One Weekend with the Billionaire novel Chapter 84

Nervously, I pace around the art room, not able to get any work done as I wait to hear from Braxton. I know that Jeff and his team of lawyers were supposed to arrive in the office around 1:00 to sign an agreement that should end all of this madness, but at 1:30, my phone still hasn’t rang, and I have no idea what’s going on.

I am staring at a canvas that I’ve hardly touched today. It’s a piece I’ve been working on recently, so it’s not a stark white, barren landscape looking back at me. But it isn’t finished, and I doubt I’ll be adding much to it today. I can’t seem to concentrate on much of anything as I wait to hear what’s going on. The painting of a couple standing in front of ruins in Rome will have to wait.

I chose this scene because Braxton has promised to take me there in the summer. I can hardly wait. I’ve never been out of the country, so the idea of going on a holiday to Rome has me giddy with excitement. He’s seen so many beautiful places, and now he wants to share them all with me. Someday, he says, we will share them with our children. There are so many places on my list of where I’d like to go, including Rome, Paris, London… he will take me to all of those places in the most luxurious way imaginable. The idea that my children will have the opportunity to see those places as well, to grow up experiencing such opportunities, makes me understand just how lucky I am, especially since Jeff was adamant that he didn’t ever want to have kids. He sees the world so differently than Braxton did. Jeff thinks this world is an awful place, full of pain, hate, and ugliness. Braxton has shown me the world is a beautiful place.

My phone rings, causing me to jump. I’m glad I am not holding a paintbrush or else I might’ve ruined what I’ve done so far. I reach for my phone and expect it to be Braxton. When I see that it’s my mother, I am surprised, but I answer right away, hoping there’s nothing wrong back at home.

"Hello?"

"Hi, honey," Mom says, and I can tell by her tone that she’s upset. "How are you? You must be so unsettled."

I sink onto the top of a nearby stool, not sure what she’s talking about. "Unsettled?" I ask. "Why is that?"

"Why, haven’t you heard, sweetheart?" Mom asks, her voice sounding even more tearful. "Jeff didn’t take the offer."

I am confused. "How do you know about that? How do you know what happened?" I ask her, glad I’ve sat down because my knees feel weak.

"He called me, honey. He said he just couldn’t do it, that you mean more to him than any amount of money, and he just wants you back. Oh, honey! He sounded so upset on the phone. I feel just terrible for him. He says he doesn’t have your new phone number. I didn’t give it to him… but I think you should call him. I know how you think you feel about Braxton, dear, but… Jeff is your husband. And it seems like he has really changed. Maybe… maybe you should give him another chance."

I cannot process everything that my mother has told me. She knows more than I do. Probably because Braxton was afraid to tell me what happened--again. I can’t blame him. All of his lawyers were so sure that this was about to be over. Braxton wouldn’t go that far. He is not exactly an optimist when it comes to securing deals, and that is essentially what this was. The fact that Jeff has declined makes me wonder what his true purpose was. I know it has nothing to do with me. Perhaps it wasn’t enough money. "How much?" I blurt while my mother is still lamenting how terrible this whole situation is for everyone.

"What?" she asks, caught off guard. "What do you mean?"

"How much was the agreement for?" I ask her. Braxton never told me, and I didn’t dare ask.