Page 2 of The Billion Dollar Bet

Now that he’d inherited a seventy five billion dollar estate and a company which made millions by the minute, he didn’t need a college education or fake degree.

“I’ll have you know,” Barry said. “I studied hard…”

“Shit!’ Devin shrieked as cold water doused his crotch.

When he looked up, the waiter was staring at someone who was being seated at one of the single tables in the corner. Devin’s eyes settled on a female with caramel skin with red undertones.

“Hey.” Devin nudged the waiter.

The young man jumped as though startled, his eyes bulging upon seeing the blunder he made.

“Pardon moi, monsieur,” the waiter said loudly in his incorrect pronunciation of the French he tried to speak.

Devin burst into a fit of laughter, drawing the attention of the other patrons. Pierre who was speaking with the African American woman the waiter had been staring at, shot him a warning look.

“Hey, when did you start speaking French?” Devin asked the waiter. “Who’re you trying to impress?”

The waiter’s pale skin visibly reddened as his teal hued eyes glanced across the room. Devin’s eyes followed and settled once again on the woman who was now smiling up at Pierre. The Maître D beamed as he bowed and stepped away. Devin’s eyes buggered when he got a full view of the woman’s face.

Entranced by her, he stared for a full two minutes while his brain chronicled the contours of her face. A flip flop sensation presented in his chest followed by a slow heavy drumming of his heart, not to mention the sudden violent stir in his groin. As he continued to drink in the shape of an oval face with pink pouting lips and a smile that clearly was in competition with the sun, his heart rate picked up speed.

A movement beside him brought his attention back to the table. The waiter was about to walk away. Devin grabbed his sleeves in order to halt his progress. The waiter looked down aghast at Devin’s hold on his arm.

Devin ignored him. “Who is that?”

The waiter was clearly smitten and when he looked across the room, his shoulders sagged as his eyes became dreamy. A silly smile presented on the youth’s face as he stood there like an idiot.

“Who is she?” Devin prodded.

“My dream girl.”

“Never mind, I’ll just have to ask Pierre and lodge a complaint about the shabby service. My crotch is frozen stiff.”

Frozen wasn’t exactly the right word he would use to describe his cock at that moment. Seeing that woman melted away any iota of cold that had doused him. His crotch was now in a state of solidified heat so to speak. But the message of his complaint came across to the waiter loud and clear.

Devin’s friends roared with laughter while the waiter’s face went ashen. The waiter’s expression changed from one of complete abandon to one of terror in a fraction of a second. He bowed and apologized immediately for his folly and vowed to provide better service in the future.

“Now tell me, do you know who she is?” Devin inquired once more.

“Yes, sir,” the waiter answered. “Her name is Dr. Cassandra Melody and she is a graduate of MIT. She’s a research scientist who was instrumental in developing a very important vaccine. Sorry, I don’t know which one exactly.”

“Melody,” Devin said, casting his eyes on the woman who was now engrossed in something on a tablet. “Music to my ear.”

Chapter 2

Cassie raised her eyes as the waiter with the auburn hair and teal colored eyes approached her table. She’d seen him many times since coming to dine at Chéz Tameré. He placed a bottle of wine on the table and gave her a shy smile. When her eyes questioned him, he gave the usual slight bow.

“Th-the g-g-gentleman,” he started to stutter, then straightened, closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Upon opening his eyes, he spoke more clearly, “The gentleman at table seven sends his regards and asks that you enjoy your evening meal.”

When Cassie looked across the dining room where the waiter indicated, there were four men seated at a table. They were all staring at her, but one in particular caught her attention. His eyes seemed to pierce hers as she looked into them. The smirk on his face and the way he leaned back in his chair told her how cocky he was. Slowly he lifted his wine glass and held it out in her direction.

He was indeed handsome, with dark brown hair and dressed in slacks and blazer. She liked his fun sexy look but quickly dismissed him from her mind. She had no time for men like that.

Cassie smiled and spoke to the waiter. “Thank the gentleman at table seven, but tell him that I don’t accept drinks from strangers.”

It was easier turning him down with that excuse than to explain that she did not drink while studying. She would have loved to enjoy a glass of wine. But her research was critical to finding the origin for the strain of the Covid-2-21. A virus which was discovered recently and believed to be a second strain of the original novel Coronavirus which was discovered in China in 2019.

This new strain was a mutation of the first and those originally infected who were believed to have recovered, actually incubated the virus for another forty days before showing secondary symptoms. It was strange, as though some alien species had dropped this virus in the middle of Earth and expected humans to scramble for a cure. In order to create a vaccine for this strain, it required extensive study to see how it interacted with human cells.

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