The Breakup, the Billionaire, and the Secret Baby

The distinct chime of Jasmine’s ringtone echoed throughout the living room. Aaron didn’t react, probably because his noise-cancelling headphones were currently blaring whatever video game he was obsessed with that day. Jasmine glanced at the clock and saw 3:15 P.M. displayed on its screen. She sighed, already knowing what was coming.

Hey girlie. Natalie is gonna be super late. Will u pretty pretty plz come in and cover 4 her till she shows up?

Typical. Her boss, Miranda, always asked her first for coverage. She understood why: every single tip went to paying her tuition, and Miranda knew that. But this was her first day off in a week, and she was hoping to spend some time with Aaron after he finished up his game.

Still, she needed the money, and with great reluctance, she replied:

Sure. I’ll be there in 15.

Jasmine locked her phone and got ready to head to the restaurant. She’d been doing this routine for so long it didn’t take more than five minutes for her to get ready. She pulled her blonde hair back into a high ponytail and applied some lip gloss. Customers seemed to like the natural beauty look the best, or at least that’s what their tips said.

With her work uniform on and keys in hand, she tapped Aaron’s shoulder. Fortunately, he appeared to still be in a lobby waiting for the next round.

He pulled one side of his headphones away, looking up at her. “What’s up babe?” He’d been playing whatever new game this was for four hours today, which was frustrating now that she had to go to work. But every time she was annoyed with him, those big brown eyes melted her heart.

“I’m gonna head into work for a couple of hours. When I get back, do you want to hit up a bar or something?” she asked hopefully.

He smiled. “Of course. We should go to the Train Station.”

“Sounds like a great plan to me.” Jasmine leaned down and planted a kiss on his lips. “I’ll see you tonight. Love you.”

“Love you too,” he said. The screen changed, and he went back into gamer mode, staring at his screen as she headed out the door.

She hopped into her car, thinking about the nice night they’d have once she was home. Between her MBA program and job, there hadn’t been much time for their relationship. Her intense schedule left her exhausted every day, leading to a long dry spell. She knew that Aaron was getting frustrated, and she wanted to make it up to him.

Despite her split focus, Aaron was supportive. He helped keep the roof over their heads, no matter how dingy it was. He even got her little gifts to cheer her up when she worked a double and had an exam the next day. They didn’t have a lot, but they had each other, and that was enough for her.

Jasmine spaced out for most of the drive, thinking of ways to repay Aaron. Muscle memory got her there in fifteen minutes. She snapped out of her daydream and walked in, seeing that the place was busier than usual. Was something going on in town? Miranda made sure to keep a schedule of all the events in town since they normally got slammed after a concert or game finished. Jasmine couldn’t recall anything specific today, and if there was something going on, she would have been scheduled.

Miranda approached her, her brown hair pulled back in a ridiculously tight bun. The woman was breathing hard as if she’d just come back from a jog.

“Thank God, will you cover tables ten through fifteen?”

Jasmine gave her a small smile. “Of course, I got this. Take a break.”

“Thank you again, Jasmine. You have no idea how much I appreciate you.” Miranda disappeared into the back office, and Jasmine got to work.

Miranda wasn’t much older than Jasmine, likely in her early 30s, but she refused to get any more specific. She was a good boss for the most part, and a lenient one at that. It was the only reason Natalie still had a job as far as Jasmine could tell. Nine out of ten times, Jasmine was called in it was to cover for her friend. Natalie was bubbly and got along great with the customers, but she had zero time management skills.

Jasmine checked in at all her tables. Most had already put their orders in with Miranda. Now she just needed to keep their drinks full and make sure all their orders got out on time. She listened to their chatter to try to get an idea of what might be going on, but she only heard something about a company moving their headquarters to town.

Thirty minutes later, most of the tables had their food, so she started washing silverware and rerolling it while she waited for the customers to finish up. She hadn’t made it through ten sets when she heard the screeching of tires. Outside the window, a car took a harsh turn into their parking lot, clumsily parking in two different parking spots at an angle.

Jasmine wasn’t surprised when Hurricane Natalie sprinted from the car to the door, throwing it open with a loud clatter that drew many of the patrons’ attention.

“I’m here! I’m here!” she shouted in the direction of the back office. She glanced around and made eye contact with Jasmine.

“I’m so sorry, Jasmine. You can go,” she said as she scrambled over to the booth. “I got this. Get some time with your man,” she said with a wink.

Jasmine rolled her eyes. “Honestly, I’m impressed you were only an hour late.”

Natalie huffed. “I can be punctual, you know.”

“I’ll believe it when I see it.” They giggled, and Jasmine took off her apron.

“Good luck tonight!” Natalie called.

“Thanks, you too!”

Jasmine knew she should have stayed; the place was still packed, and they could use the extra hands. But for once, she wanted to prioritize her personal life over her professional one.

She drove home, excited that she still had most of the evening to spend with Aaron. She’d also have a little more time to get dolled up and really knock his socks off.

The drive disappeared in an instant. She pulled into her assigned parking spot in front of their dingy yellow building. The paint was chipped in places, and some of the plaster on the exterior was gone, but it kept them dry and warm. One day, when she was further into her career, they’d get a big beautiful house that didn’t need pest control visits every month. But for now, a roof was a roof.

She walked to their ground-level apartment and stopped. Music was being blasted so loud she could make out the words from outside the apartment. The place had thin walls, but not that thin. Maybe Aaron had decided to do some chores or something; he normally played some sort of music to make it more bearable.

When she unlocked the door and walked in, she immediately felt something was off. Most of the apartment was visible from the front door. There was only a small hallway that led to the master bedroom and guest bath out of view. Aaron wasn’t on his computer anymore, or on the couch, or in the kitchen.

“Hello?” she called. Her voice was drowned out by the music. Her heart felt like it was going to beat out of her chest. The thought of an intruder crossed her mind, playing the music so loud to cover their crime, and it only made her panic more. She grabbed an umbrella from beside the shoe rack and clutched it in her hands.

That’s when she noticed the pair of tennis shoes. They weren’t Aaron’s, and they definitely weren’t hers.

Her mind refused to process what it was seeing. There was no way Aaron would do this to her. He was loving and cared about her, and sometimes he’d get distracted by his games, but he still loved her just the same. Maybe he’d gotten her new shoes; they were about her size, and her old ones were falling apart. There was no way he’d hurt her like this.

Like a zombie, she made her way down the hall. Her mouth was agape, and her feet moved at a snail’s pace. She stood outside the master bedroom door for several minutes, an occasional voice piercing through the deafening music.

Jasmine pushed open the door.

The lean frame of Aaron’s body was on the bed, moving at the same rate as the intense beat. His back was towards her, and the woman below him was on her hands and knees, her face covered by a thick mess of blonde hair. She was biting into a pillow, specifically Jasmine’s favorite, as she moaned and squirmed underneath Jasmine’s boyfriend.

Jasmine walked over and turned off the music. The woman screamed, realizing they’d been caught and covering herself in the sheets.

Aaron stared at her like a deer in the headlights.

“Get out.”

        “He did what?!” Natalie screeched in her ear.

        “Yup, he tried to kick me out of my own apartment. The idiot forgot he isn’t on the lease.”

        Jasmine lifted the AMF to her lips and chugged for several long seconds. On a normal night, she was a wine gal, but this night, she needed the promise of an Adios, Motherfucker.

        She could still see that blonde woman frantically getting dressed and running out the apartment. She remembered how Aaron had screamed at her, his girlfriend of four years, to leave and had begged the other woman, who she learned was called Portia, to stay. He'd only agreed to leave when he was reminded he had no legal claim to the apartment.

        “Why?” she’d asked as he packed his bags. He remained silent but increased his pace. She refused to accept his silence.

        “Why?”

        He started grabbing clothes willy-nilly then, sometimes throwing hers in with his as he tried to make a quick exit.

        Jasmine watched as he left the apartment. He stood at the top of the stairs just outside the door. “I’ve never been happy,” he said without looking back as he descended into the darkness of the night.

        Natalie and Morgan, her best friend since undergrad, showed up the next night and demanded she come with them to a club. When watching horror movies and eating ice cream was not an acceptable alternative, Jasmine begrudgingly joined them.

        She slammed back the rest of her drink and looked around at the bougie interior. The name was something pretentious she couldn’t remember, like Push or Pull. The cover charge was $50, the most expensive she’d ever seen, but looking around, the cost was 100% justified. Booths lined the walls, some of them large enough to accommodate ten guests. Each one was plush dark leather and extremely comfortable to sit in. Giant geometric chandeliers hung from the ceilings, pulsing different colors in time with the music.

        At the opposite end of the building was the bar, neatly organized with dozens of expensive alcohol brands she’d never heard of. The center was dominated by a dance floor that looked like it came straight out of Dancing with the Stars. The floor reacted to each step on it, lighting up a different color wherever the dancer moved. Beautiful men and women danced in the center. The men all had sharp jawlines and killer white teeth, and the women looked like they’d walked straight off the runway.

In other words, this was not a place for Jasmine.

The only reason she was in New York was for her MBA program at Columbia University. Glitz and glamour weren’t appealing to the perpetually poor student. A good drink at a small pub was where she would have gone if she’d been given a choice. But she hadn’t been given a choice, and now she was feeling like more of an outcast than ever.

“At least that parasite is out of your life now,” Morgan said, sipping her champagne with a confidence that Jasmine envied.

“If anyone was the parasite, it was me. I’ve got enough saved to make it through next month, but after that, I might be homeless.”

Morgan waved over a waitress, and without missing a beat, a new drink was in front of her.

“Now’s not the time to worry about that. Now is the time to get blasted and get some.”

She rolled her eyes. Morgan had managed to get a job straight out of undergrad thanks to daddy’s connections, a luxury Jasmine didn’t have. Sometimes it felt like Morgan was worlds away from her, but she was always there in Jasmine’s times of need.

“I’m not really in the mood for a quick lay, but thanks.” Her attention turned to her drink as she felt tears sting the back of her eyes. As much as she’d tried to convince herself she was purely angry, her heart was broken. Aaron’s final words kept ringing in her head, and she wondered how long she had believed his lies.

        “It looks like that stud over there might be though,” Natalie said, nodding towards the bar.

        Jasmine looked up and saw who she was referring to: a man so far out of her league they weren’t even playing the same game. And he was staring right at her with a perfect, suave smile.

        He started to approach, and Jasmine had to keep herself from gaping. His dark black hair was styled to look effortlessly beautiful, and his eyes were a piercing green that captured her attention. Every single feature looked like it had been chiseled from marble, with a strong, square jawline and cheekbones that could cut glass. He exuded power and confidence with each step, and before Jasmine could think about anything else, he was at their table.

        “Hello ladies,” he said, his voice as smooth as butter.

        “Hi!” Natalie said, her pitch two octaves higher than normal.

        “Hello,” Morgan said coolly. Her friend was suddenly in business mode. Jasmine could see the wheels turning in Morgan’s head as she sized up the stranger. Daddy’s money got her in the door, but she sealed the deal with her keen business instincts.

        He nodded at her two friends and then returned his attention to Jasmine.

        “I’d like to buy you a drink, if that is okay of course. I’ll give your friends a bottle of whatever they’d like as recompense for stealing you away.” Jasmine felt like her brain was short-circuiting. What made this man, who looked like he had everything he ever wanted, want her?

        “Of course, that’s more than fair,” Morgan said. Her assessment must have concluded in his favor. She moved out of her seat as Natalie pushed Jasmine toward the newly made exit.

        She stuttered, “Oh, I c-can’t. This is too much.” She was standing before him now, him towering over her by almost a foot.

        “I insist, and it seems your friends agree.” He took her hand in his.

        She turned to her friends and pleaded silently for an out. Natalie gave her the thumbs up, and Morgan shooed them away.

        Wanting to preserve what little pride she had left, she allowed him to lead her to the dance floor.

        “What’s your name?” she asked over the deafening music.

        “Nick, and yours?”

        “Jasmine.”

        He guided her in front of him, placing his right hand on her waist and keeping his left hand entwined with hers. Jasmine had two left feet sober, and she felt a slight sway in her step as the AMF hit. But as soon as he started to dance, she found it easy to follow his lead. They moved together, in time with each other and the music, their pace steadily increasing. They twirled and swung around each other until there was a huge smile on her face that wouldn’t go away.

        When the song was about to reach its climax, Nick pulled her in tight. “Trust me,” he said in her ear. His breath sent shivers down her spine, and she nodded. He pushed her out and then grabbed her hips, lifting her up like she was a doll. She threw her head back and giggled uncontrollably until he put her down, the song fading into the next hit.

        “Let’s get a drink,” Nick said and led her to the bar.

        “Two whiskeys on the rocks please,” he ordered and then turned to her.

        “What if I don’t like whiskey?” she said cheekily.

        “Trust me, you’ll like this one.”

        Love at first sight wasn’t real, not as far as Jasmine was concerned, but the sparks between them certainly were. Even with Aaron, she’d never understood what it felt like to be swept off her feet. Now, she felt herself falling head over heels for this stranger. 

The bartender placed two glasses in front of them. She picked up hers, lifting it toward him. “To trying new things,” she said with a smile. 

“To new things,” he said. For a moment, there was a flash of something unexpected on his face: fear. She convinced herself she was seeing things and clinked their glasses together. 

As she took a sip, the rational part of her mind returned to question his intentions. 

“So why’d you ask me to dance?” she asked, looking over her glass at him.

His confidence returned, with that perfect smile that drove Aaron out of her heart and mind. “I wanted to get closer to the most beautiful woman in the room.” 

She snorted and covered her mouth in a bad attempt to hide her laughter. “Okay, that’s a blatant lie, so what’s the real reason?” 

Nick chuckled in return. “Well, you were almost the most beautiful woman here. I wanted to hear you laugh.” He set his glass down on the bar and looked at her with an intensity that sent tingles down her body. “And now I know for sure that you are exactly who I’ve been looking for.” 

Jasmine leaned forward the slightest amount. Good intentions or not, he knew how to smooth-talk a lady. 

She downed the rest of her drink. 

“Let’s dance,” she said, pep in her step as she dragged him back to the dance floor.  

They made it through two songs and three drinks before they were calling for an Uber back to her place. Natalie looked like she was about to jump out of her seat in excitement as she said goodbye, while Morgan gave her a wry smile and waved her off. 

Nick couldn’t keep his hands off her as she fumbled trying to unlock her apartment. He was pressed up against her back, his hands on her hips and lips on her neck as she finally managed to turn the key and push open the door. She realized her apartment was still a disaster from the night before, but if Nick noticed or cared, he didn’t show it. As soon as the front door was closed, his lips were on hers, his hands cupping her face to pull her into a deeper embrace. 

With the grace of a rhino, she lead them through the apartment to the master bedroom, trying desperately to keep him as close to her as possible as they moved. By some miracle from the alcohol gods, she was able to get the door open, and they immediately collapsed on the bed. 

His hands made quick work of her shirt and pants, and she was grateful that for once she was wearing a matching underwear set. He planted a row of kisses from her chest to just above her panties, and each one felt like a lightning bolt of pleasure. 

She pulled him up by his shirt collar and kissed him hard, pressing her body into his. Within moments, they were wrapped around each other, and Jasmine found herself lost in a cloud of ecstasy. 

His every move was purposeful, watching to see what she responded to the most. It didn’t take much either; her previous dry spell made her sensitive to every touch, her body desperate for it. She lost count of how many times he made her scream in euphoria. 

Finally, after she felt like she could take no more, she whispered, “Please.” 

He understood, and with several quick, deep thrusts, he moaned and collapsed next to her. 

She immediately put her arm and leg over him, snuggling her face into his shoulder. 

“Thank you,” she said softly.

“For what?” His voice sounded like he was on the edge of sleep. 

“For making me laugh.” 

They fell asleep, still entangled in each other’s arms. 

***

Jasmine awoke the next morning to find the other side of her bed empty. Her head pounded as she sat up, looking around for Nick. She looked over the edge of the bed for his clothes, but they were gone.

Her heart dropped as she searched for any sign that he’d been there the night before. There was no note, nothing that could give her a clue as to how to contact him. 

In a final desperate attempt, she opened her phone. There were dozens of messages from Natalie, one from Morgan, and a couple from Miranda. She flicked through her contacts, but there was no new number there. 

She tossed her phone on the bed and curled up, wrapping her arms around her knees and burying her head. Of course he was gone. Why had she expected him to stay? They barely knew each other. He probably used that “most beautiful woman” line on every sad girl in the bar to get an easy lay. 

Tears came unbidden nonetheless. For one night, she’d thought knights in shining armor were real. Life wasn’t a fairy tale though, and once again, she was faced with cold reality. 

She let herself cry. When the tears finally dried, she stood up, took some ibuprofen and opened her laptop. There was no more time for tears: knights in shining armor never paid the bills anyway.