The billionaire’s true love

Part 25

Trent marched forward like he owned the place. Well technically, he did own the place. He was my boss, after all. He stopped once he was standing right in front of Tamara, glowering at her like she committed a crime. I wished the crime would be punishable by death.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Benson, what did you say?” Tamara asked, acting like she had no clue why he was angry. Well, if she really had no clue, then I must say, she was dumber than a door nail.

“I said, you are wrong. Tamara, I don’t know how you were treated there, but over here, every single one of my employees is treated with utmost respect. You have no right, and I mean, no right to insult any of my employees. You have a problem with them, you come and talk to me and I’ll deal with them. But you have no right to insult them or bad-mouth them in any way,” he stated, his eyes shimmering with barely concealed fury. Trent’s presence was magnetic, powerful. Not a single voice was heard while he was speaking. Everyone present in the room listened with rapt attention, not wanting to intervene. I had to admit, interferring right now would’ve been pretty stupid.

“Why are you yelling at me? What did I do?” Tamara questioned, acting like a child who was being admonished for something she didn’t do. I rolled my eyes. Feigning ignorance wouldn’t do anything for Tamara. Trent had clearly seen everything, and he would not let her off the hook that easily. And just for that, I wanted to kiss Trent. He might be an asshole but he was an amazing boss.

“I think you have grown out of the age of modelling if you are forgetting things that happened only seconds before. You insulted my photographer. You insulted Madigan, and I will not tolerate that. You might have more experience in the modelling industry, but you are not allowed to talk to my employees and your colleagues like that.” His voice rose a whole octave, causing the hair on the back of my neck to rise on ends. Damn he was scary. And I thought I had seen him furious. This was a whole other level of outrage.

“You are absolutely right, Mr. Benson. But you should tell this to your photographer who refused to follow a couple of simple orders. She did not do as I asked, so I reacted like that,” Tamara defended.

God I swear if Trent didn’t slap her, I would. The bitch was delusional because she thought she was the fuckin’ queen of this planet. I had to scratch my palm to alleviate the incessant itch, otherwise I would’ve slapped her straight across her botoxed face.

“She is a photographer, not your goddamn servant. You want something, you either bring your own assistant or tell one of the waiters present here. If there are no waiters present, you do things by yourself. You are not a queen, Tamara, and you sure as hell will not be treated as one. All my employees have the same amount of respect. No one is superior than the other. Is that clear?” I could clearly tell Trent wanted to hit her with something heavy. And the love I felt for him crossed all boundaries.

“I am more experienced! Surely that should earn me some respect.” Oh great, now she was throwing a tantrum. It would be wonderful if Trent just fired her prissy ass right now.

“You have respect. But you will not be treated like you are better than everybody else,” Trent replied. Dammit, when would he fire her?

“Do the servants here have less respect than me?” She enquired, folding her arms across her chest.

“No, they don’t. I told you, all my employees are treated equally, with the same amount of respect, you will be no different,” he responded.

“So basically, over here I have the same value and significance as a lowly servant.” She scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Mr. Benson, I don’t think you know how this works. There is a reason these people are called servants. They are paid less and they are treated like they are less-which they are. I am a model, a very experienced and a successful model. I am worth way more than your waiters.

“Those photographers take my pictures. I get paid for letting you people take my pictures. And the photographers and the waiters get paid because of me. If I’m not there, these people won’t have jobs. So, since I provide jobs for them, it is clear that I should be given more respect,” she stated.

“Excuse me?!” I couldn’t help saying.

“Amanda.” And just as soon as I had spoken, I was silenced by my boss. Trent threw me a look that told me to keep my mouth shut and let him handle her. But he was taking too long in handling her. I had roaches crawling on my hands, wanting to slap Tamara until her face was unrecognizable. God, I wanted to kill her right now. The bitch clearly needed a therapist.

Trent turned back to face the spoiled brat. “Now, I don’t know who the bloody hell you think you are, but that is clearly not how it works, and I think it is becuase of that I am the boss and you are just a model who is hopping from industry to industry, like any other model would do.

“These waiters and photographers do not get paid because of you. They get paid because of their hard work. They do not get paid to serve you, they get paid because they spend hours taking care of you. If you think you demand more respect, then do things yourself. If you expect a waiter or a make up artist to come and handle your needs, then it is clear who is dependent on who.

“The make up artists fix your flaws, and without them you will not be enough for the camera. They make you presentable because it is clear you can’t do it yourself. The waiters tend to your diet and whatever else you need. They bring you whatever you desire so your make up wouldn’t be ruined because you have to face the camera-in other words, they take care of you, you are dependent on them.

“And you think the photographers get paid for taking your pictures? Those photographers are the reason the world even knows who you are. Because of these gifted people you are famous. The camera may not love you, but these photographers make the camera love you. And the editing takes so much of their time. So keep this in mind, Tamara, these people are not dependent on you, but it is you who is dependent on them.” Trent finished.

Fuck me hard! I wanted to kiss him. The look on Tamara’s plastic face was priceless. Shocked. Incredulous. She was livid. She look as if somebody had barged into her palace and pushed her off her throne. She looked like she had lost her crown which made her royalty in the fashion world. And Trent had done exactly that. Right now, he was not only my hero, but he was the hero of all those people working tirelessly so those senior to them could do their work comfortably.

She was speechless. Not a single sound came from that venomous mouth. Instead, pale pink splotches appeared on her cheeks as her eyes blazed, shooting daggers at Trent. Which I did not like at all. How dare she look at Trent with evil eyes. If Trent wasn’t here, I swear I would’ve taught her a lesson she would’ve never forgotten; not for me but for Madigan and all the waiters and other people who worked here.

“It’s simple over here, Tamara. You give respect, you get respect. And whosoever disrespects my people, they have no place in my company. I am letting you off this time, but the next time you do something like this, I will not give you another chance. You do not have the power to end someone’s career; that power only belongs to me. And I will use that power if you dare step out of the line once again.” I knew by those words, that Trent was done talking to her. And all I could think was, wow, this man knew everything.

Before heading back to his office, he turned to face me. “Amanda, in my office, right now. I need a word.” And he strode back into his office.

The few people other than me-which basically included Tamara, Madigan and a couple of waiters whose names I did not know but would make an effort to get to know them better-dispersed like tiny marbles. When there was no one else present, I shrugged before turning around and heading over to Trent’s office. I knocked a couple of times before I heard Trent’s voice telling me to come in.

When I entered his office, Trent was sitting on his chair behind the desk, his eyes closed, a content smile on his face. I had no idea why he looked so peaceful; especially since he just told his newest employee off. What was there to be content about?

Trent opened his eyes and that smile turned into a megawatt grin. “Shady, please come in, sit down.” He gestured towards the chair across from his. Eyeing him skeptically, I did as he said and sat down on the chair.

“How are you?” Trent asked me, once I was seated.

“I’m fine,” I answered with a frown. Why was he asking me how I was? Shouldn’t he be fuming?

“Good. Would you like a glass of juice?” Trent enquired.

“Uh no, thank you. I’m alright.” What was wrong with him? Why was he acting like everything was perfectly alright and he didn’t just shatter Tamara’s ego? No, something was wrong. Trent wouldn’t be behaving like this otherwise. He wanted something from me. Maybe he was trying to be nice to me in order to lure me into a false sense of security before dropping the ultimate bomb.

“Alright, how about something to eat, maybe a snack?” He offered.

“What’s wrong with you?” I blurted out the question, not caring if I sounded rude.

“What do you mean, Amanda? I’m perfectly fine.” Now it was Trent who looked puzzled.

“Why are you acting like this?” I demanded to know.

“Acting like what, sleeping beauty?” Was he pretending to be innocent or did he really not know what I was saying?

“This. You are so…content, like you just didn’t destroy that bit-I mean Tamara. How can you be so calm? Why are you not pissed off and throwing things around?” I clarified.

“You think just because I told her off, I should be angry?” Trent eyed me with amusement. Damn him!

“Yes. Or at least you should look…ruffled. It’s like nothing happened and you’ve been working here all day long.” It was clear, he was an expert at shifting moods. He was so good, that no one could tell if he was ever angry. Maybe I needed to contact a therapist, just in case.

“I will not let some brat ruin my mood. I do not give such power to just anyone, bumblebee, you would do well to remember that,” he stated.

“Yes but still. How can you be so calm?” I really wanted to know the secret. Maybe I could use it for myself. I did get angry pretty quickly.

With a smile, Trent stood up, rounded the desk and came to stand in front of me. Taking a hold of my wrists, he pulled me up to a standing position. Running a finger down my cheek, he pulled me to him in a warm, sudden embrace.

“You calm me down,” he murmured against my ear, his lips brushing against the shell.

What the fuck?!

“What?” He did not just say that. No, I must be hearing things. Trent Benson couldn’t have said those words to me. It wasn’t possible.

Trent pulled away a little, but his arms were still around me. “I said you calm me down,” he repeated.

“Why? I-I mean how?” I shook my head to rid myself of the crazy thoughts. How could he say those words to me? He was lying, he had to be. I pissed him off, all the time. There was no way I could be the reason for his peace.

“I know you don’t believe me right now, but you will. I’ll make you believe. I know, I’m not easy to be with. You lose your temper quicker than you lose your phone when you are with me. I am demanding, I am selfish, I know that. But you…you make me feel better. The only reason I haven’t fired Tamara for insulting Madigan is because you were there.” He told me.

The man had lost his mind, and I was going to suffer through it alone. He was lying to me. He told me how stupid I was; how I was never good enough, so how could he say that I calmed him down? He had to be lying. I could not let my heart and mind believe his lies. Because if I did then in the end, I would be left with nothing but a broken heart and an equally broken mind.

“You are lying.” I really needed to learn how not to blurt things out like that.

Trent chuckled, like he expected this. “I know that is what you think. But I am telling you the truth. I know I did terrible things and hurt you, and I want you to know that I will try to get better. We all need to work on ourselves in order to be better human beings, and I am going to do that now,” he responded.

“Oh really? And why now? Since the day I met you, all you did was tell me how stupid I was and how I was never good enough. And now all of a sudden you decided that you have to get better? Forgive me, but I do not believe a word you’re saying.” I told him.

“It didn’t happen all of a sudden. Or maybe it did. It’s just that, when I saw Tamara insulting Madigan, it made me realize how I insult you and hurt your feelings. You give your hundred percent, but I acted like you were never enough. But you are, you are more than enough, bumblebee,” he said, the sincerity in his words seeping into my bones.

Was he telling the truth? Did he really feel guilty for hurting me? Would he really try to get better? I wanted to believe him. My heart wanted to accept every word, but I couldn’t let it. I had to be careful over here. Trent was dangerous, and I had to be careful.

“I don’t believe you, Trent. I’m so sorry, but I just can’t believe you.” I looked away.

He kissed my forehead. “It’s okay, shady. You are here, and I’m not letting you go, which gives me plenty of time to make you believe. You may not believe what I just said, but believe one thing. Believe that I will earn it. I will earn your body, heart, mind and soul.”

When he finished, Trent placed his lips on mine.