Chapter 31: A Millionaire, His Suit And Poor Me Chapter 31

I stared, breathless, at this seemingly harmless little object, placed on the bedside table next to the bed, which had thepower to reduce my heart to ashes. He stood there laughing at me for what seemed like hours.

Finally, pulling myself together, I took off the covers and got out of bed. Henris, who was adorable with his sleepy air,looked at me confusedly as I walked around the room looking for my shoes.

“Noras,” he said slowly, his voice hoarse from sleep. “What are you doing?”

I chose not to answer; instead, I concentrated on putting my black heels on my feet and lacing them up so I could get outof there. My fingers worked the little golden clasp on the shoelace before I gave up, taking off my shoes and choosing tostay barefoot.

“Noras. I asked what you were doing”

“What the hell do I look like I'm doing?" replied irritably.

I fled the room with my heels in my hands before he could answer, letting the slamming of the door show my level of angThe large attic was silent, except for the faint sound of footsteps in the hallway.

Then another door closed, and I knew that he was following me exactly as I had planned. I took the stairs two by two wittthe intention of getting out of there as quickly as possible, but before I could reach the luxurious living room, his armswrapped around my waist from behind, stopping me.

“Where are you going?" He growled.

“I'm going away"l blew, trying to make him let go. “Let me go!”

“Why are you leaving?”

“Let go of me!”

In response, he drew me closer to him. “Noras, calm down. If you stop moving, I'l let you go”

I immediately let go, falling backwards on his chest; the tone of his voice dissipated any trace of adrenaline that I had inmy body moments before. He lifted me up and carried me to the sofa on which he sat with me in his arms.

“Tell me what's wrong” He ordered gently.

His hand moved a lock of my hair behind my ear before grabbing my chin and turning my face so that our gazes meet; mifull of sadness, his of confusion. The usually soft and pompous curls were now flat on one side of his head, on which heleaned while sleeping, and I desperately wanted to put them back in place.

I stared at him for too long and finally he bent down to kiss me, at the gesture I moved away, avoiding his lips. Henrisremained confused and didn't even try to stop me when I left his lap, transferring me to the couch and bringing my knee:back to my chest.

“The earring”! sighed. “The earring on the bedside table”

Looking for a reaction on his face, I was not surprised to find none. The usual calm expression took place on his face, as inothing could ever surprise him. “The one with the diamond?”

“Damn, theres more than one?"l mocked.

“No.”

I rolled my eyes and walked away from him. “I would leave fine, but since you always insist on accompanying meeverywhere, I would appreciate it if you called James for me.”

He stared at me and I did the same, not knowing what to do in this situation due to my insufficiently developed socialskills.

“It's Claire's” He finally said. His voice was deep and about to explode with anger. “She left it here”

“Enough. said weakly. “I don't care who owns it. Call James, please.”

“It was a few days before the wedding. Before I told you I was yours.”

“Please, stop!"l begged, holding my head in my hands. Every word he uttered only made things worse, because I imaginecthem together, his powerful hands on his thin waist, as he did with me. “Please.”

Finally, he decided to stop and we stayed silent, he didn’t mention calling James as I had asked. My anger was covering thsadness more and more and from one moment to the next, I was going to burst out.

Henris looked at me warily and ran his tongue over his lower lip before speaking. “I didn't know I was yours. I made amistake.”

“You told me you wouldn't see anyone else.”

“Claire has just arrived here. I didn't foresee it. Nothing is ever planned with her”He defended himself.

“It makes no difference. You lied to mel said softly. “After you told me you weren't lying. So you've been lying all this timThat's great. Really great. Now call James or I swear I'm calling Jace who's probably with Louis and he's going to be veryangry”

He immediately stood up and squinted in my direction. “Il take you."

“No.”

“Yes, Noras"she whistled. “I'l take you if you listen to me first”

I sigh in frustration and cross my legs before settling down comfortably on the sofa. My makeup was probably ruined bythen and I imagined my hair pointing in all directions, like a frustrated, well-dressed troll.

“Don’t interrupt me."He ordered and began to walk the hundred steps. His tattoos shine under the soft white shirt thatshows part of his chest. Henris walked for about a minute, with his hands behind his back and a serious expression on hiface, before he started talking.

His voice was slow and forced, as if he was trying to restrain himself from yelling at me when he had no right to be angry.didn't think it would be like this. Claire has always been there and always will be."

I looked at him with an annoyed air. “l wouldn't call it a good start, Henris."

“I said don't interrupt me”’He said abruptly, his green eyes darkening, and continued to take long strides in front of me.“she will always be there. She is a business partner and at one point she was something more. But now that you're here,won't do it again. You are what I need right now.”

“You don’t need me."

“Don’t do it. Interruption."He whistled, each word being more pronounced and more threatening. The company CEO finalystopped walking and stood in front of me, with his shoulders straight, as a sign of assurance. “I need you. You have no idehow much, Noras. And I had no idea either, until the wedding”

I Looked at him with my lips sealed in defiance when he finished.

“speak now” He ordered.

“Oh, what a joy. I'd just like to answer a few questions. First of all, I hate Claire, and her husband is the business partner,not her. Secondly, I have absolutely no idea what you mean when you say that you need me. It doesn't make any logicalsense since you remain a real asshole with or without me.”

He stared at me in silence for a minute, as if he was surprised that I didn't yell at him or punch him in the face at thatmoment. I didn't know why either. “Her husband is an alcoholic. He is the face of society, she is the brain. And I understarthat I'm an a*****e, I get it. But I'm trying."

“Not enough.”

“What do you want from me then?"He asked softly. “You must tell me what you want me to be to you. I'm trying to do it. Iwant you to be with me, Noras."

And that's when I broke out. I heard him tell me that he had “tried” for weeks and that he “needed” me. He told me hedidn't want to see anyone else. I heard and believed every word that came out of his mouth.

Instead of screaming, I got up and left the room. I ignored his warnings to stop and shook his hand on my shoulder whilewaiting for the elevator. When he started screaming, the loud sound filling the space around us, I started crying.

I entered the elevator and finally turned around to find myself face to face with the furious handsome man behind me. Heyes widened in shock when she saw tears flowing, which I quickly wiped away, cursing my weakness. It took me a fewmoments to recover before I spoke.

“Ym telling you what the fuck I need." I whistled. My voice betrayed me because it broke towards the end. “I need you to tcheerful, take me in your arms whenever you want and stop treating me like I'm one of your employees. I need you to serme some flowers. I want f*****g flowers, or anything that shows that you care about me, for that matter. I need you to try.need you to stop the “we're not in a relationship” bullshit and be with me. That's what I fg need."

His face turned into the first really sad expression I had seen from Henris Steve since I met him, an expression I doubtedwould ever see again, an expression I never thought I would see.

“I can’t do that.”

Even though it was exactly what I was waiting for, my heart shrank into small pieces at his words. “I know"

This time, he didn't stop me as I leaned against the wall of the elevator, clinging desperately to the railing and hoping thamy knees wouldn't let go to keep me upright. As I watched the doors close, I remembered the first time I left his office,completely panicked, and collapsed in the elevator.

That time, it was because my heart was beating fast and I was so full of energy that my vision was blurred. But this time iwas because my heart was so inert and ready to give up that I could have laid down on the floor and immediately fallenasleep.

Without emotion, I walked into the parking lot and sat down on the cold sidewalk, dialed the number of the New York taxcompany with one hand and wiped my nose in an ungraceful way with the other. “Hello, I need a taxi to Central Park West15”

“Ten minutes” A gruff voice said before ending the call.

Time passes painfully, sitting on the sidewalk, and I tighten my sweater around me to try to warm up. When the yellow taarrived from the bottom of the street like a divine light, I climbed into the back seat as fast as I could.

Half of my stupid subconscious was still hoping that Henris would run out of the building for me. But when we left, leavirhis elegant complex behind, I realized how crazy these dreams were. The driver looked at me with an air of pity in therearview mirror.

“Is everything all right, miss?”

“Yes!” I answered weakly. “Just, you know, the service millionaire who breaks my heart. Nothing new.”

“A man let you g0? He must be crazy!”

I shrugged my shoulders with a faint little smile. “Yeah, well, it's bordering on psychopathy, so I guess you're right."

“Hey, fuck him” The man laughed. “I bet you have a million men who would die for you."

“since I have the social skills of an alpaca, the only man I have right now is my best friend” The taxi driver gave me a lool“And he's totally on the other side”

“At least you have your friends. Now stop crying over a guy. I see too many beautiful women crying in these taxis. It breakmy heart, believe me."

I laughed pathetically and wiped my nose with the sleeve of my shirt before realizing how disgusting I was becoming. “I'mtrying to stop. It's just that I love her, you know?”

“I know!" He said, looking at me in the mirror with his gray eyes, stupidly similar to Henris's. “But sometimes it may not beenough.”

The rest of the trip passed in silence and I gave the man a generous tip when we arrived. After being confronted withHenris for too long, it was nice to be reminded of how many beautiful people there are in the world.

it took me, this time, four tries to put the key correctly in the lock before entering the apartment. The TV was on in theliving room, forgotten by the two people whose faces were pressed against each other on the sofa. Making a sharp noise,turned around and covered my face with my hands, hearing laughter behind me.

“We marked him for life!” Louis laughed.

Jace tried to restrain himself before giving up and bursting out laughing. “She will never be the same again!”

I turned slowly and looked between my fingers. “Can I look now?”

There was a silence after I spoke and then all of a sudden both of them ran up to me with worried looks and open arms.Louis arrived first and removed his hands from my face, looking surprised.

“I knew it!" Jace whispered, hugging me and stroking my hair. “You cried. What happened? what happened? Where'sHenris?"

“Its his faultI whispered. The boys guided me to the sofa and placed me in their arms, my head on Jace's legs, who keptstroking my hair, while my feet on Louis, who was massaging my legs. “He... there was an earring... and he said he neededme, so 1 left.”

Louis frowns in confusion. “do It Again. I'm confused.”

“Everything was fine, until I saw an earring. He said it was Claire's, a while ago, but still at the time when he told me hewouldn't see anyone else. Then he told me that he needed me and I told him that I needed what was between us to be rehe said he couldn't do that. So I left.”

“Have you left?” Jace asked slowly.

“I'm gone"

“Thank God."

We remained silent and the boys continued to comfort me. At some point, we found ourselves in a tangle of arms and legon the small sofa, each of us wrapped in the other. My legs were intertwined with Louis's and my head was comfortablyresting on Jace’s neck, while the two boys managed to wrap their arms around each other.

Sleep came easily, wrapped between two people who would do nothing to harm me. I didn't dream that night, fortunateland when I woke up, the muffins were already ready and the shower had started.

“The outfit is ready, darling” Louis said softly when he woke me up. “Jace is cooking, I started the shower and prepared alittle satirical monologue to make you feel better”

“Let's listen to her then.” I whispered while sleeping, opening one eye to look at the bright-eyed boy in front of me. “I willbe the judge of your acting skills."

He laughed softly. Well, uh, he's not ready yet. Maybe I lied. Now, 20 take a shower, and I'll let you smell it”

I looked up and took his offered hand, I got up from the couch on which we spent the night on each other. I gave him abrief kiss on the cheek and went into the bathroom, took off my shirt ~ Henris's shirt ~ and went under the hot water.The shower was relaxing and did wonders for my tight muscles, but absolutely nothing for my aching heart. I felt like ateenager whose heart had been broken by her first boyfriend and who thought it was the end of the world.

When I got out, I slipped into my chosen outfit and opened the door to find an exhausted Jace whose blue eyes were widin shock. 1 put a hand on each of his cheeks and, as I did so, Louis appeared next to him, his expression frightened andconfused.

“What happened? I'l asked Jace's boyfriend with concern. “Is he all right? Did he get burned while cooking? Is that part ofthe sketch, Lou?"

“No”'said Louis, shaking his head. “There is, uh... there is..”

My stomach turned over when I recognized the intimidated expression on the Doncaster native's face. “He's here, isn't he“No”Jace finally spoke. I breathed a sigh of relief, which was immediately broken by the following words that came out ofhis mouth. “Well, sort of”

“More or less?”

“Come! Louis grumbled. He swept his boyfriend's gaze away and took my hand, guiding me down the small hallway. “Don’go, like, crazy. There are a lot of them.”

“A lot of what?"l complained.

My question was answered when we turned the corner, entered the small kitchen and found every square centimetercovered with flowers. Yellow roses, to be precise. I looked at them trying to understand what was happening and why a seof roses covered my entire kitchen.

I tilted my head to the side. “I thought you were making muffins, Jace."

My roommate, and apparently not my CEO, hugged me by the waist from behind. “They kept coming, damn it. Yellow is thcolor you give someone when you want to apologize”

“What the hell is this?”

“The delivery man was furious” added Louis. “He must have brought them all up and said, quote, “the guy must really haydone it”.

I narrowed my eyes to the roses. “What the hell is this? Fucking flowers? 1"

As I entered the kitchen, I started looking for a note among the flowers, anything that could explain what kind of gameHenris Steve was playing at the moment. Finally, I saw a vase in a corer from which a blank sheet of paper was innocentsticking out.

I squeezed it tight and fixed it. In cursive script on the front, there were two words. Noras Wishe.

My stomach was threatening to empty its contents on the kitchen floor. Instead of doing so, I slowly sat down on the coldtiles. Jace and Louis stared at me when I handed them the piece of paper that I absolutely could not read, especially soearly in the morning and without caffeine in my body.

“Read it” I whispered.

With a little nudge of encouragement from her boyfriend, Jace took it from my hands and opened it. His tongue traced hislower lip and his eyebrows furrowed as he took a first look at the words, as if to make sure I could hear them.

He cleared his throat quickly and looked at me as he spoke. His voice was low and full of concern.

“Dear Noras, I thought I'd start with the flowers. Henris."