The Billion Dollar Contract

Chapter 13

"Hi Rick," Nicole nervously greeted as she answered the phone.

"Nicole, why did it take you forever to pick up my call?" Rick asked the moment he heard Nicole's voice.

"I um... I wasn't close to my phone, uh... How are you doing?"

"Are you okay? You sound nervous."

"Yeah yeah, I am," Nicole replied, internally cursing herself for not being able to hide her nervousness.

"Vanessa and I are worried about you. You didn't show up for work so we went to your apartment to check up on you but your place was locked... Where are you?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't tell you guys because everything happened so suddenly. Something came up, so I had to leave New York in a hurry."

"What's wrong? Did something bad happen?" Rick asked sounding quite worried.

Nicole felt bad for lying but she had to keep up with the act to save herself from getting into trouble with Gabriel.

"No no, everything is fine. Nothing bad happened so there's nothing to worry about... I just need to take care of something important."

"Are you sure?" He asked suspiciously.

"Yes Rick, I'm fine. I'll explain everything to you guys when I get back."

"Okay. I also called to let you know that someone has been hired to replace you since you didn't show up at work."

"I guess I'll just have to look for some other job when I get back."

"I'm sorry,"  He said sympathetically.

"It's okay, you don't have to apologize. It's not like it's your fault."

"You got us worried you know?"

"I'm so sorry, I had no intention of doing that... Could you please tell Vanessa how sorry I am?"

"Sure, um... I have to go now, take care of yourself okay?"

"I will, goodbye."

"Bye." And the call ended, to Nicole's relief.

"That was easy," she said to herself.

                            ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gabriel eventually had that conversation with his best friend Charles. It wasn't easy convincing his friend that he had kept his relationship with Nicole a secret away from the public eye because he wanted to prevent her from hearing untrue and nasty news about him which could affect their relationship. For Charles, that was reason enough and Gabriel was relieved that Charles didn't press the issue any further after his explanation.

After Gabriel's discussion with Charles, he went to inspect the site that was chosen for the construction of a new housing development. He inspected the place for a few hours until he could feel the intense heat of the sun on his back which was slowly giving him a headache, so he decided to go home and get some rest. Upon his arrival home, he noticed that Nicole wasn't at home, he then told his house administrator to get someone to bring him a glass of water and painkillers before going into his bedroom. He took off his suit and went for a shower. After showering he changed into a pair of jeans and a grey shirt then he noticed the glass of water and painkillers on his nightstand, he took it before having a nap.

Two hours later Gabriel woke up feeling a lot better, he decided to go to the movie room and watch a movie since he hadn't done that in a long time. He was watching a movie when he felt someone come in.