Page 68 of The Billionaire

We lay there a few more quiet moments until the following words came out of my heart. “I have a question.”

“Sure.”

“I want to know you in here.” My finger pointed to his heart. I swirled around his heart and his eyes looked at me softly.

“What is it you wish to know?”

“Well, you said in your early twenties, you were lost. And I can’t help but feel curious about that time, since well, I’m in my early twenties, too.”

He nodded slowly as his eyes closed. “I was.” He then opened them.

“Why?” I treated lightly.

“Family expectations. Family disappointment.”

I watched his face struggle as the fire crackled a bit and fresh air blew into our suite causing the sheer curtains to dance a bit.

“It’s okay. You don’t have to share anything you don’t want to.”

“My father passed away weeks before I had made my first appearance on the Forbes list. All I wanted was for him to be proud of me. But he wasn’t. Because I didn’t become a damn minister.” He shook his head in repulsion and sighed. “I would have been a lousy one, too, let me just say. I thought if my dad saw the first orphanage I opened, he would be proud of me. He was a strange man…I just don’t understand him.”

“I think you would have been a brilliant one.”

“Ah, but this here would have been illegal, darlin’. After I made my first billion, I hired my sister to take care of the books and I went on a Mecca to find myself. I guess that’s when I retired. I, in a way, lost all desire to work for anything in exchange for material gain. Instead, I became a full time student of life. I wanted to see for myself the world of religions and what was right for me, if in fact any were indeed right.”

He held up quotations around the world right.

“And in a way, I wanted to find my dad. I wanted to have him come and find me if he saw me working on my soul, I guess you can say. I’ve never told anyone that before.”

I felt a few tears fill my eyes. I understood where he was coming from and the hurt in his own eyes made me sad to see him like this.

“And did he find you?”

“He never came to communicate with me.”

I didn’t know what to say to him. Only that I truly was sorry.

“I’m…sorry.”

“So, when I was twenty-four, I finally said, ‘fuck it’. After much soul searching, I realized it wasn’t my problem anymore. This issue goes way back beyond me. I’d enjoy my life. But I did learn a lot on my journey and met many inspiring people with beautiful spirits. My mom always tried to console me telling me how proud she was, which, if there is a rebellious streak in the family, I got it from her. She’d hide a few vodkas here and there from anyone seeing. I’d see though and we’d have a few drinks together when dad couldn’t see. Our little secret. Southern Baptists don’t drink. Especially the ministers and their wives sure as hell don’t,” a huge smile appeared on his face.

“You love your mother.”

He nodded.

“I love my family. It’s just so painful going back. Brother’s the pastor now of the church. I’m also compared to him because he is also my twin. Story of my life. But we are a complete night and day.”

“Your twin? I didn’t know you had a twin.”

He nodded.

“Faternal. Not identical. I’m seen as the heathen even though God knows how much money I’ve given to them and helped finance their new church.”

“I’m sure they don’t see you like that, Kyle.”

“I’m the heathen billionaire.” He played with my curls.

“No you’re not.”

---