Chapter Five

After spending almost thirty minutes in the bathtub, she rinsed and then dried her body before putting on her shorts and a tank top. Then she applied some ointment on the love bites that Ryan left all on her body.

As soon as Naomi stepped into her room, she reached for her phone on the nightstand which was ringing. She heaved a sigh as soon as she saw the caller ID, then she reluctantly answered the call.

“Hi love, How was your trip?” Anna, Naomi’s mother asked in excitement.

Naomi replied as she took a seat on the edge of her bed. “It was okay mom.”

“That’s it? it was just okay?” Her mom sounded disappointed on the other side. She had wanted her daughter to have a fun trip and hopefully meet someone. Naomi’s reply was definitely not what she was expecting.

“Mom, I know you’re on the lookout for me and you want what’s best for me. I promise you I’m over Connor and if it will make you feel better I made a friend. His name is Ryan.”

“Oh my....Is he handsome? Do you like him? Oh, Naomi, you should have come straight to the mansion instead of you going back to your apartment.”

“He’s handsome, Mom but he was only a friend for the night. We talked and had a few drinks, that’s all and hopefully, I’ll never see him again.” She half lied when deep down she wanted nothing more than to be in his arms.

Anna was quiet for a while, trying to analyze her daughter’s last statement and then she finally spoke. “Is there something you’re not telling me, Naomi?”

Naomi groaned inwardly upon her mother’s statement. The psychology she studied over the years gave her an upper hand in finding out the truth from her children.

“I’m really tired Mom, I want to take a nap. I will try and see you during the week. Take care, my regards to Dad. Love you.” She said in a rush and ended the call without waiting for her mom to reply.

.............

Even though Chris wanted to hire a Personal investigator to locate Naomi, he didn’t have much information like her surname and other vital information. Her first name and description of how she looks would definitely not be enough.

So he decided to call his mom. He was sure his mom knew her by the way they greeted each other the previous night and she will also be in a good position to give him more information about Naomi.

“Chris darling how are you?” Sarah asked cheerfully from the other side.

“I’m fine mom and you?”

“I’m fine too sweetheart. I was looking for you yesterday but Andre told me you had left with some girl. You should stop your playboy ways, honey. You have Vivian now you know.”

“Mom, you know I don’t love Vivian”

“Vivian is a good girl, Chris, What’s there not to love about her? She’s pretty, smart and successful. Besides, I don’t think you have any say in this. You refused to bring a girl home to marry so your father picked Vivian for you.”

Chris didn’t have the strength to argue with his mom about Vivian so he went directly to the main reason he called her.

“Mom, do you know the girl that gave the closing speech yesterday?” He asked even when he knew his mom knew Naomi.

“Is anything the matter?” She asked suspiciously.

“Oh my God, was she the one you went away with last night?” Sarah asked in disbelief and then she scolded him. “You have Vivian now so stay away from Naomi. Naomi is like a daughter to me so please don’t do anything to hurt her. Her mom and I have been friends since our college days and her Dad is a very good friend of your father. Don’t do anything stupid that will affect our friendship, Son.”

“I promise I won’t do anything to hurt her. She left her purse at the bar yesterday when we were chatting, that’s why I was asking if you know anything about her so I can return the purse to her.” He half lied knowing that was the only way he would be able to get details about Naomi from his mom. He prayed his mom does not notice how lame his excuse was because it was something he came up with a second ago.

“Fine, Send the purse over, I’ll get someone to deliver it to Browne's mansion.” His mom replied.

“Never mind mom, I’ll see what I can do to get it across to her.” He replied and then ended the call.

Christopher sighed in annoyance as he ran his fingers through his hair. His mom was really not of help but at least he now knows her surname which he can use to trace her. What infuriates him more was the fact that his mother was insisting he forgets about Naomi and goes for Vivian who he didn’t like a bit.

Chris reached for his phone and dialled Ruben, his close friend who was also a personal investigator. Ruben picked up almost immediately as if he was expecting Chris’ call.

“See who remembered me today.” Ruben teased from the other side.

“Hi Bro.” Chris greeted with a sad voice.

“Is anything the matter?” Ruben asked, concerned.

Christopher sighed before he answered. “I need your help. I need information on someone called Naomi Browne. I want to know everything about her. I need the information as soon as possible Ruben, I don’t mind how much it will cost, I’ll pay whatever you ask for.”

“Are you sure you’re okay Chris or is there anything you are not telling me?” Ruben asked because this was very unusual for Chris. He only requested a background check to be done on people who work for him. Never had he asked for a woman to be investigated except she happened to be one of his staff.

“I’ll explain later on but this is truly urgent. Will I be able to get all the info tomorrow?” Christopher asked hopefully.

“I’ll see what I can do to make sure you get it tomorrow.”

“Thanks, man. How’s Debbie and Sophie?” Chris asked after his wife and two years old daughter.

“They are fine, Although Debbie is mad at you for not coming to visit us.”

Chris chuckled, “I sincerely apologize for that. I’ll make time to come see you guys.”

“Alright bro, looking forward to your visit. We’ll see tomorrow.” Ruben said, then ended the call

.................

Naomi groaned as soon as she heard the sound of the doorbell. She had no doubt it was her best friend, Linda who was at the door.

She reluctantly stood up from the sofa where she fell asleep and went to open the door. As soon as she opened the door, She was pulled into a bone-crushing hug by Linda.

Naomi chuckled, “It’s not even up to 72 hours, Did you miss me that much?”

Linda playfully rolled her eyes. “You have no idea. I was bored as hell. I had no one to spend my Friday and Saturday night with.”

“Oh, I forgot Luis was not around.” Naomi teased which made Linda blush. She has had a crush on Luis, Naomi’s brother since like forever. Naomi knew her brother liked her best friend but both of them still haven’t had the balls to come out and declare their feelings for each other.

“I really don’t know what’s wrong with you and my brother,” Naomi complained as she shut the door behind Linda. Linda settled on the Sofa Naomi was previously taking a nap on.

“It’s obvious you guys like each other but you guys will never admit it because the two of you are cowards,” Naomi said as she took a seat opposite Linda.

“Luis only sees me as his younger sister so I doubt it if he feels anything for me. Anyways enough about me. How was your trip? Did you meet anybody?” Linda asked excitedly.

“Nothing important happened and no I didn’t meet anybody.” She lied as she avoided looking into Linda’s eyes. “What drink do you want? I made spaghetti before I fell asleep, do you want some?” If there was something Naomi was good at, She was very good at changing subjects but Linda was not willing to let it go.

“You know you’re not good at telling lies Naomi, besides the love bites on your neck tells it all. Care to tell me about him?” Linda grinned.

Naomi cursed softly under her breath. She had forgotten she was putting on a tank top which showed Ryan’s love bites.

“Nothing much. I met Ryan, we talked, got a little tipsy and I ended up having a one night stand with him. That’s just it, besides I don’t think I’ll ever come across him again.” She replied but Linda was not satisfied with the story Naomi narrated. She wanted to hear the full story.

Linda joined Naomi where she was seated. She took Naomi’s hands in hers. Her hands were cold and shaky. She knew something was wrong so she persuaded Naomi to tell her everything.

“You know I will never judge you for anything right?”

Naomi swallowed painfully before she began to talk. "The couples I shared a table with were getting so intimate with each other, I got irritated so I transferred to the bar area of the function. A few minutes later, a guy approached me. As soon as he greeted me, I felt a shiver run down my spine. I don’t know Linda, he made me feel what I’ve never felt before. When I asked him for his name he was surprised, I later got to know that he was a billionaire so I think he was used to having girls around him, I mean who wouldn’t want to hang out with him? He’s one hell of a sexy guy.”

“I promised Daniel, the chauffeur, that I’d give him a call when I was ready to go back to my hotel so he will come to pick me up. That was what I was about to do when Ryan collected my phone and put it in his pocket. He pleaded for me to follow him and I did.”

“Even when something kept telling me that he was a stranger and could be a kidnapper, I still followed him because I kind of trusted him.” Naomi sighed and she continued talking. “To cut the long story short, we made love in his apartment. It felt amazing, he made me feel like a woman. He worshipped my body and left me wanting more. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to erase last night’s memory from my head.” Naomi said and looked up at Linda who had a big smile on her face.

“Damn you had the best time of your life on this trip.”

Naomi shrugged “I’m not denying that.”

“I’m happy you’re over Connor.” Linda declared.

“Me too Lin. I’m just scared. What if I never get over Ryan?”

“You guys exchanged numbers right?” Linda asked hopefully.

“We didn’t. I left his apartment at midnight. He was still asleep then.”

Linda asked. “Do you regret meeting him? Do you regret what happened between the two of you?”

“No, I don’t.” She replied honestly.

“You know what?” Linda asked cheerfully. “I think you like him. In all the years I’ve known you, you’ve never spoken passionately about a guy. Not even Connor who you thought was going to be your life partner. But one thing I believe is that things will fall in place if he’s truly meant for you.” She assured.