Chapter 50

AUTHOR’S POV

Her eyes went wide with shock and surprise. “Blacklisted?”

John nodded. “It's why I haven't gotten a job yet.”

“Is Brian that powerful already?” Belinda asked.

“The seat of nostalgia comes with some perks.” John grinned.

He felt proud of his company and the things it could do, even though they were unfairly used against him.

She shook her head. "No, I understand, but he hasn't done anything to ascertain dominance. There is nothing that would make people fear him, and so his bidding“

His face turned grim. “Maybe he doesn't have to do anything to ascertain dominance. He unseated me from my own company, did he not? I'm sure that must have been what scared them to do his bidding.”

Belinda sighed and looked down.

John didn't notice at first, but when he saw how quiet she was, he looked at her and saw two silver drops of tears fall from her eyes.

Immediately, he placed his finger under her chin. “Baby, what happened? "Are you crying?” He asked with surprise as he hurriedly used his fingers to catch the tears that dropped. “Belinda...”

“I’m so sorry, John. If I hadn't If we hadn't dated, Brian wouldn't have done this to you. I am so sorry.”

John stared at his girlfriend with a sad smile and pulled her close until she was like a folded nugget in his arms.

“Even if God showed me what would happen to me later in life if I dated you, I still would.” He said it softly when their eyes met.

“Why?” She asked. She knew why, but she still wanted to hear it.

“Because you are the light with me in my dark tunnel, the reason for my existence, and the sole purpose of my life." And then he smirked, “And also the only woman that can make me cum.”

Her eyes widened with shock and amusement, and her cheeks turned red—a very deep red that caused John to eruot into laughter.

“Do I still shock you with my flirtiness?” John wiggled his brows.

“Your mouth is too filthy. I'm sure there are other ladies out there that can fulfill that last reason.” She rolled her eyes.

John nodded. “True. But I'd rather masturbate for the rest of my life than have someone else with me, Belinda.

Do you really not know the extent to which my love burns for you?”

Belinda’s breath hitched; the atmosphere around them had suddenly changed, and her heart was beating widly in her chest.

Of course, she knew what he meant. She felt it too, for him.

“John…”

“All my life, I've always been driven to do something. Be a good son, be a good boss, have the best company, and make connections. There was always a reason behind my waking up every day.

After the treatment for my dysfunction yielded no result, I just stopped trying.

Knowing that one of the ladies I sleep with might find my secret out and sell it to the media as a premium story didn't even bother me at that point.

I told myself I'd stopped looking, when in fact it was the only thing I was still searching for.”

The emotions his eyes betrayed were too much for her to witness, but she couldn't look away.

“This love makes me mad. I've never been as reckless as I am for you.

This love was the reason my company was taken away from me, why I missed endless important meetings and contracts because having them wasn’t worth losing you.”

“When all my money drained before my eyes, the only thing I could think of was your clinic. How disappointed you would be if I couldn't get it for you.

I even beat up a reporter because he said sh*t about you; I completely ignored the fact that I was on live news.”

Belinda smiled. “Will you go around beating everyone that badmouths me?”

“Yes, I would.” John scowled.

Belinda wanted to laugh, but the seriousness on his face confirmed that he really would.

“John, you can't do that. A million people are probably badmouthing me as we speak.”

“Then I'll have their names down, and when we have it all back, I'll sue each and every one of them.”

He would, because he had already begun it.

Most times when Belinda would think he was working, he was actually searching for news about them, and everyone who badmouthed Belinda was going to have it big time.

He had their names in a list, one backed up in the clouds, so no matter where he was, he could always retrieve it.

“Don't do that, John,” Belinda pleaded. “It’ll make you more enemies.”

“I was never going to stop having enemies. No one is ever going to stop having enemies.” He placed his thumb on her cheek and caressed it absentmindedly. “If you decide to leave me, Belinda, I will die. I promise you that. Call me selfish or whatnot, but I can't bear to see you with someone else.

So promise me that you'll be mine forever, just mine. No matter what happens.”

He held up his pinky finger, and without hesitation, she linked it with hers.

“I won't.”

John shook his head. “This isn't enough.”

“My word isn't enough.” Belinda asked.

"No, not that. I'm saying this.” He shook their pinkies that were intertwined.

He stood up suddenly with her in his arms and said, “Let's get married now!”

“What? Wait!” When he didn't listen to her and continued to climb down the bed, she pushed him hard and straddled him. “Stop! Hold on!”

“You don't want to marry me?” His forehead creased.

“Yes, I do. But not like this. Not something impromptu.” She glared at him, arms akimbo.

“It won't be our wedding; it'll just be a marriage certificate that says we are now husband and wife.”

"Nah, uh, I'm not doing that with you. If we marry—”

“If?” His eyebrows shot up in the air.

“When we get married, I want it to be grand. Not as expensive but it's my only day to have my wedding, and I want it to be something special.”

John grabbed her hand and tugged her hard; she fell on his chest.

“Make no mistake, woman; I will marry you. You'd better not refuse me on the day I propose. And just so you know, I don't intend to marry you just once.”

Belinda flushed and bit her lips, and John groaned.

“Don't try to seduce me. Come on, let's eat.”

*******************************************************

You'd think that three months into it, people would have forgotten John Callahan’s fall from reign, but no, they hadn't.

If he so much as dared to walk on the street without a nose mask, he would appear on the Internet the minute he got home.

At least the reporters had backed off a bit after he almost sent one of them to heaven's gate.

But they still walked up to him sometimes, in open spaces, to question him.

But the minute he sees them, he will say, “I'll ignore you, but if you so much as dared to mention my wife’s name, I'll end you right here in the midst of these people, and no one will stop me. So choose your words carefully.”

Sometimes that chased them away, and other times they'd still bug him, but solely about himself and his company.

It has now become a spoken rule in all media houses that no one is allowed to say shit about Belinda to John if he is ever confronted.

Because the person would be six feet under, while John would go on with his life.

He walked into a restaurant, nose mask on, and headed to the ordering bar immediately.

"Hey, what can I get you?”

“I saw your vacancy outside. You need someone to deliver food, right?” John asked.

“Yeah sure. You can go this way to speak to the manager.”

He nodded and walked towards the hallway.

He came to a door and knocked on it. “Come in.”

Pushing it in, he came face-to-face with the manager.

The man was built with lean muscles, and he was tall but not as tall as John. His eyes were blue, and he had dirty brown hair.

His eyes assessed John and he asked, “And you are?”

“John Callahan. I'm here to apply for the delivery job.”

The man's ear twitched, and he turned to John and said, “Callahan? Like the Callahan?”

John nodded and pulled off his nose mask; immediately, the man sneered at him.

John smiled. How nice.

My boss hates me before I even start working.

He could already feel the rejection coming.

“I don't need to ask for your experience, but have you ever delivered food before?”

John nodded. “When I was a teen, I did it for a living while in school.”

The man frowned.

Obviously, John was born rich, so why was he delivering food as a teenager?

“You're hired.”

A smile stretched out on his lips, and he bowed to the man and said, “Thank you.”

His boss was shocked that he bowed with respect; he might not have any money, but John Callahan still had that power to his name; he still had the graceful way he walked, and no one, nothing, a CEO shift in Nostalgia could change that.