The Runaway Girl and The Billionaire

Chapter 6: Awkward Rejection

"That just doesn't seem like a big deal to me," Xyrus reasoned.

He was talking through the car stereo system with his cell on speaker phone. A few new investors had called, wanting to get in on his innovative designs and Akira was freaking out. She looked at all problems as bad, but some problems, like having too many people begging to give you money, was something Xy considered a good problem.

"They haven't even seen the prototypes," she reminded him.

"So, set up the meeting. Just e-mail me all the deets," Xy instructed calmly.

"Okay, I guess we can make it work," Akira relented as she always did.

"Sounds good. I'm just pulling up to the gym so I'll be offline for a bit," Xy explained before ending the call.

He had decided against his home gym in order to have an audience. Sometimes, he felt he needed to know someone was watching in order to keep from quitting, and that was usually the case when it came to lifting weights.

His personal trainer was away on vacation, so he would be alone, which was a rarity.

"Hey Violet!" He greeted the young receptionist at the gym.

"Xy! How are you?" she asked, leaning across the counter as she flashed her pearly whites.

It was obvious she had a crush on him, but he could never take her too seriously. She was far too young for him, but he had no problem soaking up the attention.

"I'm good. How are you doing?" he asked, pausing to give her his undivided attention.

"Can't complain. You know, Benny loves that pineapple toy you gave me," she blushed.

A few weeks back, after learning that she owned a cocker spaniel, Xy had brought her a squeaky toy in the shape of a pineapple to give to her furry friend. Now, every time he came into the gym, she gave him an update about how things were going.

"That's great. Anything for Benny," he shrugged and the two shared a laugh.

"Have a good workout!" Violet called after him as he made his way down the long, purple tunnel leading to the gym.

Hoping for an intense session, Xy stopped at the smoothie session, ordering his regular chocolate protein shake before running on the treadmill for fifteen minutes. There weren't many people at Fitness World early in the morning, which was the major reason he decided to come early.

Running was his time to reflect on his week, identifying places he could amp up his business to take things to the next level. Xy never wanted to get comfortable in his success, so he was constantly striving for ways to improve.

Akira had talked to him about being more open to building his life outside of work, but Xy struggled to see the value in that. Dating was such a gamble, and the idea of wasting time trying to get to know someone, only for it to lead nowhere, felt like too much to risk.
His time was literally the most valuable asset he had. There was so much he could do at work, or even in the community, and each would have a strong impact, much better than if he took a girl out on a few dates. As far as Xy was concerned, Akira didn't know what she was talking about.

For years, she had tried to set him up with girls and guilt him into including more than work activities in his schedule. What he never mentioned was that she was the same way.

Akira was the only person that knew more about his business than he did, and in the back of his mind he thought that maybe it was his turn to return the favor and set her up.
The thought brought a smile to his face, imagining his oldest friend on a blind date.