The Beautician and the Billionaire Episode 9: Scene 7

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Conor rushed into his apartment and went straight for his bedroom. An empty bed stared back at him. The door to his bathroom was open, and the light was off. There was no indication she’d even been back there. It was early for bed, but since she’d fallen asleep in the middle of New York, he’d just assumed she would already be in bed. Continue reading

The Beautician and the Billionaire Episode 9: Scene 4b

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Inside the hospital, the lights were too bright like they were trying to cover up all the sickness inside. A family stood at the information desk with worried expressions while a toddler zoomed around oblivious to concerns. Other people slumped in chairs in the expansive lobby.

She clicked on the texts from Marie and found the room number. As she rode the elevator up, she put lip gloss on and scrunched her hair, more out of habit than a last ditch attempt to impress her mother. Maybe Gianna wouldn’t be there.

The doors opened on Daddy’s floor, and she asked a nurse which way to the room.

“I’m so glad you made it,” said the nurse, who was short and round with happy crinkles at the corners of her eyes. “He’s been asking for you.” She showed her to the room.

Charisse took a deep breath and stepped inside. No Gianna. No Marie. Just Daddy with an IV in his arm. He looked like he’d aged ten years.

“Princess,” he said, lighting up.

“Daddy,” she said, rushing to his bedside and giving him a hug.

“I was so worried you wouldn’t come. I’m sorry about everything: the salon, the investigator, everything. Becca called and told me she didn’t really believe Conor killed his wife. She was just angry and blaming him for the loss of her sister. I was only trying to protect you.”

Charisse had never heard her father gush out an apology. She pulled away but held his hand. “The salon is all mine, so I’d like to put that behind us. I don’t need your protection anymore. I need you to be honest with me. Do you have any idea how devastated I was knowing I couldn’t trust you anymore?”

“It was all to keep you safe, but I know. I’ll be different from now on. I promise.”

Charisse had her doubts, but he seemed genuine in trying to make amends. “And Conor’s my boyfriend, so you’ll have to be nice to him.”

Daddy started to bluster and then saw her arm. “Be nice to him? Did he do that to you?” He pointed a fat finger at the bruises and scratches.

Charisse released his hand and held her arm to cover it up. “Josh did that.” Her pregnancy hormones were trying to get the better of her by making tears spring to her eyes. It suddenly all felt overwhelming. Just yesterday she saw Josh, and now her dad was in the hospital and her mom was back. And Conor was on his way to China.

“Josh? What the hell is he doing here?”

The machine monitoring his pulse started to beep like crazy.

“Daddy, calm down. It’s over. I’m fine.” She was so stupid. She hadn’t even thought about covering up her arm to see him.

The machine kept beeping faster, and a couple of nurses rushed in.

“What happened?” asked the one who’d greeted her.

“It’s my fault. I said something to upset him.”

“Why don’t you go out for a minute?”

 

The Beautician and the Billionaire Episode 9: Scene 3b

Good News!!! With a lot of hard work and a lot of coffee, I’ll be sending out all of the personalized copies of Nails for a Billionaire today and releasing it for sale! I’ll post here when it’s available, so come back this afternoon.

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She decided to go upstairs to change. It was a conversation for normal clothes and not lacy negligees. She heard him say hello as she reached the stairs. To her surprise he said, “Marie? Yeah, she’s right here.”

With a curious expression in his eyes, he held the phone out to Charisse. She took it and said, “Marie?”

“There you are. I’ve been freaking out calling you all morning. Daddy’s had a heart attack.”

“A heart attack?” Charisse went numb. “Where is hee

“We’re at Mount Sinai hospital. Can you get over here?” Marie sounded on the verge of tears.

Conor placed an arm around her and kissed the top of her head. She should be emotional like Marie, but at the moment she felt nothing. “I’m in the Hamptons, but I’ll leave right now.”

“There’s something else you should know,” said Marie, sounding calmer—almost detached.

“What else?” Charisse heard panic in her own voice. At least she didn’t sound like a robot anymore.

“Mother’s here. She showed up at Daddy’s favorite breakfast place. And then he had the heart attack.”

Charisse swayed. Conor tightened his grip on her. She didn’t know how long she stood there without speaking.

Marie said, “Are you still there? Did you hear me?”

“What is Mother doing there?”

Conor’s body tensed against hers.

Marie said, “I don’t know. Mother’s either in the room with us like she’s a worried wife, or she’s out getting coffee. She hasn’t really spoken to me. I need you here.”

Charisse took a deep breath. Anger and fear started to battle inside her. Maybe it’d be better to stay in shock. “I’ll be there as soon as I can. Hang in there.”

“Okay. Mother’s coming back. Maybe she’ll talk to me this time.”

The line went dead.

Charisse stared up at Conor, dropping the hand holding the phone to her side.

He cupped her face. “Are you okay? Did Roy have a heart attack?”

She nodded. “I, I have to go.” She turned away from him and headed up the stairs.

He followed her and said, “I’ll have Raul bring the car around. Do you want me to go with you?”

She stood in the doorway of his room, unable to think where her clothes were. “You have to go to China.”

He slipped the phone out of her hand. “I can send my lawyers ahead and stay with you until you see Roy’s going to be okay.”

She recalled all her clothes had been unpacked and put into drawers. She headed over to the dresser, opened a drawer and pulled out underwear, jeans and a top. Her mother was back without warning or explanation.

She tossed the clothes on the bed, sat down on it and started unbuckling her sandals.

“Did you hear me, Charisse?”

She dropped a sandal to the floor. It hit with a thud against the hardwood.

“My mother’s here,” she said.

Conor ran his fingers through his hair and sat on the edge of the bed, appearing nervous.

When he didn’t say anything, she went back to changing her clothes. “She won’t even talk to Marie. Why did she suddenly show up if she’s not going to talk to us?” She yanked her jeans on and shoved her arms into a black t-shirt.

“It might not be as sudden as you think,” said Conor slowly.

What you missed…

Sorry I’m late posting today. I’m still exhausted. I’m gearing up to produce all the custom copies of Nails for a Billionaire and then uploading it on vendor sites. So I might be late posting for awhile.

In the scene that you missed, Conor asked Charisse to move in with him and her phone has been ringing on and off while they made love. You can read the missing scene here!

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Charisse didn’t know what had happened to her when Conor asked her to move in with him. It was as if all her love for him had drowned out her ability to speak. She’d never experienced love so intense. She imagined it was because he’d asked her to move in before he even knew about the baby. She hadn’t really thought he’d do anything out of a sense of duty, but the desire to live together had meant more to her than she would’ve ever guessed. Continue reading

The Beautician and the Billionaire Episode 9: Scene 2

Good morning! The sex scene comes fast in this episode, so to speak. I’ll be skipping over it tomorrow, but you can read it here:

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Charisse woke to find Conor gone. Glad for a moment to collect her thoughts, she slipped her hand to her belly. To tell or not to tell. He’d be gone to China soon. Though it would be a joyous way to part, she wanted to be able to spend time planning and basking in the happiness together. Continue reading