The Billionaire & The Barfly (Coming Home)

by Adrianne James

  “Yeah, it is. You remember that?”

  “Of course, it was important to you.”

  The knot in her stomach twisted and tightened with his words. They made her heart soar and that was not good. Space, they needed space. Boundaries. He shouldn’t be allowed to say those things to her. If she didn’t respond, maybe he would understand.

  “So, Batman?”

  “Aubrey?”

  “Hmm?” she took a bite of pizza, hoping a full mouth would stop the conversation she knew was coming.

  “Stop. I told you, I’m not going anywhere. We had come so far. You let me in. Don’t push me out now.”

  “I don’t want you to go, I just don’t want to hurt when I screw everything up and make you want to leave. You say you won’t now, but I won’t be enough. Or I’ll say something stupid and piss you off, or your company will become an international conglomerate, and you have to move to some place like Zimbabwe or Germany or Japan. What then? Wouldn’t it be better to enjoy each other while we can but keep ourselves from falling into a million pieces when it ends?”

  “Why does it have to end? Why would you think that you could ever do anything to make me stop—”

  Henry wasn’t able to finish his sentence because the door to the apartment flew open, and Ben and Mackenna raced inside. Aubrey was glad, too. She wasn’t ready to hear what he was about to say.

  “We’ll finish this later. Okay?” Henry said, holding her hand in his. Again, she answered with a nod.

  She didn’t want to finish it. If she heard him say what she thought he was going to, she wouldn’t be able to pretend she didn’t feel that way, too. She wouldn’t be able to keep him at arms length. And she would get hurt in a way she wasn’t sure she would come back from.

  “Why are you home?” Ben asked through deep breaths.

  “That’s kinda what I need to talk to you to about. Come on, grab some pizza, and sit down.”

  “So, is this Mr. Billionaire?” Mackenna asked with a tilt to her head and a fluttering of her eyelashes. “Kinda hot in that geeky Clark Kent kind of way.”

  “Um,” Henry looked to Aubrey for help. She was irritated at Mackenna for what she said, but wanted to laugh at Henry’s reaction to it.

  “That’s enough, Mackenna.” Aubrey shook her head and waited for the two to come and sit down. Mackenna managed to sit as close to Henry as possible without actually sitting on him. Ben watched with a careful eye that Aubrey could see was actually twitching every time Mackenna accidentally brushed Henry’s arm. “So, you know the insanity that started this morning. I hate to say it only got worse. Viola let me go.”

  Aubrey didn’t want to mention Henry’s company in any of it. He was already shouldering the blame because it was one of his employees that had been less than ethical, and she didn’t want Ben to blame him, too. After all, Ben worked for Maximus. And he was the only one employed.

  “Are you kidding me? What the hell did you do this time? What are we going to do?” Mackenna screeched.

  “That’s enough, Mackenna!” Ben yelled. Aubrey was shocked but glad that Ben was standing up to her. He had grown up a lot since they found out about the baby, and unfortunately, Mackenna hadn’t.

  “Shut up, Ben. You think your minimum wage fifteen hours a week is going to keep us in this apartment? The bills are Aubrey’s responsibility, and she just fucked up.”

  “If you can’t act like an adult, you can leave the conversation and start packing your shit now. I am tired of the way you treat my brother and me. My parents were right to tell you no to moving in. I am sorry that your parents kicked you out, but I can’t handle you if you are going to act like a fucking child. Grow up or get out. Those are your choices.”

  Aubrey was waiting for Ben to say something, to disagree or argue her case, but he didn’t. He didn’t say a word and that shocked her. It also shocked Mackenna who sat there and stared at him, waiting for him to say something. “Fine.” She gritted out through her teeth. Her arms crossed over her chest and threw herself against the back of the couch.

  “What happened?” Ben asked in a much calmer tone.

  “I didn’t get the contract. And they don’t like me dating Henry.”

  “Okay, so what do we do now? Do we have enough for rent next month?”

  “Rent yes, any other bill? Not really. I need to get a job and fast.”

  “You know I can help as long as you need me to,” Henry offered. Mackenna’s face lit up, and she sat forward with a smile.

  “See, problem solved!” she squealed.

  “No, not solved. Henry, I appreciate the offer, but you know I can’t take your money. I’m sure we will figure it out.” She couldn’t take his money. It wasn’t right. She had to prove to herself that she could figure it out. She refused to fail again, and accepting his money felt like failure.

  “Will you at least let me help you find a job? I have a lot of connections.”

  “That we can do.”

  “Mackenna, you need to get a job. No ifs, and, or buts about it. We all need to work together on this.”

  “But—”

  “No, Mackenna! That was the deal from the beginning. Just get a damn job.” Ben stormed out of the room. Aubrey looked to Henry and bit her lip. She needed to go talk to Ben, but didn’t want to leave him with Mackenna.

  “Go,” he said, softly. Aubrey leaned over and kissed his cheek and followed Ben into their bedroom.

  ~*~

  Aubrey knocked on the bedroom door, softly. She could hear Ben in there throwing things around. He wrenched the door open, irritation clear on his face.

  “Hey, can we talk?” she asked, waiting for him to dismiss her. She knew her brother. She knew when he was in a mood he usually wanted to be left alone, but this was different.

  “Yeah, come on in.” He walked away from her and continued to pick things up. Aubrey closed the door behind her and saw what he was doing. He was putting Mackenna’s things into boxes.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Packing her shit up. She isn’t going to grow up or get a job. What kind of mom is she going to be? How am I going to be able to afford this baby alone? When we started talking about keeping her, we said we would do it together. That we would both work to save as much as possible while she was pregnant, and then as soon as she could, she would go back to work. She was going to apply at day cares and stuff, so she could bring the baby.”

  Ben stopped packing and sat on the bed. He was just as dejected as the day he sat on her bed and told her about the baby to begin with. Aubrey sat beside him and wrapped him in her arms just like that day.

  “If she had told me back then that she was going to abort, or even give the baby up for adoption, I would have gone along with her. What the hell did I know about babies or working or any of that? But now? I love that little baby even though she’s still so damn tiny. How can I love her already?”

  “Because she’s yours. And you have grown up so much, Ben. It’s not going to be easy, I don’t think it ever will be, but you can do this. You know I will help in every way I can.”

  “You think it’s a girl, too?” he asked in a whisper.

  “Yeah, I do.”

  “Mackenna wants a boy.”

  “We’ll just have to wait for the sonogram to find out for sure, won’t we?”

  “What do I do if she doesn’t get a job? Do I let her leave alone, or do I move with her?”

  “That’s up to you, Ben. But I can’t let her act like that.”

  “I know.”

  “Would I be horrible if I stayed with you? Do you even want me to now that you have lover boy out there?”

  “You wouldn’t be horrible. You would be horrible if you turned your back on the baby. But you aren’t, and you can stay with me as long as you want. I have my own room so Henry and I don’t really need to be factored into your equation.”

  “Well, if I need to invest in some super strength ear plugs you do.”

  Aubrey’s jaw d
ropped and Ben let out a boisterous laugh. They had heard, and apparently, the brother-sister heart to heart was over in favor of the teasing she had been waiting to start since morning. She threw a pillow at him and left the room.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Two weeks. Two weeks had gone by and every single lead that Aubrey had for a job was squashed. The media circus had died down the minute the “it” couple of Hollywood had broken up. Aubrey had never been so thankful for an actor sloppily cheating on his wife in all her life. But that didn’t mean that all the corporations hadn’t seen the disaster that was her life just weeks prior. Even Henry’s contacts gave her a polite ‘No thank you’.

  “More coffee?” Henry asked from the kitchen, holding up a pot. He stood there in his suit looking all sorts of delicious. He had spent more than half the nights with her, and she was still waiting for the shoe to drop. Henry had carefully kept all conversations away from anything emotionally serious, and for that, Aubrey was grateful.

  “Yes please. I have to go get applications for retail places today. I’ve put it off long enough. The corporate world isn’t going to care that I worked my ass off for a company that fired me. I don’t have a degree so on the job training is meaningless. Good thing I know how to fold clothes, right?” she asked in a mock cheerfulness.

  “Are you sure—”

  “Stop right there. I can fold clothing or flip burgers, or ring a cash register just fine. I can work my butt off and learn a new industry and prove to whatever company that hires me that I am worth training to move up. Henry, I can’t take your money. Okay?”

  “I know you’re going through some crap right now, but I have to know that we are okay. Please don’t push me away now.” Henry’s eyes were focused on her, confusion and hurt written across his face.

  “We’re okay. Promise.” Aubrey couldn’t tell him she wasn’t pushing him away. She couldn’t lie. But she wasn’t exactly pushing. It was more like keeping them in the same place. No closer than they already were. She knew she felt things that hadn’t been said aloud, and she wanted to keep it that way. The minute they said anything like those stupid words out loud, everything would go to shit.

  “Okay. I have to go,” he said and moved to kiss her goodbye. His lips still sent tingles straight to her nether regions even after so many of them and that made her smile. “I’ll see you later.”

  “Bye,” she said and watched him walk out the door. She sighed and made a list of places to go after she finished her coffee.

  ~*~

  Aubrey stood at a counter filling out a paper application while waiting for the manager to come to the front. The clothing store she stood in was trendy and hip and meant for the teenage crowd. Once upon a time, this would have been her dream job. But in that moment, she felt so dejected.

  When the manager approached, a girl that couldn’t have even been old enough to buy a drink without a fake ID, she was wearing tight fitting jeans and a t-shirt that said ‘Parental Advisory’ on it. She looked at the girl’s obvious confusion and looked down at herself. Apparently her skirt suit wasn’t quite fitting for this type of job hunt.

  “Can I help you?” she asked.

  “I just wanted to introduce myself and give you my application and resume personally.” Aubrey held the papers out to the girl who took them with a smile.

  “Thanks, I’ll add them to the stack. I’ll give you a call if something opens up. Have a great day!”

  The manager turned and headed into the office with her papers. Aubrey sighed dejectedly and started for the front of the store. The clothing in there was fashionable but it was the same stuff that had been out the year before. Aubrey looked around a bit before heading out and to her next location.

  Aubrey climbed into her car and grabbed her phone. She purposefully left it behind knowing that a ringing phone would be unprofessional if she happened to get an on the spot interview. Waiting for her was a text from Henry.

  I know you want to stay in the city but there is a small house for rent down the street from me. Maybe you should check it out.

  She didn’t want to leave the city but rent was due in two weeks. If they paid it, they wouldn’t have light or even much for groceries. She wasn’t sure how it would work job wise either, but with no other options, she knew she needed to look. While she was in town, she would stop and talk to her parents about moving back into the attic. Again. Maybe they would let her borrow the cash it would cost for a moving truck. She would never take money from Henry, but her parents were another story.

  I’ll look. Need to prep the parents for the attic invasion anyway.

  Want me to meet you there?

  Up to you.

  Part of her wanted him there but another wanted to do it on her own. But every time she went to answer one way or the other, she thought of a reason not to. So instead, she would let him pick. She was pretty sure she knew his answer before he even sent it.

  See you in an hour.

  ~*~

  Aubrey drove the familiar rode from the city into the country and into the little town she never managed to really get away from. Was she meant for small town life? Was this the universes way of telling her to stop fighting it? It wasn’t that bad, she had just always envisioned the city as this glamorous place to live and work. But that was the thing. Living in the city without a job wasn’t glamorous. It was scary and damn near impossible.

  She drove through town and saw the little clothing shop that Henry had told her about on her first visit to his house, the one that she was supposed to get new clothes from but never did. If they were new, maybe they needed a cashier. It would beat the gas costs of driving to and from the city every day. She made it work before, but with a lower paying job and actual bills, she wasn’t really sure the city was the best place to work if she took the place Henry had found for her.

  The store front was similar to all the other little shops on the street, made of brick with big glass windows and a hanging sign in front of the door. Aubrey could picture it with mannequins in the windows and colorful signs. It could really be eye catching with the right changes.

  She climbed out of the car and walked in, the bell ringing as the door opened and closed behind her. The clothes were cute, and fresh, and could work for teenagers and twenty-somethings, alike. The owner had it split up into day wear and business wear, and Aubrey found herself wishing she had extra cash to blow. Why hadn’t she heard about this place before?

  “Welcome! If you need any help just let me know.”

  “Hi!” Aubrey said with excitement. “This is some really great stuff you have here.”

  “Thanks, I design it all myself.”

  “You’re Leena, right? I think we went to school together.”

  “Yup, that’s me. And you’re Aubrey.”

  “I am, and I am moving back to the area.” Aubrey gave Leena the resume she had brought in with her. “I would like to apply for a position if you are hiring.”

  “I wish I could help you. But I barely have enough to keep the doors open. I work the store on my own.”

  Aubrey sighed. Of course she couldn’t. Small town girl in a small town shop. Too bad her designs were so good. If Aubrey could get a hold of her marketing, she could seriously take her places. Then she perked up. She could help her with marketing!

  “Leena, have you thought about marketing at all?”

  “I don’t have the funds to really do too much. I mean, I posted in the local paper and sent a notice to the paper in the city, but it didn’t do much.”

  “What if I came up with a marketing plan for you that didn’t break the bank but brought in a ton of new customers? Would you consider hiring me then? I could help run the store so you could have days off, and I could be in charge of marketing and taking your name and clothing to the big time.”

  “Like a trial? You would do the marketing plan for free, and if it worked, then I hire you?”

  “Right. Give me a week. I need a job and you need help. You know tha
t means I will work my butt off for you.”

  Aubrey waited in silence while Leena thought over her offer. She was already envisioning an online campaign and setting up a website for sales and a fashion show at the high school. So many ideas were swimming through her head! She was getting excited.

  “Okay. One week.”

  “Thank you. You won’t regret it!”

  Aubrey left the store and practically raced over to Henry’s street. He was standing outside a tiny little blue house with a large front yard and a fenced in back yard. It had white shutters and a white door, and it looked like a little fairy tale.

  Aubrey had seen the house before. It had been there for as long as she could remember. But it always had someone living in it. She had always loved the way it looked and was surprised to see it was the house up for rent.

  “This one? I have always loved this one!”

  “Yes, this one. The family that was here before moved away, not sure why. But whatever the reason, it’s good, right? You want to look inside? The property manager is waiting inside for you. Ben is already in there looking around.”

  “You brought Ben? But I thought he was on shift all day?”

  “Eh, it’s a Saturday, and I already told him if he wanted to make up the hours, he could work tomorrow in the copy room since the coffee cart is closed. Plus, not many people are in the office, and he should see it too. Maybe convince Mackenna to help out.”

  “Let’s not talk about Mackenna. Come on, let’s go in.”

  The house was small but perfect. There were actually three bedrooms. The master had a jetted tub that Mackenna was drooling over and the third bedroom was small but perfect for a baby’s room. The backyard had fully grown fruit trees and plenty of space. The price tag per month was what really sealed the deal. It was half the cost of her apartment.

  She just needed to kill the marketing plan and get that job.