Her Billion Dollar Man

Chapter 4

She felt like the lowest form of life. Tyler was telling her about the mystery girl his brother was seeing and how he looked different and behaved different these days and she did not know how to respond to that. “I think he is falling in love,” Tyler said with a laugh. “But no one knows who she is or even what she looks like. I asked him about her and he told me that he is not ready to share her yet.”

It was Wednesday afternoon and he had just come over on his way home from school. It was the middle of September and the weather had turned blustery. She and Derek had been seeing each other for over a month now and although they had remained friends status they both knew it had become more than that.

“Maybe he wants to keep her out of the public eye.” She said casually, wishing she did not have to lie like this. Tyler trusted her and when this got out that she was the girl he was seeing then she was going to lose that trust and he might go back to the Tyler he was before: sullen and angry.

“Why? If I love someone I would like the world to know it.” She looked away from him as she realized what he was implying.

“I need to talk to you about what you think you feel about me Tyler,” she began, knowing that she had to start diffusing the situation now.

“I know what you are going to say Debra.” He told her with a sigh. “I am a teenager and I don’t know what I am saying but it’s just that you are the most beautiful woman I have ever met and I just don’t mean outside, although you are pretty fine looking,” he said with a grin. “I mean inside where it matters and you are easy to talk to as well.”

“You are going to meet someone even more beautiful than I am when the time is right Tyler and I am going to meet someone I am into one day and I don’t want to feel as if I have let you down.” She told him softly.

“Well you haven’t yet so let’s not talk about it.” He told her firmly.

She had dropped the subject reluctantly.

*****

“Why do I get the feeling that you are seeing someone?” Ana asked her the very next day at work.

They were on the early shift for the entire week and Debra had been spending a lot of time with Derek. He had taken her to out of the way restaurants and several times to the studio to avoid being recognized but she had a feeling that the time was coming when he was going to be. He was a top artist and his photos were everywhere. She had met his best friend Shaun and he had told them that they could use a cabin of one of his clients in the hills if they wanted to get away. She liked him instantly and he had told her that she was exactly the type of girl his friend needed.

“Why would you think that?” she tested the exotic perfume that had just come into the store and sniffed it, loving the subtle aroma. Not that she could afford it; she thought longingly looking at the price even with her employee’s discount it was too much for her.

“Because you look different,” Ana looked at her friend quizzically. Even in the plain dark blue sweater they were forced to wear bearing the store’s logo and plain khaki pants, she still managed to look exquisitely beautiful. “You have that: ‘I have a man’ glow on your face.”

“I think it’s the rose tinted glass you have on,” Debra gestured to the glasses the girl was actually wearing and ones that she had been wearing for the past week because she said it made her look like a professional. “You need to get rid of them.”

“I know what I see,” Ana took off the glasses and looked at her friend again. “It’s not the glasses,” she told her triumphantly. “There is that glow. Who is he and how is he in bed?”

“There is no man,” Debra insisted, wishing that she did not have to be hiding from so many people. “I just love my life that’s all.”

“Uh huh,” the girl looked skeptical but decided to let it go because there were several customers coming their way.

Thankfully she did not get to pick up the conversation because they were kept busy for the rest of the day.

*****

“You are unusually quiet,” Derek commented. He had picked her up from home in another plain car. This time it was a white Toyota Corolla with very dark tint.
She turned to look at him, her heart drumming at how handsome he was. Tyler was right, he was more relaxed and the times they spent together she had watched him grab a note pad and jot something down. “We are hiding from people we care about.” She told him the conversation she had both with Tyler and Ana.

“I want to go public Debra if you just say so.” He told her. He had stopped the car and she realized that they were at the studio.

“We can’t,” she said helplessly. “I tried to explain to Tyler that he was going to meet someone special in time and that I will too but he was not listening.”

“What can we do Debra?” he asked her. He had come around to her side and opened the door to let her out. They could not stay at her apartment because she had very nosy neighbors who would recognize him in a flash.

“I don’t know,” she rubbed her hands up and down her arms encased in a thin blue sweater as soon as they entered the building. She wanted to see him perform and make his magic in the studio recording one of his songs but she was not able to because they had to remain discreet. He was leaving on Saturday for another tour to Europe and she knew she was going to miss him so much. “I don’t think this is working,” she turned to face him, feeling the cloak of despair cover her as she looked at him.

“Stop,” he told her softly, lifting her chin so he could look into her eyes. “What is going on in that beautiful head of yours?”