Ruin The Billionaire

Things were going better than I thought. My blog had blown up within a few hours of uploading the first post.

People have become extremely greedy for drama and gossip on social media. A lot of people talk about how much they hate drama but when it happens, they eat it all up. For a lot of people, their most regular source of drama is social media and television. Everything concerning the rich and famous is fascinating and everyone is interested in having their opinions of them seen. Everyone judges the rich and famous, even people who are doing worse things.

My case was no different because it involved a man who was rich and famous. There were those who believed me, and more who thought I was a loser trying to profit off Jake’s name. At that point, I was almost inclined to believe them as I didn’t know what to think anymore.

It was like I was becoming obsessed with Jake Rylland. I thought of him when I woke up, during all my waking hours, and when I went to sleep. The only thing left was for me to start dreaming about him, which was about to happen if I didn’t close this chapter soon.

***

I was reading comments on my blog when a strange number called. After staring at it for some seconds, I decided to pick. What if it was Ian calling to explain himself?

“Hello, who’s this?”

“Meet me at The Alternative Ritz at 8, private room 5.”

I knew the voice. Jake Rylland.

“Why would I do something like that when I know you could be planning to kill me,” I said. “I’m not having a secret meeting with you.”

Jake laughed. “If I wanted to kill you, you’d be six feet under by now. You underestimate me too much, Lillith Hellman.”

“You’ve underestimated me too,” I said with a smile, wishing he could see it. “You thought you could shut me down with what you did but here I am, still rising. You’re really pathetic, the most pathetic billionaire I have ever met. Even your worst won’t work on me.”

Jake chuckled. “You talk way too much for your own good. If you don’t want a secret meeting, we can talk in the main lounge around other people. You can even come along with a friend who will have to sit on another table while we talk. I’d advise you to choose better friends, not ones who get drunk and are willing to sleep with their best friend’s enemy.”

Leah. That’s who he was talking about.

“I sounds as if you care about me, Jake.”ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

Jake laughed. This time it was loud and prolonged. “I didn’t know you were such a comedian. Now I’m eagerly looking forward to this meeting.”

“So you care about me? You haven’t denied.”

“I have np idea what’s making you so delusional but no, Lilith. I don’t care about you. All I want is for you to leave me alone.”

“Whatever makes you sleep better at night,” I said with a wide smile.

It was when he abruptly hung up that I realised I had been smiling the whole time I was talking to him. What was wrong with me? Flirting with the man I was supposed to hate more than anything, the man who would probably end up murdering me if I didn’t stop writing about. Surely, something was wrong with me.

After the call, I went straight to the bathroom and started grooming myself before taking a shower. It was already six so I didn’t have a lot of time. Getting ready for me included a lot of things that took time for example sitting on my bed in a towel and having an existential crisis. I had mild social anxiety so the prospect of going out usually stressed me out for a bit. Once outside, everything would be better.

This time it was worse, since I was going to meet my nemesis. The last time I had talked to him hadn’t been very pleasant. I wondered if he was going to bring up Ian, despite knowing he was the one who had set me up. I had to admit that had been a really clever plan.

After having my existential crisis and finally getting dressed up in a black knee length dress, I left my apartment.

Entering the Alternative Ritz reminded me of Ian, the man I had almost given my whole heart on a platter. It was a good thing that he left when he did, because who knows how broken I would have felt if he had stayed and made me fall harder.

Jake was seated on the same seat I had shared with Ian. The man clearly knew how to rub it in. taking a deep breath, I walked towards him. There was something different about the vibe in the bar, the way those people looked at me, as if they all knew me. I scanned the room to see if there was a poster of me or something. There was none.

“Hey,” I said, sitting far away from him on the booth.

“I don’t bite,” he said.

“Once bitten, twice shy.”

“Cory,” he said.

A burly man stood up from the next booth and came to where we were. He pulled out a metal scanner. It was smaller than most I had seen.

“He’s going to run it through your body. It’s a new technology that detects recording devices.”

“Good to know that we both don’t trust each other. Hope he’ll run it through you too, or I won’t talk.”

“You’re a very stubborn young woman.”

Cory ran it through both of us, and the machine did not make a noise. Satisfied, he went back to his seat. A waitress came and took my order, not before flashing Jake Rylland a killer smile. “She’s hot,” he commented, watching her waltz to the counter.

I maintained a poker face. “She is,” I agreed.

“Do you ever wonder what I think of you?”

“No, you have made your opinion of me clear. I know that you hired Ian to trick me and take me to that place. You don’t like me, and I don’t like you so why don’t we just talk about why you called me.”

“I want to know why you’re so obsessed with me,” he said after a while. “Why can’t you leave me alone?”

I laughed. “Obsessed with you? You’re too full of yourself. Listen Jake, I have been writing expose` style of articles since I joined the daily paper. I have written about so many people. Last month I saw you in a Forbes list. Top 30’s. You seemed to be the calmest billionaire on that list which captured my interest.

People who seem to be too good to be true always capture my attention. In most cases, there are secrets in the closet. I wanted to find out if you had any and expose them. That’s what I did. I dug up the things you had been trying to hide and showed them to the public. The public liked it, and it trended. My name was out there for the first time. I had to create follow up articles and you gave me content for that when you threatened me. Thank you. You have continued to give me what to write about and it captures attention so I’ll continue.”

“Why didn’t you stop even though I told you so? Weren’t you afraid?”

“I don’t liked being ordered around. When someone tells me to stop doing something, it inspires me to do it. There’s nothing I like more than disobeying orders and doing whatever I want, exercising my rights. If you had ignored the first article, I would have forgotten about you and moved on to someone else. You’re not that special. I’m a journalist, and we are always hungry for a good story.”

“You’re sure that’s all.”

“Yes. What, did you think I was secretly in love with you?”

“Aren’t you?”

I shook my head. “You’re such a narcissist. The world doesn’t revolve around you. Maybe Heather’s does but not mine.”

“How do you know Heather?”

“I was stalking you for a while. How could I not know her? Besides, someone had written a story about her in our paper and mentioned you as her boyfriend. I think the whole of New York knows that.”

“Okay, that’s all I wanted to know. I thought you had some secret vendetta against me.”

I sighed, my body visibly relaxing. “Can I leave now?”

“You’re free to leave anytime.”

“You know what I’ll call someone to pick me up. One of your men might kidnap me from outside.”

Jake laughed. “I hired all these people you see. They’re actors. I couldn’t let the press know of a secret meeting. Since you refused a private room, I brought privacy to you.”

What the hell?

“So I’m surrounded by your goons,” I said feeling panic rising.

“Don’t worry, these are regular people just looking for some extra money.”

“Well, I have to leave now.”

“Have a goodnight, Hellman.”

“Goodnight, Rylland.”