Billionaire's Pleasure-Chapter 96: Enraged
Willie’s POV
My phone rang, but I couldn’t bring myself to check to see who was trying to reach me. In addition to that, I had a pretty good notion of who the culprit was going to be. It was either that or it was Eliza calling to talk about everything that had just taken place in the recent events. It’s also possible that her father was the one who threatened to kill me if he found out I was sleeping with his daughter. In any event, I simply wasn’t in the mood to engage in conversation with anyone at that particular moment. I only wanted to be left to my own devices.
In addition to the fact that I had to say goodbye to my best friend, there were other things happening that I had no idea how to process. It was almost as if Eliza had confessed her love to me. Was she sincere in her love for me? Or, was the purpose of her statement to intentionally make her father upset with her? There was no question in my mind that during the course of our time together, the amount of affection that I had for her had significantly grown. I was forced to own that I enjoyed spending time in her company even more than I could have anticipated. But love? Will she be able to love me? Or was it a fixation on something? A small girl’s imagination? And what should I make of the true feelings that I have for her?
It was impossible to conceal the fact that she was no longer a young girl, which was an undeniable reality that could not be ignored. Maybe it’s time for us to stop imagining her to be different from how she really was. During the course of the previous few weeks, this much was made very plain to me. Eliza never strayed from an appropriate demeanor befitting a woman. It would appear, however, that her father was never informed of this situation. Despite this, I was unable to harbor any resentment toward him. No matter how old my child was at the time, if I had found him in the process of sleeping with her, I would have punched him right along with her. David was someone who never bothered me in the slightest bit. His response was forceful; however, it was not incomprehensible to those who heard it. There was no anger in me at all. My bout with depression was rather mild. grieving the loss of a friendship that had endured for a whole lifetime.
I was getting closer and closer to my house when I saw that my phone was continuing to ring, and when I glanced at the display, I saw that Eliza was trying to get in touch with me. I opted to respond to it on the spur of the moment after making the decision to do so. In the midst of all of the mayhem, I had the strong urge, for some reason, to hear a voice that was recognizable to me. I wasn’t exactly sure why that happened.
She started crying and screaming my name, "Willie," while she was inconsolable.
When Eliza and I were on the phone together, I attempted to reassure her by telling her, "No, I’m sorry, Eliza. It is my responsibility; I ought not to have done that."
Because of what we have done together, it is impossible for me to listen to you express regret about what we have done because of the things that we have done. She begged me, "Don’t say it, honey." I ignored her pleadings.
"Darling, it wasn’t in my plans to share that information with you. It is my entire fault that I was unable to handle the problem in a more competent manner. In that circumstance, maybe I should have even talked to your father before he found out about us, or done something different entirely. I’m not sure."
She argued that no matter what the circumstances were, "What you had to say would never have gotten his attention in any way. You are aware of how much of a jerk he can be in certain situations. Never in a million years would he have considered what you had to say."
That much was true, but the events that actually took place left a bad taste in my mouth. Even though I was trying to avoid offending or angering my closest friend, I also didn’t want to take the chance of losing Eliza. At the very least, not any more than I already possessed. There had to be a more effective strategy for dealing with this situation and mending our relationship. Despite all of my efforts, I was not successful in coming up with an idea. I was unable to think of any good ideas, assuming there even were any good ideas, to begin with. I had no ideas.
She remarked, in a manner that hinted at annoyance, "I will never outgrow my status as a child in his eyes. I’m over it. If you really want to know the truth, all I ask is to be treated like an adult.
"Eliza, he is your father according to your birth certificate. To the end of time, he will always refer to you as his young lady.
She went on to say, "On the other hand, he should acknowledge that I am an adult who is capable of making my own choices and give me room to grow.
It was real, and there was no way for me to argue against the veracity of that statement. On the other hand, I was able to see things from her father’s perspective as well. In point of fact, she was never going to be able to understand things from her father’s perspective as well as I could. There’s a possibility that this is the result of her having the same age as her father. She did not understand how it was possible for me to communicate with her father.
"What are we going to do?" she prodded me, and I told her that I kept thinking about you all the time.
"We’ll figure it out together, Eliza. Before we look into what’s going on, we’re going to wait for your father to get his bearings first. It’s possible that we’ll be able to have a conversation with him regarding all that took place."
"It didn’t appear as though she was too happy about that. I can’t stay here any longer; I have to get out."
"I want you to have the best possible beginning in life, Eliza. I don’t want you to struggle or eke out an existence. I want you to get off to the finest possible start in life. First, find a job. Then, broach the subject of moving out."
The person on the other end of the line said something to the effect of, "Now you remind me of my father," followed by a short giggle.
"To tell the truth, I am a little bit older than you, but the gap isn’t that big."
"Indeed, this is the case; yet, Willie, you are in no way comparable to him."
"Eliza, you don’t recognize how much I resemble him nearly as much as I do. However, due to the fact that I am not your biological father, you will never see me in the same light. And because of that, I am pleased. I truly believe that."
"Me too."
Hearing her seem a little more upbeat made me feel like I could handle things a little better. I was aware that I had probably lost my best friend, and I wasn’t sure how I would deal with his kid going forward, but if Eliza was going to be okay and get through this, then I would find a way to endure as well.
"Willie? You should know that I truly intended what I said."
I said in a low voice, "I am aware. I’m confident that you did,"
There was a pause that seemed to be her giving me a chance to respond. I could clearly hear the sound of expectation throughout that period of silence. I was aware that she desired me to express my love for her. I didn’t want to tell her, though, how much I loved her. Not after such a challenging and emotionally taxing experience. And most definitely not on the phone. It had to be in a better setting if I did confess my love to her. Not on the telephone. Not in this situation
I guess it’s time for me to go; her voice drove a spear of regret through my heart just as the feeling of melancholy returned.
While I was trying to think of a way to reassure her, I closed my eyes and tried to come up with a statement that would show her that I did care about her. Unfortunately, the phrase I came up with was not quite as reassuring as I had hoped it would be.
I reassured Eliza that this is not the conclusion of the story "After that, things don’t necessarily have to come to an end. Do you understand that now?"
She added, "I absolutely do not want to lose you and would be devastated if that were to happen."
My entire being hurt, and in an effort to keep the tears from falling, I squeezed my eyes very tightly "Sweetheart, I share your inability to fathom a world without you. I am unable to do so. We will prevail over this challenge in some manner or another. Together."
"I really hope Willie is right about it."
"Believe me."
