Billionaires Meet Millionaire (A Steamy Romance) (22 page)

On her
way downstairs she had been greeted by the smell of pancakes,
telling her that escape was futile. She had swallowed deeply and
had entered the kitchen. She had stopped dead in her tracks and
almost burst out into hystMatildal laughter as she had seen Niall
sitting at her kitchen table drinking orange juice. He had looked
up at her with same look he given her earlier but minus the
roguishness. Her mother had greeted her brightly from behind the
stove. She had told her that she expected them to be hungry seeing
as they had missed dinner the night before. Then she had joined
them for breakfast telling Olta that she had to run to pick up
David from JFK. After her mother's sudden departure Niall and Olta
had finished their breakfast in silence. Niall had then gone home
and picked her up later.

Olta
had been afraid that Niall was simply going to ignore the
night before as he hadn't said a word to her during the entire ride
and been tapping his dashboard and steering wheel frantically. She
had been so very pleasantly surprised when she had moved to get out
of the car only to be pulled backwards and have her neck nuzzled.
He had whispered into her ear whether they could forget that
morning had ever happened and Olta had nodded
emphatically.

The
school bell put an end to her reminiscing. Just when she was
getting to the good part, Olta huffed silently.

As she
was putting her notes away Niall sat down on her desk with a
jump.

"You
didn't seem your usual attentive self, something bothering you?"
Niall asked with a knowledgeable grin, brushing a strand of hair
out her face.

Olta
faked a dreamy smile as she looked up at Niall. Okay, she
had intended to fake it but it had turned real as soon as she felt
his fingertips brush over her ear.

"Mmm?" she
murmured. "Oh, I was just remembering my tenth birthday party."

She got
up and felt Niall' hand on the small of her back as they left the
class room.

"Must
have been quite a party if it kept you distracted for the past two
hours." Olta shivered a little as she felt his breath on her
ear.

"It was
Math. Thinking about turnips would be more interesting." Olta said
as if it went without saying.

Moving
his hand to her hip Niall drew her slightly closer.

"Liked
your little display, though." Olta said with a small smile as she
caught his eye for a moment.

"Did you
now?" Niall said teasingly as he tickled her side lightly. Olta
swatted at his hand but to no effect.

"Now
tell me what is so interesting about turnips." Niall asked, trying
to sound serious and he stopped his assault.

And
talking about the always fascinating turnip Niall walked her to
Latin.

Olta
could have sworn she had only blinked her eyes once but all
of a sudden it was Lunch period.

She and
Niall were enjoying the pancakes her mother shoved into their hands
before making off to the airport. The fact that the two of them had
identical lunches was met with raised eyebrows but no questions
were asked. Instead they talked about the party and costumes. Alice
was put out to hear that Bailey and Niall would be wearing their
usual mobster tuxedos.

"Why
change a good thing?" Bailey said and Niall smiled in
agreement.

Olta
was silently rejoicing. As coincidence would have it, Niall
and she would actually wear something close to matching outfits.
There hadn't been a good bout of coincidence around this place for
quite some time now. She actually started to feel excited about the
party.

Suddenly
Olta heard Altea's voice rise above the general noise of animated
chatter and the clattering of cutlery. There was no doubt she
wanted an audience.

"It's just so
sad, the way she throws herself at him. Then again, what can you
expect from such a Eurothrash ho-bag."

Olta
snorted but the rest of her table more accurately chocked
on their food and drinks. She could hear similar sounds coming from
the tables around her.

Sure,
Altea had just publicly insulted her. But come on, the girl was so
delusional it was funny. A bit sad but funny none-the-less. Besides
when bullied, feigning ignorance and bad hearing were always the
best policy.

One
glance at Niall, however, told her he didn't agree. Before Olta
could properly register the angry twitch in his jaw, Niall had
gotten up and turned towards Altea.

"That's
it!" Even though Niall sounded pretty collected, his voice was
trembling slightly. The whole cafeteria was shocked into
silence.

"Let me
make myself clear for those of you who didn't get the memo. Most
importantly you, Altea." He spat her name with venom.

An angry
Niall really was not a pretty sight. Actually it was downright
scary. And by the looks of things he was only getting
started.

From her
vantage point Olta couldn't see Altea's reaction but she imagined
she couldn't look good right now. Olta felt sorry for
her.

"We broke up.
Six fucking weeks ago. Will you finally get it through you thick
skull that I don't want you."

So, it
was like she had thought. Niall and Altea had dated. Olta decided
to put that down to a severe case of temporary insanity on Niall'
part. Even if the girl was very pretty.

"You
have some fucking nerve to call Olta a ho-bag. I strongly suggest
that you take a long, hard look in the mirror before you start
throwing such insults around. And I suggest you do it now. And when
you return I would greatly appreciate it if you were to keep at
least three tables between you and me. For a very long time. " A
collective gasp went through the cafeteria.

Olta
could only sit in shock as she listened to his words. Did
this mean Niall was sort of banning Altea from Daniel's table? He
could do that?

She
braved a glance at Daniel.

He was
watching his brother with something akin to bemused anger.

Apparently Altea had acted in some way because Niall
continued.

"And
don't you dare turn to Daniel. Sitting at his table does not give
you the right to bash me or mine so openly nor does it protect you
from the consequences of such blatantly stupid behaviour. Now. Get.
Out. Of. My. Sight."

Olta
could hear Altea let out a strangled cry and she saw the
back of Altea as she literally ran out of the cafeteria.

Niall
glanced at Daniel before sitting back down; studiously
ignoring everybody at the table. He blindly reached out for Olta's
hand and grabbed it tightly.

Olta
and the others just looked at him, still too stunned to
speak.

Slowly the
cafeteria came back to life with hushed but furious murmurs.

"That
was.." Peter started slowly looking at Niall intently.

"Necessary." Niall finished for him, slowly meeting his
eyes.

"I was
going for 'a first' and 'harsh' but necessary will work." Peter
said thoughtfully.

"Remind
me never to get on your bad side." Bailey muttered, seemingly
engrossed in his peas.

"You
couldn't if you tried." Niall said throwing him a rueful smile
before turning his attention to Olta's hand. He had loosened his
grip and was now lightly running his thumb over the back of her
hand. His anger seemed to have vanished.

"I
actually thought it was sort of funny. Sad..but funny." Olta said,
glancing around the table.

She was met
with four incredulous stares.

"You
thought it funny to be called names in front of a greater part of
our year? To be humiliated so publicly?" Alice asked. Olta
shrugged.

"I just think
she made greater fool of herself than me, is all. I mean as far
taunts go I've heard them far more imaginative and accurate. "

Olta
realized a little too late what she had implied. And by the
looks of even greater disbelief her friends had picked up on it.
Not good. Those things were in the past, where they
belonged.

"I just
believe that you shouldn't have let her get to you like that." Olta
added quickly, looking at Niall. Surely that would deflect the
attention from her earlier words. And it did.

Niall
looked at her intently as if searching for something. Then
he just squeezed her hand, smiled a little and shook his head
almost wearily.

"Olta,
do you know what just happened?" Surprisingly it was Bailey who
spoke. Niall was still only looking at her intently.

Olta
had the distinct feeling it was a trick
question.

"Hmm, yes?"
She asked hopefully. Why did she all of sudden feel like an
ignorant child?

"What
you saw wasn't just Altea insulting you and Niall getting angry
about it and standing up for you." Peter explained
patiently.

"It
wasn't?" Olta heard herself ask stupidly and slapped herself
mentally. That they were treating her like a child didn't mean she
had to adopt the behaviour of one. Of course she knew there was al
lot more to Niall' outburst than met the eye. She just couldn't
read the subtext properly.

"Look
guys, how about we move this some place else." Niall said with a
short jerk of head towards Daniel's table.

And all
of a sudden the subtext hit Olta like an anvil. Like a very large
anvil with 'dense much?' written all over it in big bold letters.
Daniel. Niall. Niall. Daniel. How nice that it all came back to
that, once again.

The
realization must have shown on her face because Niall gave her an
almost sage smile.

"That's
my girl." He said, with a definite hint of pride. Olta sure did
like the sound of that. 'My girl'. Giving her a peck on the cheek
he took his tray and got up.

Olta
followed suit but not without a final glance at Daniel. He
seemed to lost in a deep conversation with Jason.

"How
about a nice stroll across our beautiful school grounds? What do
you guys think?" Niall said as they had cleaned away their
trays.

Olta
was about to agree when she noticed the questioning looks
the others gave him.

"Sure."
Peter answered unsurely and the other only nodded.

Olta
felt Niall wrap his arm around her waist and he turned
towards the terrace.

People
they walked by looked up at them and their conversations got more
vibrant once they had passed. Even though she knew there was no
helping it Olta didn't like all this attention. She didn't like the
scrutiny. And right now she was being scrutinized severely. Judging
by all the glowering girls she passed right now she thought about
ninety-nine percent of the female population, single or not, hated
her right now. Not that she could blame them. At least half of
these girls seemed to be a better match for Niall, and that was
only at first glance.

Olta
realized again that Niall drug induced affections weren't
going to last. Trying to block out the sad thoughts she snuggled
tighter into his embrace and she was rewarded by Niall tightening
his grip on her. And as she felt his lips brush her hair swiftly
Olta just had to grin. She was going to have her hart shattered to
a million pieces but there sure would be some awesome
memories.

As she
passed Josie she gave her a smile which was returned with a broader
one and accompanied by a mouthed 'told you so'.

Niall
suddenly stopped in his tracks causing Olta to stumble
slightly. Shooting her an amused and not quite apologetic smile he
swirled around back to Josie.

"Josie."
Niall said politely with a grin. Olta quirked an eyebrow at
him.

So Niall
knew Josie. Olta wondered what other revelations were in store for
her today.

"Niall."
Josie acknowledged slightly surprised but her smile was still
firmly in place.

"I was
wondering whether and your friends liked to drop by Alice's party
tomorrow." Niall said.

"That is
of course if Alice doesn't mind." He added looking over shoulder
grinning at Alice.