Billionaires Meet Millionaire (A Steamy Romance) (7 page)

"Has the
great Niall finally found himself a girl, other than Miss Stone of
course, who he actually likes?"

Niall
looked her shocked at first but his look swiftly melted
into a stupid grin. This woman really knew him too well. Matilda
looked pryingly and Niall began to tell her about most of the days
events.

And once
he started he couldn't stop. His story was rather incoherent but
Matilda listened patiently as she refilled his drinks and prepared
dinner. It took him well over an hour before he had finished.
Matilda smiled at him from behind the kitchen counter.

"I didn't know
there're so many ways to incorporate someone's eyes and mouth into
a story." She was smirking.

Then
they heardDaniel's car pull up the driveway. Her smile faded
instantly and Niall got up. As he was about to leave the kitchen
Matilda caught his arm. She looked at him intently.

"I don't
know whether she likes you or not, heck how could I. But she does
sound like a very insecure girl who needs to find her way in a new
country, so take it easy. Besides, he could complicate matters."
She said nodding her head in the direction of the garages. Through
the window he could see Daniel get out of his car. He had brought
Sarah and Chris with him. Niall nodded smiling ever so slightly as
he felt a sense of dread creeping up on him. He quickly left the
kitchen and made his way to stairs. He could hear Daniel and
company making their way to the television room.

"Matilda, sandwiches and drinks in here!" He heard Daniel
yell through the hallway and he could only imagine the look Matilda
was given his brother from the kitchen and smirked at the
thought.

He
walked into his bedroom and picked out his notebook. He started on
his homework only to find himself distracted. Flashes of Olta went
through his head, accompanied by his brother icy voice calling
after her. Was she really that insecure? Niall wouldn't have
believed it if he hadn't seen it in her eyes. On the other hand she
had stood up to Daniel. Niall felt nauseas at the thought that
Daniel would bring Olta up at some point during this evening. He
tried to figure out what would be the best course of action.
Denying any interest in her would mean that Daniel expected him to
cut her loose after this week and that simply was not an option.
Having Daniel know of his fledging feelings was also absolutely out
of question. The hell with it, Niall thought, we'll just see how it
plays out. The nausea increased and Niall realized that it probably
had something to do with his bruises. He popped a couple aspirin
back as he heard the dinner bell ring.

Niall
made his way to the kitchen. His father was out of town so
Matilda saw no use to for the dining room. As he entered Daniel and
party were already seated.

"Hey
Sarah." He gave the senior a small smile. She smiled back. He
ignored his brother but gave Chris a small nod.

"Hey
Niall, so what this I have been hearing about you showing some
exchange student around?" she asked, true interest in her voice.
"Altea wouldn't let it go; she seems to think she's after"her
man"." Sarah smiled warily at him. Niall was glad that it was Sarah
who broached the subject. It gave him some leeway.

"Maybe you
could explain to her what being dumped means exactly. I can't
really seem to get that through that thick skull of hers." He
really was sorry about wasting a month of his life on that girl.
That's where drunken parties would get you.

"I tried
trust me. You know Alice has simply stopped talking to her
altogether. But the girl just doesn't get it." Sarah shook her head
in dismay. In a lighter tone she added. "But what of this exchange
student?" Niall took a bite of his salad.

"What of
her? Nothing to tell really. Only she has moved here, she's no
exchange student." Niall said flatly matching his expression to his
voice. Daniel was looking at him attentively and Niall slowly met
his brother's eyes. They were full of amusement, but of course that
was entirely superficial.

"Now,
bro, sure there isn't more to that? I mean you guy's seemed to have
a little bit of moment in the hallway during lunch and during
Geography you really were practically sitting on her lap." A smile
played on his lips. Niall's face didn't give anything away but he
hoped his brother hadn't seen the flicker of surprise in his eyes.
He had forgotten about the grapevine and the general buzz his
actions generated, no matter how trivial.

"So? As you
stated in History she is kinda hot. She might be fun." He idly
played with the food on his plate as if to underscore blandness of
his remark. His eyes were still locked on his brothers.

"You
have fun with her then, bro." Daniel said neutrally. Even his usual
malice didn't ring through. His eyes didn't seem to convey anything
either. Daniel broke the eye contact as he leant into Sarah to give
her a small peck on her cheek. Niall was relieved for it. He was
unnerved by his brother's reaction and it concerned him that he was
unnerved. It had a while since he had been unable to read his
brother.

"Do
think you could give me hand with my Calculus later on Niall?"
Chris asked.

Niall
had forgotten about Chris being there. Chris wasn't too bad
a guy. He was one of the old pack. There had been a time when Niall
considered him a friend and it was out of respect for this
friendship that he occasionally or rather regularly helped him out
with calculus homework. Chris never had been the brightest, due to
some kind of oxygen lack at birth.

"Sure."
Niall said and with that a silence settled over the kitchen table
as they finished their dinners. As promised Niall helped Chris out.
It was shortly after ten when they had finished. Chris apparently
had been saving up for a while.

Niall
was lying on bed lazily zapping through television while
actually thinking about Olta. Daniel bounced on his door. Niall
leaped up; thankfully he had long ago learned the advantages of
keeping his room locked.

"Niall,
out now!" Daniel called in his icy cruel voice from the other
side.

"What do
you want?" Niall called back forcing his voice to be lighter than
he actually felt. Niall decided he didn't feel like dancing tonight
and he fell back on his bed.

"I want to
talk to you, now" The volume had gone down but the cold malevolence
was still there.

"How
about, no!" Niall called back. He knew he was going to regret this
but right now he didn't want anything to do with his brother. Then
it occurred to him however that it might have something to with
Olta and he decided to swallow his pride.

Niall
opened his door. He knew Daniel would be waiting in the
hallway. They had been through this before. And surely enough
Daniel was there leaning comfortably against the opposite wall.
Niall matched his pose.

"And I
didn't even have to call again. You do know you're a spineless
bastard, don't you?" Daniel smirked without amusement, shaking his
head. Niall was unfazed by his words; it was all part of the
dance.

"I've heard it
before. You had something you wanted to say to me?" He said
nonchalantly.

"Yeah,
I'd really like for you to never ever speak of my judgments on
other women when Sarah or any other future significant others are
present." Daniel didn't move. His eyes said it all. They held same
look as when he had checked Olta out in Geography. But then again
Niall of course was and always had been his brother's 'special
case'.

"Sure,
whatever." Niall shrugged and turned back into his room. He closed
the door quite leisurely but locked it quickly. As he readied
himself for bed his mind was on Olta again and unfortunately his
brother too. His behaviour really did disconcert him. As he pulled
the covers over himself he realized he hadn't even offered Olta a
ride for the next morning. If he showed up at eight he could catch
her by surprise. Smiling at the thought of her surprised face he
slowly drifted to sleep.

C
hapter Eight

Walking down the stairs
Olta could hear her mother and sister
chatting merrily in the kitchen. Olta didn't feel that merrily. She
felt like she had major hang over. When her alarm clock had so
crudely awoken her it slowly dawned on her that she was dressed in
her t-shirt and underwear from the day before. She had figured her
mother had undressed her but she no memory of it.

In the
shower she had had flashbacks of her dreams. It had been some weird
and unsettling jumble of almost everyone she knew and events she
hoped wouldn't relive anymore. She had been back in Tirana and her
father, Niall, her brother, Daniel and some old friends had been
there, and it been all felt so suffocating, so inescapable. She had
washed her body vigorously, trying to wash away the images and the
anxiety they left behind. Slowly the images had faded but the
anxiety remained. Olta had steadied her breathing and the feeling
had subsided. Only to return full force as she was applying her
mascara and she thought of seeing Niall again.

"Hopeless." She had muttered at her reflection. "You're
hopeless, babe." She tried to smile bravely at her reflection but
it didn't feel convincing. She decided she'd keep out Niall's way
as much as possible and most certainly stay clear of Daniel. She
really didn't feel delighted to be going to school.

"Good
morning Sunshine." Her mother sang as she walked into the kitchen.
Olta kept her wavering smile as she sat behind the kitchen counter
next to Maggie. Maggie leant over and gave her a peck on the
cheek.

"What
was that for?" She asked her sister. Her sister just shrugged. As
annoying as thirteen year old sisters can be Maggie really did have
her good moments. Her mother handed her a cup of tea and a bowl of
cereal.

"So, the
jet-lag finally caught up with you? I don't think a round of cannon
fire could have awoken you and trust Maggie tried her best." Her
mother looked at her youngest in mock anger. Then she turned back
to Olta and her look changed from playful to worry.

Olta
was surprised to hear her mother inquire after her
well-being in Dutch. She just nodded warily and her mother gave her
a kiss on her forehead.

"How was
yesterday?" Her mother was wonderful at the art of changing the
subject.

"Right,
yesterday. Well yesterday was overwhelming." Olta began. She didn't
want to tell her mother anything about anybody just yet. Suddenly
she remembered David and Miss Aliton. She started laughing partly
at herself for forgetting about it and partly in anticipation of
her mother's and Maggie's reaction. They looked at her expectantly
and slightly worried. Olta stopped her laughter and went to get the
phone out of the living room. She dialled David's number and as she
waited for her brother to pick up the phone she walked back to the
kitchen. The look on her mother's face was already
priceless.

"Just you
wait." She whispered to the both them. Finally her brother
answered.

"David." He
sounded a bit groggily.

"Hey David,
this is your long lost sister calling. Have I disturbed you?" She
smiled, knowing very well she had awoken him. David always worked
all night and slept well into the day. The advantage of being
self-employed he called it.

"Olta,
why are you calling me at…" Olta heard some rustling on the other
end of the line. "At one o'clock in the afternoon?" he asked in
English.

Olta
smirked. Miss Aliton hadn't spoken to her brother yet, but
apparently he had gotten used to switching languages whilst being
barely awake.

"Were
you dreaming of beautiful American girls kissing you in Vlore, by
the sea side?" Olta saw her mother was seriously starting to
question her daughter's sanity. Maggie was just staring at her with
blatant curiosity.

"What!"
Well, David was awake now. "How, what. Olta how do you know about
that?" he squeaked, he actually squeaked.

"You
mean you were actually dreaming of my French teacher kissing you…"
She asked innocently her smile growing ever wider and she saw some
sort off comprehension dawning on her mother's face. Suddenly her
mother leapt over the counter and grabbed the phone out her hand.
Olta started laughing again.

"David,
you're sister apologizes for calling you this early but what in the
world is she talking about?" Her mother voice was slightly
accusatory. She didn't like to be kept out of the loop. Neither did
Maggie for that matter as Olta felt an elbow connect with her ribs.
She yelped. Maggie tried to look angry, but the curiosity won
out.

"Tell
me." She simply stated. Olta quickly whispered the story into her
sister's ear. Another priceless look was the result.