Billionaires Meet Millionaire (A Steamy Romance) Page 6

  "How was yesterday?" Her mother was wonderful at the art of changing the subject.

  "Right, yesterday. Well yesterday was overwhelming." Olta began. She didn't want to tell her mother anything about anybody just yet. Suddenly she remembered David and Miss Aliton. She started laughing partly at herself for forgetting about it and partly in anticipation of her mother's and Maggie's reaction. They looked at her expectantly and slightly worried. Olta stopped her laughter and went to get the phone out of the living room. She dialled David's number and as she waited for her brother to pick up the phone she walked back to the kitchen. The look on her mother's face was already priceless.

  "Just you wait." She whispered to the both them. Finally her brother answered.

  "David." He sounded a bit groggily.

  "Hey David, this is your long lost sister calling. Have I disturbed you?" She smiled, knowing very well she had awoken him. David always worked all night and slept well into the day. The advantage of being self-employed he called it.

  "Olta, why are you calling me at…" Olta heard some rustling on the other end of the line. "At one o'clock in the afternoon?" he asked in English.

  Olta smirked. Miss Aliton hadn't spoken to her brother yet, but apparently he had gotten used to switching languages whilst being barely awake.

  "Were you dreaming of beautiful American girls kissing you in Vlore, by the sea side?" Olta saw her mother was seriously starting to question her daughter's sanity. Maggie was just staring at her with blatant curiosity.

  "What!" Well, David was awake now. "How, what. Olta how do you know about that?" he squeaked, he actually squeaked.

  "You mean you were actually dreaming of my French teacher kissing you…" She asked innocently her smile growing ever wider and she saw some sort off comprehension dawning on her mother's face. Suddenly her mother leapt over the counter and grabbed the phone out her hand. Olta started laughing again.

  "David, you're sister apologizes for calling you this early but what in the world is she talking about?" Her mother voice was slightly accusatory. She didn't like to be kept out of the loop. Neither did Maggie for that matter as Olta felt an elbow connect with her ribs. She yelped. Maggie tried to look angry, but the curiosity won out.

  "Tell me." She simply stated. Olta quickly whispered the story into her sister's ear. Another priceless look was the result.

  "Nooo." Maggie whispered incredulously.

  "You better believe it sister."

  Her mother had moved out earshot as she was prying information out of her firstborn or, judging by her expression, rather giving him the first degree. She really didn't like being kept in the dark.

  Olta finished her breakfast and checked her bag; all the while being badgered by Maggie. Her mother hung up and looked at her daughters with a satisfactory smile.

  "He'll be coming over next Friday to explain himself properly." She stated as if it was an every day occurrence.

  "He's coming over, as in flying here?" Maggie finally managed after the both of them had been momentarily paralyzed by the information.

  "Yes Maggie, seeing as we now live on the other side off the Atlantic I do imagine it will involve some flying. Now , this girl is your French teacher, I understand. How did you figure out she's involved with David?"

  "Yeah, well she was asking about Tirana and everything because she had been over there and then she asked whether I knew a David Mehmeti. She explained she sort off was having it on with him after she been to Paris this summer. I remembered David having been to Paris and figured we were talking about the same person, so I told her he was my brother. And she practically screamed "That's fantastic" and she hugged me. In front of the entire class, mind you." Olta remembered the whole class staring at her as she made her way to her seat and she felt some her earlier anxiety return.

  "Sounds like she was just pleased to meet you." Her mother said playfully. Olta knew that her mother was fully aware of the discomfort attention caused her. Olta, however, had never talked about the nature of most of the attention she received or the extent of her discomfort. Putting the dishes in the sink her mother glanced at clock on the microwave.

  "God, it's already eight, we've got to run. I'll just get my briefcase and Maggie get your bag."

  Olta picked up her bag and headed towards the front door.

  "Amanda." Her mother called out just as Olta had opened the door. Olta turned her head around and as she did she collided headlong into something or rather somebody. She slowly turned her head back and looking up she looked straight into the surprised and amused eyes of Niall.

  "Good morning Tirana, thought you might need a ride." Niall said smiling and Olta felt the knot in her stomach tighten.

  Niall had arrived at Olta's house at exactly eight. Just as he was about to ring the bell the door opened and Olta walked into him. She looked up with a confused look. For a moment neither seemed willing to break the close contact between them. Niall knew he didn't he want to and he was glad to notice that Olta didn't seem too eager either. Just like the day before he felt himself drowning in her eyes. The confusing disappeared and was replaced by a combination of mild interest and indeed again insecurity. He had to suppress the urge to pull her even closer. After what seemed an eternity, but was more likely a second or so Olta took a step backwards. From within the house Niall heard a woman's voice calling. Olta turned her head to face the voice and Niall looked up in the same direction. A woman came towards them followed by a girl.

  "We need to hurry" she said but as she saw Niall, Bona stopped in her tracks. Niall saw the family resemblance. Olta's mother had a darker complexion though. It was the look on the older woman's which caught his interest. It was as if she had never seen a boy so near her daughter before and he saw curiosity and protectiveness overcome the smug smile she had been wearing before.

  "Hi," she said briskly but with a big smile coming around Olta. "I'm BonaMehmeti."

  "Good morning Mrs. Mehmeti. NiallFoy. I thought I'd give Olta a ride to school." He said shaking the hand she put out. The girl popped up next to her mother. Blushing fervently she too held out her hand.

  "MaggieMehmeti." Niall looked at the girl. He figured her to be around twelve. She and Olta clearly were sisters but Maggie had a set of black curls and her mother's brown eyes.

  "Excuse me for asking but how long have you had a driver's license for, Niall? And please none of that mrs business." Mrs. Mehmeti said sternly but with a small smile. Olta scolded her mother in her own language and Niall needn't to understand a word to notice the great discomfort the situation was causing her. Niall thought the situation was rather funny. He usually didn't meet the family while all hurled up on the doorstep.

  "For well over a year now, Mrs. Mehmeti." He said stretching the truth a bit by including the time he had had his driver's permit and ignoring her request. She glanced over his shoulder and her smile widened as she spotted his car.

  "Well, ok then. And please do call me Bona. You're not one of my clients. Now run along, I'm still running dreadfully late even if you picking Olta up does save me time." She smiled at Niall and nodded to her daughter. Niall thought he could hear a sigh of relieve escape Olta's lips.

  "Good morning then, uh Bona." Niall said hesitantly. "Maggie." He gave the girl a small nod and smile and the girl positively beamed.

  "Thanks for picking me up like this and sorry about that. My mom strongly disagrees with sixteen year olds getting a driver's license." Olta said as they got into his car. In the rearview mirror Niall saw Mrs. Mehmeti or Bona as she preferred, pull out the drive way. Pulling alongside them she and Maggie gave them a small wave and then they drove off. Driving after them Niall looked to Olta as he heard her sigh heavily. She was resting her head against the headrest in much the similar fashion as the day before. She looked at him and she was clearly thoroughly embarrassed. But Niall noticed she wasn't flushed. He gave her his best reassuring smile and turned to face the road.

  "Ok. So you have a mother, a sister he
re. Your brother and father are back in Albania?"

  "My brother is, but my father isn't." Niall heard Olta's voice tighten and glanced at her. She was looking out the passenger's window. She cleared her throat.

  "He died last year; it's the reason why we came out here." Her voice was still tight but it held no emotion. Niall was unsure how to proceed. He wanted to know more but didn't want to make her any more uncomfortable.

  "I'm sorry." He said, complementing himself for his astounding creativity. Olta kept staring out the window.

  "Thanks." Her voice was still flat. He heard her clear her throat again and she looked over at him. Glancing over he could see her eyes had darkened but there was a smile on her lips. One that didn't reach her eyes.

  "I forgot to tell you but that Altea girl sends you her sympathy. She seemed greatly stricken by the fact that, now how did she put it, ah yes that I've been forced down your throat."

  Niall looked over at her in shock and the car swirled momentarily. Quickly regaining his control he said. Altea really was becoming annoying or better said becoming even more insufferable than before. Apparently she hadn't just been complaining to her girlfriends.

  "When did you talk to her?"

  "Yesterday at lunchtime. She your girlfriend or something?" Olta fished and Niall liked it. Having admitted to himself that he after just one day was genuinely interested in Olta it bothered him that to no end that he was actually insecure about her feelings towards him.

  "No." was all he answered not wanting to go into Altea or give himself away.

  "You know, you never did get around to explaining the system in this school any further. I take it that Daniel and this Altea girl and your friends and you are the top of the pyramid?" Niall realized that Olta had just in one statement effortlessly separated his brother and his ex-girlfriend from him and simply changed the subject.

  "Yeah, I guess so. Altea doesn't really count though. She and her friends and many others are just sort off hangers on." It had been easy enough to explain the other groups who weren't considered good enough by Daniel and his crowd. But to go into his own position and just how that related to his brother and his family was not something he wanted to analyze. Olta was looking thoughtfully and Niall knew she wasn't going to let it drop.

  "Hangers on you say. So what you're saying is that your friends and you and your brother are popular simply because of your family's position."

  Niall cringed at her all too accurate description and he felt annoyed by it. It wasn't as if they didn't do anything productive to insure their status. Well he personally didn't do anything but he honestly didn't care about it. He and his friends just happened to be at the top of the food chain. Why? Simply because they were the children of some of the most affluent and important people in the region. Her assessment of the situation was correct no matter how harsh or disrespectful it sounded. Even though it had been just a day since they had met she seemed more aware of the way things worked than she let on. Prime example being how she had played along with him when he caught her with Daniel. She had played along and hadn't questioned him. Maybe she had just been too scared by Daniel or maybe she truly believed Niall had been looking all over for her. Which of course was true but he had been looking for because he had seen Daniel leave not because she had annoyed him in any way.

  "Pretty much, yes." Niall finally conceded rather harshly as he pulled into his parking space.

  "I'm sorry." Olta said softly. "I didn't mean to say that you guys ...." Niall wanted to dismiss her apology as Olta's voice trailed away but she continued "It's actually not that different from my old school. Although we never did have someone extending invitations and things actually seemed to be rather egalitarian, seeing as pretty much everybody's parents were important one way or another. But other than that things were pretty similar."

  He looked at her with slightly raised eyebrows as he grabbed his bag from the backseat. What had she meant by that? He wanted to ask her about it, but Olta was already making her way out the car.

  Niall noticed she did so in a seductively slow and graceful manner and felt himself swallow. No touching her today, he reminded himself, or at least no noticeable and will-send-her-running touching. Olta slamming the passenger side door shut shook Niall out of his reverie and he quickly got out. Olta was already heading towards the entrance. He sauntered after her just watching her walk in front of him.

  "Niall, my man." He felt Bailey jump on his back. "So a little birdie, well quite a tall one actually, tells me you like the little thing walking in front of us." Bailey said quietly as he jumped of his back and started to walk alongside Niall. Niall merely shrugged, but he just couldn't stop himself from grinning ever so slightly. Bailey noticed and matched the grin with one of his own. He leisurely threw an arm around his friend's shoulders.

  "And to think I actually didn't believe her. 'Al babe' I told her 'no way in hell is Niall liking a girl in this school. It'll be the day that I will profess my undying love for Jason'. But apparently all it takes is some new blood and we can say bye-bye to Niall. So thank you very much." Again Niall merely shrugged but the grin widened. Just then Alice and Peter joined him on his other side. Alice gave Niall a peck on his cheek.

  "I just think it's cute." Alice stated sweetly tossing up Niall's hair. Niall wanted to glare at her. However he couldn't manage to make it very convincing which caused both Alice and Peter to chuckle.

  There were many reasons why the four of them were still friends after ten years. One of them being that Niall knew that all the joking aside this bit of information was completely safe with them. Even if Peter hadn't hold his tongue.

  They didn't know any of the particulars but they knew that Niall and Daniel loathed each other. So they knew that no good could come from Daniel being aware of Niall actually liking a girl. Both this and the situation between said girl and Daniel the day before were clear causes to be cautious. Niall knew they knew and so wasn't surprised but grateful when Peter started about some basketball game as they came within earshot of other students.

  Chapter Nine

  As Olta sat on the bench on the porch she debated her options. It was Friday afternoon and she had successfully managed to lock herself out of the house by forgetting her keys. In her mind’s eye it could see them lying on the kitchen counter, next to her mobile phone. And of course they didn't have a spare key buried somewhere and of course her mother was having drinks with her new colleagues and of course Maggie was spending the night at a friend's place. Her predicament left Olta with two feasible options: she could either wait for her mother to return or she could be truly daring and go over to Niall.

  The fact that she was slightly underdressed for the chilliness of the autumn air and the promise of rain were great incentives to seek Niall out. However it would involve actually going over to his house and not only having to face Niall but in all likelihood Daniel as well. And Olta really couldn't stomach seeing Daniel anymore than necessary. Oh yes, the fates had been kind to her. Not only did she share practically all her classes with Niall, no of course his brother had to be in half of them too. Thankfully nothing similar to Monday's events had happened but it was evident that Daniel was keeping his eye on her, literally. Every time she was around him she felt his gaze. Occasionally she would catch his eye. And every time that same eerie glint would be in his eyes. Olta had to hand it to herself, only she could manage to completely fall for some guy in less than a week and grow to despise his brother at an equal rate.

  Her intention had truly been to try and avoid them both as best she could. Niall had, however, decidedly thrown a wrench in her plans. He had given her rides to and from school every day, even when he himself wasn't going home. She had tried to assure him that she could walk just fine but he had insisted. Olta secretly enjoyed these rides. They would talk about this and that or the ten minutes were spent in a comfortable silence. She learned that Niall really did not like talking about himself. If Bailey or Alice or Peter came up he'd read
ily share stories. But as soon as Olta asked something about him he would clam up. His answers would be curt occasionally bordering on harsh. Olta had already noticed this on her first day but it continued to surprise her.