The Billionaire's Dilemma

Chapter 7: Stella

Chapter 7: Stella

My foot went on tapping on the tiled floor incessantly as I checked the time on my watch. Trying to calm my anxious beating heart down, I opened my phone and scrolled through the music app, trying to find the right tempo. Just as I figured out one song I could listen to, the secretary called out my name.

"Yes?" I answered, putting down my phone and taking out the Bluetooth earphone from my ear.

"Mr. Kimball is ready for you, if you would just follow me please?" She smiled at me politely and then waited for me to get up and grab all my stuff.

As I was guided through the corridor, I couldn't help but marvel at all the certificates the company and its employees had received for their excellent work and all the various pictures with renowned dignitaries which hung on the wall in a way which was not ostentatious. The rich look of the wooden wallpaper combined with a clean carpeted floor made it look like I was walking in a resort.

As we reached the end of the hallway, the secretary knocked on the door two times before opening and gesturing for me to enter. Thanking her before entering, it took me a while to locate the person sitting behind all the paperwork on the mahogany desk and a while longer to recognize him.

"Stella!" Alexander got up from his seat and came around his table to give me a hug.

"Hey Alex!" I hugged him back. "Grey hair suits you." I joked, parting from him and settling my bag down on the chair in front of me. It was at that time that I noticed a really adorable orange bag lying on the seat beside mine. Looking around the room, my eyes finally caught the person trying to stay as quiet as possible in the small space between the two sofas behind me.

"Oh, where is Natalie? I thought she was with you?" I exaggerated my words, inching back bit by bit so that I could be closer to the sofa as Alexander smiled, leaning against the desk, and almost toppling over a large stack of papers.

"She didn't want to come today. She said she was angry with Aunt Stella because she didn't call her when she landed back in New York." Alexander said in a higher voice, causing a small giggle from the girl in question to erupt behind me. I tittered as I reached the position I wanted to be in.

"Oh, is it? I could have sworn I could hear her laugh from right here!" At the end of the sentence, I grabbed the crouching kid, twirling her around as she screamed in shock before laughing and clinging to me like a koala.

"I missed you, Aunt Stella!" She giggled and kissed my nose.

"I missed you so much, Natalie!" I grinned back, kissing her forehead in response, making her hug me tighter and almost choke me.

"You guys will give me a heart attack one of these days!" A soaking wet Zoey came out of the attached bathroom, glaring at the two of us while Alexander disappeared from line of sight, clutching his chest as he guffawed at the state of his wife behind all the papers.

"Zoey! What happened?" I laughed as Natalie detached herself from me and ran to the buzzer located on Alex's desk. After instructing the assistant to bring a couple of towels, she came back running to where I had draped myself on one of the sofas in the corner.

"I was washing my hands when I heard a scream from Talie and I just panicked! I accidentally rubbed the soapy hands all over my dress." She moaned as she sat down opposite to me, ruffling Natalie's hair as she settled down. All of us laughed again before a knock sounded on the door.

Natalie took off from my lap again, thanking the person on the other side before taking the towels from their hands and rushing back to her mom. I admired the intelligence and the devotion of the nine-year-old and smiled softly.