A Millionaire, His Suit, And Poor Me

“The cat doesn't need a four-story tower to climb,” Liam pointed out, annoyed, his arms crossed over his chest. “I will be fine with a bed” “Yes, she needs it. As if she needed this adorable pink tutu and the cat-shaped headband. And she needs the bes kind of food. I don't remember asking you for your opinion, though" “I didn’t even want to come here with you: I stuck out my tongue at him in a very childish way. “Well, if I didn't have a car, you wouldn't have to be my persor driver. Now shut up and take the box, it looks heavy” With one last roll of his eyes, Liam reached down to grab the elaborate cat tower on the bottom shelf. He was probably right that 2 Chainz didn't need twelve packs of cat toys, cat perfume and cat toothpaste, but Jace wasn't there to stop me, so they ended up in the cart. After taking one last pack of natural cat treats, I thought we had enough things to make the apartment comfortab for our new kitten. “Finally,” Liam grumbled from behind me. “It's already taken up enough of our time" I looked at him as I put the items on the counter. “It wouldn't have taken so long if you hadn't insisted on arguing about every single thing I chose. It was pointless, really.” “No, we wouldn't have taken so long if you hadn't taken so long to decide on the pink or purple color of the headband." “You don't understand fashion.” “You are simply crazy." “Well,” I hummed, swiping my credit card, “I'd rather be crazy and understand fashion than be normal and be seer in those horrible shoes you're wearing.” Liam pouted and my smile grew. “Ready?” We lifted the large amount of plastic bags from the counter and got out, where Liam's little car was waiting for us. As the temperature dropped more and more as the days went by, I began to give up a walk by resorting to a more comfortable ride. Liam turned down the music button as we pulled out of the parking lot. “So, how is it going with Henris? He left a little hastily last night. Are you all right?” “Oh, he's fine,” I mumbled. “We are doing very well. Just busy. He's busy. Henris is busy. Henris the worker" “You haven't spoken to him, have you?” I pressed my forehead against the window with a sigh. He's just busy. Something happened in his office. It's like I want to write to him, but I don't want to disturb him, you know?". I'm not very good at giving advice. You should probably talk to Jace about it. Or with your mother" “Jace is actually sick, I don't want to disturb him. And my mother would probably advise me to grow fresh vegetables for her or something. And don't even think about mentioning that Louis is going to help me, because God knows I'm not going to do an impromptu monologue for Henris”. “Could you, for example, write to him?” I opened my mouth in protest, before realizing that yes, I could probably write to my boyfriend. But rather than admit it to Liam, while I was insulting his intelligence, I hid the phone from him and typed a short message. A: Henris Steve, 1:21 - Is everything okay?x There was no answer until we got to the parking space in front of my apartment, so I put my phone in my pocket and took a few bags of pet supplies. I said goodbye to Liam, lifted the bags over my shoulder and went back to m, apartment, where the usual group of people was standing. After putting the items away in the small hallway between my room and Jace's, I settled on the sofa next to my mother, who was knitting something that looked like a pair of socks. “Where's dad?”I yawned and put my head on his shoulder. “He went to get medicine for Jace”He smiled at my roommate, who was curled up at the end of the couch, holding cup of tea between his fingers, looking a little pale. “You don't feel better, do you?” Jace shrugged his shoulders. “I just have a little headache, you know? A little dizzy." “Have you eaten enough?” “Yes,” he breathed, “Louis made sure of that before leaving to get some medicine.” “Do you need anything else? More tea? Coffee?” “No, just a good night's sleep, probably." I nodded in silence and started browsing the channels to find a movie that the three of us could watch. 2 Chainz approached and settled comfortably on my lap, my mom moved over and made more room for me, and I was abo to fall asleep with Jace when my phone rang. From: Henris Steve, 2:47 am — I'm coming out of the meeting, everything is fine x A: Henris Steve, 2:29 - OK. Don't stress too much From: Henris Steve, 2:50 - Too late. One of our investors has withdrawn and I bet Malik will be the second. I have another meeting at 5 o'clock. At my house tonight. I'll pick you up at 8 o'clock. x A: Henris Steve, 2:50 - My family is still here. I'm going to have dinner with them. You are invited. From: Henris Steve, 2:51 - I don't have time. Don't write to me again, Noras. I have to work. xxx A: Henris Steve, 2:52 - Be nice. I hope you will fix it, call me anyway x From: Henris Steve, 2:52 ~ I will. I miss you. A: Henris Steve, 2:52 - I miss you too. You are doing good business. From: Henris Steve, 2:53 - Stop writing to me. xx I sighed under my breath, threw my phone on the coffee table and pulled the blanket over my face to block out tr light for my nap. I was having a hard time accepting the fact that this guy runs a company that has many millionaires, so I didn't even dare to imagine how he felt. And Henris saying he missed me, followed by “stop texting me” was frustrating too. I couldn't decide if I needed more caffeine to treat the situation or more alcohol to drown it out. It was enough to trigger a headache in the back of my neck. Knowing that it was impossible to take a nap as long. I was worried about Henris, I pulled the blanket off my head with a big sigh. My mother gave me a look before returning to her nap. Jace, meanwhile, seemed absolutely exhausted where he was sitting, unintentionally rubbing our kitten's belly while watching a rerun of Criminal Minds on TV. “Do you want to play with one of those toys I bought him? There's like a little stick with feathers on it that we can use." “Too demanding."He said softly, with his eyes half closed. “I feel like I've run a marathon.” “Louis should be back soon with some medicine. And I will tell my father to make this soup that he used to make for me when I was sick. He was like a miracle healer.” My mother whispered in agreement. “We probably need to get the ingredients for that one” “If it makes Jace-poop feel better, then it's worth it," I insulted him, rolling off the couch and crawling on the carpe to my sick best friend, where I settled comfortably on the carpet next to the sofa. “I have never seen you so calm. Maybe you should be sick more often” “Then who would do all the real work for Victoria?” I smiled at her as I stroked 2 Chainz, who was purring quietly in her lap. “Alice, maybe Sophia. I'm sure I could pay one of them to cook shit.” Before he could utter a slight protest, which I could see forming behind his half-closed eyes and his parted lips, t door opened and Louis announced his presence with a big “Darling, I'm home! He then rushed into the living roor with what seemed to be a dozen different medicines. “You don't even live here,” I reminded him as I crossed the floor to place him next to Jace, who was sick. He grumbled, pressing the back of his hand to his boyfriend's forehead to check if he had a fever. it might as well be. And considering that I went shopping twice, we can't complain. Jace, you don't have a fever. Bu I have about 10 different kinds of drugs. One of them will have to work." “I hope so;" Jace sighs, striving to straighten himself. It looked like he was either out of breath after climbing the stairs to our apartment, or he burst into our office with the last copy of our article, a few minutes before the final deadline’Can I have more tea, please?” “Yes, of course. What kind? I think we have, the English breakfast, the green, and the earl grey." Jace paused thoughtfully. Green. And maybe a bagel. I like bagels." “Wait,” my father says as Louis jumps up. “Julia said that I had to make you my famous soup?” “No, no," Jace sighed. “You don't need to make this effort! I'm really fine. Probably a bad hangover. Thanks anyway It's no use, you're whiter than a sheet of paper. I'll do it. You relax and think about getting better so you can go to dinner tonight” With that, it felt like everyone in the room was doing something for Jace. My father and Louis were preparing food for him, my mother was knitting a pair of socks that she absolutely wanted to give him, and I was ordering the mountain of various medicines that they brought back from the pharmacy. Finally, I decided to give him Advil hoping that he would do something. It was strange to see Jace, usually the mos lively and the soul of the party, lying on the couch. And I could tell that the others in the apartment didn't like it either. After giving him the pills, I ventured to the kitchen to annoy my father and Louis. With my best friend sick, my boyfriend stuck at work and my parents busy with their own projects, boredom was extreme in my part of the country. “Louis”, I complained, leaning on the counter next to him with a dramatic sigh, “I'm bored". “Playing with 2 Chainz”" “Jace stole it” He looked up at the sky while playing with me. “It's unfortunate. Maybe you could, I don't know, be a real adult an do adult things. Like playing bridge. Oh, or start planning for retirement. Or finally get your parents’ health insurance!” I stuck out my tongue at him as he came out of the kitchen, a hot cup of tea in his hand and a smile on his face. Then I turned to my father, who was making something with unrecognizable vegetables. And obviously, I was at th peak of my boredom to decide to try to cook, because I gave him a little push, I got next to him and started cuttin My father let out a deep and deafening laugh, which reminded me of my childhood. “Don't burn anything" “There is no fire either”, I huffed, cutting the carrots, “It's physically impossible”. “l wouldn't be so sure.” There was a loud noise in the living room, followed by the sound of broken glasses and a high-pitched meow. I could hear the click of my mother's irons hitting the ground, and I was already running towards the sound when Louis uttered a cry of pain that made my steps stop. “Jace!"He begged, in a loud and frantic voice, “Jace, get up!” I hated coffee. I've hated it since I first tasted it, around the age of 15, when I went out for dinner with mom and Gemma. They be insisted on ordering coffee with dessert. So naturally I followed their example and ordered a huge cup of coffee. I tasted it and spit it out on the table. From that moment on, I hated it. The only time I touched a cup of coffee was when I sent Jace to get one for me during Noras’ second interview, and he left the room. And of course now I foun myself sitting at the meeting table with a large cup of coffee that reminded me painfully of Noras. Noras was the only exception for which I would also appreciate a flavored coffee without anything. To my right, in a dark tuxedo and smelling of whiskey, was Marc Carter. Next to him, there was his stupid trophy w blonde who seemed about to stab him or fuck me at any moment. Claire looked at me like that the whole time, I didn't know if it was because of the circumstances or not. On the other side, two members of the commission were sitting, both sipping their coffee and looking at us with stressed air, like me too. With a bit of annoyance at this whole situation, I threw the papers on the table. “This is bullshit. Why would he withdraw his investment?" “We can't understand”, Marc muttered, “It's like he did it just for fun”. Claire gave him a disgusted look. “The stock went down half a point, a tiny bit, and then suddenly he pulled out. Maybe he found something better” “There is no better company than mine" I fulminated. One of the longest-serving members of the committee, Pau agreed. “The only possibility is that the decline in shares scared him a little, and that someone offered him a lot money to leave our company. No one would leave except for the direct possibility of getting money quickly” “Stop talking”l complained as I leaned back in my chair, my legs crossed at ankle height. “It doesn't matter. For now, what matters is convincing Malik that we are worth it. That an investor means absolutely nothing to us. That my business is the one he needs to grow in America." “Does he already know that?” Claire let out a silent mockery, tossing her blonde hair over her shoulder. “Damn no. He'll find out when I decide t tell him, which will only happen if we have our asses covered” “If we capitalized in the..." stopped in the middle of my sentence, suddenly closing my mouth, when the office phone turned on. I used all my strength to grab it and not break it into small pieces by pressing the answer butto hard. “Steve!” Jennifer let out a little squeak. “Um, Mr. Steve...” “I have given you clear instructions so that this meeting will not be interrupted. How can it be so difficult to folloy a simple request?” “Noras is online.” I cleared my throat, embarrassed, because she had followed the instructions, they considered that the only other rule was to always forward Noras' calls to me. “Good. Get her through. And no more interruptions.” “Yes, sir" The line snapped with a small beep, then there was a gasping sound on the line, accompanied by silent sobs and muffled gasps. I quickly turned around in my leather armchair, my hair standing up in a caudade to the silent sounds of pain. “Noras?"l asked softly. “Noras, what's wrong?" A sob was heard across the line. “I need you. I only have... Jace. Something's wrong with Jace, he's bleeding in his sleep and I'm scared. I really need you." “Baby, calm down. Calm down.l got up, threw the files on the table and went out without hesitation. “Where are you right now? Who's with you?” “In the hospital. We're in the hospital and everyone is here but you have to be there. He was so pale and there wa blood and he hates blood but he didn't say anything and I'm ~ I'm so scared, Henris. Please, come along” I pressed the elevator button. “Which hospital?” “Bellevue.” “OK. Breathe, Noras. I'll be there soon." The line closed with another sob and a sharp noise. Desperately, I hit the little button again with my fist, why the fuck were my lifts so slow? I was about to knock again when a small hand wrapped around my wrist, manicured nails sinking into my hand. “Henris;" Claire gets carried away, “Where are you going?” I pulled my arm out of his grip, my nostrils dilated and my eyes half-closed. “Jace is injured. I have to go." “No, you have a meeting going on that is going to decide the future of the company. You can't go there." “Claire; I hissed, lowering my voice to a whisper and taking a step forward to accentuate the size difference between us. We passed each other, looking into each other's eyes, cold blue eyes staring at my green eyes full of warning. “Tell Marc and Paul and that other fucking guy that I have other things to do. They will wait. They have to wait.” Instead of turning around, he stepped forward and pointed his accusing finger at me. Are you seriously going to throw away everything you worked for for a fucking girl? I've been here all this time, Henris. I saw what you did. A I know you shouldn't leave here right now.” The elevator opened with a ding behind me. She's not just any f*****g girl. It's Noras. And the council will be waiti for me. F**k, I'm in charge. They have to wait" “Don’t be naive, we both know that what you are doing will not work. So you have to go back to the meeting” “The last time I checked, I was the boss”'l whistled. She raised an eyebrow at me, her red lips turning into a smile. “Then act as such, Mr. Steve” “How dare you.” “Henris!"Claire raised her arms in frustration and pushed back the finger I was pointing at. “You run your own business. That's all you've worked for. I'm not going to stand there and watch you ruin everything for a girl who's nothing more than a good shot. No matter what you do, it won't work. Go back to the meeting.” He paused while the doors opened and closed behind me. “I know what you want. You want England, you want power and you want money. And leaving now - for Noras - won't bring you any of that. Don’t you want to repay your mother? Gemma?" “Don’t do that," I barked. “Don’t you dare throw those words in my face. I care about both of you and you know it very well” And if you want to keep doing this, go back to the meeting. Paul must be getting pissed off in there. We won't hav long before Malik learns that your investor has withdrawn.” I turned back to the elevator, then to Claire, who was giving me that f*****g know-it-all smile that she always seemed to have. And with one last grunt, I pushed her towards my desk, straightening my tie as I walked.