In Love With Mr. Billionaire

CHAPTER 1- CRASHED

"It's my birthday, Caroline. You can't ditch your best friend on her birthday," Nadia reasoned with me.

"I'm not ditching you, Nadia. You know what they're like. They'll never allow me to go out for a party," I told her, apologetically.

Nadia opened her mouth to argue, then stopped. There was nothing to argue about. And Nadia of all people knew it best.

I wasn't allowed to even step out of the house without my dad's permission. No matter how much I wanted to be with my best friend on her special day, I could not. His guards would be dragging me back home the instant he finds out I was out partying with Nadia. And she knew it.

She was the only person I could open up to in all these years. We met three years back, at 'Mike's Coffee shop', the cafe at which we currently work. I had been working here for a year when she joined. We hit it off almost immediately.

I turned away from her when a customer stopped by the counter for his coffee order. I passed him his frappuccino, which was the last drink order of the day. When I turned back to Nadia, she was still staring at me with hopeful eyes.

"Do you want me to talk to them?" She asked with a very convincing smile.

Remembering how the only few times she had talked to them had ended into a very heated argument, I shook my head, "no Nadia, you're not going to fight them." I took off my apron as the last customer walked out of the cafe. Nadia did too.

"Someone has to. You can't be trapped with them forever," she said, angrily. Her anger was more for me than with me. Talking about my family always affected her temper. She hated them. It was good to have at least one person who genuinely cared.

"But, I can't run," I forced a smile. Not that I have not tried.

8 years ago after that night when I had seen my mother for the last time, I had tried to escape. Every day after that incident, I had tried asking dad about her. He never answered. When I would keep nagging, he would hit me. When I ran away from his home the first time, he sent his guards to bring me back home. When I ran away the second time, he caught me and I was locked in my room for two days straight. The one time I tried to report him to a cop, he twisted the whole thing around and labeled me as a crazy child. It was then I realized, I can't really run away. He had money, which brought along a lot of power and influence. His connections were everywhere and there was no one I could go to. So, I stopped trying. Trying only made it worse. Not only for me but also for the people who helped me.

Nadia must have seen the hopelessness in my eyes because she quickly engulfed me in a hug. "I'm sorry I can't make it better," she whispered, tightening her grip around me.

"You make it better," I told her. Working at this cafe was the only time I felt at peace. It had taken a lot of begging, for dad to allow me to work outside his own company. In fact, Juliea convinced him to let me take a job at the cafe. She didn't want me at her workplace in their office. My presence made her sick. And the feeling was mutual.

"Enough of me," I said, breaking the hug. "Go away now. You have a birthday to celebrate."

Mike, the cafe owner, came towards us from the kitchen. He gave Nadia a bag and wished her a happy birthday for the second time. She peeked inside the bag. Her eyes twinkled seeing her favorite blueberry cheesecake in it. "Thank you, Mike," she beamed at him.

"Now if you ladies step out, it's closing time," he said gesturing with his hand towards the door.

"You're not going to the party?" I asked him. Our friends at the cafe were throwing a small party for Nadia at the nearest club. It wasn't going to be much, just a few drinks and random conversations, but it was going to be more than enough. Though it was amusing to note that the only person to not get totally hammered would be the birthday girl herself as she was allergic to alcohol.