Page 9 of Billionaire Hunt

Chapter 3

I didn’t feel like celebrating. I felt like hiding under my pillows, but I had done that too much over the past few weeks. My savings were drying up and I just felt so lost. Grandma was staying with a friend and her stuff was all in storage until we figured out what to do next. Uncle Niko had headed back up to New York. I was all alone in my misery. I had considered bunking on Emmaline’s couch, but decided against it. Instead I was alternating between sleeping in the monstrosity that used to be Wyatt’s and my home and living in Oliver’s pool house, depending on the given night. Being in the house reminded me of my failed marriage and, per the divorce agreement, Wyatt got the house anyway. I was just buying time until he sold it from right under me like he had done with Grandma’s condo. I felt ridiculous, not knowing what to do next and at the mercy of my ex.

I felt as if my security blanket had been ripped right from underneath me and the world was again the hostile place I remembered it to be when I was 13. When I wasn’t hiding from my problems, I was on the internet. I had started applying to jobs and only received rejection letters thus far from the few interior design shops that were hiring. I could feel the weight of the world on my shoulders as I raised my hand to knock on the front door of Lacey and Jude’s loft. The doorbell had been broken for a while, but they were too cheap to get it fixed. They were billionaires, but too cheap to fix their doorbell. I guess that’s how billionaires stay billionaires, by spending as little as possible.

I heard someone opening the door and was surprised to see Emmaline standing there. She had beat me to the party. “Hi, stranger!” she said before embracing me tightly and I sighed against her shoulder and lightly hugged her back.

She pulled away and asked me, “Are you feeling okay? I’m sorry I haven’t had the chance to stop by to see you.”

“Don’t apologize. You have a life. A daughter. A husband. One friend going through a life crisis doesn’t need all your attention.”

“But still, I feel terrible. Are you doing any better?”

I lied. “Yes, a little.” I didn’t want her worrying about me. I was used to taking care of my friends and helping them get out of sticky situations, but for some reason I couldn’t ask them to do the same for me. It made me feel weak.

I knew I shouldn’t feel that way. They would do anything for me. Emmaline and Lacey had been my best friends since college. They had been two country girls and I had found them warm and authentic, a welcome difference from the girls we went to college with who had never left Manhattan. Emmaline had even gotten pregnant during college and had been ready to quit indefinitely, but I had arranged for her to stay with my grandmother who had become like a stand-in grandma for both my friends.

“What’s Granny going to do now? I heard about that jerk Wyatt selling her home.”

I shook my head. “I don’t know. She’s staying with a friend in a senior community. It seems like she’s having a blast actually. They’re always out antiquing or exercising.”

“Well, you and Grandma are always welcome at my house.”

I knew she meant it, but I didn’t want to inconvenience her too. Oliver was already too kind for letting me stay in his pool house. It had been months since the day I found out Wyatt was cheating on me, but our divorce had only been finalized for a week at most.

The loft was one big open space. I passed by the table where we were about to have dinner and made my way to the kitchen to see if Lacey needed help.

As I looked around, I was surprised at how clean the loft was. Lacey complained on a daily basis that Jude was a bit of a slob. I guess she had made him clean up before the big party. There were even tiki lamps around which made me giggle. But there were no signs of dirty dishes, old socks, or pizza boxes, which Lacey said frequently appeared whenever she left Jude at home alone.

“Hey, Lacey,” I said as I spotted her in the kitchen.

“Hi! So glad you’re here,” she said, coming over to embrace me. They were the only people I readily hugged besides my grandmother. I didn’t come from an affectionate family.

“Can I help?”

She looked around and it really seemed like she had everything under control. I think she came to that same conclusion.

“Go ahead and sit down or mingle. I have everything ready.”

“You can take this, though.” She handed me green beans. I sat them on the table when the front door opened again. Knowing it was just Oliver, I ignored it and focused on helping with setting the plates up for dinner.

As I placed another plate on the table, I looked up and saw Emmaline open the door to Oliver and behind Oliver was Erik. I was surprised. I glanced down at his hand and noticed Erik wasn’t carrying his helmet today. That was too bad, I thought, it made him look extra sexy.

He made his way around the room talking with Emmaline and Colin. He even joked around with Lacey while I finished up some last-minute place settings.

I watched him watch me as he came around the table to the only available seat. And of course, we ended up sitting right next to each other.

Oliver started talking enthusiastically as he sat down across from me. “Misha, so glad that you’re here. I looked for you at the pool house to see if you wanted to ride with Erik and me. Anyway, so like I was saying the other day, Erik here needs a ----”

“Personal assistant,” Erik said quickly, cutting off Oliver who looked at him funny.

I wondered what that look was all about.

“I need a personal assistant. Oliver here is going out of his way to make sure I find one.”

“Misha could do it,” Lacey volunteered happily. I looked from Lacey back to my plate, back to Lacey.

“I’m sorry, what are we talking about?”