’ marriage was purposeful. His father brought millions, which had turned into billions, of dollars to the table and his mother’s family had been powerful in Washington for many years. Connor’s father had his eyes set on some sort of political ambition, and it seemed he was pushing Connor to be a connecting piece for him. He had made it clear that he would be very pleased with Connor if he married into a good old Washington family.

Strange as it was, and wrong as he knew his father to be, Connor wanted his father to approve of him. No doubt Émeric felt the same way. They would both probably lose that chance in the next few years but the desire was still there.

As he was sitting thinking about his family and their complicated situation, a message popped up on the screen in front of him.

Madison S.
Hi

Madison S.
It looks like we’re in the same neighborhood.

Connor was surprised. He didn’t even realize that chatting this way was enabled on his account. Madison…he mulled the name over in his mind, and then clicked on the link to her profile. She was beautiful, as far as the pictures showed, which he knew could be very deceptive.