Always A Pleasure [Book 2]

Thirteen

Katherine was pacing. And she was sure to draw blood from biting her bottom lip so hard, worrying it between her teeth.

She had called Harrison's phone fourteen times, to no avail. It was past midnight and he should have been home hours ago. He left that evening for dinner with his father and some business partners, letting her know he would be home right afterward, that he didn't want to spend any more time than necessary with his father.

It had been more than five hours since he left. She was worried, but she didn't know what to do. So she was pacing the floor in the living room, trying to stay calm, trying not to think the worst. But it was hard. Harrison had never done this before. But honestly, there wasn't much 'before' to compare it to. They had only been dating a couple of months. And before that, what he did was none of her business.

His father had also never been around before. Maybe the two of them found some common ground and were spending time together. But that didn't explain why Harrison wouldn't be answering his phone.

It startled Katherine when she heard a door open and watched as Mr. Daniels, the night guard, walked out of the security room. She forgot that she wasn't alone in the apartment. She rarely saw Mr. Daniels since nothing ever really happened at night, and she was usually sleeping with Harrison by her side.

"What's going on?" Katherine asked immediately, feeling alarmed.

"Mr. Roberts needs my help, ma'am," Mr. Daniels said as he left out the front door of the apartment.

He didn't seem startled or worried, so it made Katherine relax a little. Then she remembered that if Mr. Roberts was home, then so was Harrison. And why hadn't she thought about calling Mr. Roberts when she couldn't get in touch with Harrison? She silently scolded herself, realizing she could have saved herself a lot of worry.

Then her mind went back to the matter at hand. What would Mr. Roberts need or have that Harrison wasn't able to help him with? Unless it was Harrison who needed their help. Katherine began to panic just as the apartment door opened again.

Both Mr. Roberts and Mr. Daniels were helping a very rough-around-the-edges looking Harrison through the front door. Katherine instantly started to panic, wondering what happened to him. Her vision scoured over his body, but she didn't see anything physically wrong with him. Katherine sighed with relief once she realized he was safe, that he was home.

It wasn't until the moment he started to speak that she knew exactly what the issue was.

"Can walk by m'self," Harrison mumbled, his words slurring noticeably. He was drunk. Extraordinarily drunk.

Katherine's heart sank instantly. She was very familiar with the condition, having dealt with her father countless times. But Harrison wasn't her father. She needed to remember that. This wasn't an everyday occurrence.

"Harrison," Katherine said as the two men walked him toward the couch.

"Angel," Harrison said, looking over at her, "'s late. You should be sleep'n."

"You should be sleeping next to me," she commented as she watched them guide him down onto the couch.

"Mm," Harrison hummed, smacking his lips like his mouth was too dry.

"Need water," he said out loud to no one in particular.

"Yes, sir," Mr. Daniels said immediately and rushed off to the kitchen.

Mr. Roberts walked over to Katherine who stood between the living room and foyer, watching everything unfold.

"What happened?" Katherine asked him quietly.