Beauty and the Billionaire

Part 16 - Pizza night

Chapter 61

ALTHOUGH it was a Sunday, the conference call was neither a joke nor a lie. At half-past ten in the evening, Miguel was still in the conference room of his Beverly Hills property. With him, taking notes, was Jessica. On the wall screen, he was providing real-time instructions to four of his people.

"Guys, the company is consolidating. After the buyback, it will take a while before Agamatomo gets back to its feet due to the repercussions, regardless of the deals it can attract. I'd rather have my certs be the first to go with the current price coz I'm certain they can't keep the buyback silent as soon as more shares get unloaded from private vaults," he waited for the team's response then, specifically, to his Japanese stockbroker, he added, "I am not looking at this long term so, Ikeda, make it happen before TSE closes today."

"Yes, Mr. Sevilla," came the response. Ikeda was Japanese-American. Born to Japanese parents, he grew up in Hawaii and went to college at UCLA, but decided to go back to the land of his roots and work within the confines of the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

"Further questions?" Miguel addressed the question to everyone. Knowing none was forthcoming, he added, "Let me know as soon as it's done," and ended the meeting.

As soon as the screen was off, Jessica asked, "Sleeping here or going back to the hotel?"

It would have been an easy yes, had it been an ordinary day. But in truth, Miguel was to earn $25 million after the Agamatomo transaction. And that's after rips and taxes. Should Ikeda drop the ball, he might lose a big chunk of it. That would certainly be an annoying mischance, and he would be frustrated with his TSE guy should that happen. Something that rarely happened. However, it could not even compare to his frustrations of not getting his alone time with Elysse.

That task should have been easier since they were thousands of miles away from her colorful, albeit chaotic world. But there was Bianca. And other celebrities were present like the singer and, of course, Stephanie. There was nothing he could do to keep them from talking.

"I'll be heading back," he finally told his EA.

It was just as Jessica was expecting. She called on Arman as soon as Miguel confirmed.

Chapter 62

SINCE Agnes got her an open flight ticket, Elysse's flight back to Manila was a non-issue. Something else had become an issue. It was the fact that she had been denying she was jealous of Stephanie. And it was overwhelming her. The thought perplexed her. Why would she even be jealous? Was it because after returning from Totoka, she had already resigned to the idea that she did like Miguel? It was fundamentally the reason why she agreed to that crazy agreement in the first place. Should she now admit she was essentially becoming jealous too? And why? Not liking what her realizations led to, she went for a night stroll at the beach. After getting off the elevator, she was surprised to see a friendly face.

"Jessica?" She blurted almost incredulously.

Jessica, too, did not expect to bump into Elysse. Additionally, she certainly did not anticipate the actress to walk up to her and hug her. Well, they did get closer days after Totoka, she silently reminisced.

Immediately after letting go, Elysse asked. "What are you doing here?" Promptly realizing how silly her question was, she added, "Duh?"

"Of course," Jessica responded. "But don't worry, I'm getting overtime and hazard pay."

Elysse chortled. She found the quip filled with humor. "I'm sure you're not staying in this hotel, so are you checked in nearby?" She asked interestedly.