Always A Pleasure [Book 2]

Ten

Harrison lay in bed with Katherine sound asleep in his arms. He was wide awake, staring at the ceiling, his mind unable to shut off as he thought about their evening together. It was as close to perfect as he could imagine and it made him optimistic for his future for the first time in as long as he could remember.

He thought about how good Katherine made him feel all the time, about how much serenity she brought him just by being with him, about how much fulfillment he found in another person for the very first time in his life.

It took him a long time to realize what his feelings for her meant. It was only when he felt hopeless that he finally realized how much comfort and contentment she was able to give him just by being near him, how much joy she was able to bring to his life.

In those moments she was able to make him truly feel like he was whole. He had no idea how she did it without even trying, without even doing a thing, but she did. It was something he would never be able to explain. He didn't think he would ever understand it. He just knew that his life meant nothing without her.

...

Harrison was fucked up. His mind was a mess of regret and anxiety as he thought about what just happened. Visions of Katherine's frightened face as he stared down at her, his hands wrapped tightly around her throat — her fingers desperately clawing at his clenched fists — the ghastly sound of her gasping for breath when he finally let go. Fucking hell. It made him sick to his stomach.

He didn't know what was happening when it was happening. He didn't realize it was her, that he wasn't dreaming — that his nightmare wasn't real. He couldn't even wrap his mind around it.

Confusion plagued him. What was she doing in his room, in his bed? She had never come to him before. Why was she there? Why would she want to be there?

He felt terrible. He felt like a fucking monster.

All he wanted to do was speak to her, to apologize for what happened, but she had fled to her room, whimpering out an apology as she did.

The adrenaline he felt from the incident wouldn't let him find sleep again. And he knew he wouldn't even try. It was 3:45 in the morning and he was staring up at the dark ceiling, stuck in a self-loathing spiral. The only thing that broke him out of it was the screen of his phone as it came to life, brightening the whole room.

When he grabbed it off the nightstand, he saw his sister Emily's name across it with an incoming phone call.

He couldn't remember the last time he spoke to her. She had to know it was the middle of the night for him. And with that thought, he answered, realizing if she was calling him in the middle of the night, it must have been important.

"Harrison," he heard her small voice from the other end of the line.

"Em, what is it?" He asked, feeling a sense of dread from the way her voice shook. He knew something wasn't right.

"Dad... he had a heart attack," Emily told him.

Harrison's entire body went rigid from the news. He could instantly hear his heart pounding in his ears, the blood flowing through his veins. A heart attack?

"Is he—" Harrison began before cutting himself off. Was his father dead?

"He's in hospital."

"He's okay?"

"He's alive," Emily said, making it sound like he wasn't exactly okay.

Harrison couldn't decipher how he felt about it. He and his father always had a complicated relationship, ever since he was a child. They weren't close by any means. His father never understood him, tried to mold him into the person he wanted him to be, rather than listening to what Harrison wanted.