Her Aspiring Billionaire

Wait!"

"The food is ready!"

"That seat is mine!"

The memories engulfed him as he stood in front of the modern structure, a place he once called home. He once cried, laughed, became angry, and was happy here. He had once felt the warmth of a family here.

The children's laughter served as a background sound. He wore a sad expression, realizing it had taken him nine years to return.

"Sir," his personal assistant called out.

"Yes?"

"We should go inside now."

It's been less than 24 hours since he arrived in the country, and the first place he wanted to visit was the place where he spent his teen years. His appointment was made months before he arrived, and he is glad to be here, but the thought of being in this country brought back both happy and sad memories.

He let his personal assistant lead the way, despite the fact that he knew these places better than him.

He stared at the walls and felt them with his hand as he walked down the path to his destination; he had not been here in years, and so much had changed.

As he put his foot into the small office which he visited so much in the past, the feeling of nostalgia hit him.

"Good morning, Sirs," the orphanage director greeted.

He stared at the current orphanage director with an unfazed expression unlike in the past when facing the orphanage director which was Sister Grace. He wished it was Sister Grace but she passed away four years ago. And this director, he will assume, was brought out from nowhere.

His personal assistant replied, "Good morning, Sister."

"You must be Sir Anthony," the Sister remarked with a bright smile, referring to his personal assistant.

"Yes, I am, and this is my boss, Mr. Theodore Roosevelt." Said Anthony with a bow.

"Sir, it is good to have you here at last. Thank you so much for your assistance over the years."

"I heard you grew up in this orphanage." Asked the orphanage director gently.

"Yes, Sister," he replied with a neutral expression, not providing any further answers.

He has been supporting the orphanage for the past six years, despite the fact that he has been out of the country for the past nine years.

"Sister Grace would be very proud of you." She said with a knowing smile.

Theodore wondered what she knew but he wasn't ready to dive into it, after all it was not why he was here.

"Yes. Let us get right to the point of my visit," he said, putting all sentiment aside.

"Oh! Alright Sir." She said with a slight startle.

"I would like to renovate this place and I am not planning on keeping this present model while renovating. I will change it up a little by adding more spaces, so it is more of restructuring than renovating. I know you have already discussed it with my assistant but I would like to elaborate on the matter."

"Please take your seats, Sirs. I would like to invite our secretary, Sister Joy. And I would also like to invite our accountant to attend this meeting but she is currently unavailable, so let me quickly contact Sister Joy."

The name Sister Joy brought a smile to his face. He remembered the plump, short lady who always walked quickly to any destination, her notepad clutched on her blossoms.

"Okay, Sister," his personal assistant responded.

"Sister Joy! Sister Joy, I need you in my office right now," the orphanage director said through the intercom.

Theodore Roosevelt clutched his sweaty hands together, feeling nervous as they waited for Sister Joy. He could not remember the last time he felt this nervous. His nervousness had been gone for a long time, but it returned as soon as he landed on Ackland's soil. Sister Joy was one of his favorites. A little lady with a heart of gold.

While Sister Grace, the former orphanage director served as the head of the orphanage. Sister joy served as the heart of the orphanage. He could smell her flower scent right away, even before setting his eyes on her.

"Yes, Sister. You called for me," spoke Sister Joy.

"Yes, I did. These gentlemen are here to discuss the future of this orphanage. They have some interesting proposals and are eager to make them a reality."

"Oh! Good day, gentlemen," Sister Joy said, turning around to face them. Theodore smiled as his eyes landed on the notepad she held so close, he also realized that there were changes in her. Sister Joy now wore glasses, and her face had aged.

She looked at him a little more intently while adjusting her glasses. "My blue-eyed boy," she called him by the nickname she gave him years ago because he had striking Blue eyes. An eye that could not be ignored and was extremely noticeable.

"Yes, Sister," Theodore replied as he stood up to greet her, smiling broadly.

"You are all so grown!" She said as she held his hand and patted it repeatedly, "Theodore Simon!"

"It's Theodore Roosevelt now, Sister."

"Oh my! My blue-eyed boy. Sister Grace will be beaming from above. You grew up very well."

This made Theodore happy because it came from someone he knew well and respected.

"We have so much to catch up with. But first let's settle the matter at hand."

To this Theodore nodded, totally agreeing with her. "I would love to remodel this building."

He delved right into business saying, "During the remodeling, I would like to add a library and an art/music studio, giving the children more opportunities to express their artistic side."

"That sounds great, Mr. Roosevelt," commented the orphanage director.

"I would like to know what it will cost me and I would be leaving that to your accountant. I would love a response as soon as possible so that I can start gathering funds. I have already made my inquiries in my country but I know I can't compare my country's prices with Ackland. I have the building blueprint for what I want, it can be adjusted with what the orphanage wants."

"The accountant is not in at the moment. Let's set up another meeting when she will be present," said Sister Gracie.

"Okay Sister," answered Theodore. "My assistant will set it up. We have to get going now."

"We will set up the meeting this week," said Sister Gracie.

They stood up, ready to leave. "Thank you Sisters," Theodore said with a smile.

"My blue-eyed boy. We will see each other very soon again. I am sure the rest of the house parents and staff will be delighted to see you again. I have to go, I left an engagement with some children to attend this meeting," she said before using her signature walk, out of the office.

Sister Joy wasn't his house parent, his house parent for ten years was a woman in her mid 40s, which wasn't bad nor good. She seemed to be in the orphanage for the paycheck and not because she loves children. He tried remembering her name but was unable to and he realized that was how little she impacted his life.

"Oh! "Sister, we forgot to ask for your name," Mr. Anthony said as he stood beside the desk.

"That's right. I am Sister Gracie."

This caused a whiplash for Theodore Roosevelt, who was almost at the door.

"Sister Grace?" He asked, a little surprised.

"No, Sister Gracie. My name sounds a little like Sister Grace but it is spelt differently. The names have the same meaning, they mean favor, blessing..."

Theodore blocks the rest of Sister Gracie's sentences. He wondered what cruel hand of fate was being dealt to him indirectly. Why would the orphanage management committee bring in someone with the same name as Late Sister Grace.

"And where are you from, Sister?" Asked Theodore at last, not being able to call her Sister Gracie.

"Reeverivers," she said with a slight grin.

"It is a small village where everyone knows each other, they are different..."

Yeah, just like how he thought, she came out of nowhere. Theodore blocks her again. She was a chatterbox, in contrast to Sister Grace, who was a woman of few words who only spoke when she had a word of wisdom to share with someone. Sister Grace mostly talks with her eyes and uses her words rarely.

As they walked out of the orphanage, Theodore looked towards the playground, where he had spent thousands of hours in the past, watching other children play. He looked far across the playground. He knew there was something special beyond the playground, hidden in those bushes, that many orphanage residents did not know.

"Give me thirty minutes, I need to check something out," he quietly told his personal assistant.

"But, sir, the car is ready."

"Then go wait for me in the car," he said before walking away, but on second thought, he came back to his personal assistant. "When I said thirty minutes, I meant thirty minutes, not twenty eight or twenty nine minutes. Thirty minutes Anthony and not earlier than that," he said with a strict tone.

"Okay Sir."

He walked towards the bushes passing the playground as he used his hand to touch the metals. He stood in front of the tall grasses, debating whether he should pass through it in his well-ironed suit or not. They used to be a cleared path, he thought as he cleared his way with his hands.

He was the one who used to clear the grass, thanks to Sister Grace. He remembered when she caught him on this path, and her only condition for allowing him to continue doing his hobby and going far from the orphanage building was that he clear this path every week and keep it clean. As he walked through the tall grasses, memories flashed through his head. He remembered passing through here with his best friend.

He finally arrived at his destination, the special place. In front of him stood a weathered old treehouse. It looks like it has passed through thousands of tornadoes and bad weather but still standing, never giving up just like him.

He never knew who built the tree house, but he was fortunate to find it, and it quickly became his secret hideout, which he only showed to one person. He thought about climbing it but then decided against it.

Despite his better judgment, sentiment won, and he climbed it. Inside the treehouse, he saw all of the snapshots and magazine cutouts that had been used to design the interior. As he continued to look around, the tree weakened and collapsed while he was still inside.

In the midst of the crumbles, he looked around to make sure no one saw him before dusting off his suited body, taking some important photos, and walking away from the scene like it was a crime scene.

*****

"Sir, what happened?" his personal assistant asked, surprised to see his boss in such a mess. He looked like he had just survived a strong wind attack, with his hair sticking out in all directions and his suit and hair covered in sand and grass.

"Drive!" Commanded Mr. Roosevelt to his driver while ignoring his personal assistant's question. Even though he thought against climbing the tree house, his childlike self couldn't resist the temptation and he ended up climbing the tree house but it came at a cost. The tree house came crashing down and with the crash he ended up on the ground, he was glad he didn't sustain any major injury.

*****

Theodore Roosevelt felt relieved upon entering his home, which was a small luxury apartment that resonated with him. He realized how well his personal assistant, Anthony, knows him. Anthony chose and furnished this without Theodore's input, and it was completely in Theodore's style.

He was relieved to have left Jamison, where he lived in the family home with his parents and sisters, despite having a studio apartment there.

He was in Ackland because of a new branch that had been formed, and he did not know how long he would be there, but he wanted to make the most of it because it was the first time he would be away from his family for a while.

Theodore Roosevelt sat on his couch after his shower, feeling empty and unfulfilled. You did think that being a millionaire will make him fulfilled and feeling successful but it didn't.

He wanted more. He is twenty six and turning twenty seven in a few months and he wanted to be a billionaire before turning twenty seven. And he wanted to achieve a lot of milestones before turning thirty. He knows that his new project in his home country will propel him to billionaire status and land him on Donbes' magazine page as one of the world's under thirty billionaire bachelors. Maybe it will help him be able to fill up this empty hole inside him but somehow he doubts it will do that. He has been chasing happiness since he left his birth country but every day it seems unreachable for him. He reflected on his time at the orphanage, there was nothing much back then but at least he didn't feel empty. In the past during his stay at the orphanage, most times the food was not good or hot, there were hardly enough blankets to cover the kids but they always managed and Sister Grace always made do with what they had at hand.

Despite the sadness that follows those horrible experiences, there were also happy memories, like when he got his first hand-me-down bicycle or when he had his personal blanket, or those days where the food was hot and properly cooked or when there were free snacks. He smiled as he thought back and had a flashback to the one who made him the happiest he could but he could not help the anger that followed the memory, this person he trusted the most in the past betrayed him.

The experience he had at the orphanage motivated him to be better, richer, and never return to being poor and helpless. The empire that he is building is not just for his own benefit but for others.

He sighed before getting up to get himself a drink. He was done with thinking for the day.

It was a week after the first meeting that the second meeting was fixed. And on that day, Theodore decided to dress formally. He set aside his suit and picked up his shirt and ripped trousers.

"Sir, we are running late and you ain't dressed," Anthony said.

"What! I am dressed and ready to go."

"But Sir you never wear this, especially for business purposes. You always dress formally even on beach dates."

"Today we break the rules, I break the rules. And we aren't in Jamison anymore, we are in Ackland, so let's act like them."

As they entered the orphanage director's office they were greeted by Sister Gracie and Sister Joy, there was also an unfamiliar lady close to the window and staring outside.

"I hope we all had a nice week," asked Sister Gracie.

They all nodded but Theodore noticed that the woman standing at the window side was not moving from there to come over to introduce herself.

"Come over darling. You need to introduce yourself," Sister Gracie said.

"Miss Redmond," the orphanage director called out softly.

Theodore Roosevelt could feel a shift in energy as soon as the figure walked away from the window and towards them; the stranger gave him a familiar feeling.

Theodore stared at the silhouette, the morning sun was making it hard for him to see the face of the young lady but he could unmistakably make out her shining brown hair and it brought familiar feelings to him. He adjusted his head a little and used his hand to block the ray of the sun to look at the figure. And as soon as he saw the face clearly, his world rumbled.

"This is our accountant and also our public relations specialist," said Sister Gracie whispering the last part. "She majored in business administration with a minor in management and marketing. She's a jack of all trades and master of all. Very good in what she does," said Sister Gracie with a smile

But Theodore wasn't listening, he was staring intensely at the woman standing close to him. He scanned her once again, her shining brown hair was wavy loosely on her shoulder, and her face slightly matured maybe due to the makeup. The assertiveness in her posture, the smile on her face was familiar and the dullness in her eyes was unfamiliar to Theodore.

"I am Charlotte Redmond, the accountant and PR specialist of this orphanage," she said smoothly, her eyes staring at him without any emotion or recognition.

"Lottie," he called out. it was undeniably the same woman who had broken his heart nine years ago. The reason he left Ackland