Her Forbidden Billionaire

Chapter 7

A journalist? No. How could she be so reckless? After all the time spent hiding from everyone and everything she let it all go to waste. The gears in her head couldn’t stop spinning as she went through the journalist’s words over and over again. He seemed confident that she knew Dean. But exactly how confident? He mentioned her being alone there, then the connection to the CEO of Franklin Inc. Nothing certain. That was what she decided to take a hold of.

“Mr. Franklin?” She said acting confused. “I know him from… Work of course.” She added the same second she saw one of the waiters passing close to her. A brilliant idea popped up in her mind.

“Work? I think…” The journalist began as she suddenly grabbed the waiter’s upper arm. She led him with her a few steps from the journalist, yet close enough for him to hear over.

“Are all the trays full? Bring out all drinks from the storage! Don’t restrain yourselves! I want this party to be flawless!” She told the waiter who looked at her shocked and bewildered. She had to play the part till the end as it was her only chance to save herself from the mess.

“From the grocery store?” The waiter asked and she let out her breath. It was welcoming that the man cooperated even though he knew nothing. “Yes. Yes exactly. From my grocery store. I want to see all the drinks on the tables.” She repeated with the corner of her eye catching a glance of the journalist going away. Phew! That was close.

“Thank you!” She told the waiter as the man shrugged and returned to his regular job serving the guests.

She wiped a few drops of sweat from her forehead, coming to lean on the pillar once more. Sighing, she was glad that she evaded a huge catastrophe when the instrumental music became quieter and two gentlemen took the podium.

“Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention please…” The man holding the microphone spoke making all the chattering in the room vanish and be replaced by complete silence. Only the sound of sipping here and there rippled the air.

The speaker continued. “We are gathered here tonight to celebrate a giant in the entertainment industry!”

All the guests began clapping. A few female voices squeaked in joy whispering Dean’s name among themselves and that made Raina a bit upset. She knew that there was no reason for those feelings, but still the mere thought of some other women thinking about him was torturing her.

Jealousy or just a blend of excitement, pride and joy for her loved one overwhelmed her and she didn’t catch all words of the man on the podium. He mentioned something about the company’s background, the most notable events with celebrities they hosted, the concerts, premieres and so on. How the CEO was one very kind and professional gentleman that turned all of his goals and dreams into reality. But what was most important her senses returned to normal just in time to catch the most beautiful man in the whole building taking the podium.

“Dean Franklin everybody!” The man, who was apparently the manager of the organization giving the award, shouted, spreading his arms toward Dean that waved to the crowd happily. His eyes darted from person to person until he finally spotted her and sent her a wink. Raina winked back applauding with her hands above her head.

“Dean! I love you!” A woman yelled from the first row. She looked like a model to Raina and she bit her lip to suppress her anger.

“Thank you, John!” Dean ignored the crazy woman turning to the man that had announced him. “Thank you to your organization for this wonderful recognition! It truly means a lot to me and my team. We work so hard every day even full nights until the sun shines and reminds us that we have to go home. So you can imagine what an award like this brings to us! Pure joy! Pure motivation to continue forward! Also, thank you to the entertainment industry for giving me a chance to prove what I and my company can do! Thank you to all the stars that were or still are our clients! Thank you to all present guests! And most importantly, I want to sincerely thank a person that is very dear to my heart! She makes me a better man every day and without her all of this wouldn’t matter as much as it does to me now!” He smiled discreetly motioning to her with his hand in a heart gesture.

“I love you!” She said to herself silently forming the words with her lips so that he could understand her. As much as she wanted to contain them, tears escaped from the corners of her eyes and wet her cheeks. She was so proud of her man.

Even though she knew that no one could guess who he was talking about, she felt like all eyes were pointed at her and her cheeks burned. Hearing that she meant so much to him, that she made him a better person, truly melted her heart. She was grateful to God and destiny for bringing him in her life. Without him nothing would be the same for her, too.

John brought the award before Dean and handed it to him. It was golden, shining in the light as Dean lifted it in the air accompanied by loud cheers and chants of his name. What a night!

Confetti instantly flew on all sides, falling in hair and drinks and purses while the celebrities flocked the podium to say their congratulations and hug him. Like hungry animals the females groped for him forcing him to step down and join them. For a moment everything became a mess of loud noises and screams and claps until the music began playing again and the atmosphere subsided a little. This time the instrumental notes were replaced by a dance beat that summoned all guests to the dance floor that they formed in the middle by themselves.

One by one all of them found a partner and began showing off their dancing moves while the others cheered around them. Raina was able to recognize one of the actors she and Veronica had drooled over in the cinema when they had been young and chuckled to herself. She was having so much fun watching the stars like that with the glass of champagne in her hands. After all, it was from her grocery store. It had to be excellent.