Harry
As soon as we got to the work function, I could see my father staring at me and frowning. There was a look in his eyes that I couldn’t quite decipher, and I stifled a groan as I looked over at the stunningly beautiful Sarah. I still couldn’t quite believe how attractive she looked when she tried. Not that I would ever say that to her. She’d always been a pretty girl, there was no doubting that, but she’d never looked so alluring before, at least not to me.
“What are you thinking about, Harry?” she said with a little attitude in her voice as she spun her neck around to look at me.
“What do you mean, what am I thinking about and what am I looking at?” I mumbled my words, not even sure what I was saying.
“Are you okay?” She laughed, touching me lightly on the arm.
“Do you want the truth, or do you want the truth?” I said with a laugh.
“How’s about the truth?” she said with a small smile.
“Okay. Well, let me talk fast because I can see my dad’s approaching us, but I want you so badly right now, Sarah. I have an addendum to the pact.”
“What do you mean, you have an addendum to the pact? You didn’t even actually have a real contract.” She shook her head. “By the way, I think—”
“Sssh,” I said as my dad stopped in front of us.
“Harry, glad you could make it.”
“Hi, Dad. Good to see you too.”
“You’re half an hour late.”
“Can I ever really be late when I’m the boss’s son?” I said with a smirk, and he just shook his head. I looked over at Sarah and she was stifling a little laugh. “Dad, what do you think about Sarah?”
“What?” My dad looked over at Sarah with narrowed eyes, and then let out a low gasp. “Sarah, is that you?” I could tell that he was shocked as he stared at her. Then he looked back at me. “What’s going on here? What’s Sarah doing here?”
“Well, you told me I needed to bring one date to all the functions, and so Sarah has agreed to be that date for the rest of the season.”
“Sarah, as in Sarah, your best friend?” my dad said, looking at me again.
“Yes, Dad, and she’s standing right here.”
“Hi, Mr. Huntington. I guess I look a little bit different, huh?” She walked over and gave him a small hug.
He hugged her back and nodded. “Yeah, your parents didn’t tell me anything.”
“My parents don’t know,” she said. “They’re on their way to Europe and I didn’t want them to think I was coming down with some sort of midlife crisis."
“Sarah, you’re twenty-five. Hardly a midlife crisis,” I said.
“You know what I mean,” she laughed. She looked back over at my dad. “I just didn’t want them to worry about me or think I was on drugs or something. So I’ll tell them when they get back.”
“Okay. Huh.” He looked at Sarah and then he looked at me. “Well, this is interesting. You’ve certainly grown into a beautiful young woman, Sarah.”
“Thank you,” she said with a small blush.
My dad looked at me. “And you’re taking care of her?” he said in a low voice.
I knew that he was questioning me, but I pretended to be ignorant of what he was actually saying. “‘Of course, I’m taking care of her. She’s my best friend. Actually, I’m about to go and get her a drink right now.”
“Okay,” my dad said. I could tell he wasn’t sure what to say next. “Well, there are some people I need you to meet about the merger with Germany. We have the CEO of—”
“Dad, I literally just got here. Can I get a drink, and can I get Sarah a drink? And I’ll mingle, and then I’ll meet the people you want me to meet with?”
“Fine, Harry, but pick it up a bit, please. This is a very important meeting.”
“I thought this was just a work party?” Sarah said, looking surprised. “I thought it was low key.” She laughed and looked at me. “But I’m guessing not.”
“Sarah,” my dad said in a gruff voice, “most parties are actually more important to businesses than boardroom meetings. This is a very important, very, very important,” he stressed, “occasion for Harry and I.”
“Oh.” She looked surprised. “How so?”
“Let’s just say that there’s a CEO here that could possibly entertain a million-dollar deal with us.”
“That doesn’t seem like that much.”
“A million dollars a minute.” My dad laughed. “So actually, a billion-dollar deal with us, if he likes Harry, and if he likes me.” And then he paused and lectured Sarah, “And I guess if he likes you, so please be on your best behavior, Sarah.”
“What’s that supposed to mean? I’m always on my best behavior.”
“I know you’re normally on your best behavior, but I know that Harry can make you do stupid things.” He looked at me. “The two of you are known to get up to a lot of crazy stunts, and just remember, this is not our house. This is not a party. This is a work function. So you guys need to ensure that you are acting mature and—”
“Dad, we’re not little kids anymore. Please.” I shook my head at him.
“Really?” he sighed. “Fine, fine, fine, fine. Harry, I’m trusting you, and Sarah, I’m putting you in his hands. If he acts up, you know I’m going to talk to you.”
“Yes, Mr. Huntington,” she said, and I chuckled.
“This is taking me back to when we were fifteen and really were naughty school kids. Dad, we’re much older now.”
“I wouldn’t say much older, son.” He put his hand on my back. “But hey, let’s have a good time and let’s close this deal tonight. Okay?”
“Yes, Dad. I’m on it.”
“Good to see you again, Sarah.” He gave her a kiss on both cheeks. “And I look forward to you spending the holidays with us. I heard you’re going to be coming early as well.”
“Yes, Mr. Huntington. I will be coming early with Harry. He thinks it’s the best idea.”
“You wanted to come as well,” I said.
“Did I really?”
“Sarah, Harry. Guys, now is not the time,” my dad said, frowning again. “Please.”
“Sorry, Mr. Huntington.” Sarah smiled. “Okay, Harry.” She hooked her hand through my arm. “Let’s go and get a drink and then let’s get you to work.”
“Okay. We’ll see you later, Dad. Okay?”
“Okay.”
Sarah started walking and I started following behind her when my dad touched me on the shoulder. I stopped, pulled away slightly from Sarah and looked at him. “Yes, Dad?”
“Do you know what you’re doing, Harry?” my dad said suddenly in a low voice.
“What are you talking about?” I frowned at him.
“Sarah is a very beautiful young woman. She’s also your best friend. She’s also the daughter of your mother and I’s best friends.” His eyes narrowed. “Do not fuck anything up, you hear me?”
“Dad, what is that supposed to mean?”
“You know what that means, Harry.” He sighed. “I know I told you I wanted you to bring one woman with you to these events, but I didn’t mean Sarah.”
“You guys always wanted me to bring Sarah when we were younger. All the time, that’s all Mom would say: why don’t you and Sarah? Why don’t you and Sarah this? Why don’t you and Sarah that?”
“Yeah, Harry, but Sarah looks like a femme fatale now, and I know you’re most probably attracted to her—”
“Dad, really—”
“Just listen to me, Harry. She’s still your best friend, and I know you may have other feelings developing for her.”
“What are you talking about?” I took a step back.
“She’s a beautiful woman, Harry, and you most probably want to sleep with her,” he said crudely. “Just don’t, okay?”
“Yes, Dad, whatever.” I shook my head. “I’m going to get a drink now.” And I walked back over to Sarah, who’d stopped a couple of yards away. “Hey, sorry about that,” I said.
“No worries. What was that about?” she said, looking at me with a questioning look on her face.
“Don’t worry about it. It was just my dad being a dad. Annoying.”
“Oh. I guess he was really surprised at how I looked.”
“Yeah, and he was basically warning me not to do anything with you.” I rolled my eyes.
“What do you mean, do anything with me?”
“I mean sleep with you.”
“Oh my gosh, so he knows we’ve been—”
I stopped her. “He knows nothing, Sarah, and he will know nothing. Okay? It’s between you and me.”
“How are we going to go to your parents’ house and hook up, and...” she started, and I grinned at her.
“Well, maybe we don’t have to wait till we get to my parents’ house,” I said.
“What do you mean, Harry?”
“Maybe we do it before then.”
“So you want our one-night pack to start earlier than—” She just stopped talking as I smiled at her. “What are you thinking, Harry?”
“I’m thinking that there’s no time like the present.”
“What do you mean, there’s no time like the present? You think I’m going to hook up with you right now?” Here her voice got louder.
“Sssh,” I said again. “Girl, keep your voice down. Do you really want to get me in trouble?”
“Sorry, but I’m not about to have sex with you at your work party, Harry, okay?”
“Sarah, do you really think I’m going to take your virginity in the back room of a work function?” I shook my head and laughed. “No, but maybe later tonight.”
“Maybe later tonight?” she said. “How late do you think this party is going to go that you think that one night...” She sounded confused. “Oh my gosh. I’m not even sure what I’m saying.” She stumbled over her words. Her face was bright red.
“I think that maybe one night should be all night,” I said with a laugh, “but there are pre-nights and post-nights.”
“What do you mean, pre-nights and post-nights?”
“Well, there’s always the fun that comes before and the fun that comes after. Maybe we should think about that as well.”
“I don’t really know what you’re saying, Harry.”
“I’m saying that I want us to spend the night together.”
“Okay, and?”
“And I mean, spend the night together.”
“We spend plenty of nights together, Harry.”
“I know, Sarah, but I want tonight to be a special night. Maybe we don’t go all the way tonight, but maybe we have another kind of fun.”
“What sort of fun are you talking about?” Her eyes stared at mine, and I could see the lust and excitement there, though from the expression on her face I could tell that she was very wary of what I had to say.
“Let’s just say that. Let’s have some fun. We never have fun.”
“Harry, that’s all we do is have fun.”
“I mean, let’s just let loose completely, do whatever we want to do.” I put my arm around her waist. “What do you say, Sarah?”
“I say that I think this is turning into a really bad idea.”
“A really bad idea that you want no part of, or a really bad idea that you could be down with?” I whispered into her ear.
“Hmm, let me think,” she said as she gazed up at me, her blue eyes sparkling. She leaned up and gave me a kiss on the cheek before whispering in my ear, “I think it’s a really bad idea that I could be really down with,” she said with a slight giggle. “So let’s get some drinks and see where the night takes us.” She winked at me, and I gasped as I stared down at her face.
I’d never seen her so teasing, so sexy, so full of light and energy. I never felt this way about her before. This lightness, this wanting to be with her, and yet this adoration of how she was giving herself to me and enjoying it and going with the flow. There was nothing heavy or tense about this moment or this decision. It was just fun, and it was light, and it was us. It was so us.
“Sarah?” I said softly as I looked at her.
“Yes, Harry?”
“You’re not going to regret this,” I said. “You’re not going to regret this at all.”