Harry
I looked to the right and saw Sarah’s parents standing there, glaring at me. I had no idea why they were so upset with me, and I wasn’t about to ask them. What had I done? First, Sarah had gone off on me in the office and left in a storm.
She hadn’t texted me or called me to let me know what was going on. And now, here were her parents glaring at me as well. I thought they’d gone to Europe. What was going on?
“Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Caddington. Good to see you,” I said with a warm smile. Mrs. Caddington looked at me with a stern look, while Mr. Caddington grinned.
“Hey there, Harry. Good to see you. Didn’t expect to see you here tonight.”
“Yeah. I just came to check on Sarah. Make sure she was doing okay.”
“Well, isn’t that funny?” Mrs. Caddington said.
“I came to check on Sarah as well.”
She stopped outside of the front door and looked at Sarah who was cowering there in her pajamas.
“Sarah.”
“Hi, Mom.”
“What’s Harry doing here? I thought you said you were alone?”
“I am alone. He just showed up. That’s why you see him outside the door.”
“Did he just show up or is he actually leaving?”
“What are you talking about, Mom?” Sarah said with a frown.
And I looked at Mrs. Caddington as well. She was definitely giving me the once-over and she didn’t look friendly, which was unusual. She loved me. Sarah’s parents had loved me since I was a little boy. They loved me and my brothers like we were their own sons. I had no idea why she was giving me such a frosty glance now.
Unless, oh shit. Had my father figured something out? Had he said something to Sarah’s parents? There was no way. Was there? I thought back to the earlier dinner where my dad had been trying to set me up with Severin’s friend.
She’d been beautiful, but there’d been no chemistry. And, frankly, I’d been surprised my dad had never acted this high-handed before. And hadn’t my dad also brought up Sarah and asked what she was doing this evening? I chewed on my lower lip. What the hell was going on here?
“Sarah, can we come inside, please?” Sarah’s mother’s voice was sharp.
“I don’t know what’s going on, but do we all have to stand out here in the corridor like commoners?”
“Mom, you’re hardly a commoner” Sarah said, but stepped aside and we all walked in.
I gave her a quick look and she didn’t smile at me. I let out a deep sigh and then tried to cover it with a cough.
“So, does everyone want a drink or what are we doing tonight? Playing a game?”
I tried to make light conversation, but no one smiled or laughed in response. Not even Mr. Caddington. I looked over at Sarah again. I just wasn’t getting why she was so mad at me. Was it because I’d made her hide under the desk when my dad had come in? Hadn’t she understood the reason I’d done it? Women. I never could understand what they were talking about or thinking.
“So, would you guys like some water or what?” Sarah said with a little frown as we made our way to the living room.
“I wouldn’t mind a beer,” I said, and then she gave me a sharp look, frowning. “Or not. I can have some water, whatever you want.”
What was going on here? I just did not understand. Was she over me already? Was she over our situation? I felt a tightness in my chest. She couldn’t be, right? I mean, the sex between us was amazing. She practically begged me for it the other day. I didn’t understand what was going on.
“So Sarah, we’ve got some great news for you,” her dad said, almost shouting.
“Yes Dad, what’s the great news?”
“Well, I was speaking to Harry’s dad.”
“You were?” I said as I looked at him. So, that explained it, my dad must’ve said something.
“Yeah, and?” Sarah said with a frown.
“And he was telling me how you’re really interested in getting a job in England, which you’ve never mentioned to me before, but I suppose makes sense seeing as you’ve always been obsessed with British royalty.”
“What are you talking about?” I looked at her dad and then I looked at Sarah. “You’ve been wanting to get a job in England? I told you the other day that I thought that was just something you were saying, I didn’t realize it was something you were doing.” I frowned.
Was this it? Is Sarah leaving me? Was this just some sort of fling for her? I looked down at the ground. Maybe I wasn’t special to her. Maybe... I stopped my thoughts.
“So, what’s going on? You’ve got a job?”
“Well, no.”
“Guess what, Sarah?”
“What, Dad? Can you come out with it? I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said with an attitude.
“So you know I was investing in that art dealership?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Well, guess what?”
“What, Dad?” she said sharper now.
“Don’t have an attitude with your father, Sarah. He’s only trying to help you.”
Her mother looked pissed. I wasn’t sure what was going on, but the whole room felt toxic and full of hostility.
“Sorry Dad, continue. What were you saying?”
“I was saying that I just bought an art dealership and I’ve been able to get you a job. We’re going to focus on some Tudor art.”
“Dad, I don’t know anything about art. I studied the Royal family. I know about history.”
“Yes, but you could easily know about art history as well, couldn’t you?”
“I guess. I mean, what’s that got to do with me?”
“We want you to take a position in the new art dealership in London, Sarah and perhaps while you’re there you can make some contacts and see if you can get your foot in the door at the British Museum or something,” her mom said. “We think it would be for the best.”
Her mom looked at me and gave me a cold look with narrowed eyes. Okay, so she definitely knew I was sleeping with Sarah.
I chewed on my lower lip.
“Well, that doesn’t really sound like something that Sarah would be interested in. Right, Sarah?”
“Actually, it sounds like something I’d be really interested in.”
She gave me a cold look.
“Really, really interested. I think I need to go to England, and I think I need to get a job there. And I think it would be absolutely amazing. And, then I can meet lots of handsome, young British men and maybe start dating someone in the aristocracy and...”
“What?” I exclaimed. It was my turn to sound angry.
“What are you talking about, Sarah?”
“What, Harry?” And then she paused. “How was your dinner by the way?”
“Dinner was fine, thanks. Why are you asking?”
“Was it nice with your new lady friend? Was she beautiful?”
“Yeah, she was fine. So, why do you care?” I asked, confused.
“No reason. So, when does the job start, Mom? Dad?” she said.
Sarah’s mom looked at me and then so did her father.
“Well, we’re closing on the dealership in a couple of days, I suppose you could start right away. Though, weren’t you spending Christmas with the Huntington’s?”
“No, I’ve changed my mind,” she said.
And I gasped. “What do you mean you changed your mind? You were going to come with me early.”
“I changed my mind, Harry. I think you can handle that by yourself.”
“We had a deal, Sarah.”
“Yeah, well, we had plenty of deals and they don’t always work out, do they?” she said with a slight attitude.
“What’s going on, Sarah?”
“Harry?” Sarah’s mom interrupted. “I think you should leave, don’t you?”
“No, I’m not going anywhere.”
“Sarah, you need to get Harry to leave. We need to talk to you in private.”
“Mom, Dad, Harry. I want you all to leave,” Sarah said, finally. “I just want the evening by myself.”
“What? How dare you talk to me like that?” Sarah’s mother said. “After we came all the way—”
“Mom, I told you not to come, okay? I just want to be by myself tonight.”
“Sarah, can I talk to you please?” I said softly. “I think we need to have a conversation. I don’t really understand what’s going on.”
“Harry, haven’t you done enough?” Sarah’s mother looked at me.
“Look, I don’t understand what you think you know, or what’s going on here or why there’s all this hostility. I don’t understand why everyone’s mad at me and, Sarah, I don’t understand why all of a sudden you’re rushing to England. What the hell is going on? This is absolutely crazy.”
Sarah’s dad walked over to me and stared at me. He said softly, “Harry, welcome to the Caddington women. I still don’t understand them, and I’ve been married to Sarah’s mom for over thirty years.”
“I just don’t understand what’s going on,” I said in exasperation. “Sarah, please?”
“Harry, I just don’t have anything to say to you right now. Why don’t you just go back to your dinner date and...”
“My dinner date? What?”
And then it suddenly dawned on me. Sarah was jealous. What the hell? Why was she jealous? Did she think... Did she really think it was an actual date? That I would have gone out with this woman because I actually wanted to see where it could go with her. She couldn’t be that crazy. She’d never been like that before. I told her loads of times about the different women I’d met and gone out with. Shit, I even had her buy Christmas presents for the women I was dating.
“You’re an idiot, Harry,” I said to myself under my breath. “You’re an absolute idiot.” I realized then that I’d really messed up everything.
What was I thinking? Yeah, I talked about other women with Sarah before, but that was before we slept with each other. That was before everything had changed. Didn’t she realize how much she meant to me though? Didn’t she realize that this was more than...? I stopped thinking as Sarah just gasped.
“Please guys, can you leave?”
“Okay,” I said, softly. “I’m going to go, okay?”
I walked over to her and gave her a big hug and a kiss on the cheek.
“We need to talk Sarah, okay? I think we need to have a real discussion about what’s going on here.”
“Okay, whatever, fine. I’ll call you later,” she said.
She nodded and I looked into her eyes. Her blue eyes looked like she’d been crying recently and I realized that she was hurting for reasons I didn’t know. I hoped she hadn’t been crying because of me. I hoped I wasn’t the reason she’d been in tears.
I needed to speak to her, and I needed to figure out what was going on. How had I fucked this up so royally? How had I gone from thinking that one night would turn into the best night of both of our lives? It seemed like the pact had done nothing but divide us.