Southern Charmed Billionaire

by Frasier, Kristin

  “You’re going to stick it out and treat this as a j-o-b, Kate. Just like you manage all the crazy cats in the music scene. Just treat these bitches like they are actors or something, alright? Smile and nod. Hold your tongue. Play the part. You don’t go telling off lead singers of other bands. You let them think they’re king and queen of the castle. Just switch gears and do the same here. As your cousin and practically your sister, it is my duty to help you stay the course. And $1,000 a day to attend an event is a pretty swanky deal. And please! Don’t give me that, ‘do you know how long it took to get ready?’ routine. You know you enjoyed it!” Her smile was ear-to-ear. Well, maybe she was right. I did enjoy being taken care of for once.

  “And if I were you, I would throw in some extra if you know what I mean.” She whistled. “Some extra lip, hand, vag, ass action. Whatever. I think you know what I’m talking about, girl.”

  I sighed and rolled my eyes at her vulgar suggestion. That type of behavior just wasn’t me.

  “Anywaaaaaaay,” I stood up and headed to the kitchen. “There has to be coffee in this kitchen somewhere.” Oh, this kitchen was just to die for!

  “So, enough about me. Did you patch things over with Andy the asshole?” I didn’t expect her to actually say anything positive about it. I was just trying to change the subject.

  “Heeeeeeey…don’t call him that.”

  “Well, he is. He cheated on you and acted like it wasn’t a big deal in front of thousands of people, and now the world since that video went viral. What else can he really be called?”

  “My, um, on-again boyfriend?” she confessed with a sheepish smile.

  Oh, god.

  “Now, before you get all judgey-pants. I’m thinking about the grand scheme of things, okay? He’s a rock star. We are in an up and coming band together. This is, like, totally normal for what they do. It’s like being with a professional NBA player. Most of them cheat, statistically. It’s just what happens. All guys want to fuck other girls.”

  I sighed and rolled my eyes and moaned dramatically.

  “Which may mean we still need your help,” she finished

  Honestly, their sort-of breaking up and this new job with Atticus really allowed me to think about my future and what makes me happy again. I needed to think about it. I had a lot of things to think about.

  “Well, look. I don’t know what to say right now, but….”

  “But…but, but, but, but, no buts. Look, I’ve gotta go. You’re doing it. There’s only one you. We can work something out with lover boy, Atty. Andy and I are running to lunch. We’ll chat later. Kisses!”

  Lover boy, Atty? Yeah, I didn’t need those thoughts running around in my head.

  They were already there. Bad.

  Chapter Eight

  Kate

  Hours later, my cell phone rang again. It was Claire.

  "So don't hate me—like I'm not obsessed with you or anything by any means, but you do have me interested in this new job of yours, and without making this more long winded than I already am, you already know I’m obsessed with you always, so that was a total lie.” I rolled my eyes with a smile as she went on at a mile a minute. “Having said that, there's been another statement released, and I’m gonna warn you, it's not pretty. This is what it says, Kate: ‘I'm convinced the woman on my brother’s arm is the worst form of social climber there is. I mean, when your food truck business collapses (and that alone should tell you enough about the caliber of woman he's dealing with there—food truck), when your bus business is failing, what do you do? Snag a rich billionaire. This won't last, trust me. No one’s heard of her.’ ”

  "My goodness, Claire. What is wrong with these people?" I shook my head, feeling defeated. “Like, it was just a gala? Who on earth cares about me?”

  "Don't let it get you down. Just thought you should know. Gotta go! But um, if you’re going to see that bitch again, maybe it would do you some good to do some googling on her and maybe watch some past shows to catch her antics."

  I sighed and rolled my eyes. I hated reality TV. This was so stupid. Feeling furious and minutes later, I stripped down and changed into the running gear Claire so thoughtful packed for me. I would need more clothes soon and need to repack. I needed to run this off and get back into positivity. But even in my run the thought occurred to me that I should be very prepared for the fact that this may not work out much longer. If I was in fact causing so much of an issue and earning so many words printed about my day-to-day life, Atticus may not like this after all. And if Brittany really was a bull shark who fought to have her way, who knows how crazy it all could get?

  Whatever the case, I needed to go ahead and make a plan with what I had. I didn't know what tomorrow held. In fact, all that I knew of was another event next Tuesday from Atticus mentioning it to another couple at the Berkeley gala. "Oh yes, Kate and I will see you next Tuesday." So I had shrugged and smiled to the stranger.

  But now something inside my gut told me to lay the groundwork and start planning something that could be done with a 1k startup, just in case the worst case scenario came to fruition. So I hopped into the shower, pulling yesterday's marvelous hair masterpiece into a messy bun.

  Even with the light sweat my from the run, I could remedy it with dry shampoo in effort to save those curls! I'd come close to getting my hair like this before, close! But this was the best my hair had ever looked, and I wanted to savor it for a while.

  Washing my face clean and applying tinted moisturizer and lip gloss, I threw on some white satin shorts with blue polka dots and my old blue Yankees baseball t-shirt. It was my favorite lounge t-shirt, and I never wanted to get rid of it. Ever. It was time to get down to business and start baking and experimenting again.

  With last night’s ingredients, I could experiment with a Paleo German chocolate cupcake batch.

  I put on some tea and whipped out my favorite Pandora station.

  The band 311 popped up on my mix with one of my favorite songs—“Amber.” Ohhhh. Amber is the color of your energy.

  As I whipped the batter in the bowl, I swayed to the music, going to my happy place. I made a mental note to jot down in my sketchbook in a bit that happy music playing 24/7 is a must in this business. Happy music playing while cupcakes are being made, happy music playing when they sold.

  I could even have little cards to go with each box and batch of cupcakes, saying This batch was made to such and such music! Looooove!

  That would be a fantastic selling point! Oh, it felt so good to be an entrepreneur and make things happen again! It really made my soul sing.

  “It's going to work out, and good things are happening to me.” I confessed out loud, just like I had done so in the past few years of taking control of my life. These mantras really work!

  I still couldn’t believe this was my kitchen, even if for just a few days. It was a dream kitchen, so beautiful, white, and pristine clean. I would never let it get messy, no matter how many hours I cooked in here.

  I swiped my finger into the delectable batter and sampled the taste. Damn Gina, that's delicious! Damn I'm a good cook!

  I poured the batter into cupcake pans, and the shrieking cry of the teakettle alerted me my cinnamon tea would soon be ready. Nothing like a cup of tea to warm my heart. I squeezed a delicious amount of honey into my tea and pranced around to my dining room table.

  My dining room, even if it was just for one night!

  With my fuzzy boot slippers on, my satin shorts, and my soft cotton t-shirt, I was relaxed, and this was going to be a great night of focusing, indeed. I sighed and stared at my sketchbook, feeling inspired, like anything was possible.

  First things first, I just needed a name.

  I twirled the sharpie between my fingers thinking. Thinking, thinking, thinking. Then it came to me.

  Kate’s Kitchen.

  Perfect, simple, and to the point.

  If Atticus had me on his arm for another event, and someone brought up the article or asked what
I did, well now I could combat the rumors and play PR. I’m the owner of #KatesKitchen.

  On that note, I wrote down beneath the name:

  need to start generating a few behind the scenes photos and videos rolling on my Instagram account, which I should open. Tonight.

  Feeling intense butterflies in my stomach at the prospect of actually creating the company tonight really inspired me, even if it was just the small step of opening an IG account. Then again, that could be a rather large step in today’s marketing world.

  I jotted down a few more things to remember: Food license, food truck procedures, filing for a DBA.

  But none of that intimidated me. I had done all of this before, and it grew to a large scale. I had made a special truck transform into a bus with a hell of a kitchen built inside.

  This needed to start out small. On that note, I wrote a few more things.

  Things to do:

  Get into farmers market using local produce.

  Get into flea and art shows. I mean, people have to eat there, right?

  Have Claire on Instagram, eating one of my cupcakes. She had better! She totally owes me!

  Make business cards.

  Have free giveaways.

  Rinse and repeat until I have enough money to find a van to turn into a pop-up bakery.

  Hmmm…I thought about it all until a small little kernel of anxiety tried to visit my chest. I shook my head no. Doubt, you are not taking up space in my mind tonight, I am creating my future, goodbye!

  Self-talk and goal making was something I learned from Tony Robbins, the infamous self-help guru. I owned dozens of his motivational CDs. When you grew up the way I did, you hung onto hope. You hung onto determining to create a better life. He taught me that if you didn’t have control of your thought life, then you didn’t have control of your physical life, and that was one thing I prided myself on—a strong thought life.

  I reached bravely for the fat pink sharpie and turned the page of the notebook.

  100 day plan:

  If everything works out with Atticus, soft launch of a business I own free of debt, nearing end of the school year, a perfect treat for mothers and their out-of-school kids.

  Thousands of butterflies danced in my stomach thinking about how quickly three months would go by. Would I really have a hard launch of this business?

  The sharpie flitted between my fingers as the dream of my possible future felt so bright and close. I felt more excited than ever, falling into this random string of good luck. I knew my mother must've been pulling some serious magic from the other side.

  Three months. What would become of Atticus and me?

  Lost in thought, the stove buzzer went off, alerting me the cupcakes were ready for icing.

  One hour later, after icing a dozen Paleo-friendly cupcakes, and after setting up my Instagram account with the picture of a delicious cupcake, I embarked to make my first behind-the-scenes video.

  “Hey guys, welcome to Kate’s Kitchen. Here’s a little sneak peek into some yummy Paleo treats coming to a neighborhood near you, Charleston!”

  After doing the take dozens of times, I finally felt satisfied.

  And then my doorbell rang.

  Chapter Nine

  Kate

  It was the driver from last night, Bentley.

  “Good evening, Miss Kate. I apologize for the hour, I,” he stopped for a moment his nostrils inhaling the scent of that delicious aroma of freshly baked goodies.

  “What on earth do you having going on in there? It smells like Heaven. Heaven!”

  “Oh, just some cupcakes. You wouldn’t mind wanting a few, would you? I’m still in the process of taste testing. Well, I have a long road ahead of me actually.” I scratched the back of my neck. “But, I’m always looking for hungry eager bellies.”

  Bentley rested his hand on his belly like a pregnant woman. He was a sweet looking older man with balding hair and eyes that sparkled when he smiled. I could tell he really enjoyed working for the Branch’s. It was just a feeling he gave off about it. I wondered how long he had been with the family.

  “The misses says I need to watch my waist line.”

  I smiled at him politely. “Well…just so you know, these are sort of healthy for you. They are paleo.”

  “Paleo? What’s that?”

  “It just means it’s grain, dairy, and bad sugar free for you.”

  He looked like I just had revealed to him that Neal Armstrong really did not walk on the moon.

  “What on earth does that even mean?”

  “You know, you don’t have to worry about it, Bentley. Just let your stomach do the judging and your cholesterol count later reveal to you just what I mean. Come on in.”

  “Well, I wish I could mam. But Atticus has asked that we make this a very quick affair. He really needs to speak with you urgently.”

  My stomach dropped thinking about what was so urgent. My little angel wings and hopefulness of my life turning a new leaf, suddenly sunk.

  He changed his mind. I knew it. And he didn’t want to tell me over the phone.

  I looked down at my fuzzy Ugg boots surveying the state of the union, the matter of my appearance. It would have to do.

  “Okay, one moment. Let me turn the oven off, grab a few things. Be right back.” I called out to him, my voice echoing off the high ceilings.

  “I’m grabbing a few cupcakes for you and your misses!”

  Five minutes later with cupcakes in my hand, my dream/sketch book, my purse and phone, I was ready to meet my fate.

  I nervously re checked my Instagram and then scrolled through #paleotreats #healthycupcakes #cupcakesforyoursoul gathering up the research to see which hashtags seemed to receive the most views while writing my reserach down. I failed to realize we had stopped.

  My eyes shot up. I couldn’t wait to see his home. It had to be grand. It had to be…huh, why we were at a copter pad?

  “Um, I thought we were going to Atticus’ house.”

  “We are Miss Kate.” Bentley turned my way and smiled with a grin. He had chocolate on his bottom lip. “Was it good?” My face spread into a smile.

  “So good. Come on, ready?”

  I shrugged my shoulders in bewilderment. “I guess!”

  The glass was chilly against my skin as I looked out at the sparkling lights below.

  “Here, Miss Kate.”

  A blanket was draped over me and I happily pulled tight around me feeling a sense of wonder of this world of billionaires. Sure, they lived grand lives, but this, being whisked away somewhere nearing midnight in a copter on whim! This was something else.

  I had never flown in a helicopter before or anything private for that matter.

  The world seemed so small from up here. I looked down at the site in wonder. Everyone was out and about living their lives and here I was being whisked away to Atticus’ home.

  Wherever that was. Bentley sat next to me as the pilot navigated our flight.

  “Excuse me, Bentley. Where exactly are we going?”

  “To the Branch’s country home in Ashville.”

  “North Carolina?”

  “Indeed. It’s roughly over 350 miles away. It will make this ride just shy over an hour. You’re not going to throw up on me now, are you?”

  “Uh, no. No, not at all.” My voice crackled into the headset he had given me once I was buckled in my seat.

  Fuck me. My life has officially become nutso.

  There I sat, in satin shorts, my old t-shirt, and ugg boots, no make up, and yesterday’s curls in a lose pony tail at the top of my head. I shook my head and my make up free face. What was I thinking just leaving looking like this?

  I wasn’t thinking.

  I wasn’t thinking at all.

  One hour later we finally landed.

  Everything within me froze at the majestic sight of the Branch’s country home.

  It was the largest home I had ever seen in my life sitting like that on top of the hill. I could se
e the lights from the gardens and majestic gardens as we slowly descended down on the property.

  It wasn’t a graceful landing from the wind and the mountain range wind and I suddenly felt fear creep in. I was too young to die, too young!

  But finally we landed safely and my fear transformed back into awe.

  It was as if heaven opened up and an angelic choir began to sing welcoming me into paradise.

  I suddenly regretted my attire definitely. Majorly. As in obsessively again.

  Being here like this made me feel like I was in the presence of the King and Queen of America. Not that America had one, but this was a castle with sweeping architecture with crown molding that belonged in palaces.

  “Right this way, Miss Kate?”

  “Oh…okay.” I stammered taking in everything at once. We walked a beautifully lit side walk path as I stared at the massive home with eyes as big as the state of California.

  “How many square feet is this?”

  “Oh around fifty thousand. Something like that.”

  “That’s insane.”

  “It’s grand, isn’t it?”

  “How long, um, sorry if this is too personal. But how long have you worked for the Branch family?”

  “Since I was a boy, Miss.”

  “Wow.”

  “Indeed.”

  That had said a lot. A lot.

  Too bad I wasn’t going to get to know more of the heritage since I was about to get axed.

  Chapter Ten

  Kate

  “Listen, would you do something for me? I know this is going to sound crazy, and I promise in time I’ll explain everything, but my time is running short this evening and my ride is about to arrive. But this grave matter is of the utmost importance. My grandfather’s health is ailing. As in, well, he’s dying, Kate.”

  “Oh god, I’m so sorry to hear that.” Suddenly all annoyance I had toward this absurd meeting which now was breaching midnight flew out the window. I actually felt honored, in a way, that he’d tell me such a thing.

  “I am, too. I really am. I…uh. What I have to ask is… well, there’s no good way to word this. I know this is going to sound ridiculous, but would you be open to, I mean, can you fake being pregnant with me?”