A Deal With The Billionaire

EPISODE ONE HUNDRED AND TWOPublished by Nôv'elD/rama.Org.

THEME: New Home

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, USA.

Raven drove into the house premises feeling exhausted. It had been a long ride. The ride to Brooklyn wasn’t as easy as she had thought, especially with a child. Even though it was just about three hours from Connecticut, it had been draining because she had never had to drive for one hour straight.

Since they left Connecticut quite late, they had arrived past noon to Brooklyn. She had had to stop half way and they spent the night at a bed and breakfast inn. Rowan had been thrilled with the whole journey and kept talking about how he was going to tell everything as regards the journey to Grandma.

Raven glanced at Rowan who was sleeping soundly at the backseat. There would be a need to sit him down and explain the situation they were in. If not, he was sure to blow their cover. Getting down from the car, she checked for the house key after locking Rowan inside the car. Raven was getting paranoid by the minute, coupled with the fact that she wasn’t familiar with the environment.

She kept imagining scenes where Jacob would pop out of somewhere and snatch her son away from her.

Checking the backyard, she found the key exactly where Kendrick had described it would be. She was extremely grateful for his kind gesture. Raven opened the door and checked to be sure they weren’t intruding before going back to get the bags first and then she lifted Rowan out of the car.

Rowan was a big baby when asleep, nothing shakes him unless he was awake by himself. The house looked like it was in use, everything was in place and the furnitures were neat but just few specks of dust on the floor. It was a three bedroom bungalow.

Raven already felt at home. The homely feeling that the house emitted made her eyes bleary. Her life had switched from all good and happy within few hours to running far from home to an unknown town.

Picking her phone up she searched for Tiana’s contact. On their way she had switched off her phone. The intention was to disconnect herself from everyone although she felt guilty that her mom had to be one of the people. However, it was the only option she had since her mother was sure to tell the Crawfords of her whereabout. Tiana wouldn’t though, which was why she was the only one Raven was determined to reach out to.

Raven had changed her line after they left the B and B. Also, she had written out the contacts she might eventually have to contact. Christopher was left out of it because she still needed time to sort herself before reaching out to them. And it still seemed so surreal that Christopher would stoop so low to fall into the whims of his ex-girlfriend.

Raven believed if Jessica wanted to be with him from the beginning, it wouldn’t have been hard for her to accept him. After many months of being strangers and when they eventually gave in to their emotions, Jessica had to show up and ruin it all. And Christopher made it easy for her.

Raven blamed herself for giving in so easily. It was her fault that she fell in love with him first and even thought they were destined to be together. She should have known better that happy endings weren’t her thing. Tears rolled down her cheek nonstop. Rubbing at her face, Raven sniffed.

She cleared her throat consistently. She didn’t want to sound like she had been crying when she spoke to her friend.

Dialing Tiana she sat on the long couch where she had placed Rowan, caressing his hair.

‘Is that you Raven?’ Tiana bellowed into the receiver sounding anxious.

She must have been worried sick about them, Raven thought. ‘Hi Tiana. Thanks for waiting on me.’

Tiana heaved a sigh of relief. ‘Oh! Thank goodness! I was so worried. How are you and how is Rowan doing?’

‘We are very fine, Tiana. How is everyone?’ She asked.

‘Do you really want to know?’

‘I guess.’

‘Well, Benjamin came looking for you through me and he feels hundred percent certain that I know of your whereabout.’

Raven chuckled dryly. ‘Are you both best pals now?’

‘You know that would never happen. Your disappearance was the reason he came to find me.’

‘That’s a good start.’ Raven teased.

Tiana grunted. ‘Can you quit being a matchmaker now? It doesn’t suit you.’

‘Has my mom called you?’

‘Not yet, she might not really be at alert yet.’

‘Can you please pacify her for me?’ Raven choked, as she felt tears stinging her eyes.

‘Just do well to take care of yourself, huh. Send my kisses to Rowan. I love you both.’

‘Love you too Tiana. Bye!’

The line went dead, leaving Raven with her thoughts. She had been tempted to ask after Christopher, wondering if he had tried to reach her or find her. Then again the image of how she had found both him and Jessica made her heart constrict.

Raven shook off the feeling as she stood up to ensure the door was locked before visiting the restroom. Turning on the faucet to wash her hands, her belly rumbled. She was hungry. The B and B had only offered them some bread that didn’t seem so palatable. Rowan had been forced to eat on the snacks they had brought along solely for him.

Stepping out of the restroom, she checked the kitchen store room and fridge but they all came out empty. Then she remembered, no one lives there. Going back to the living room, Rowan was still sound asleep. She checked her phone for any grocery store nearby and it was just few miles away. If she went on her foot she would spend about thirty to forty minutes to and fro. But by car it was shorter, which would enable her return early before Rowan would wake up.

Raven searched out her bags and brought out a sticky note and pen. She scribbled her whereabout with a promise to be back soon. She left it on the table, alongside chocolate bars and jellies, not forgetting his iPad to keep him company till she returned. The iPad seemed a bit low so she plugged it into her power bank.

Looking around to be sure he wasn’t in harm’s way with anything. Raven left the house, locking the door at the front. Heading towards her car, she opened it, typed in the address into the GPS and drove out of the front yard.