The Secret Billionaire: A BWWM Love Story For Adults (8 page)

“
But
seriously, you need to meet that blonde dude. He looks hot as fuck!”
Jane said getting back to her work.

“
I
will check it out at home.” Vera said trying to get Archer’s
handsome face out of her mind. She was trying really hard, but Archer
was not leaving her head.

*****

Back at home,
Vera sat down in her bed after dinner. Her phone buzzed and she
picked it up. It was a message from Jane — “Accept the
blondie.”

Vera chuckled
at Jane’s eagerness and put the phone under her pillow. She
then picked up her laptop and opened it. After logging onto that
site, she was now looking at Archer’s friend request. The
cursor moved and clicked on Archer’s name. Vera was now looking
at his profile. His smile was looking more intoxicating on a bigger
screen. And in this moment, Vera realized that Jane was right about
his hair — they were magnificent.

She browsed
through a few pictures in his profile that showed him on various
treks and expeditions. “Is that North Pole?” Vera
wondered looking at a photo. Archer was completely covered with heavy
jackets, masks, safety goggles and snow boots. He was in knee deep
snow.

Vera looked
at that picture for around a minute. She had always wanted to go to a
place like that, a place that was untouched by humans. But with her
job and mother, she never had a chance to even plan things out for
her. But Archer’s pictures reminded her of all the places she
wanted to visit and the things she wanted to do. This was the life
she wanted to live, and this stranger was living it. For a moment,
Vera felt envious of Archer, but then she realized how stupid it was.

The cursor
moved and she clicked on ‘Accept’. Archer was the first
entry in her friend list.

*****

Archer got a
notification on his phone while he was in a meeting. Phillip saw the
smile on his friend’s face. He knew this smile had nothing to
do with the boring meeting they were in. But suddenly, Archer was a
changed man — the man who seemed bored to death was now smiling
ear to ear. Everybody in that room was able to see this change.
Archer put the phone back into his pocket and focused on the job at
hand.

“
What
was that?” Phillip asked as they both got in the car.

“
What?”
Archer had no clue what Phillip was talking about, but his smile was
still there on his face.

Phillip
reminded him of the sudden change in his spirit and Archer’s
smile widened.

“
You
remember the girls from the airport?” he looked at Phillip.

“
The
ones who hated how rich you were?” Phillip’s memory
needed no jogging. He remembered that day.

“
Yup!
I just became friends with one of them.” Archer replied.

“
Okay...”
Phillip responded, taking a deep breath. “And why is it making
you all smiley?”

“
After
decades, somebody hated me because I have money. It feels good.”
Archer told Phillip the secret behind his happiness.

“
You
are weird. You know that, right?” Phillip looked Archer
straight in his eyes. But Archer kept smiling.

*****

Vera was in
her bed, when her phone buzzed again. Jane had been pestering her to
know if Archer had initiated any kind of communication.

“
I
swear to God, I will block this woman.” Vera said, taking out
her phone from under the pillow. But to her surprise it was not Jane.
It was another notification email from the website. Archer had sent
her a message.

Quickly, Vera
picked up her laptop and signed into her account. Within seconds she
was now in her inbox. She started reading Archer’s message,
“Hey there, fellow trekker here. I saw your pictures, and was
thoroughly impressed.”

A smile
danced on Vera’s face that was illuminated by the laptop’s
bright screen. She kept staring at the message for sometime and then
started typing —

“
Thanks!
I loved your pictures too. Especially the one where you are knee deep
in the snow. Was that from an expedition? I have always wanted to go
to such a place.”

Vera’s
fingers furiously danced on the keys when she suddenly realized that
she might be revealing too much for her first interaction. She saw
Archer’s message and realized how brief and to the point it
was. She decided to write something short and witty. Something that
would prove that she is a sensible person. And so she sat in front of
her laptop, thinking what to write.

Then, it hit
her — she pulled the laptop closer to her and started typing
again.

“
Thanks!
Saw your pictures too. Really enjoyed them. Hope to see more.”

She read it
again and again to make sure that there was no error in her words and
spellings. The one thing she did not want was to come out as a poser
who did not know how to write a proper sentence. After being
satisfied with her sentence, she then pressed ‘Send’ and
stared at the screen with anticipation. The tiny clock at the bottom
of her message rotated and then a tiny ‘Sent’ appeared in
its place. Her message was delivered.

“
Ding!”
a sweet sound played on the laptop. Archer had replied to her
message.

“
Well
I guess we are mutual admirers. I enjoyed your pictures too. Where
was the one taken where you are on a bike? I loved that place.”

Vera was not
feeling much nervous anymore. She started typing again, “That
picture is 5 years old. It's a trail in Jefferson City. One of my
favorites. Sorry, but I have not trekked or hiked for years now.”

Vera waited
for Archer’s response and it came in just one word, “Why?”

“
My
job I guess. But I so want to start again.” Vera typed and hit
send.

Archer
replied, “I would be honored to accompany you on your next
adventure.”

Vera just
gaped at this reply. She was thinking when this handsome man was
about to ask her out and she did not have to wait for long. But she
had no clue how to respond to this message. She wanted to type, “YES
YES YES YES!” in all caps and underlined, but she knew better.

“
I
hope I did not alarm you with my forwardness..” another message
from Archer popped on the screen.

Vera knew how
to respond to that, “Nothing like that. And I would be glad to
have an experienced partner on my next adventure.”

“
So
where do you want to go? I know this great trail in Chile. I was
there a few weeks ago.” Archer typed.

Vera laughed
at the last reply. She was not planning to go that far, “I was
thinking for a little local adventure.” She typed with a smile
on her face.

“
Ohh..
sorry!” popped on the screen with a silly face emoticon.

“
There
is an adventure club in our city. Want to tag along this weekend? We
can climb some artificial walls.” Vera responded.

“
Absolutely!”
Archer’s response was short and precise.

“
Great!
I will share the location of the place with you. We can meet there
around noon.”

“
Will
be there.” Archer responded.

Vera thought
that it was best to end this conversation right here. She did not
want to ruin a good moment by talking too much.

“
Alrighty
then, see you there on Saturday.” she typed.

Archer got
the hint and replied with “Sure!” and a smiley face. The
conversation stopped right there.

Vera smiled
while looking at Archer’s picture.

*****

It was a
Saturday afternoon. The traffic was a breeze and Vera was standing
outside the club. She looked at the big signboard one more time, ‘The
Rush’ it said in big red and green block letters over the
building. Vera had a her bag of gym clothes and accessories with her.
She checked the time and it was 12:27. Her eyes were looking for a
blonde man walking towards her. “I should have given him my
number,” she thought.

After waiting
for Archer outside she decided to wait inside the club. After paying
for just one session, she reached the wall climb area. The club did
not have too many people and Vera liked it that way. She had been
here a few times earlier. This was the only thread that connected her
to her passion of adventure. She placed her bag on a bench and
started warming up.

“
Vera
Jones?” Archer’s deep voice was picked up by Vera’s
ears. As she turned around she found Archer standing in front of her.

“
WOW!”
her brain screamed inside her head. Archer’s pictures did no
justice to how handsome he looked in real life. But this guy was lost
in the beautiful eyes of this star-struck lady.

“
Archer?”
Vera asked with wide eyes.

“
Yes,
it's me.” He extended his hand to her. “It's so nice to
meet you.”

“
When
did you come?” Vera asked shaking his hand, “I waited for
you outside the club.”

“
Then
I guess we both were waiting for each other. I arrived here well
before noon.” Archer replied. Vera was relieved that this guy
was not making her wait. In fact he was here early.

“
So,
how do you want to start?” Archer asked looking at one wall
that was free. “Ladies first?” he looked at Vera with a
charming smile.

Vera obliged
and stepped forward. Both of them got ready.

“
You
want to use the safety lines?” Archer asked Vera.

“
Please!
I am not a kid.” Vera said with a smug smile.

“
Oh
yeah?” Archer said to herself. This girl was ready to compete
with him. “Alright, go ahead. Show me what you can do.”

Vera took her
position at the bottom of the wall and before pressing the timer, she
turned back and looked at Archer, “Remember, I am doing it
after weeks.”

Archer just
smiled at her as Vera got ready. Her hands pressed the timer and she
moved like lightning on that wall. Grabbing and stepping over one
support after another, she did not seem out of practice.

Archer was
enjoying it like a dance performance. Vera’s technique was
flawless. Soon, she was at the top and like a reflex, her hand
pressed the timer that was there. With the same speed and flow, she
was back to the ground within seconds. Vera stopped the timer and
looked at her time — 31.2 Seconds.

“
Not
bad!” Archer admired. “I saw you were using the static
climb. Quite impressive for a beginner.”

Vera scoffed
with laughter, “Oh yeah? Let me see how you do.”

Archer winked
at her from the bottom of the wall and pressed the timer. In one
sweeping motion, Archer jumped from one support to another and pulled
himself up. Repeating this jumping and pulling he was at the top
within seconds. From there he looked at Vera and smiled. She was
certainly impressed.

As Archer
came back and stopped the timer, his time read — 29 Seconds.

Vera clapped
for her friend as he approached her.

“
You
like what you saw?” he asked with a naughty smile.

“
Oh
yeah! I have always admired people who use the Dead Point technique.”
Vera admitted.

“
Well,
I learned from the best. I met a Sherpa in India who taught me
climbing.” Archer said relaxing his hands.

“
India?”
Vera wondered, “Where else have you been in the world? What do
you do?”

Archer
realized that his mouth had landed him in trouble, “I work in..
Aviation!” he thought quickly on his feet. “And so I keep
flying around the world.”

Vera grew
envious of this man, “Lucky you! I have always wanted such a
job.”

Archer wanted
to offer her to come with him, but he decided to keep his mouth shut.
He just looked at her and smiled.

“
So,
another round? I am going to beat you this time.” Vera
challenged Archer.

“
Lets
do it!” Archer was game.

The two
climbed several times, trying to best each other. Vera did beat
Archer’s time in a few tries, but Archer kept improving. At the
end both of them were not able to decide who was the better climber.

“
I
guess we both have so much to learn from each other.” Archer
was being humble.

“
I
agree!” Vera wiped her sweat.

Vera was
feeling so happy. This man was not only supporting her but also
motivating her to do better. This is exactly the kind of man she had
been looking for, and now he was standing right in front of her. She
wanted to say a lot of things and tell him all her secrets and
desires. And then, her bag vibrated and a loud ring smashed her chain
of thoughts.