A Deal With The Billionaire

DEAL WITH THE BILLIONAIRE

(A contract Marriage)

EPISODE SEVENTY ONE

THEME: Who is at fault?

CONNECTICUT, UNITED STATE OF AMERICA

CHRISTOPHER CRAWFORD APARTMENTFrom NôvelDrama.Org.

The early morning sunlight beamed into the room causing Christopher’s eyes to flutter. He felt something heavy on right hand, preventing the light from filtering into his eyes with his other free hand, he smiled thinking of how wild last night had been with Jessica.

When she stirred, he turned towards her to kiss her good morning but what his eyes met with sent him into an horrific state. He was beyond shocked when he saw Raven sleeping soundly in his arms.

On an impulse, he pushed her off him and the bed making her fall off with a huge thud. Raven woke up with a jolt as the pain shot through her.

“Oh my goodness! This is not a dream!” Christopher sat up on the bed abruptly. He smacked his cheeks a few times to confirm if he was dreaming but Raven was right in front of him when she knelt down close to the bed.

Tears sprung out of her eyes as she massaged her side. “Why… why would you do that?”

Christopher realized he was naked underneath and Raven was unclad too so he looked sideways with his eyes searching for his boxers. He got out of the bed and he wore his underpants in a rush.

He ran his hands through his hair still without turning to face Raven. “How the hell did you get in my bed last night?!”

Raven stood up, grabbed the duvet and pulled it around her body. “You pulled me in.” She replied.

Christopher turned sharply and glared at her with irritation. “What the fuck?! Are you even listening to yourself?! What I remembered was getting drunk and having sex with Jessica and not you!” The way he spat in irritation, made Raven cower.

She couldn’t imagine how much despise he felt towards her. The tears that formed at the corners of her eyes slipped down her cheeks immediately. She was disappointed and hurt that he could even raise his voice this much at her.

“It… It was you who made me stay.” She wailed.

“And how could you not stop my advances?! I am sure you threw yourself at me. You knew how it was rightly stated in the contract that we shouldn’t get intimate. But it was obvious you needed to satisfy your beastly desires and had me when I was vulnerable! How dare you?!”

Raven’s head was spinning at how annoyed he was and it really made her feel like trash.

“Chris-”

He held up his hand to silence her. “Raven shut it! Don’t say a word and get the hell out of my room!” Christopher screamed.

He had never lost his cool so much not even when he had broken up with Jessica but seeing Raven’s face only made him more pissed. Not being able to take his insults anymore, Raven moved out of his bedroom at a close run.

She went into her room and locked herself up in the bathroom. More tears poured out freely as she regretted ever letting her emotions take over. She should have walked away when she could. Her heart ached as each tears dropped from her face. She felt so disappointed in herself.

Christopher stomped the floors of his room in annoyance as he took a shower with anger still boiling up within him. He kept hitting his hand against the wall and his nerves picked at how careless he got.

Coming out of the bathroom, he picked up his phone and dialed a number.

‘I need you at my office this morning!’ He spat into the receiver and let out a grunt after hanging up the call.

*************************

CRAWFORD CORPORATION

The scowl on Benjamin’s face scared Christopher so much he had to look everywhere in the office except his face. He tried distracting himself by playing with a pen. He had called Benjamin that morning after his shower to meet him at the office and he explained all that transpired between him and Raven last night and the early hours of the morning.

He had expected Benjamin to react the same way he did about the situation but instead he saw his friend get angry at him since a long while.

“How low can you get, Chris? Tell me!” Benjamin yelled at him as he hit his hands on the table.

It had almost skipped Christopher’s mind that Raven was Ben’s friend just as he was his. And if anything, Ben hated any form of injustice and he wouldn’t take any bit of it. Judging by Benjamin’s reaction, it was obvious what Christopher had done was what was considered an injustice to Raven.

“I was pissed you know, try to understand me. I am standing on the fact that she didn’t have to give in to the needs of a drunk man.” He tried to defend himself.

“Oh yeah. Typical Christopher. You don’t want to take the blame. Really? Is that what you have to say? You think you are less guilty here when all the evidence is clearly pointing at you!” Benjamin jabbed his finger at his friend.

His anger was uncontrollable. He had been extremely worried when Christopher had called him to see him in his office urgently. Knowing his friend, he knew he wouldn’t call him so early in the morning just for fun. His mind had raced at something terrible happening or had already happened. However, he was shocked by what he tagged as Christopher’s stupidity to call him to rant over something that had been his entire fault.

Trying to calm himself down, Benjamin toned down his voice. “How did you come across Jessica’s article?”

“I thought you would never ask!” Christopher murmured under his breath. “Ashley called me.” He replied.

Benjamin face palmed himself. “And why would she do that?”

“To spite me I guess. To remind me that I shouldn’t have let go of Jessica to pick Raven. She doesn’t like Raven at all. So I checked through the internet and I couldn’t explain the hurt that enveloped me. I felt suffocated and lost. I had thought I was over her and all of that. But seeing her again living her life without me in it… just made me feel some type of way.”

“And how is that Raven’s fault?”

“It’s her fault certainly, as it was clearly stated in the contract that we are not suppose to get intimate!” Christopher insisted.

“Have you gone mad?” Benjamin sat down abruptly in front of him. “Look, I want you to do me a favor and go back to what happened last night. Try hard to remember and let me know.” He tapped his feet on the floor furiously.

Christopher tried to remember all that had happened the night before, but he only remembered reading articles, watching videos of Jessica and driving down to a bar and getting drunk. Another vivid memory was where he thought he had been having sex with Jessica. But the details of how it went from one to hundred was what he couldn’t reach.

“I had sex with Jessica… but turned out to be Raven. My point is she should have stopped me in a kind of way. But I t is obvious she wanted to have sex with me.”

Benjamin stared at his friend in disgust. “You must really think high of yourself. I regret letting Raven do this with you when I thought I was helping you and also saving her son. If I knew you would be this insensitive, I would have stood in as a guarantor for the bank to give her a loan. I feel ashamed trying to look at you!” Having said that, he stood up and barged out of the office in anger.

Christopher sat back, his heart thumping hard like they wanted to escape the cage they were in. His head ached as he tried to figure out what had gone wrong. Then he remembered he hadn’t used an Advil when he woke up. The drinks he had was too much and his head ached him badly.

Searching for some in his drawer where he kept emergency drugs, he saw one container and popped two into his mouth. Grabbing the bottle water which was always put in place by his secretary, he drank it to his fullest.

Taking a moment, he sinked deeper into the swivel chair with his eyes closed. All he came up with was blankness. And he didn’t want to beat himself up for something he might not be guilty of.

As angry as Benjamin was, Christopher felt he was overreacting. Women act innocent when they want something and can go any length to get it. He thought to himself as his mind drifted back to Jessica. He had trusted her and all she did was fed him to the dogs. So how was he suppose to believe a woman who had not been with a man for a while?

Considering the fact that Raven got into a rich home as his, she might be trying to root herself and not leave by getting pregnant. Just then he sat up abruptly, trying to remember if he had used condom or not but a sharp string of pain pulled at his forehead.

The pill was still working and he had disrupted its moment by standing up too fast.

“Oh damn it!” He expressed in annoyance.

He was angry. He threw the bottle of water on the table at the wall. This time his anger was directed at Jessica for causing him so much hurt and also at Raven for playing two goody shoes and making him seem like the monster that he wasn’t. Both of them had brought nothing but pain to him.

The last thing he wanted was to get worked up over anyone. He felt none of the ladies deserved his sympathy or care. They were just all out to use and make a fool of him.

Unintentionally, Christopher felt tears sting in his eyes as his mind kept going back to the article he read and how more beautiful Jessica had become.

‘Was he the problem?’ He questioned himself.

Memories of when they had been together flashed through and he didn’t see anytime he had made her uncomfortable in the relationship. Even when Benjamin had been against her, he had always fought against his best friend for her sake.

‘This is wrong!’ He said to himself holding up his head.

“This is so wrong!” He repeated out loud. “You shouldn’t be doing this Chris, it’s not your fault. They are just selfish beings. It’s not your fault.” He reassured himself several times.

Christopher returned his focus to the pile of files in front of him as he tried so hard to forget all about the previous night.