The Billionaire’s Over 40 Love

*****

Faydra did not have errands to do after work. Instead, she wanted to be able to get away when she told him she couldn’t accept the necklace—or him if he kept trying to buy her with gifts like that. It wasn’t that she wasn’t appreciative, but it was too early and too much. Like the ex that just bought her gifts to distract her from what was going on under her nose. It made her uneasy and made her struggle to trust him, which was not what either of them wanted so early in the relationship.

Cal had sent her the address, though she had a rough idea of where to go from the first night they were together. Luckily it was on the side of the city closest to her house so she had time to run home and change into something a little more casual.

Her home was small and had been purchased from her grandmother years ago. It was in a middle-to-low class neighborhood and a place that she didn’t want Cal to see. She wasn’t ashamed of it because she had purposefully decided to stay there where she could live and save enough money to buy or rent an apartment in the city. She had drawn out the plan years ago when she’d first started working for Candace, and now that she was months away from running her own store, she was close to moving out. But the house was a part of her, part of her history and her family. And while she wasn’t ashamed of it, she knew that bringing Cal there would change the way they saw each other and worsen the problems they were already having. She dressed quickly before getting back in the car with her night bag—just in case—and driving to his condo.

Cal buzzed her in and she took the elevator to his top floor condo. She knocked on the door and receive an “its open!” from inside. She walked in to find Cal in the kitchen, shirtless and chopping vegetables.

“Hey!” he exclaimed when he saw her.

“I’m glad I opted for casual,” Faydra joked as she approached him and wrapped her arms around his naked sides. His muscles were taught and his skin was perfect.

“Oh ,yeah. I’ll put a shirt on before we eat, don’t worry.” He kissed her and went back to the vegetables.

“So what are we having?” she asked, snooping into the pots and pans strewn about on the stove.

“A chicken pasta dish my mom used to make me when I was younger. Just forewarning you though, I’m not the best. But I do like to cook, not much time to practice though.”

“Well good I’m looking forward to trying it. Can I help you with anything?”

“Nah, not really. Maybe stir the sauce?” She did as he asked, checking on the sauce and stirring every few seconds to make sure it wasn’t burning. It smelled amazing, a combination of spices and mushrooms. It seemed to be a Marsala type sauce which made her excited. A timer rang somewhere and she moved out of the way so that Cal could check whatever was ready. He pulled out the chicken, which had been cooked to perfection, and set it on top of the stove.

She stepped back and started sipping on a glass of wine he’d prepared for her and watched as he finished preparing the dish. He put the noodles that had been boiling on the stove through a colander and then poured them on top of the chicken. Next, he added the fresh vegetables he’d just finished cooking and put them in with the noodles. Lastly, he poured the sauce over everything and covered it with foil.

“So that just needs to bake for a few more minutes, and then we’re good.”

“Awesome.”

He ran around for a few minutes setting the table and refilling their wine. They chatted about their days and more details about both of their future expansions. As it turned out, Faydra’s new store would be opening in a South Atlanta location that was closer to his Queens Headquarters. The irony of them both expanding their companies to the other’s location was not lost on them.

After twenty minutes, Cal pulled the dish out of the oven and spooned two heaping servings onto their plates. They set down at the table and proceeded to eat.

“This is delicious,” remarked Faydra after eating three bites without taking a breath.

“Good! Yeah, family recipe.”

“When do you have time to shop for all this?” she asked.

His face looked guilty. “Actually I wrote the items down on a list and had one of the interns pick it up for me. But I promise I know how to grocery shop! I just get really flustered after going and I wanted to be in good shape for this dinner. Not freaking out like a weirdo.” Faydra laughed. They continued eating for a while until they were both almost finished and Cal began to speak. “Okay, so I told you there was more to the necklace, right?”

“Yea,” she looked anxious.

“Well. There’s this big media dinner where all the top media companies and some of their biggest clients get together and have a big party. It’s a big deal and a great chance for me to get my name out there. So I was hoping that you’d be my date.” His delivery was much too chipper, Faydra thought as she considered his offer.

Here was a man who clearly was into her. However, every time she considered getting serious with him he would buy her an expensive gift or she’d be reminded that men lie and use money to cover up their infidelities. And while she wasn’t sure yet who Calvin was, she thought she was starting to get to know him.

She thought about the necklace. “So, why did you buy me the necklace?”

“Cause I thought you could wear it to the dinner, with a nice dress or something.” He probably didn’t mean for it to sound chauvinistic but it did. She rubbed her head in her hands. “Wait—what’s wrong?”

“It’s too expensive! And you know that, and you also know that I don’t like things like that. I don’t need you to pay to pretty me up enough to show off on your arm at some fancy function. That’s not me!” He looked hurt as he pushed his plate away from him.

“I thought you’d be happy to go out and have fun and dress up, I don’t understand what the problem is. I’ll take back the necklace if that’s really the issue. But you’re going to have to let me buy you gifts sometimes.”

“It’s not the necklace, it’s what the necklace represents. Maybe you think that I need it to be elevated enough to come to your fancy dinner, I don’t know—maybe you just bought it for me to distract me from what’s really going on.”