Led to Mr. Billionaire

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Grace and I left the hostel and walked to the shop so we could get all the ingredients we needed. We talked about her classes, assignments, and the subjects that were giving her a few problems.

We got back home and cooked for hours while Grace did her homework. We ate once the food was ready and sat together to watch a movie, which we slept off immediately after. I woke up to the sound of a knock on the door.

"Who's there?" I asked out loud so the person could hear me.

"It's Praise," My face immediately turned to one of confusion. I got up and picked up my phone from where it was charging to see that it was already 4:37 p.m. Wow, I didn't think I had slept that long. I opened the door to a very tired Praise.

"Ah, Dara, my legs are hurting me, eh?" She complained and immediately plopped down on the chair. If I wasn't still so drowsy, I would have laughed.

"Sorry. There is ogbono in the pot. You can make eba," I said, going back to my bed and unlocking my phone to see some messages from some customers asking if they could bring some clothes over.

"Thank you, Jare; I'm very hungry." She stood up to remove her clothes and headed into the kitchen while I answered some messages and noticed there was no message from Adeyemi. I wondered if he was as tired as I was.

Of course, he was.

He started a new branch and was still managing the main one in England.

Should I call him?

It's only right, right? I should probably thank him for inviting me to his party yesterday. But what if he's busy? Then he won't pick up the call, right? I tapped the phone icon and tapped his number, convincing myself that I just wanted to thank him. That shouldn't be hard, right?

"Hello," his tired voice made it seem like he didn't check the caller ID before answering the call.

"Why is your voice sounding so tired?" That was the first thing that came to mind.

"Darasimi, is that you? I'm sorry I didn't check before answering," he answered, confirming my suspicion.

'Yes, it's me. How are you? Why do you sound so tired?" I wouldn't exactly say I'm worried. It just sounded like the easiest way to continue the conversation.

"I'm a little exhausted. I'm at the office right now." His deep sigh made me flinch with a tad bit of worry. That's completely normal, right?

"Why are you in the office? You just opened, didn't you? And it's Saturday." My voice relayed the concern I was feeling. He chuckled a bit.

"Well, fortunately, the party went so well last night that I managed to seal a deal that unfortunately needed immediate attention, and since most of the activities here are on a trial basis, I had to hold conference meetings with the head office so the team over there could sort out the big things," he explained, making me nod even though he couldn't see me.

"Wow, I'm happy you were able to secure the deal, but you must be exhausted and tired. Have you eaten?" I was now concerned. I knew his favorite thing to do was work like me, which was why he needed to take care of his stomach first.

"I ate in the morning; does that count?" He sounded sheepish like he was caught red-handed.

'It doesn't; now be a good person to your stomach and ask your assistant to go get you something to eat. You need to take care of your body more, when you are under stress because you definitely don't want to know what a body breakdown means, alright?' I ordered in a stern voice, as I do on Grace.

"Yes, ma'am, sheesh, you sound like my mom." His tone was rather one of amusement, which hid the tiredness in them.

"Well, you must have forgotten I am a mom. Now call your assistant." I ordered again, and this time he didn't complain but called his assistant and told her to get food for him.

"There! Are you satisfied now? He sounded like a child, making me chuckle because his deep voice contradicted his attitude.

"I will be if you finish the food. When will you be done with your work? It's already five?" I asked as Praise came out of the kitchen and winked at me, to which I rolled my eyes.

"I just have one more conference meeting to attend with the developers and then some documents to sign and then a physical meeting with my workers and then I'm done"

"Just try and take it easy, okay? We wouldn't want the CEO fainting on his first deal in his new branch." I teased him, making him laugh. 

Finally. I smiled at the sound of his laugh. It wasn't too deep, but it was still very effective in making me smile like I had won an award.

"You forget that I have been doing this for years now. I am quite used to it already but I appreciate the concern really, I was starting to think you had forgotten me"

His British accent came into play.

"We saw each other yesterday; I think it's only fair for me to forget about you for a few hours don't you think?' I was teasing him, of course.

"Ouch, are you saying I am forgettable?" He sounded relaxed. I heard a door open and a whispered thank you from him.

"I didn't say that."

"Right. How is Grace? It's been a while since I saw her," He was now munching on something, which led me to believe his food had arrived.

"She's fine. We spent the day together and watched a movie, she fell asleep not too long after and is still dreaming right now," I answered while looking at the little girl beside me.

"Oh, okay. I would love to see her again'

"She has her inter-house sports on Wednesday, you could come with me to watch her run,' I couldn't believe I was asking him this.

"Of course, I'll come; just text me the time and where." I sighed in relief that I had not just embarrassed myself. I heard a door open, and someone said it was time for his meeting.

"Sure. You seem busy, let me leave you to your work at least you've eaten which reminds me, I need to eat," He laughed at my words.

"I have never seen a lady who eats as much as you," he commented.

"That's not a bad thing to me. I'm a growing woman" I must have amused him so much because he laughed again.

"It's not bad. Look, I really appreciate the call, and I hope it can continue, even work calls, okay?" I smiled at his words.

"Yeah, no problem. I wanted to thank you for yesterday. I had fun" I finally said what I called for in the beginning.

"I had fun too. Take care of yourself, I'll text you tomorrow" I nodded still, even though he couldn't see me. We said our goodbyes and hung up.

Was I allowing him to break down my walls? Could he break the biggest wall I've spent years building? But what worried me was,

Should I let him break it?