Page 21 of Billionaire Retreat

A few days later, I caught a ride straight from the airport to the Westmore Building. It was an impressive skyscraper that was ultra-modern and ultra-chic.

I nervously walked in and was surprised to see so many people working. I scanned the lobby for the security guard, Cliff, expecting a 60-year-old man with a potbelly and a sour demeanor.

I was so wrong.

Cliff was tall and willowy and looked to be maybe 20 at most. He saw me and gave me a wave.

“Are you Nina?”

“Mr. Hayes, err Richard, told you I was coming, I see.”

“Yep. Are you a gamer too?”

I hadn’t figured Richard for a gamer, but what did I know?

“Not quite. Cliff, I’m here to see Mr. Wallace.”

He nodded. “I’ll call his office now.”

A minute later I was heading up the elevator on my way to see Griffin. I was proud of myself for having gotten this far. This had been a piece of cake. But as the elevator reached its destination, my confidence dropped with every passing floor. I was nervous. Scared. What if he kicked me out? What if he didn’t want anything to do with me or the baby? What if he didn’t want the baby? I felt as if my heart was in my throat as I thought about all those scenarios.

The elevator reached my floor and I walked out feeling emotional, and ready to run away. I took a deep breath, squared my shoulders and walked straight into the office.

“I’m here to see, Griff—Mr. Wallace, please.”

The assistant, another young guy, reached for the phone and said, “There’s a young lady by the name of—” He paused, covered the phone and said, “What’s your name again”

“Nina.”

“There’s a Nina here wanting to speak with Mr. Wallace.”

“Ok...ok…” He frowned and listened some more. He looked up at me then with sad eyes. “I’ll tell her.”

“Mr. Griffin is currently taking a very important call.”

“Oh,” I said, no longer nervous, just disappointed and irritated. I didn’t come all this way for this. “But I was told to come up here by Cliff. He told me Mr. Wallace was available.”

“Yeah, that was me who Cliff spoke to. There was nothing on Mr. Wallace’s calendar, so I thought he would be able to see you.” He gave me an apologetic look. “I’m so sorry, miss. Maybe you can come back later?”

“Come back later? You think it’s that easy?” I found myself feeling so annoyed that I wanted to scream. “This… this… this is unacceptable!” I knew I sounded like an old, cranky school teacher, but I was mad. I was beyond mad, I was furious.

“What is unacceptable is you coming in here and making a scene. Now I suggest you leave, or I’ll have security escort you out.”

I turned around slowly, immediately recognizing that condescending tone, her grating voice. Her presence irritated me even more. It was the grouchy woman from my interview. What was she doing here?

“You!” we both said at the same time, clearly not happy to see each other. Apparently, she disliked me as much as I disliked her.

“What are you doing here? You’re that sequins bikini girl!” she scoffed.

“She’s here to see Griff—”

“That’s Mr. Wallace to you,” she growled at the receptionist who looked ready to hide under his desk.

“I need to talk to Griffin. It’s a personal matter,” I said shortly. I felt intimidated by her but I was determined not to show it. Too much was at stake and she fancied herself some sort of gate keeper to Griffin.

“Whatever you need to speak to Griffin about, you can tell me.”

Before pregnancy, I would have just walked away like a coward, but not today. I had too much to lose. I shook my head. “I would prefer to speak to Griffin only, please.”