Page 39 of Billionaire’s Promise

June

It had been a while since I sat down and ate breakfast with someone. My normal morning involved getting ready really quick, heading to the gym, and being at the hospital before any of my team got there. Apart from my assistant.

She usually got there before me with my latte ready on my desk – my almond milk decaf latte. Why decaf? Well, I easily go through about five of them before 2 pm so ordering decaf was a way to keep my caffeine intake low – or at least controlled. Yes, most people hated decaf. It was disgusting. But I didn’t really enjoy the taste of coffee anyway, it was only a tool to keep me awake and alive.

Oh and no breakfast – no solids until after midday. My morning routine was so busy and stressful, and breakfast often ended up in the wrong place before it even had time to settle in my stomach. So, I just decided to not eat anything until things calmed down at the hospital.

The salmon bagels that Kai bought were really nice. It occurred to me that I might throw up since I really couldn’t remember the last time I ate breakfast but I felt fine afterwards. I knew that stress did horrible things to our bodies, but it was still amazing – from a doctor’s point of view – to experience it firsthand.

“Is Jenny going to be okay on her own?” I had asked him a few times about this and he kept reassuring me that Clare was keeping watch for now.

“I have a surprise for her though.”

I hated Kai’s surprises to be honest. He had very skewed ideas about things sometimes, like how he thought it was okay to give an 18-year-old 99 one-hundred-dollar bills.

“I’m flying Jenny’s best friend over so she can help look after her.”

“Oh? Does Jenny know that she’s coming?”

“It wouldn’t be a surprise now would it, if she knew?” Yes, he was right. But sometimes, best friends don't necessarily know everything about each other. Chloe and I were a good example. She ran away for ten years, and I’d had no idea that she was still alive and kicking. It still bothered me that she didn’t think she could trust me enough to drop me a line so I could quit grieving for her.

“I thought it would be a good idea.” He stared at me blankly, as if he didn’t see the problem.

“Maybe.” I couldn’t keep out the note of doubt in my voice and I watched with a twinge of guilt as his eyes went wide.

“Shit!” His voice was so loud I thought I felt the cutlery on the breakfast bar vibrate. “I, honestly, I thought it would be a good idea.”

It was somehow adorable to see him care so much about his cousin. My own brothers cared a lot about me, but I think it pained them to show me that side of them.

“Do you know her at all?” I asked, hoping to find out if the best friend was at least trustworthy.

“What are you talking about? I grew up with her, we are family.” Kai’s brows drew together in confusion.

I stood up, stacked up all the plates from breakfast, and took them over to the sink to be washed. “I mean her best friend, genius.”

“I see. No, I’ve heard Jenny talk about her, but I’ve never met her personally.” Kai came over and tried to take over the washing up.

“Please, let me. You brought breakfast, at least let me do the washing up.” He didn’t need much convincing and let me carry on. “Maybe make yourself another cup of coffee.”

“Great idea.” Kai searched through my cupboard, examining my coffee selection. Not all of them were still drinkable, I must admit. “Cat poop coffee?”

“Kopi Luwak.”

“Whatever. We call it cat poop coffee in China.”

I chuckled. “Yeah, that was a gift from an Indonesian colleague. Although that might have expired.”

As I suspected, not everything in my cupboard was still in date.

“You know I don’t believe in expiration dates. For most things, it really isn’t necessary to have one. It’s just a business strategy to make you buy new things! And coffee is definitely one of those.”

“Are you sure?” I raised my eyebrows as I questioned him.

“One hundred percent. Either way, I’m drinking this. You can’t stop me.”

Kai proceeded to make himself a cup of coffee with my coffee machine as I dried and put away the dishes. I did consider letting him do the dishes, because I was kind of curious if a spoiled Asian man like him would even know how. To be frank, the fact that he knew how to make coffee, to operate a coffee machine, was kind of remarkable.

My father, for instance, wasn't born Asian, but my mother had spoiled him during their short married life. She took care of him so well that he had forgotten how to do most things in the house. Washing dishes. Doing laundry. Brewing coffee. Even putting on his own slippers… and I wasn’t even joking. Hopefully with his new wife, things would change a little.