Robert, Her Billionaire Widower

She groaned internally. Her attempts at steering this conversation in a direction that would make her feel less attracted to him were ending up unsuccessful. Robert was still making her feel incredibly attracted to him. He was still making her feel like he was special, a man unlike any other, and this worried Vanessa. She wanted him to like her but she did not want to get inappropriate about it. She didn’t want to be just another person that wanted him because even though she didn’t want him for his money there was no way that Robert could know that so he would probably assume that she was just like every other woman in his life.

Robert smiled back at her and said, “So how about this. We can have two hours in which I tell you an episode from my time with Marie that I find special or important. You can ask me questions for about half an hour then we can take a break. After that we can simply do two more hours and a half hour question and answer session and you’ll be all done for the day. Does that seem fair?”

“Yes,” said Vanessa. “I will try to start writing a month after I start hearing your story. I won’t write a lot, I’ll just start putting things to paper so that you get an idea of what the final product will read like. If you have any comments on the writing style you can simply tell me. I’d be happy to adjust it according to your tastes. You are my employer, after all, you’re paying me to write this book the way you want it to be written. One request is that you don’t ask me to change too much about it because, at the end of the day, I am the writer and I know best about what would work and what people would want to read. Would you be okay with that?”

“Of course I would,” said Robert. “I would be completely okay with that. You’re the one whose name will be attached to the writing of this book, after all. I am a terrible writer, I would not be able to give you very good pointers. I wouldn’t want to alter the book and end up ruining your career because you had to conform to my terrible standards. No, this book will be written entirely by you, I will only remark on how you portray the events. If you portray something inaccurately I will tell you and you will, of course, have to change it because I want my wife to be portrayed accurately. However, I trust that you will not need me to do that. I have a feeling that you will not need any input from me while writing this book.“

Vanessa groaned internally again. Why did he have to be so understanding? She had been hoping to get a typical reaction out of him. She had been hoping that he would react in a way that would reduce how attracted she was feeling to him.

Once again Vanessa was assuming that he would behave, at least partly, like a normal billionaire. She had been assuming that he would be entitled and spoiled and tell her that he would have the final say, that he knew what was best and he would act on it. She had expected, even hoped, that he would tell her to do what he said because he was the one that was paying her but he had accepted completely.

He even realized that this book would be an important milestone in her career. The reason Vanessa was so impressed by this was that billionaires generally didn’t think about anyone else. They had spent their entire lives thinking about themselves, and they had so much money that practically everyone around them made them the center of their universe as well. However, Robert was somehow an exemption to this rule, and a rather miraculous exemption at that.

She sighed and said, “Alright, that sounds pretty perfect.”

“How will you balance this with your job?” asked Robert.

Vanessa laughed. “I’m probably going to quit. I was thinking about it, I have been thinking about it for quite some time in fact. I don’t think that you could have come in at a better time, Mr. Wexler.”

“Please,” he smiled, “call me Robert. Marie hadn’t been much about titles either and neither am I. I would prefer to have all of this be informal because we are going to be spending a lot of time together.”

Vanessa had been hoping that he would have insisted on her calling him Mr. Wexler. This would have allowed her to distance herself from him. She considered insisting that she call him Mr. Wexler but she realized that she didn’t want to. She wanted him to be comfortable with her, she wanted to be able to call him Robert. She wanted to have that intimacy with him.

Vanessa was afraid that she might not be able to separate work from play during this gig. She was afraid that she would end up doing something horribly intimate. What she did not know was that Robert was very attracted to her as well, though he did not quite realize it yet.

He did not realize that, without even realizing it, he was letting her in. He was allowing her to feel like she could be a part of his life and she was the very first person that he had felt this way with after a very, very long time. She attracted him because of her beauty and because of the aura of strength that she gave off. She attracted him because of the fact that she was so willing to quit her job and take a risk, he liked that because he did not like the idea of playing it safe and resting on one’s laurels.

“So why have you been thinking of quitting your job?” he asked.

“I’ve just been feeling like I’m in a rut,” said Vanessa. “If I’m very honest… Marie’s death played an important role in this. She was on her way to becoming one of the most important writers in America. She would have changed things, I really think she would have. Through her writing, she would have made people realize a lot of things and I mourn the loss of that bright future. I just… I don’t feel like talking about literature anymore. All of the books I have reviewed, all of the authors that I have interviewed, they all feel so… full of themselves. They act like they are the best thing in the world. Marie had not been like this. I don’t like people who think that they are the best in the world. I like people who are humble. And unfortunately, every single author that I have interviewed recently has made me feel sick of my job.”

“That’s really unfortunate,” said Robert. “I… I had no idea that you thought so highly of Marie. I mean I know that she was a highly decorated author, I loved everything she had ever written too. But I… I mean hearing it from you means a lot.”

Vanessa was taken aback. Her opinion actually mattered to this great man? Her opinion was of actual tangible value to him? She couldn’t believe it. How could she possibly believe it? She had no idea that he thought so highly of her.

“You know,” said Robert, “Marie often spoke very highly of you. She said that you are a great journalist and that while you are around she still had hope for the future of journalism in America.”

“That’s amazing,” said Vanessa. “I honestly had no idea that she, or you for that matter, though so highly of me. I really appreciate it, I do, I just don’t know what to say.”

“Don’t say anything,” said Robert. “You don’t have to. I am just telling you because I think you should know.”

“I really appreciate you telling me,” said Vanessa. “I think your story is going to be really interesting, I don’t think I have ever undertaken a project that was so exciting.”

Robert looked strange for a moment. He looked lost in thought before saying, “Yes, I am looking forward to it too. I’m looking forward to finally getting everything off my chest, of telling everyone, through your excellent writing, the story of my wife.

They looked at each other in silence. Vanessa did not know why Robert was looking at her like that. Robert did not know either. However, if someone outside the situation would have observed them in that moment, that person would have seen what was really happening. That person would have seen the spark of love that existed between them. One could see the inferno that this spark could eventually turn into if these two were not careful.