Marriage Of Convenience: A BWWM Billionaire Love Story (7 page)

“
Why,”
Sheila complained.

“
Because
he’s white meat trouble,” she said.

“
How
do you know?”

“
I
looked into his eyes.”

“
You
are such a choosy, picky, annoyingly biased human being,”
Sheila complained.

“
Why,
thank you girl,” Leila replied going into the bathroom to brush
her teeth.

“
You’re
going to end up old and alone you know,” Sheila said taking
advantage of her inability to answer. Leila just cast her a look,
rolled her eyes and continued brushing. It was almost eleven and she
didn’t know if her mother wanted to attend mass or not. She
spit out the toothpaste and turned to Sheila.

“
What’s
mama saying? Is she strong enough for mass?”

Sheila shrugged, “I
don’t know about strong enough but I left her changing.”

Leila gasped and blew
past Sheila, going to check on her mother.

“
Ma?”
she called.

“
Yes?”
her mother replied weakly from the living room. Leila headed in that
direction and found her mother sipping something hot while resting on
the couch.

“
Are
we going to church?” she asked.

“
Absolutely,”
her mother said. She was dressed in her Sunday best, and her hat was
perched on the table, awaiting transfer to her neatly coiffed head.

“
I’ll
just get changed then,” she said and backtracked to her room
where Sheila was still sitting on the bed.

“
It's
an affirmative on the church attendance,” she told her.

“
Cool,”
Sheila said and crossed over to her closet. “I’ll have to
borrow some clothes. I don’t have anything suitable to wear.”

“
Uh
huh,” Leila said knowing full well it was just an excuse to
borrow her clothes. Sheila liked to do that.

“
Hands
off the blue Balenciaga, it's rented,” she said.

“
So
why you still have it?” Sheila wanted to know.

Leila shrugged
sheepishly, “I’m still deciding if imma buy it or not.”

“
I
say buy it,” Sheila suggested.

“
Yah
thanks. Move bitch, you’re not the only one who needs to get
ready,” she said pushing Sheila aside. They got dressed for
mass with Raychelle chivying them to hurry up. The church was
fortunately not far and they were just in time for service.

The sermon of the day
was about recognizing the spirit of the lord in others and they
listened with attention as the priest intoned about the possibility
of finding God in the most unlikely places.

After mass was over,
they debated the merits of going out for lunch versus going home to
cook. Hunger won out and they decided to go to a local mom and pop
place that served a delicious after mass pot roast. They were joined
by Sheila’s mother and brother and after lunch, Sheila went
home with her family while Leila and Raychelle made their slow
companionable way home. They climbed the stairs to their apartment
and were surprised to find Jonathon lounging outside the door. Leila
stopped short a few feet before the door.

“
What
are you doing here?” she asked.

“
Waiting
for you,” he replied.

“
Well
obviously,” her mother said walking forward to open the door.
She seemed unperturbed by the continued appearance of Jonathon in
their lives. “Well, come in then,” she said.

Jonathon took her up on
her invitation and Leila followed, eyes narrowed and shoulders tense.

They all sat down in
the living room and Leila stared expectantly at Jonathon who leaned
forward and placed a paper on the table. Leila stared at it as if it
was a time bomb and might go off, and then she leaned forward to pick
it up. It was her mother’s hospital bill, paid in full…

Leila looked at her
mother. There was no way she was having this discussion with her
present.

“
Ma.
Jonathon and I need to talk. Would you mind excusing us?” she
asked. Raychelle’s eyebrow touched her hairline but all she
said was, “I need to rest anyway.” She struggled up from
her chair. Jonathon hastened forward to help her and went so far as
to escort her to the door of her room. She thanked him politely and
walked into her room as he closed her door behind her.

He walked slowly back
to the living room where Leila was standing where they left her, the
bill clutched in her hand.

She brandished it at
him, “Okay then. How much is this going to cost me?”

Jonathon laughed, “I
knew you were a quick one the moment I met you.”

Leila just continued to
glare.

“
Shall
we sit?” Jonathon proposed and Leila lowered herself into the
chair and crossed her legs. Jonathon couldn’t help it; he had
to look. She was wearing a nineteen fifties style A-line dress that
ended just below her knees so her gams were on display. His eyes
darted quickly to her face, hoping she hadn’t noticed his
momentary lapse in manners but no such luck. Judging by the
unwavering glare she was directing at him, she had noticed. And now
she probably thought this was some tacky sex for money deal.

“
My
father died on September 11
^th
.
He was a fireman,” he blurted. He was gratified to see that
he’d surprised her though she said nothing.

“
You
ever think there must have been other people who died on that day. I
mean people who weren’t at the twin towers. Isn’t that a
strange thought?”

Leila’s eyebrows
went up and her lips pursed but she still didn’t say anything.

“
Anyway.
He was a fireman and he and my mother were ecstatically,
embarrassingly happy. They were the kind of parents who held hands
when they came for my varsity games and kissed each other while
waiting to go in for parent teacher conferences. I found it
mortifying at the time,” Jonathon smiled ruefully. “I’d
give anything to give her back her husband now.”

Leila continued to
watch him.

“
Anyway,
my parents, they were just average joes you know? I mean I knew I had
an insanely rich grandfather, he sent me some out of this world
Christmas and birthday presents after all; but he wasn’t…we
weren’t…my father, he looked after us. We were just an
average family,” he said.

“
Why
are you telling me this?” she asked.

Jonathon sighed in
relief; he hadn’t been sure she was really listening. “I
need to give you some background. You need to know where I’m
coming from.”

“
Why?”
she asked.

“
I’ll
come to that. Can I tell it my way?”

Leila gave a one
shouldered shrug.

“
Okay
good. Well anyway, there was nothing different that day when we got
up. Dad kissed me on the cheek like usual and I wiped away his
imprint with the same irritation I’d adopted since I was
twelve. I regret that…” Jonathon looked up at her from
his contemplation of the patterns on the rug. “I regret that
every day. Why did I wipe it away? It was the last touch I would feel
from my dad.”

“
Better
than if he punched you in the face,” Leila said unexpectedly.

Jonathon laughed, “Yeah
I guess so. Anyway, the first we knew there was a problem was when my
dad called my mother to make sure we were nowhere near downtown. He
said there had been some sort of attack and they were on their way to
the scene. He told us to stay inside…”

“
The
baby sitter ran out on us that day. I was actually with my mother
when the call came in. Sitting at the back of the station, writing a
practice essay. She left me with the station captain while she went
to the site. He was frantic, trying to direct all the teams. I felt
his urgency, but I didn’t think it was anything out of the
ordinary. I just sat there, doing my essay.”

“
You’re
lucky. We were glued to the news channels, trying to find out what
happened. Mama was freaking out. It wasn’t until two men came
to our door the next morning that she actually broke down though.
After that, it was just her and me. For a while there…I
thought it would be just me pretty soon. She was messed up. I called
my grandfather and asked for his help.” Jonathon was looking at
her as he said this and she couldn’t help the softening in her
eyes. Clearly she’d been wrong about his not going through life
knowing about problems.

“
Well
anyway, that’s how James Maitland came to be in our lives full
time. I still lived with my mother though, and she clung to me really
tight after that. We’re still very close. It's important you
understand that.”

“
Why?”
Leila asked startling Jonathon. Somehow he thought she’d
already agreed to his proposal.

“
I’ll
get to that. Anyway, when James had his first stroke, I was twenty
two and something of a wild child. At least that’s what he
called me. I prefer the term free spirit myself. That’s when he
called me into his room and explained to me the terms of his will. I
had until the end of my twenties to get the wild child out of my
system. But on my thirtieth birthday, I better have settled down and
be a respectably married man if I intended to collect on my
inheritance. Failure to which, the entire fortune goes to charity.”

“
Wow,”
Leila said.

“
Yeah,”
Jonathon agreed nodding.

“
And
why are you telling me all this?” she asked.

“
Because
I’ll be thirty in six months…I’m running out of
time,” he said.

Leila stared at him,
“And…?”

“
I
need a wife,” he said.

“
I’m
going to need you to spell out exactly what you want
Jonny,
”
she said imitating Ken’s tone when she said his name.

Jonathon took a deep
breath, “I think that you and me would-“

“
No,”
Leila said.

Jonathon stared at her
and then nodded, “I expected that that would be your first
answer,” he said. “That’s why I chose you.”

“
You
chose me because you knew I would refuse?” she asked confused.

“
No,
I chose you because you have integrity,” he said.

“
And
you know that how?” she asked.

“
I
know because I’ve been studying you, researching you, watching
you…”

“
And
yet you come here with a paid bill as if it’s an obligation you
wish to lay on me,” she said. Jonathon smiled.

“
The
paid bill was an opening gambit. A way to say to you, ‘I’m
serious about this’ so ‘let’s talk’. That’s
all. It's no obligation; it’s a demonstration.”

“
A
demonstration of what? Your vast wealth?” the sarcasm was thick
in her voice.

“
A
demonstration of my good faith. There are advantages in this for you.
Your mother is ill; she needs more care than her health insurance is
willing to provide.”

“
You
bastard,” she replied.

Jonathon shrugged,
“It’s a good deal.”

“
What
exactly do you want from me? Don’t spare the details,”
she bit out.

“
A
valid marriage certificate. An undertaking to live with me for at
least three years. Your signature on a pre-nup and an NDA,” he
said.

Leila nodded her
understanding, “And what do I get for all this?”

Jonathon shrugged
again, “Anything you want.”

Leila looked down at
the floor. “Can I think about it?” she asked the rug.

Jonathon stood up.
“I’ll be back for your answer on Tuesday,” he said
before making his own way out. Leila exhaled and flopped back on the
chair, staring up at the ceiling.

“
Fuck
my life,” she said.

*****

Leila didn’t know
if she was authorized to discuss Jonathon’s proposal with
anyone. After all, she was supposed to sign a non-disclosure
agreement which assumingly included not disclosing stuff to her own
family. When Jonathon left, she also exited the apartment and walked,
in spite of her bum leg. She thought better when she was on the move
anyway…

She thought about her
mother’s health, and the care they would need, probably
continue to need for a long time. She wondered if there was a fund
she could access to take care of the medical bills. They’d
probably have to prove her mother’s illness was a direct result
of her work at ground zero. Leila didn’t know how long it would
take to prove that, and what the prognosis on her mother’s
health was. She looked down at the bill she was still holding in her
hand.

“
And
what do I get for all this?”

“
Anything
you want.”

“
Anything
I want,” she repeated out loud. “Can you make my mother
better?” she asked the piece of paper.

‘
I
can for damn sure make sure she gets the best care available’

Jonathon’s voice
spoke in her head clear as a bell. Was her mother’s health
worth bartering three years of her life?

Leila knew the answer
to that question. She just didn’t want to face it.

*****

Jaime Leary flew in the
following day and Jonathon met her at the airport and they drove to
his hotel where he’d already booked her a suite of rooms. As
she deposited her belongings in the drawer, he bounced on her bed,
updating her on the benefit.