Being a Colton.

010

****
Frederick's POV.

THE PAST.

****
"Oh! Well, I was thinking if we could hum... take a walk... at the beach." I stuttered.

Francis encouraged me to come and see and talk to her. Irene invited me in and we talked for a while. I decided to finally ask her. She nodded, "I would like that."

Five minutes later, Irene was walking side by side with me toward the elevator. She was in beautiful swimwear the resort gifted her. The elevator opened and I took her hand.
She looked up from her phone and smiled softly at me. I smiled back.

We rode silently down the elevator and we followed the path to the open beach. The cold air hit us as soon as we stepped onto the sand. Irene put her phone away.

"I know this is not a proper date, but I think we could get to know each other first, at least."

We started walking along the beach; Irene nodded, switched off her phone and focused on me.

"I think we should start with the basics," I suggested. "What's your full name?" I asked.

"My name is Irene Folashade Brittany Morris," she informed me. Oh! That sounded familiar.

"That sounds like a Nigeria name," I observed. She nodded.

"I am Nigerian-American," Irene answered me. "Your name?"

"Oh! My name is Frederick Lincoln Colton." I answered.

"I would never have thought you to be a Lincoln; well, it is a good name." she shrugged. "I am twenty-three." She answered.

"Twenty-seven," I answered.

"I know you are a billionaire and you work in Finance."

"My dad inherited a group of companies, finance, oil and gas, hotels and resorts, spas, luxury stores, etc. My brother handles the oil and gas firm and resorts, and my sister handles the luxury stores and some other investments." I involved her.

"That's beautiful. Well you know where I work," she said with a soft smile, and we continued through the beach.

"What do you like to do for fun?" Irene queried, kicking the sand. I thought about it, I never really have a lot of spare time. Running a billion-dollar company would take all your time and dedication to things. Staying in this resort even is a part of my work.

"I don't have much to do," I shrugged. "I don't usually have the free time to explore a lot."

Irene frowned as if she could not believe what I had just said. "But you are rich," she replied as it did not make any sense.

"Yeah?" I wanted to see where she was going with it, and why she was questioning the entire thing.

"You are rich? You can do anything." Irene waved with her hand all over her hand.

"It doesn't matter," I answered. "I have to continue working to make sure that everything went smoothly," I answered. Having money was not all that; my family had a lot of assets, and it still had to be managed.

"Well, you are correct. You are the expert here. I have no idea how money works." she shrugged and slammed her leg against the sand again.

"I do like painting though," I smiled.

Irene looked up, and my breath almost caught off. She looked beautiful against the moon and the ocean. The smelt of salty air and sweet lavender hit my nostrils. My breath hitched and a soft smile graced her lips.

This was art, the sort of art that I would love to paint. I never knew that would meet such beauty this year.

"What's wrong? Frederick?" Irene looked at herself, wondering why I suddenly went silent.