Sold To Billionaire

Hot and Drippy

Ash

The constant thumping of her heart deafened her to the uproar of applause. She held Elis’s hand a little tightly striving to squeeze some comfort out of it. Her eyes were scanning the plain floor of the stage looking for a single thread of courage to grasp on while propelling her legs forward. She wondered if his eyes were still glued on her. She could feel the heat of his gaze though. And then Elise’s urgent steps came to halt making her pause too. His shiny black shoes that appeared in her line of sight and his intoxicating scent told her that they were standing quite close. His shoes looked brand new and very expensive. She wondered if he was one of those rich people who doesn’t wear the same shoes twice.           

“Congratulations,” his deep voice prompted her to look up at him. The knot in her stomach relaxed a little on finding his attention zeroed in on the little girl who had her face split into a wide grin. Warmth wormed into her heart when she noticed him caressing Elise’s hair affectionately. His expression mirrored Elise’s. A wide smile sat on his face while giving the trophy to Elise. He looked so harmless and almost friendly. The keyword is almost. Her train of thoughts derailed when he focussed his attention back on her. 

Elise stood beside her. “Congratulations,” he said again. This time to her. His curious turquoise orbs drilled into her blue ones. 

“Thank you,” she said meekly. There was no expression on his face. He just stood there letting his eyes do all the job for him. Ashley felt a weight lifted off her chest when other people on stage approached her creating more distance between them. Not for once while conversing with the president and staff, she dared to lift her eyes to look at him. In hope of avoiding any more interaction, she whirled and began striding towards the stairs. Elise fell in line behind her.

Elise was on cloud nine.She was jumping, squealing, and beaming with joy. Whereas, Ashley had her mind consumed by his thoughts. He was the chief guest everyone was talking about. The pair had made their way back to the stall. A few sweet dishes were left to be sold. Ashley planned to head back home as soon as they were over with the sale. 

A lovely hue of orange smeared some part of the blue sky indicating towards the sinking sun. Ashley and Elise had accumulated quite a handsome amount of money. Like usual, Ashley divided the sum in two parts. Elise received her fiftty percent and Ashley kept the other half. 

She hadn’t seen Daniel after the award ceremoney not that she wanted to. He must have left. Ashley rushed towards the donation room to deposit her share into the donation box. That was she was doing all these years with her winning amount. She had no use of this money. Michael provided for her. And she believed these children were more in need of these money.   

A yellow light was glowing in the room. A grey box made of steel was sitting on the table. There was a chair peeking from the behind of the bench. The small room was bereft of any human existence. 

Ashley hurried towards the box to unload her bag. There was a narrow slit on the top of the box. She started stuffing notes into the box. The woman was so occupied with the task in hand that she completely missed light footsteps echoing in the room. 

A smile of gratification crept over her face. These were the rare moments when she used to feel that she is not as useless as her husband deems her to be. Keeping that smile on her face, she spun on her heels only to come face to face with a familiar face. Daniel is standing a couple steps apart from her. His hands shoved in the pocket of his pants as he stood straight with his head held high. The soft yellow light bouncing off his chiseled features. A chill ran down her spine when she found him looking at her. 

As always, his face didn’t give away what he was thinking. Her heart beat faltered when he took a step towards her. She backpedaled in response. Daniel stopped noticing her inhibitions.