The Secret Billionaire: A BWWM Love Story For Adults (7 page)

“
I
understand that terrorists might try to board a regular commercial
flight. But why are they grounding the private fliers? There is no
terrorist in my jet.” Archer was on a rant.

“
You
know they can't let any airplane fly until the threat level goes
down. Why are you talking like this?” Phillip looked at Archer
and waited for him to answer.

“
What
do you mean? I always talk like this.” Archer said.

“
No!
There is something strange with you since you came back from Tokyo.”

Archer could
see a smirk on Phillip’s face.

“
Screw
you! I dodged a bullet there and you are making fun of me?”

Phillip just
smiled and shrugged.

“
She
was a crazy woman and I am glad I got off easy. God knows what she
was planning to do to me.”

Jane and Vera
could not help from chuckling on hearing this. Phillip and Archer
gave them ‘the look’ that made the girls turn their faces
away in embarrassment of getting caught.

“
I
want to get out of here!” Archer demanded. “Call somebody
and get my jet off the ground.”

Phillip did
as he was asked. He checked his contact list and made a call. “Hey
Eric, there is a little problem. We need to get our jet in the air
and their is a lock down at this airport.”

Jane and Vera
were constantly listening to the conversation at the table adjacent
to them.

“
He
really thinks he can bypass the security and fly off when everybody
else is grounded?” astonished, Vera asked Jane.

“
Alright!
Thanks.” Phillip hung up and looked at Archer, “Eric
said, he will get it sorted in around. We should be in the air in 10
minutes.”

“
Unbelievable!”
Jane scoffed listening to Phillip. It again drew the attention of
Phillip and Archer to them.

“
Excuse
me?” Phillip turned to Jane. “Is there a problem?”

“
Why
did you think so?” Jane replied in the same tone.

Phillip
decided it was best to not say anything else.

“
Lets
just get out of here.” Archer suggested to his friend and both
of the them left the lounge. Jane saw them walk out while Vera
chuckled silently.

“
What
assholes! They are actually going to bypass the whole security? Are
we not humans?” Jane said.

“
Ooh!
I have a private jet and I want to fly away from these filthy poor
people.” Vera tried to mock Archer and Phillip.

“
Daddy,
I am stuck at this airport with these poor people. Please get me out
of here.” Jane joined in.

“
I
swear to God, I am never going to date anybody like that.” Vera
declared.

“
He
owned a private jet. How would you come across a billionaire to
reject him as your date?” Jane asked.

“
Hey,
I was talking about his personality. Such a douchebag.” Vera
clarified.

“
Major
douchebag!” Jane added and Vera nodded.

*****

Archer was
looking out of the window of his jet. He could see all the planes on
the airstrip and the sky was clear. His was the only plane that was
in the air.

“
Why
do you think those girls were laughing at us?”

“
Are
you serious?” Phillip said, “You know why. Cause you are
rich and powerful. You took off from that airport when everyone else
is still stuck there.”

“
That’s
just the surface. Go deeper!” Archer smiled at Phillip.

Phillip did
not want to play this game anymore, “I am not a psychiatrist.
Just tell me what you think.”

Archer looked
out of the window one more time and then looked back at Phillip.
“That was their defense mechanism kicking in.”

Archer saw
Phillip looking at him with a blank face.

“
All
of us, are afraid of something or the other.” Archer explained.
“For instance, I am afraid that people are going to use me for
their personal gains. That is why I freaked out in Tokyo, because I
realized I was just a sex object for Claudia.”

“
Where
are you going with this?” Phillip asked looking confused.

“
Just
hear me out.” Archer assured him that he was on the right
track, “So when I figured out Claudia’s real intentions,
I freaked out. That — was my defense mechanism. Whenever I
panic, I freak out and try to run away.”

“
Okay!”
Phillip continued staring at Archer.

“
So
some people deal with their fears by running away, while some deal
with it by laughing at it. It's not a genuine laugh, but a petty
one.”

“
So
you are telling me that those girls at the airport were laughing at
us because they were afraid of us?” Phillip asked.

“
Not
afraid of us.” Archer clarified. “But intimidated. I have
seen this many times. Especially in boarding school. Some kids used
to laugh at me only because my family was deemed better than theirs.”

“
Where
did you learn this shrink stuff? Boarding school?” Phillip
wondered.

“
Documentaries!”
Archer replied. “You should invest some time in them too.
Instead of watching those girly dramas you like.”

“
Hey,
we discussed respecting each other’s choices. Remember?”
Phillip said angrily.

“
Alright!
Jeez!” Archer chuckled.

Phillip went
back to reading his magazine while Archer looked out of the window
again. There was something in that laughter that did not make him mad
or angry. For the first time in years after his boarding school,
somebody had disliked him for his money. Though he did not tell
Phillip about it, he felt really good, knowing that his money had no
value to a person sitting next to him. Those girls knew Archer was
very rich, but still they did not care for his money.

He kept
thinking about it during the whole trip.

*****

Sitting in
his rec room, Archer opened his laptop and googled dating sites. One
specific result stood out to him — It was a website for
adventure lovers. Archer instantly clicked on it and looked around.
He liked how the site felt and decided to make a profile for himself.
He added all the details except how much he earned or what he did.
And so when it came to put in his profession, Archer thought long and
hard about what to write in there. The only thing he could remember
was the girls laughing at him at the airport.

“
Hmmm!”
he suddenly had an idea and started typing — ‘Aviation
Industry.’

To him, it
was not a lie, because he owned two Jets and so it counted as being
in the industry. After all he was paying for the maintenance of his
two jets. Besides, he had a degree in aeronautical engineering.

“
Perfect!”
Archer smiled seeing his completed profile.

*****

“
Are
you sure?” Vera asked Jane who was on the other end of the
phone.

“
Hell
yeah! I got to know about this website from a friend. You are going
to love this.” Jane was all praises for this website and so
Vera opened it.

It was the
same dating site for adventure lovers.

“
I
know how much you like these things. Maybe you will find somebody
really nice here.” Jane said.

Vera thought
before doing anything and she took the website in through her eyes.

“
Alright!”
she said and started creating her profile, “Done!” she
said after finishing it.

“
That’s
my girl!” Jane cried in admiration, “Now go and browse
some handsome dudes.”

Vera heeded
Jane’s advice and started browsing the website.

After a busy week,
Archer got some time to unwind. He decided to spend the whole week
going on a trek in South America.

“
When
will you be back?” Phillip asked him.

“
After
a week. You will handle things here by yourself,” Archer joked.

“
I
didn’t want to tell you, but I have been planning to usurp your
business. Soon it will be all mine and you are going to work for me.”
Phillip replied with a straight face.

“
That’s
it? I thought you had more evil inside you than that.”

“
Unlike
you, some of us have to work here. So call me if you need anything.”
Phillip replied.

“
Okay
buddy. You do the same.”

“
Sure
thing Archie! Take care.” Phillip replied and got busy with his
work.

Archer left the country
and started his trek. He found a guide who introduced him to some of
the most amazing routes through few small villages in Chile. He
enjoyed every bit of it, but to his surprise the trek ended after
only four days. And on the 6th day, Archer was back in his rec room.

“
Where
are you? I have an extra day to not work.” Archer called
Phillip.

“
I
am busy here. I am sure you can come up with something for a day. Be
creative.” Phillip told him. He was unavailable and so Archer
had to find something to do by himself.

Suddenly, he remembered
about this website he stumbled upon weeks ago. He opened his laptop
and logged into his account. The website had a few matches for him.
And then, Archer’s eyes grew wide. He instantly recognized
Vera’s picture from the airport. The girl who ridiculed him for
being rich.

He chuckled for a bit
and then clicked on Vera’s profile. Turned out that the website
had suggested her to Archer because they both were in the aviation
industry and also because Vera was interested in trekking.

“
Wow!”
Archer was really impressed by her pictures. Though they seemed
really old, Vera’s pictures gained her Archer’s
admiration. Intrigued, he read her profile word for word and felt an
urge to know her. Her profile had her twitter and instagram linked in
and so Archer decided to take a virtual stroll and know more about
Vera.

Whatever he found about
this beautiful girl impressed him. And after a few minutes and
several megabytes of looking around Vera’s social media
accounts, Archer could not resist himself from sending a friend
request on the website. Now he waited for her to reply back.

*****

Vera was at
work when she received a notification on her phone. It was from the
dating site she had joined last night. At first, she could not
determine what this was all about.

“
What
is this?” she said unlocking her phone with confusion. In her
emails, there was a notification of her receiving a friend request.

Jane looked
at it and she instantly identified it. “It's from that dating
site silly. Looks like you have a new friend request.”

Vera clicked
the link in the email and she was quickly taken to her profile.
“Archer..” she read the name.

“
Archer
what??” Jane inquired.

“
Don’t
know. There is just Archer, no last name.” Vera read again
making sure she did not miss anything. Jane quickly took the phone
from her hands, “Show it to me.”

Jane’s
eyes grew wide as she browsed Archer’s profile. “Ooh, he
is handsome! Look at that hair.”

Vera looked
at Archer’s pictures and he indeed had beautiful hair.

“
I
just hope that is not a wig.” Jane joked and then gave the
phone back to Vera. “So, what are you waiting for? Accept his
request.”

“
What?”
Vera said. “He is a complete stranger.”

“
Maybe
you are forgetting how online dating works, you meet a random
stranger and then get to know them. That is precisely the reason why
the internet was created.” Jane finished.

“
You
need to read more about the internet. I am pretty sure that is not
the reason behind the creation of the internet.” Vera put the
phone back in her pocket.

“
What
are you doing? Accept that handsome man’s friend request.”
Jane ordered.

“
In
case you have forgotten, we are at work. I don’t know about
you, but I need to focus on what I am supposed to do here.”
Vera sarcastically reminded Jane where they were.

“
Jeez!”
Jane scoffed at Vera’s attitude. “I hope you don’t
talk like that on your dates.”

Vera gave
Jane a piercing stare that she returned with an equally strong gaze.
Both of them chuckled at their childish competition and went back to
work.