A Deal With The Billionaire

EPISODE THIRTY FIVE

THEME: Good enough

CONNECTICUT, UNITED OF AMERICA

Christopher Crawford has never felt anxious in his entire life before, not even when he had been bidding for his first million dollar contract. He hoped badly that the day would go well without a hitch and if it doesn’t then he was ready to start sourcing for another woman to be his fake wife although he doubted if the plan would work this time around.

The wedding was just in fourteen days, and he wanted to be certain that Raven McKenna would pull it off without making any mistake that would jeopardize the whole plan.

His anxiety had gotten the best of him when he had woke up and the first thing that came to his mind was texting his fake wife to be just to ensure that she wasn’t going to bail out on him because that seemed like what all the women in life would do to him.

Every time Christopher remembered Jessica turning down his proposal it made him feel less worthy and undeserving.

He had typed the text message since six o’clock when he had woken up for his morning exercise but to avoid being tagged as selfish, inconsiderate and needy, he had put the message on hold till 8 o’clock before sending it finally.

It had taken everything in him to not drive down to the hospital just to ensure that Raven was still at the hospital.

However, Raven proved that she wasn’t the type to not keep her part of the deal when she responded with a text of her home address.

Christopher had let go and kept on with his daily activities until it clocked 6 p. m and the time to face his family with bunch of lies got nearer. His anxiety level also increased as he got dressed in his freshly cut suit that was well primed with iron. And he looked very dapper in the outfit.

Christopher decided to go for his Rolls Royce tonight and leave the Lamborghini. He is a lover of cars and he had few of such toys of different brands in his premises.

Driving out of the house, he decided to put a call through to Benjamin after typing in Raven’s home address into the GPS map device in the car.

He missed having a chat with his best friend although his ego would never admit to how much talking to Benjamin always help ease off his mind. Christopher knew his best friend loves him so much and can never go angry with him for too long or even let go of him.

“Crawford! I am really not your girlfriend or wife to be! So why do you feel calling me at any goddamn time you like feels okay with me?!”

That was the first thing that Benjamin had to say when he picked the call. And his words made Christopher chuckle lightly.

“Benjamin, do you know that you always sound like a five years old whenever you whine this way? It is really not a good attitude for a grown ass man like you.”

“I don’t whine like a five years old.” Benjamin replied.

Christopher could feel his friend shaking his head vigorously on the other side just to disagree with him.

“You know what doesn’t look good on me? It is me still being single at this point. I know if I was with a woman, you wouldn’t be so quick to call me whenever you please.”

“Oh come on, Benjamin, it is past six in the evening and not in the morning. It is not like I woke you up or… did I?” Christopher hesitated, noting how quiet the line went.

It was obvious Benjamin was about to sleep.

“Darn it! Bro, do you go for shoots on Sundays too?” He demanded.

“I don’t have a day off man, unless I am on vacation. Currently, I am shooting for a clothing line advert and it is a huge deal which means I have to be there when necessary and not mattering whatever time or day it is.” Benjamin responded. He sounded extremely exhausted.

“That’s so sad.” Christopher commented in a tone laced with concern.

“If you feel sorry for me will that make you drop this call and let me go back to sleep?” Benjamin asked in a low tone.

“I will be damned to do so!” Christopher laughed out in delight.Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g

Benjamin growled in frustration. “I hate you, Crawford. What the hell is it this time?”

Christopher cleared his throat. “Dinner is tonight and I tell you man, I am so fucking nervous.”

Benjamin scoffed at his friend’s words. “Why are you acting like this is so real? Your marriage is a fake one so it should be you acting like a Broadway actor that you have always been, Crawford.”

“It is easy for you to say man. But remember that I am not into your line of work!” Christopher argued.

“You are really a pain in my neck, Christopher Crawford! Well if things doesn’t go as planned, feel free to call me up and let us get drunk together at Bell Rush Pub.” Benjamin sounded resigned although he was simply trying to tease his friend.

“I am not jobless! I have got a company to run tomorrow.”

“Oh! I am also not jobless! Wait is that the case now?” Benjamin kept on with the teasing fit. “You just indirectly called me-”

“Fuck the hell off, Williams!” Christopher interrupted him.

Benjamin laughed and Christopher joined in too. He felt at ease.

“How do you feel now?” Benjamin asked seconds after the laughter faded off.

“Better… I guess.” Christopher answered.

“Where are you?” Benjamin queried.

“Right at the home of the fake wife to be.” Christopher kicked off the ignition. He texted Raven real quick with simple words to inform her of his arrival.

“I am outside your home.”

“Tonight is going to be a long night for you.” Benjamin commented.

To avoid getting cramped while waiting for Raven, Christopher got down from the car, placing both AirPods in his ears properly.

“I can’t wait for it to be over.” He inhaled the fresh air from the night.

“I hope you enjoy it though.” Benjamin said.

Christopher stood in front of his car as he responded to his friend. “I hate to admit it, but I feel at ease after baring it all out to you.”

“That’s my super power. I know you would have wished I was a girl so you can whisk me away on a vacation to Bahamas.” Benjamin gloated.

“You are not in your…” Christopher’s words got stuck in his throat when he sighted Raven coming out of the house.

She looked breathtaking. Christopher hadn’t taken note of the dresses she had picked but he was certain this particular dress was one of those dresses he had bought for her.

Raven was wearing a tight fitted slit dark emerald gown that fitted her body perfectly. He had not taken note of her body shape because she was always dressed in baggy jeans and big looking shirts most times. Her hair was different, not the usual donut bun or single weave dropping down her back. This time, her hair spiraled down her shoulder in waves. The hair was let down to her back. And the richness of the hair shone under the moonlight.

Despite making several eye contact, Christopher has never paid attention to her eyes. But as she got closer to him, it became beautiful. She had an almond rapture vibrant blue eyes.

The make up on her face was light, it only did much to highlight her thin eyebrows and dainty nose. The light red lipstick was tempting him to reach out to her and run his thumb gentle over her lips. And the beautiful necklace dangling down her neck made her look so perfect.

Christopher had almost forgotten that he was still on call with his best friend until both his voice and that of Raven jolted him back to life.

“Are you still there man?” Benjamin queried as he wondered what was up with his friend.

Christopher didn’t want to respond so he cut off the call.

“Good evening.” Raven repeated for like the umpteenth time since she stood feet away from him.

She felt uncomfortable with the way he looked at her. It has been so long. She had never made up or dressed this nice since Rowan’s birth. When she saw what Tiana had done to her face and hair in the mirror, it had made her tear up.

Raven has almost forgotten how beautiful she was until tonight. But having Christopher stare at her this much, she was beginning to feel like maybe she and Tiana had gone overboard with the dressing.

“Is this good enough for your family?” She asked, feeling uncertain.

Christopher called himself back to order. He blinked his eyelashes a few times and cleared his throat. He tried not to make it look like her appearance had caught him off guard.

“It is fair enough. It’s okay. But what’s that?” He pointed at the bag in her hand.

“Oh this?” Raven raised the bag up. “I didn’t want to go with you empty handed being the first time meeting your family. So I baked some cupcakes and cookies and made cream along with it for desserts.”

Christopher wanted to argue that she didn’t need to do so but when he checked the time and realized how late they were going to be so he let it go and ushered her into the car.

His father was going to have a fit. One thing the older Crawford hated the most was lateness.