Page 63 of Her Billionaire Boss
She covered her mouth with her napkin as she finished chewing a bite, speaking through it as she shook her head.“Don’t be silly.I’m going to introduce you to all of my cool friends and they’re going to love you.”
“Brace yourself,” El-Mudad teased her.“Once Sophie has adopted you into her circle, there is no escape.”
Looking around the table at their warm, friendly faces, I couldn’t see how I would ever want to escape, anyway.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
(Matthew)
After lunch, Sophie and Charlotte ran off to change for the pool.I hung back with Neil and El-Mudad to help clean up.
“I think we got the short end on this one,” I said, piling up plates.
“We do have some staff,” Neil said, a bit embarrassed judging by the set of his jaw.“Sophie prefers that we do the bulk of our daily living ourselves.”
“Charlotte is the same way.”Sort of.She was still fine with a chef, most of the week, and she certainly didn’t seem to yearn to mop the floors.“She said Sophie didn’t come from money, either.”
“Not at all.Grew up in a trailer in the middle of a forest.”Neil led us up some service stairs, to a sprawling, copper-ceilinged kitchen.An octagonal breakfast nook displayed the same stunning view of the Atlantic as the sitting room had.
It was a lot more peaceful than Manhattan.
“Charlotte came from a similar background, right?”El-Mudad asked.“I apologize if it’s gauche to ask, but Sophie has mentioned that Charlotte is ‘normal.”Which is the hurtful word she’s chosen to exclude us.”
“My love, I’m not certain you’d fit the definition of ‘normal’ even if youhadgrown up impoverished.”Neil nodded to the enormous island and told me, “Put those there.The housekeeper will deal with them.”
“Not similar,” I correct El-Mudad.“Charlotte’s parents are very solidly upper-middle.But it’s still a huge culture shock.”
“I’m sure,” Neil said.“I must admit that before I was with Sophie, I didn’t realize how privileged we are.I thought I knew, but I truly had no idea at all.”
“How long did it take her to adjust?”The words were no sooner out of my mouth before Neil and El-Mudad were sharing a look.
“Matt…” Neil began, adopting a patient, cautious tone.“It’s not up to her to adapt to your life.You have to adapt your lifestyle to be comfortable for her.”
El-Mudad continued for him.“She’s not the outlier in this situation.You are.”
I opened my mouth to argue.Neil spoke before I could, moving to the sink to wash his hands.He raised his voice over the sound of the running water.“She feels almost constantly guilty over the fact that people from her hometown struggle with things like food insecurity, lack of reliable housing, the cost of fuel, finding a place of employment.All problems that most people with our wealth either can’t fathom or aren’t even aware of.”
“A ‘let them eat cake’ situation,” El-Mudad supplied.
“If Marie Antoinette had ever said that, certainly.”Neil dried his hands and leaned against the island.“The sentiment applies.When Sophie’s mother lost her trailer in a fire, I was absolutely stunned to learn that she couldn’t simply buy another place to live.After all, she owned an insured home.Her insurance payout wasn’t enough to afford a new one because prices in the area had soared.”
“Vacation rental properties,” El-Mudad interjected.
Neil went on, “Of course, I was aware that there are people who live on the street, but I always assumed that was either addiction, lifelong misfortune, or some kind of anticapitalistic statement.I had no idea that losing your house to an act of God could lead to homelessness, despite doing everything ‘right’.”He made finger quotes around the word.
I did know how precarious the living situation could be for people in situations like the one Neil had described, but I supposed it hadn’t sunk in as a true reality.“I’ve always heard that people in this country are one emergency away from homelessness, but I thought it was an exaggeration.”
“It’s not.And Charlotte is contending with that every single day,” El-Mudad said.“Any time you buy her something expensive or you take her on an elaborate trip...to a sex island that you own?”
“Yeah, that’s a little over the top, now that you mention it,” I said, and looked down in embarrassment.“I thought people wanted the Cinderella story.Suddenly not needing to scrape by, having a whole world of wealth at their fingertips—”
“Oh, they definitely want that,” Neil interrupted me.“I’m in no way arguing that people are better off or happier without money.Especially our kind of money.”
“That’s why Sophie is so insistent on spreading it around,” El-Mudad explained.
I’d noticed the frequent mentions of their names in the news.The word “philanthropist” always accompanied those stories, now.
“Our wife created and entirely funds the largest network of foodbanks in the Midwest,” Neil looked to El-Mudad with a smile.Their pride was unmistakable.
