Robert, Her Billionaire Widower

Vanessa returned his smile. She looked a bit confused, as if she had not been expecting a smile that was so utterly joyous from a man she had only just met.

“I would like to talk to you about something,” said Robert. “First, what coffee would you like?”

“I’ll just have a latte,” said Vanessa.

Robert ordered her a latte and ordered himself an espresso. He paid for their coffees and handed her his card.

“Please call me,” he said, “I might have a job for you, something that would be worth your while. I think you would be perfect for this job, so please do call me. It’s about Marie and… I think that you would really enjoy doing it too.”

With that, Robert exited the café, excited that he might have just found himself the perfect ghostwriter.

Chapter 3

Vanessa was excited. She had not been this excited about anything in a very, very long time in fact. Robert Wexler was one of the richest men in the world, he was the kind of person that you didn’t even think you would meet. She had been extremely surprised to see him there in that coffee shop, extremely surprised that he had talked to her normally. She had seen him several times on TV of course but she had not expected to ever meet him in real life.

Moreover, she had certainly not expected him to enjoy her work and to offer her a job. There she was, holding the card of a man that she had thought of as some sort of Greek God that resided atop Olympus, far away from anywhere Vanessa would be able to reach him. There she was, holding a latte that this man had paid for.

She sipped her coffee and wondered what the job was. He said that it had something to do with Marie. She had a feeling that it would be a biography of some sort, something that would talk about Marie in a positive light. He probably still missed his wife. She didn’t blame him. The whole world had missed Marie, the whole world had been sad when she had died. She had been an absolutely incredible person, an icon of modern literature, and Robert had been married to her. Vanessa had a feeling that he had loved her with all his heart and was not ready to let her go yet. He probably wanted Vanessa to write this biography so that he would be able to move on. It would be something that he could use to get past his grief and love his wife in memory. Vanessa was honored that he had thought her good enough for this.

Of course, she didn’t know for sure what the job was exactly. However, there were very few possibilities apart from the one that she was thinking of right now. What else could he possibly want her to write for him?

She was worried that she wouldn’t be good enough. She had never written a book before, after all, she had never even thought about it. Short form writing was her forte, it was what she thrived with. This, on the other hand, would probably be something that she would have to work hard at. It was probably something that would require her to put in the absolute extent of her mental faculties.

Vanessa hoped she would be good enough. She hoped that she wouldn’t disappoint this man. She hoped that in the writing of this novel she would help this titan of business achieve some sort of closure regarding the death of his wife and be able to move on and live his life to the fullest.

Vanessa desperately hoped that she would not fail.

*****

It had been four days since she had gotten the card from Robert that fateful night and she was quite excited that he wanted her to come over as quickly as possible. She had waited a day before calling him, not wanting to seem desperate, but when she had called him Robert had seemed more excited about the whole thing than she had. Robert had wanted her to come over as soon as possible, so she had decided that she would spend her Sunday at Robert’s home discussing what he wanted her to do for him.

She dressed up as best as she could. He was an incredibly attractive man. His hair was prematurely gray but this just seemed to make him look even sexier. The gray matched his eyes, and his pale skin was just tanned enough to allow him to pull off this look. He had a very silver fox feel about him and Vanessa was surprised to realize that she found him very attractive.

She dressed carefully. She wanted to look good but she didn’t want him getting the wrong idea about her intentions either. He probably had women throwing themselves at him left and right. Vanessa did not want to be just another one of these women.

When she arrived at his place he greeted her himself. Vanessa was surprised by this. She had expected a butler to open the door for her but Robert was clearly a lot more humble than other billionaires. He didn’t make an entrance or do any of the other silly things that people who had so much money did. This only ended up making Vanessa more attracted to him. It attracted her that he did not feel like the money he had earned over the course of his life made him better than anyone. He behaved like a normal human being.

It was slowly becoming clear to Vanessa why Marie had loved Robert so much. He was very down to Earth. She probably wouldn’t have loved him if he had allowed his wealth to make him feel entitled. She probably would not have loved him at all, because she had been the kind of person that did not care much for money. Most of the money she had earned from her books had gone to charity, even when she had published her first book before she had married Robert.