Chapter 19: A Millionaire, His Suit And Poor Me Chapter 19

When my alarm clock woke me up, I no longer found Henris Steve wrapped around me. My clothes from the day beforefolded neatly at the foot of the bed. No evidence that he was sleeping next to me was obvious and I began to wonder if hhad been real.

Reluctantly, I got out of bed and started looking for Henris in the huge attic, starting with the kitchen downstairs. I didn’tfind it, but I was pleasantly surprised to see Mrs. Jennifer cooking.

“Hit” I smiled, as I entered the kitchen. “It smells deliciously good."

He turned around with a big smile. “Noras! 1 am glad to see that you are still here. I'm making French toast. I think Mr. Steis upstairs in his office”

“French toast is the best, really,” I said with satisfaction. I found coffee already prepared, so I helped myself to a cup andsat down at the counter. “Jace, my roommate, makes the best French toast. Good as hell”

“Well, you haven't tasted mine yet!” He said jokingly.

I laughed lightly with the cup close to my lips. “True. I'll judge when I taste yours."

She was still making French toast, which made me salivate at the mere sight, when Henris came into the kitchen, raisingsalivation level. He was wearing a gray suit with a blue shirt underneath and a striped tie. Her hair still wet from theshower and her phone stuck to her ear.

“I'l be there soon!” He said, annoyed. “Can't you do anything by yourself?" I smiled with amusement as he greeted me wia distracted kiss on the cheek and turned on the kettle for his tea. “The file is in my locker...” Yes.. About 3.6 million... ancmove the meeting to noon.”

He ended the call without adding anything, sitting down on the stool next to mine. “Sometimes I wonder why I haveemployees if they are incompetent.”

“You probably expect too much from it." I shrugged my shoulders.

He narrowed his eyes in my direction. “I expect perfection in my profession, Noras. There is no room for error.”

“Wo, I'm kidding," I mumbled, turning to Miss Jennifer who put a plate of French toast in front of me. “Thank you!”

“Would you like to have lunch with me today?” asks Henris, slowly cutting off a piece of his French toast. I, on the otherhand, have already had one and I almost groaned at its delicious taste.

“Um, sure,” I said between bites. “Where?”

“James will pick you up and take you to my office. I'm going to prepare something."

“OK We continued to eat in silence, the unanswered question from the day before still hanging in the air. I tried to savor everybite of my food by eating slowly, but I failed miserably, finishing my plate much faster than Henris. Who smiled at me.

“It was good, yes?"

“Of course." I teased him. He shakes his head slowly, incredulous.

“You are so difficult to understand, Noras."

I almost choked on my coffee because of the irony. Henris ended up patting me on the back while I was trying to catch mbreath. When I stopped coughing, he looked at me, raising his eyebrows.

“Am I 50 difficult to understand?”

“Yes.” He smiled and gave me an unexpected kiss on the lips, which definitely silenced me. The smirk he gave me shortlyafter made me understand that this was probably his plan all along, but I didn't care. Henris Steve's kisses may be worthnot talking about.

I finished my plate and carried it to the sink, receiving a grateful smile from Miss Jennifer and a bad look from Henris. Hesquinted as I gave him a lick and kept walking, intending to go upstairs.

“Where are you going?” He asked, following me with his gaze.

“To take my clothes. I have to go home and get ready for work."

“James and 1 will take you."

I climbed the stairs, took my pile of clothes from the bed and tied my hair in a high ponytail before going downstairs.“When will James be here?” I asked, sitting down at the counter again.

“He's ready when we are.’

That said, I nodded to make him understand that it was time to leave and I took the hand he was holding out to me. Wethe apartment and got into the black car that was waiting for us. Henris greeted James with a nod while I gave him a bigsmile.

Henris played with my fingers the whole way to my apartment, causing butterflies in my stomach. He turned my silver rininside out before removing one with a mischievous smile.

“I like that” He whispered, lifting it up to inspect it. I watched him with amusement trying to get it into one of his hugefingers before giving up with a disappointed look and giving it back to me.

“Too bad it doesn't suit me," I said seriously. “The pink flower would have really suited you."

“Everything suits me’ He said with a smirk. I immediately denied it, even though I knew it was the truth. He could wearanything and he always ended up looking like a model fresh off the catwalks. I was pulled from my thoughts by Henris wtdrew me to his side. “See you at lunch?”

I looked up, confused, and realized that we had arrived at my building. “Uh, yeah."

“Don’t make any plans for this weekend.”

“Sorry, what was that?”

He let go of my hands and glared at me, opening the door on my side. I went down with what little grace I had in my bodbut I was stopped by his hand that grabbed my wrist. Her eyes were worried when I turned around.

“Please don't make any plans for this weekend, Noras.'He said in a low voice, squeezing my wrist a little to insist. With asmile, I leaned into the car and placed a quick kiss on her lips. The only thing that kept me from being with him was thethought of Victoria yelling at me for being late.

“Hit” I said, running to the stairs. He waved at me like a little boy, small in the style of Henris but very adorable, beforeclosing the car door. The SUV started and I got in, turning the key upside down only twice before opening the door.

“It's a miracle!” I exclaimed as I entered the apartment. I saw Jace's curious head appear at the entrance to the kitchen.“What is it?"

“I put the key in after only two tries!”

He rolled his eyes. I thought you were going to say that you fucked Henris. It would be a bloody miracle if I saw one. Nowg0, your outfit is ready.”

I gave her a thumbs up before entering my room, where, as always, I found a beautiful outfit on my bed. A black and neorprinted skirt that I bought last weekend and my favorite long-sleeved high-waisted black shirt, accompanied by blacksandals. Jace is a genius.

We walked through the door less than ten minutes later, coffee in one hand and our phones in the other. I told him abouthe agreement made with Henris not to see other people, for which he was grateful, but we both knew that it would not &enough.

“Good!” He chuckled. “Next time you will have to tell him that you are not his."

“But its as if you were.'l answered weakly. “I want to be his. Which is incredibly frustrating, Jace.”

“Noras! You have to grow up.” He scolded. I nodded and we entered the glass building, as well as the Vogue offices, a fewminutes later, still discussing my night with Henris. After a bad look from Victoria reminding us of the possible promotionwe entered Jace's office.

The desk has been moved to the center, with a chair on each side. Folders, photos and a general inspiration board wereplaced on the desk, our laptops in front of each of our seats. Jace sat down opposite me with a determined look, and westarted.

Two hours and three cups of coffee later, we came up with a few ideas, including an affordable fall fashion guide. Each idwith its respective stack of lists of possibilities, fabric samples and photos, inspired us.

“Hell, we're good." Jace whistled playfully. He then lifted his now empty cup. “More coffee?”

“Yes, please.” I sighed. “And maybe an apple? I think we could finish the last details of the article for lunch."

“OKI”

I left the office and slowly took the time to relax after two hours of work. I pulled out my phone and found a message froHenris, which made me blush and laugh like a little girl. I became embarrassed.

From: Henris Steve, 10:47 am - Still okay for lunch?

“Damn. I thought to myself, quickly writing an answer.

A: Henris Steve, 10:53 a.m. - Postponement? There is so much work to be done.

From: Henris Steve, 10:54 am - I also have work to do. What a coincidence. If only I cared about you enough to make timefor you.

A: Henris Steve, 10:55 - Don't exaggerate. It's boring.

From: Henris Steve, 10:56 am - I don't like to cancel commitments, Noras. I like that everything is in order. At my housetonight. Bring some clothes so we don't have to search your house tomorrow morning.

To: Henris Steve, 10:58 - Ask politely, Mr. Steve.

By Henris Steve, 11:00 AM - Are you trying to piss me off? Call me Henris.

A: Henris Steve, 11:01 - That wasn't very nice either.

I laughed slightly as I put the phone down and waited impatiently for his answer. I realized how easy it was to joke like thwith him over text, without his icy gaze making me have a heart attack every time. Jace came back with two cups of coffeethe moment my phone rang.

“Fuck, f*uck, fuck” I grumbled when I read the name on the screen, receiving an amused look from my best friend.Apparently, Henris took it a little too seriously. I closed my eyes and answered. “Hello?”

“Noras." He said deeply. His voice was enough to give me chills.

“Henris.'I whispered. Jace raised his eyebrows enthusiastically and walked around the desk to come close to me, holdingmy arm as a sign of comfort.

“Are you staying the night at my place?"He growled. There was a pause during which he took a deep, frustrated breath.Please?”

“I would be honored, Mr. Steve."

“seriously Noras, if you don't stop intentionally pissing me off, I'm going to stop staying with you."

I laughed slightly. “What if I don’t want you to withdraw?”

“Noras," he warns in a hoarse voice. He took another breath. “I'll see you tonight.”

“See you later, Mr. Steve. I teased you.

“Call me Mr. Steve again and I'll come into your office and fuck you on your desk He said, annoyed. My eyes widened andturned to Jace to see if he had heard. The innocent expression of his blue eyes confirmed to me that he could not hearHenri’ voice on the phone.

“Sorry, oh shit. That one got away from me, I swear!"l said frantically. “Oh my god, don’t come! I'm begging you...”

He let out a deep laugh. “breathe, Noras. See you tonight.”

“Ill see you tonight" I said I was embarrassed. With that, the line cut off and Jace took the phone out of my hands, slippeit into his pocket and glared at me as if to tell me “one more distraction and 'm breaking the coffee machine again and Iblame you”.

“I know you want all the juicy details." I gave him a smirk as we got back to work. He narrowed his eyes in my direction.

“I don't want it”

“You want them."

“I don't want itt"

“Get back to work, Jace."l imitated him. He muttered a few insults and we went back to our laptops, each of us looking foranother section. Twenty minutes later, we were still immersed in the search for all kinds of inspirations. We should havehad the ideas ready and refined at the end of the day so that we could then start finding the real pieces.

A young curly-haired intern knocked on the door and came in, distracting us. Jace grunted and started banging his headagainst the desk. The girl seemed ready to cry.

“Ignore him,” I said. “What's going on?"

“There is someone for you He whispered softly. “He will be here shortly."

The door closed softly behind her without giving me time to ask who was there for me, although it would not have beennecessary. The frightened look in his eyes and the warning he gave me just before were enough to make me understandthat, against my will, Henris Steve was there.

The door opened and my stomach went into shock.