A Billionaire’s Ruse

“It is so good to see you again, Jim. You can not start to imagine how much I have missed you.” She said tapping the file with her.

Jim smiled and replied, “I can assure you that I have missed you too. The feeling is mutual”

“So what about you Jim, what do you do?” Emily asked, realizing that she knew next to nothing about Jim’s life or about his brother, James or anything. “What are you doing these days?” She wanted to catch up so much. She felt like a deer starved of water.

Jim hesitated for a moment, and then said, “I’m a lawyer.”

“A lawyer?” Emily repeated, not so surprised. She had always imagined that Jim would become either a lawyer or a doctor. His father wanted him to study law and he wanted to study medicine. He had fulfilled his father’s wish at the long run.

“What type of law do you practice?” she asked, curious.

“I’m a criminal defense attorney,” Jim said, and a look of pride crossed his face.

“It’s so strange, surprising and delightful to see you here Em.” Jim said, breaking the silence that had fallen between them. “I never thought I would run into you again, after all these years.” Evelyn nodded, feeling a mix of emotions. She was happy to see him, but also confused and a little nervous.

“I have to admit, I’ve thought about you from time to time,” Jim said, a little sheepishly.

“I’m sorry that we lost touch, but it’s good to see you again.” Emily smiled.

“It’s good to see you, too,” she said, her voice warm.

There was an awkward pause, and then jim said, “Do you want to get a drink?”

Emily hesitated, but then said, “Sure, I could use a glass right now” She looked up and noticed that Lilian was still standing beside her

“Before we go, let me do some proper introduction. Jim, this is Lilian, my PA. Lilian, this is my best friend of two brothers. His name is Jim.” I quickly introduced them to each other, then I turned to Lilian and gave her a message for my mom, I have a meeting right now to attend”. “She should handle the charity gala herself”, she whispered to her PA as she took Jim’s hand and led. him out of the hall.

They made their way to the bar, and as they ordered drinks, they began to catch up on the years that had passed.

It turned out that Jim had gone to law school after they had lost touch, and he had built a successful career for himself, though, it was still at a beginners level.

He asked about Emily’s life, and she told him about her secured position in her father’s company, and how she had eventually gotten engaged to Edward.

“I am taking over my dad’s position little by little now. The best way to get the board members fully on my side when dad retires is to be up and doing,” Evelyn said.Contentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDrâ/ma.O(r)g!

“So, you are the woman of the company?” Jim asked, impressed.

“Yes,” Emily said, a little proudly. “I’m still in the early stages, but it’s going well so far.”

Jim nodded. “It’s an impressive feat,” he said.

As they continued to talk, Emily felt herself relax. It was like no time had passed at all. They fell into easy conversation.

She found herself laughing at his jokes, and they spoke about everything from politics to pop culture. They were so engrossed in their conversation that they didn’t even notice the time passing.

“It’s getting late,” James said, finally, glancing at his watch. “I should probably get going.”

Emily felt a pang of disappointment, but she knew he was right. Her parents could have only gone home as she was sure Lilian would have passed her message to them. She heaved a heavy sigh, smiling.

“It was really great to see you,” Jim said, standing up from the bar. “I hope we can stay in touch this time.”

Emily stood up as well, and said, “I hope so too.” She reached out to shake his hand, but instead, he pulled her in for a hug. It was a brief hug but a meaningful gesture.

As they pulled apart, they both felt a little bit lighter. “Take care,” Jim said, smiling.

“You too,” Emily replied. And then, they went their separate ways.

Emily could not stop thinking about her encounter with Jim. It had been so good to see him again, and she longed to ask about James. She wished she had asked of him. The prompt was at the tip of her tongue but she kept suppressing it because she wanted to give Jim her full attention tonight. She was definitely going to ask about James in their next encounter.

That night, as she was falling asleep, her phone buzzed. She picked it up, and saw that she had a new email.

The email was from a Jim. It simply said, “Just wanted to say it was really good to see you today. I enjoyed catching up. I hope we can stay in touch this time.”

Emily smiled as she read the email. She felt a flicker of hope. The future seems seemed to hold good things for her from that moment

She saw Edward pacing by her room every 2 minutes. The door was wide open.

She called out his name, “Edward” he stopped and turned to her direction, walking into the room.

“Edward, I am sorry for not giving you the money you requested earlier”. Edward was still frowning, not saying anything.

*Do you still need it? she asked.

Edward let out a smile from the corner of his lips.”I do need it. Urgently at that. You see, Emily, I have been looking for other means to get this fund but all to no avail.

“That was why I kept snapping and getting irritated with you. It’s not because I wanted to.” Edward apologised to her, climbing the bed to meet her. He kissed her.