The Billionaire's maid

Chapter 20

Entering the huge living area of the institution, I receive a text from Nick. "I want to talk to you this evening. Do you have time this evening?"

Quickly, I answer his text with a short yes, before looking for my father. Yesterday evening was awful, certainly not what I was expecting it would be. I hoped we could have some fun together, and maybe get to know one another a bit better, but it was nothing like it. Seeing Devon yesterday made me feel so much worse, about my entire life. I'm a fraud, equally as my fake boyfriend, or maybe I'm worse than him.

One thing I'm sure of is that I'm going to lose myself in this process.

I find my father sitting behind his desk inside his room. "Hey dad," I greet him with enthusiasm. There's no response at all, so I repeat my words when I stop beside him, curiously looking over his shoulder at what he's writing.

"Oh, you startled me," Dad says, kissing me on the cheek. "How are you, sweetheart?" He asked.

"I'm fine and you?" I ask him while looking at the piece of paper in front of him, a few ink stains were visible on the sheet of paper.

"I'm writing a story." He says with a broad smile.

"Really?" I say in astonishment.

"But you can't read it yet," Dad says swiftly moving the sheets inside his drawer.

"Okay," I giggle and seated on the chair beside him.

"How's Telma doing?" Dad asked in concern, his eyes telling he was still ashamed about what has happened.

"She's fine, dad. She's staying with her friend in town until she can move back." I inform him.

"Did I once tell you she reminds me of your mother?" Dad says out of the blue.

"No," I answer with crooked eyebrows. I swallow at the thought of my mother. To me she's dead, a stranger I never want to meet.

"Your mother was a caring person, and Telma is just like she was before she started to go crazy," he explained, a big sigh escaping his mouth.

"Well, I know Telma but I don't know my mother so I will let you be the judge of that," I explain my point of view as well. As I look outside of his small window, feeling a small breeze coming from outside I fix a loose stray of hair behind my ear as it got loose from my quickly made ponytail.

"Did you hear something about the insurance?" Dad asked after a few minutes of silence.

"Yes, we got lucky. We can rebuild the house by next week." I lied, making sure I tell him with my back to him while roaming his room. I brush over the folds of his bedsheets in distraction.

"Are you sure?" My dad's voice turned more serious.

"Yeah," I say in a high voice.

"You're lying," dad continues, turning me to face him. My heart breaks when I see him searching for clues on my face. I just lied to him and I will continue to lie as long as I need to, but deep down it's eating me up from the inside out. It's cruel and at the same time, it's not because he can't deal with this anymore. I'm his daughter and at the same time, I'm a fraud trying to tie all the loose ends together.

I swallow hard and look away from him, feeling my wall crumble down. This isn't the right time to tell him the truth. The doctors told me he's got more episodes each day so he can't carry my luggage as well. He was always there for me and now I need to be here for him no matter what, even if I need to lie to him to keep him calm.

"No dad, but there's something else I need to tell you," I tell him trying the best I can to distract him. Although this is another lie, I know he will let it go.

"I'm dating someone and I stay at his place at the moment." I blurted out.

"Wow," dad says softly in surprise. "Is he good for you?" He continues, his question making me smile.

"Yes, he is," I assure him.

"Good," dad says, his shoulders relaxing a bit more. "When will I meet him?" He asked curiously.

"Dad," I laugh. "We're dating. It's becoming serious, but only when I'm certain about him I'll take him with me, okay?" I explain to him.

"That's fair," dad answers with a soft smile before seating on his bed. "I'm just happy you've met someone else..." He says while rubbing his eyes.

"Me too dad," I tell him, kissing him on the top of his head. "You're tired so I'll leave you so you can get some rest," I advised.

"You're right. This story grabs all my energy lately." He says while lying down.

"You make me curious," I laugh with a sweet smile.

"I'm sure you are," Dad smirked.

"But I'm not going to peek, I promise," I tell him truthfully.

"See you tomorrow, sweetheart," Dad says with a small smile before turning to his left side to face a white wall beside his bed.

He's more tired because they are giving him other medication to see if they have more effect on his mood swings. For a brief moment, I look at his drawer before eventually leaving his room.

When I got to Nick's place I look at the fridge, not sure what to cook for dinner especially because I wasn't hungry at the moment and I didn't know what Nick wanted to eat. I look at my phone and I see one missing call from Nick. I roll my eyes before dialing him. He's probably rescheduling our talk to another day.

"Hey, where are you?" He asked when he picked up the phone.

"I'm at your place, just back from the institution," I answer him in earnest.

"How was your father?" He asked as I hear music in the background, his voice sounding breathy.

"Good, he was very well actually," I inform him a little surprised as this was the first time he asked about him after a visit.

"Great," he answers panting.

"What are you doing?" I ask him a bit curious.

"I'm at the gym, but I'm almost ready. You got time to talk tonight?" He asked.

"Yes, I already texted you," I tell him to remind him again.

"We're going out," he says breathy and as I hear the words coming from his mouth I cut him off.

"Nick, seriously!" I hiss in disappointment.

"Let me speak, human!" He snapped. Human? "I'm taking you out for dinner, only to eat and to talk, nothing more tonight." He explains rapidly. "If the princess wants to?" He mocked which made me angry.

"Arsehole," I tell him before hanging up the phone. God, he's going to be the death of me...

Then my phone lights up with a new text from him. I push with force on the screen, curious as to what other stupid nicknames he will give me next like I care what he thinks about me. I'm no princess and I will never be one. As a child, I didn't even want to be one because I was Belle from The beauty and the beast which was my favorite Disney movie of all time as a little girl. It's like I've always known men are animals.

With a broad smile I open his text to see he had texted he would be home in fifteen minutes. Well, let's make the beast pop out his eyes with this independent sexy woman. I'm so much more than a fragile princess and he doesn't even get a clue about who I really am.

After an hour, I receive another text already knowing he was asking if I'm ready. I'm not going to answer his text to let him quiver a bit more. Maybe he needed this agreement more than I needed his money, so I will be damned if I would ever let him waltz over me and doesn't have a thing to say in this fake relationship.