Beloved by You

by Sloan, Molly

  “Hey. They don’t have a full English fry-up in California. Who knows when I’ll get to have this food again?”

  Andrew came to the table with a bowl of porridge and steaming hot coffee, nodding at Michael’s plate. “Going back to the land of tofu making you hungry? When’s your flight, anyway?”

  “Actually, it’s whenever I want. I booked the jet. The pilot is waiting for me at the airport, in fact.”

  “Ah, the perks of being a billionaire.” To that, all three men toasted with their orange juices and coffees.

  Cole commented, “Sadly there are some things money can’t buy.”

  Michael nodded. “I’m just glad Ryan is going to be okay. It was pretty sketchy there for a while.”

  “Me too,” Cole added. Claudia has been bugging me to come home. Gotta keep the woman happy, you know?”

  Looking at Andrew, Michael said, “Speaking of which…what’s going on with Janet? And where’s Winston?”

  “Winston actually stayed in Botswana to help make sure that The Department of Mines was going to make good on their promise to the people of Francistown.”

  “Claudia told me what you did over there. Well done, bro’.” Cole playfully punched Andrew on the shoulder. “I wouldn’t want to be on your bad side. That’s for sure.”

  “Hahaha. Well. Thanks. It was just the right thing to do. I mean, what’s the point of having all this money and power, if we aren’t going to use it for good? I just wish I could do more.”

  Michael agreed. “When my investments took off and I made all that money, my dad sat me down and talked to me about the responsibility of wealth. He said, ‘It’s all well and good to have fun, son. But at the end of the day, you’re going to be remembered for what you did with your money. Did you make the world a better place, or did you act like that Billionaire Boys' Club, and use your influence the wrong way?’ His words always stuck with me.”

  Cole nodded. “Hey, we’re all billionaires. You, me, Andrew, and Ryan in there. We use our money for good. We’re The Billionaire Boys' Club 2.0!”

  Andrew took a big gulp of his coffee and pushed his chair back.“You know. That gives me an idea. Janet’s friend Nicole e-mailed me that the YouTube documentary she did on A Place for Grace is done. Since you guys are heading back Stateside, maybe I can change the perception of the name of the Billionaire Boys' Club. Work with Nicole to bring awareness to the good that billionaires can do. Each one of us has given back in some way. Let’s change what people think when they hear the name BBC. Not for ego, of course. But to spread the good word.”

  The men all stood, and Michael grabbed his laptop bag. “I like it. We can be the BBC 2.”

  Walking down the hallway to Ryan’s room to say goodbye, they were all chuckling. “Leave it to us to come up with a stupid club name after all these years. You can take the boy out of college, but you can’t take college out of the boy…”

  “A charity gala?” Fiona sounded surprised. “You want me to plan a charity gala? For Janet?”

  Fiona had flown back to New York at about the same time Andrew had come to London. They had been working with the time difference for almost a month now, with Fiona handling a lot of the business there.

  She’d been asking Andrew when he was going to come home for weeks, but Andrew had been putting her off. If he was going to get on a plane, it was going to be to see Janet.

  “No, I’m going to plan the gala. I just need you to handle a few details. And, it’s not for Janet. It’s for A Place for Grace. We’ll have the world premiere of Nicole’s documentary, and raise funds for the orphanage, so that innocent children with no family will have a home..”

  “Does this mean you aren’t coming home? Claudia said that Cole is arriving tomorrow.” Fiona was practically whining.

  “Is there a problem? If you don’t want to do it, I am sure I can find someone else to…”

  “No, no,” Fiona interjected. “It’s fine. You just caught me off-guard. Email me the list you have so far, and we’ll get going.”

  Chapter Sixteen: Goodbyes

  Janet had one black dress. It was a simple black sheath. Perfect for a funeral.

  Gouta had no family, but everyone in the community had loved her. Janet had invited the teachers and staff from the school, and it was likely to be a large, traditional ceremony.

  Standing sideways, Janet smoothed the dress down over her belly, peering to see if there were any change. Her abdomen was as flat as ever. Not for long, Janet thought.

  It had been a few days since the fateful dentist appointment, and Janet’s test confirmed the next morning that she was, indeed, pregnant. She was pregnant with Andrew’s baby! Although the news had come as quite a shock, Janet was elated. She found herself daydreaming about what the baby would look like. Would he have her red hair? Would she have his piercing eyes?

  But Janet hadn’t told anyone yet because she wanted Andrew to be the first to know. Their daily Facetime chats had been canceled the last few days - largely because Janet wasn’t feeling that well in the mornings anymore.

  They would bury Gouta before noon, as was the tradition, so right after breakfast, the small group gathered in the courtyard to get ready to head to the cemetery. Oba looked solemn but strong in his tiny, dark suit. Gouta had been Christian, and the service would be a blend of tribal and Christian expressions.

  “Is your man coming?” Elyse asked.

  She shook her head but didn’t say anything else. She was trying so hard not to let on about the pregnancy that she was afraid to even mention Andrew.

  The gravesite was still being dug when they pulled up. Gouta’s coffin rested on a wheeled cart under a green tarp. Seats positioned around it in preparation for the service. Oba was at her side, quiet and holding her hand.

  “Is Mama in there?” he asked.

  “Her body is in there, yes.” Janet touched the centre of Oba’s chest and said, “But your mama is in here. Always will be.”

  She’d been to so many of these, but her tears fell freely. Now that she was about to become a mother herself, she couldn’t even imagine the pain of knowing you wouldn’t see your child grow up.

  Elyse and Coral walked around gathering stones to build a mountain on top of her resting place. Someone started singing and the service got underway.

  As the final prayer was being sung, Janet looked over at Oba. His brave face had tears streaming down it. He sat tall in his chair, and he was gripping Janet’s hand tightly, his lower lip quivering. He was trying so hard to be brave.

  Suddenly, Janet knew. She knew without any reservation that Oba was her son now. That beautiful little boy came into her life for a reason. And that reason was for her to be his mother.

  Leaning over to him, she whispered, “I love you, little king.”

  “I love you too, Mama.”

  The next day, the phone rang in Janet’s office. It was Fiona calling from New York.

  “Andrew has been trying to get hold of you.” She sounded almost accusatory.

  Janet looked at her cellphone and saw four missed calls from Andrew. “I guess I forgot to turn the sound back on after the funeral.” Honestly, between the pregnancy fatigue and the emotions from burying a dear friend, all Janet could manage was to tuck Oba into bed and crawl under her own covers.

  “Oh yeah. The funeral. Sorry for your loss.” She paused long enough to be polite before moving the conversation forward. “Anyway, I guess I’ll be the one to tell you. Andrew is planning a charity gala in two weeks to raise money for A Place of Grace.”

  “Two weeks! How can he plan an entire charity benefit in two weeks?” Janet was both stunned and impressed.

  “Andrew has friends in every city, “ she said tartly. “Anyway, I’m calling to fill you in on the details. Andrew wants to send the plane and fly you in the day before.”

  “Wow. I don’t know what to say. This is all so sudden.”

  “Tell me about it.” Fiona lowered her voice conspiratorially. “Frankly I
was as surprised as you are, given how much he hates kids.”

  Confused, Janet repeated back, “He hates kids? No, he doesn’t. He loves kids.”

  Fiona chortled. “He loves other people’s kids. Sometimes. But we laugh all the time about the poor people who get trapped into having a family. Kind of cramps the billionaire lifestyle, know what I mean?”

  Janet leaned back in her chair, in stunned silence. Janet’s entire life was built around children. She was adopting Oba. She was PREGNANT! Pregnant by a man who didn’t want to have any. What did this mean for them?

  After the details of Janet’s trip to London were worked out, she hung up the phone in a daze. All she could hear were Fiona’s words echoing…“Trapped into having a family. Trapped…”

  The last thing she wanted to do was trap Andrew Atherton into anything.

  The two weeks had flown by. Janet had talked to Andrew a few times, but he was so busy planning the gala that the conversations had been really short. Which was just fine by Janet. If it were up to her, she wouldn’t even go.

  However, Nicole had been calling every day, completely excited about her movie premiere.

  “I can’t wait to see you. This is going to be so much fun. We’ll have a red carpet, and we’ve invited Madonna and Angelina Jolie. They have a soft spot for African orphans, as you can imagine. It’s so incredible that Andrew managed to convince them both to come on such short notice!”

  Janet didn’t really care which celebrities were coming, and she wasn’t looking forward to the “fun.” She just wanted to get it over with so that she could come home and get on with her life.

  Laying in her cold bed alone, the night that Fiona had dropped the bombshell about Andrew’s feelings toward having a family, Janet had tossed and turned. As the dawn crept through her window, Janet had come to a conclusion. She wasn’t going to tell Andrew about the baby. No, after the gala, Janet was going to break things off with Andrew. This time, the goodbye would be for good.

  Chapter Seventeen: Released

  “Do you have everything?’ Andrew carried Ryan’s bag containing the few things he’d had brought over to the hospital during the six weeks he stayed there after the accident.

  “Yeah, man. I’m good. I can’t believe I’m finally getting out of this place. What’s been going on in the real world? Did we colonize the moon yet?” Ryan was in good spirits as he was wheeled toward the elevator.

  “Not yet, but when we do, I’m sure that your family will be the first to build a hotel there.”

  “You’re funny.” Ryan stood and embraced his friend as the driver opened the car door. “Thanks so much for everything, Andrew. I’m still blown away that you all just dropped your lives and came all the way over here for me like that.”

  Andrew patted his friend on the back. “Hey. We’re the BBC 2 now. That’s what we do. We’re all about charity.”

  “Ha, the BBC 2. I wonder if that’s really going to be a thing now.” Sliding into the back seat of the limo, Ryan said, “Are you sure I can’t drop you anywhere? Hard Rock? Buckingham Palace? It’s the least I can do.”

  “No, I’m good. I’m actually meeting Winston in Old Bond Street. We have an appointment at Atherton’s, London.”

  “Finally tying the knot, are you two? I always did think you and Winston made a dashing couple…” With that, the door closed and the limo sped off.

  “Mr. Atherton. It’s an honor to have you here this morning. Here, let me take your coat.” Giles Davis wore a stiff grey pinstripe three-piece suit and had a diamond pinky ring on his left hand. “Can I get you something to drink? Coffee, tea, perhaps a breakfast cocktail?” he lowered his voice discreetly.

  “No thank you, Gilles. I am waiting on my associate. Bring him back when he arrives.” Andrew had spent his life around diamonds and he knew just about everything there was to know about the rare gem. But this wasn’t just any old diamond he was buying. This was an engagement ring. For Janet. The first time he’d proposed to her, it was so spur-of-the-moment that they didn’t have time to get a ring. Ironic, huh? The heir to a diamond empire proposing without a ring?

  Not this time. This time he was going to do it right. On bended knee and the whole thing. Starting with today, and buying the ring.

  He surveyed the shiny stones in the glass case. First, he would choose the stone, and then he would choose the setting.

  “Sir? Your associate is here.”

  Winston breezed through the door to the private back room. “Sorry I’m late. The plane was delayed.” Winston winked at his old friend.

  “You mean you were delayed, by Radhika.”

  “A gentleman never tells,” he grinned. “What are we looking at here? Did Nicole ever give you any information on what Janet likes?”

  “Nope. Not a word. We are flying blind here, mate.”

  “Well, do you see anything that catches your eye?”

  “Nothing as much as Janet. These are all gorgeous, of course. They’re ours. But, I want something a little more…”

  “Personal?” Winston added.

  “Yes. Something that reflects our history. Something that shows that she is joining our family heritage. WAIT. Winston. You’re a genius. I’ve got it.”

  Smiling, but a little confused, Winston replied, “If you say so…”

  The sun was shining brightly on this crisp London afternoon as Andrew finally stepped out onto Old High Street. Winston and Andrew parted ways, as Andrew had several meetings planned to finalize the details for the gala. There was a lot to do in two days, and Fiona was still in New York. It was up to Andrew to handle the last minute “boots on the ground” details.

  As he was walking, enjoying the fresh air, his phone buzzed. He didn’t recognize the number, but he answered it anyway.

  “Andrew Atherton.”

  “Andrew. It’s Nicole.” She sounded breathless.

  “Nicole! I didn’t recognize your number. How are things going with the documentary?”

  “I’m calling from a different phone. My iPhone got stolen!”

  “Oh no, I’m sorry.” Andrew shook his head.

  “That’s not even the worst of it. Whoever stole my phone actually hacked into it, and sent a message to everyone in my phone. All of my media contacts. Celebrities. Even my mother.”

  “I didn’t get a message.” Andrew looked at his phone. “Oh wait, yes I did. Since it’s a hacker, I’m not going to open it. What did it say?”

  “The theft wasn’t random, Andrew. The person who stole my phone said that they are going to release a YouTube video at the same time as the premiere.”

  “So, what does it have to do with us? YouTube is a huge platform. What do we care about some other documentary?”

  “The video is about you.”

  “Me? What about me?” Andrew was confused.

  “It’s an exposé on you and your friends. The Billionaire Boys’ Club Two.”

  “What? No. No one can have anything bad on any of us. This has to be some kind of hoax.”

  “It’s not. Come to my office and I’ll show you the video. Andrew, this could ruin the gala. And my career!”

  Standing behind Nicole, looking over her shoulder at the computer monitor, Andrew was sickened at what he was seeing. It was dark video footage of himself and Mykel Batou that night at the cemetery. Andrew’s hands were at Mykel’s throat and it looked like he was assaulting a government official.

  “Who took this?” Andrew demanded.

  “I don’t know. It could be anyone. Everyone has cell phones these days.”

  “Well, this isn’t enough to make a movie with. It’s just a clip.”

  “Watch this.” Nicole fast-forwarded to the next video clip.

  “Is that Ryan’s accident?” Andrew saw a black SUV flipping and crashing.

  “Yes. The narrator said that he was driving recklessly.”

  “He was swerving to avoid the other car! This is crazy.”

  “There’s more, Andrew. The whole
movie is clips of the four of you, taken out of context. It’s pieced together to make you guys all look like rich, spoiled brats who pretend to do philanthropy but really just use it as an excuse to do whatever you want.”

  Andrew slumped down in the chair next to Nicole’s desk. He didn’t even notice the expansive view of London out of her top, corner office window. This would taint A Place for Grace. If it got out. “What do they want? What can we do to stop the release?”

  “I don’t know yet. I’ll let you know when I hear from whoever is doing this.” Nicole put her head in her hands. “I’m meeting Janet at the airport tomorrow and we’re going to do some shopping after she gets settled at the Ritz...I don’t know if she knows anything, but I don’t want to be the one to tell her that her charity gala is in jeopardy.”

  “Don’t. Don’t say a word. I’ll handle this. I’ll find a way to stop this piece of shit from being released.”

  Chapter Eighteen: City Lights

  Looking out the window of the private jet, Janet tried to remember the last time she had been in a city as large as London. She’d been living in Botswana for several years now, and the simpler life had become the norm.

  Yet, here she was, on a Gulfstream IV, indulging in Godiva chocolates and non-alcoholic apple cider. The flight attendant had offered champagne but fortunately didn’t ask any questions when Janet turned it down.

  “You better enjoy it while you can, little princess. This is the last time we’ll be enjoying your daddy’s money.”

  Janet didn’t know if the baby was a girl, of course. It was too soon. But she secretly hoped to have a daughter with dark black curls, like Andrew.

  Tears threatened to sting her eyes, and so she forced herself to think of other things. “It will be great to see your Aunt Nicole again,” Janet told the baby. “Even if I can’t tell her about you.”