CHAPTER 4

Lily

Lily was casually lounging on her bed, playing pretense or playing a candy crush game on her phone. It didn’t help that she had been waiting for a reply from Mr Cross for a week now. Lily started work the same day and she had just gotten back from work.

Millie was nowhere to be found either, she had probably gone off to have drinks with her other friends. Not like she was jealous, she thought.

Work hadn’t been easy when she resumed. Cross was nowhere to be found and she kept on getting snarky looks from the secretary who seemed nice from the beginning. Lily didn’t let herself dwell on the fact that soon enough, she was going to be carrying a baby. She had also decided to hide that fact from her parents. It is just nine months, she had assured herself.

Lily was still deep in her thoughts when the doorbell to her tiny apartment suddenly rang. Who might that be, she thought I allowed. She paddled herself in her home pajamas, which consisted of a big T shirt and shorts.

“Hello?” Lily called out but got no response. Was someone trying to rob her? Her subconscious pitched in but lily rolled her eyes. But as she got closer to the door, she grabbed a ceramic plate and was mildly prepared for whatever attack was going to come her way.

It came as a shock to her as lily opened the door. The first thing she came across was an expensive leather shoe. She could bet it was gotten from animal skin itself, lily was tempted to rub her hand on the edge of the shoe to see if it was going to be as soft as she imagined it to be.

“When you are done staring at my shoe like you want to fuck it, you can let me know.” Cross’s voiced boomed around the whole apartment and it became cold.

Lily looked up, trying and failing to compose herself. “Hi, Mr Cross. Erm, what are you doing here?”

“It’s Cross. And I’m here to check out your apartment which I really am not impressed with. I don’t understand how you think my baby would grow in this vicinity.” Cross stared at her apartment with disgust which angered Lily a little bit.

“Well, technically, Cross, the baby woukd be growing up in me and I would be the one living in this vicinity.” Lily air quoted. She was already starting to get irritated with this cold, arrogant and rude billionaire.

“No can do, lily. I’ll have you move into my pent house.” Cross said like it was no big deal. “That way, we can sign the contract there and I can keep watch over you. What’s right say that you won’t bail off if you get attached to my baby?” Cross finished and Lily almost gaped.

“So let me understand what you are saying here, you are just going to go ahead and dictate my life for me? Where I would live?” Lily asked.

“Yes. I’m paying you for it.” Cross finished and lily was tempted to smack his handsome face. He looked ravishingly cute in the boys short and plain T shirt he was wearing. He reeked of expensive perfume and arrogance.

“Well, Mr Cross, when do you want me to move in?” Lily asked with gritted teeth. Bare was her soul, hard was his mouth as he clenched her heart with, “tomorrow.”

Lily opened her mouth to talk. She could not speak out. It was absurd. Who did Cross think he was? He must have had a lot of people at her beck and call but he wasn’t going to barge into her apartment to dictate where she should be living. What was she even going to tell Millie.

“You want me to move in tomorrow?” Lily asked and Cross nodded in affirmation.

“I don’t think that would be possible.” Lily finally broke a minute long silence with Cross staring at her like she was a boring piece of painting and that he would rather be elsewhere. If he was so irritated by her, why did he ask her to carry his baby, anyway?

“I think that you are easy to control and find.” Cross replied and Lily blinked. That was when she realized she had asked the question out. She blinked again and controlled herself.

“And why would it not be possible to move into my pent house tomorrow?” Cross questioned.

“I won’t be able to move in because, I have to pack my things and talk about it with my best friend. It’s just a short notice thing to do. Could you give me a week?” If she wasn’t so desperate for the money, she would have declined as soon as he initiated she moving out of the house.

“Alright, a week it is. I’ll have people come help you pack. See you till then. Or in the office, whichever. That’ll be a goodnight.” Cross ended the conversation and didn’t even wait for a reply. He walked like he was in pursuit, got into his car, and drove off.