A Millionaire, His Suit, And Poor Me

My phone rang, waking me up. I searched for it with my hands, exhausted and hopeless, until I felt its smooth surface wit my fingers and managed to answer it in time. The light blinded me when I brought it to my ear.

“Hello?"I whispered while sleeping.

“Noras.

Henris' cold voice made me drop the phone. Suddenly, any form or trace of sleep and hangover disappeared and I hurrie to look for the phone between the covers, later finding it with a triumphant smile on my face. “Henris?”

“You didn’t send me a message when you got home."He said coldly. “And you didn't answer the calls. I didn't know you we okay until Jace answered."

“Well, you see, it's because I could have fallen asleep in the car and because Louis could have had to carry me up the stairs. I was a little tired.”

I heard a growl on the other end of the line. “And I was worried that you got injured at the game.”

“Well, that didn't happen. If you had stayed, you would have known. replied irritably.

“I had to work, Noras. I thought you understood that"

“Yes, yes” grumbled. “Sorry. I'm hungover and I'm also bored.”

“Aren't you going to work?”

“I took a day off” whispered. “I wasn't in the mood for work, you know, with a hangover and everything”

“Good. I'l be there in twenty minutes. See you soon, Noras.”

As usual, he ended the call before I could answer, letting me throw the phone across the room in annoyance, before gett out of bed and taking a shower. I got under the water even before it was hot, because Henris was going to arrive any minute and I couldn't be found in the shower.

The cold water gave me chills and goosebumps, just like Henris's fingers. Both cold and unexpected, but at the same time just what I needed. By the time the water started to warm up, I was already awake and feeling much better.

When 1 was done, I quickly put on a sweater that was too big, grabbed my teddy bear, and ran to the kitchen, hoping that Jace had left something for breakfast in the microwave. My expectations were met by a note.

My drunk best friend,

Microwave pancakes. Coffee ready to be brewed. Advil in the cupboards at the top right. Louis always in my bed

With love, your very young and incredibly attractive best friend.

The note was completed with a few poorly drawn hearts and his signature. I turned on the microwave and made some coffee, took some Advil, and then went to Jace's room to wake up his boyfriend, who might as well be living with us at thi point.

I climbed into bed and got under the covers with him. Louis muttered something drowsy about work and wrapped his arr around me, bringing me to his chest covered with a sweater. Happy, I accepted the hug and settled into her body. “Louisl said softly. “It's, like, ten in the morning. Do you have to get up?”

“I don't want to"He growled.

“Jace made pancakes.”

He grunted and hugged me to him. “Will you bring me some?”

“Not really” sighed. “But I will, seeing as you like my best friend and all those nice things."

“convenient, isn't it?”

That said, I slipped out of the covers and headed back to the kitchen. Henris was going to arrive any minute and I was stil in my pajamas and with my glasses on. I brought Louis his food and I was about to change, when there was a knock on th door.

I looked at her with an uncertain air, then I returned my gaze to my room, then to the door, behind which was Henris. I wa about to run like crazy to my room, but knocking once more, Henris convinced me to head for the front door.

When I opened it, I discovered Henris Steve wearing, by some miracle, a blue shirt that made his eyes shine, black suit pants and the usual black dress shoes. Her cheeks are slightly flushed by the wind.

Before I could even understand what was happening, he pulled me to him, into his arms, and wrapped me in an embrace that broke my bones and would have been painful.

“Will you let me in?"He whispered in my hair.

“Yes”'I whispered. “You may come in."

Henris withdrew with a smirk, took my hand and followed me to my small apartment very appreciated. I led him into the kitchen, where my coffee was almost ready. The smell of Henris mixed with that of coffee was like my own paradise.

“So, why are you here?"l asked, pouring myself a cup of coffee.

“Is ita problem that I'm here?”

I sent him a bad look and brought the cup to my lips, blowing to let the drink cool. “No, Henris. But don't you have to work?”

“I was up until seven this morning to clean up the shit that my employees did. So no, I don't have to. In fact, I came here 1 conclude the terms of the bet.”

I looked down at him. My conditions were to spend a relaxing day, pampering myself and doing absolutely nothing, and there he was, in my apartment, dressed from head to toe, as if he was ready to speak as mayor.

“Henris, I wanted a relaxing day. You're dressed like you're going to a funeral”

“I came straight from work. If you don't want to fulfill your part of the bet, then we won't do it”

I took a sip of coffee and shrugged my shoulders thoughtfully. “That's good. You have to wear something else, though. Lik a Jace t-shirt or something”

Unenthusiastic, he followed me to Jace's room, now in Louis's possession. We searched among the many sweaters and bo ties before finding a few surviving shirts, which I threw to Henris.

I watched with fascination as he slowly unbuttoned his shirt, keeping his eyes fixed on mine and making my heart beat frantically. At the third button, I had to look away, otherwise I'm sure I would have fainted at the sight of his tattooed che which had surely been carved by the gods.

When I turned around, he was looking at his clothes with a strange air. He was wearing a Rolling Stones T-shirt, suit pants and street shoes. I burst out laughing at this embarrassing sight, which made her frown.

“Noras, I look like a clown.”

“You look in good shape”I laughed, turning to the drawers. “I'l get some pants for you."

Five minutes later, I was bent over on the floor, trying to breathe. The sounds of amusement that came out of my mouth were unattractive and probably not human, but by then I was well past the point where I cared.

Henris Steve, standing in front of me, trying to stay calm, was wearing Jace’s pants which were at least two sizes too small and stopped right at his tattooed ankles. He was in the most embarrassing state I've ever seen him in, but absolutely adorable.

Every time I tried to pull myself together, I would look up and bend down to laugh again. The view was too strong for me. When he started to take off his pants, I was still laughing and I couldn't even appreciate the sight of his thin thighs.

“Are you done?"He blew.

“It's just that... i... don't follow... capable... to watch.."and then I burst out laughing again. At that moment, he was obvious tired of my bullshit because he lifted me off the floor and threw me on his shoulder while blowing.

“Henris!"l screamed, hitting him on the back. “Put me down!”

And he did it, throwing me on the couch and falling on me with a smirk, as if he wasn't close to giving me a heart attack because of his proximity and the fact that he was half naked. I looked at him with big eyes.

“Now, Noras."He said softly. “Are we going to spend the day relaxing or not?”

I nodded slowly and pulled away from him. “Yes. Give me in your phone. And everything you have to communicate with your company. And you are not allowed to touch them.”

Henris looked a little uncomfortable handing me his phone and watching me carefully get up and put it aside. When it we put away, I returned to the sofa and was immediately brought to his lap.

“So, what do we do now?"He asked slowly.

“Absolutely nothing. We're going to put on a bad movie, order Chinese food and sit here. This is the American dream.” Surprisingly, Henris smiled at the idea and said nothing when I recommended her to watch She's The Man, or when I ordered an exaggerated amount of food from a low-quality Chinese restaurant, or even when I curled up on her lap. Instead, he ran his fingers through my untamed curls and spoke slowly. “We should play a board game."

“A board game?”

“Yes. So that we can also talk.”

I raised my head to this proposal. “Wait... Let me be direct. Do you want to talk? Like, voluntarily have a conversation?” “Yes, Noras"she sent me a bad look. “Don't be rude. What are the board games that you have?”

I jumped off the couch and went back to the TV stand where Jace and I were keeping the games for situations like blackouts. Henris joined me and squatted down next to me to see what options we had.

“Do you like Monopoly?”

Nodding happily, I took the box and went back to the couch. Henris took a few cushions and placed them on the floor so that we could sit down while I put the game on the coffee table. He chose the toy car and I chose the dog, and a little late we were playing.

“Its still unfair, because, like, you're a real businessman.’I pointed it out. “You're probably trying to negotiate a merger or something.”

“Probably."He smiled. “And I think I'm supposed to have $200 to go through VIA, right?”

The game quickly escalated. As expected, Henris focused on each round, muttering to himself about investments and oth things, and giving me bad looks when I gently reminded him that it was “just a game”.

After an hour of playing, I was almost bankrupt and he had a monopoly on almost all properties. “What a bunch of bullshit"I mumbled, rolling the dice.

“It's business, Noras."

“Which are bullshit. And super complicated. How do you do that every day?”

He shrugged his shoulders and watched me move my pawn a few squares, then tried to hide his smile when I stopped at one of his properties. “It's actually fun when I'm not angry. I like power”

“Yes, I guessed it. You like to shout and tell people what they need to do."

“And you obviously chose not to listen."He smiled. “It's quite boring.”

“I'm sorry”

“Don’t be. It's also refreshing”.

Before I could respond to his shocking comment, the doorbell rang. I rushed to the door faster than I had been doing lately, enchanted by the thought of chicken fried rice and spring rolls as delicious as they were unhealthy.

I fumbled with the door lock, then opened it to reveal a boy with greasy hair and holding several small white boxes. He smiled at me as I took them from his hands.

“I'll be right back with the money!"l said cheerfully, carrying the food into the kitchen, finding Henris coming towards me with a few banknotes in his hands.

“I'll pay, and don't argue He warned, handing me the money. “And I would be fine, but since I'm not wearing pants...

I laughed slightly at this idea. “Yes, you are right”

Heading to the door, the delivery man looked at me without restraint, causing me to lower my gaze when I handed him th money. His hands stayed on mine for a few seconds too long, until 1 took a step back.

“Thank youI said I was embarrassed.

“No problem. All this food for you?"He asked. Her long oily hair and the way her brown eyes stared into mine were strang It wasn't the way Henris looked at me, intense and almost frightening. It was rather an embarrassed look that made me blush.

I took a close interest in my stocking-covered feet and shook my head. “No, I have, uh, company.”

“Is your company as cool as you are?"He said with amusement.

“Actually,” Henris said, annoyed, from the back of the corridor, from where he was apparently listening to the conversatio “It is not so. Now get the hell out of here."

The delivery man froze, panicked, when Henris's arm wrapped around my waist, pulling me closer to him and placing me slightly behind him to protect him. I couldn't help but notice that he still didn't have any pants on, only his Calvin Klein boxer shorts.

“S-sorry man, I didn't know. I just thought she was cool”

Henris's grip intensified to the point that I thought I saw a bruise appear the next morning. “You are not improving your situation. Now, go away.”

“Brother, relax"The boy whispered. “Nothing happened. I didn't know.”

“Noras "said Henris slowly, his dark eyes fixed on the man smaller than himself. “Go back to the kitchen."

“Henris, come on, don't...”

“Noras!"He said sharply. When he turned to look at me, his pupils were so dilated that they looked like two small puddles of hatred. I left the place without hesitation, I returned to the couch and I brought the bear back against my chest listen to him.

“If you come back here,” Henris growled. “I'm going to personally crack you in the face, and then I'm going to make sure that you stay unemployed for the rest of your life. Do you understand?”

The tone of his voice made me shiver, so much so that I didn't dare to imagine how the poor guy could feel. There was a pause in the conversation and I moved slightly closer to the door to hear better.

“Hai. Got it?"Henris repeated. Every word expressed as a threat.

“Yes.”

“Yes, what?”

“Yes, sir”

Then the door was slammed with such force that I thought it was going to come off its hinges and Henris came back into the living room with a look that I had never seen before.

Without saying a word, he held out his hand to me. The dark traces in his eyes suggested that I take and say nothing, whi is exactly what I did. I followed him and he dragged me to my room, ushered me in, followed me and slammed the door even harder.

Stepping back a few steps, I looked at him with concern. Henris put one hand on the wall and held his head with the othe His chest heaves and sags heavily with anger.

“Noras"She whispered in her hand. “Please.”

A feeling of guilt that I didn't understand took hold of me. “What?”

When he raised his head, I was greeted by the sight of his eyes returning to normal. However, under those green eyes, the were dark bags, which I hadn't noticed before, and which showed how long he had been awake and how stressed he was. “Could you just... could you just come here?"He whispered, extending a tattooed arm towards me, his eyebrows furrowed. I didn’t let him tell me twice. A second later, I was in his arms, my head on his chest while his arms encircled my waist an pulled me up, making my fingertips lift off the floor.

“He was just a stupid kid." said softly, running my fingers through her dark curls. “Why are you so angry?”

“Things.” he spat out the words like poison. “What he told you"

“He didn’t know, Henris. Don't be so jealous.”

Henris put me back on the floor and put a hand on either side of my head on the wall. He looked at me with big eyes, without moving when I put my hand under his shirt and around his pelvis, or when 1 bent down to kiss him with a reassuring smile.

“But you could have been with him"He growled against my lips. “Or with someone else, for that matter. They shouldn't even have to look at you like that, because you're mine. You're mine.”

“Yours."l whispered in response, tugging at the hem of his shirt, eliminating the space between us. My lips formed a smile as the familiar essence of the coconut enveloped me, while Henris continued to stare determinedly into my eyes. “Wouldn't you like to be with someone else?”

I could not restrain the bitter laugh that escaped from my mouth at this idea. The idea of being touched by someone oth than Henris. The idea of being placed on someone else's lap and not hearing them scream at me to stop moving. The ide of someone other than Henris was almost comical.

“No, Henris. We've had this conversation before.”

“Noras?"He asked more gently this time.

“Hm?”

He took my chin, brought my face closer to his and kissed me again. When he withdrew, my knees were fragile and I want to have another one, which unfortunately he did not give me.

Instead, he ran his tongue over her lips. I want to f**k you. Now. Here.”

I frowned trying to understand his words, and the first thing I managed to say was a simple correction. “Making love” “Yes”He nodded. “I want to make love to you. I want every inch of you, Noras, that every part of you is mine. I need it. I need it with you."

“Do you need it?"

“No."He corrected me. “I need you.”

or

“You!"He whispered, and that simple word was so full of conviction, of sincerity, that the chills that he gave me so often made their way on every inch of my body, my heart was beating so fast. I kissed him once more, without worrying about reaction.

Then, leaving my lips a few millimeters from hers, I went against my better judgment and whispered a sweet... “Ok.”