Do I Wanna Know?

Chapter 28

After eight straight days on the island, I was the one who made the ultimate decision for us to come back to California. As it turned out, even paradise where every single thing is perfect could get old after a while, and I think I was anxious knowing Harry was anxious to get back to his routine. I didn't want to take advantage of his kindness to do this for me in the first place.

But I'll admit, being home was strange after knowing what I knew now. While we were in Anguilla, Harry explained to me that the "meetings" he went to all day were really just him checking in with Zayn to see how business was going, plus driving all around Southern California to make deals and trades himself.

I had no idea that some days he went all the way to San Diego or Seattle and back, and still made it home in time for dinner. But he also assured me that a lot of his businesses really were legit like he told me in the beginning. He did actually own Pink Poison now, plus a few more bars and restaurants around LA. As the owner, he needed to show his face every once in a while.

So really, it blew my mind that he had the mental capacity to do everything he did. Obviously his legit businesses had managers to take care of the day-to-day like Chris, but he was still answering phone calls left and right about what to do with certain expenses, dealing with legal issues, problematic employees, and all of that stuff.

It was a miracle the man didn't snap and just start killing everyone, I thought. But no, Harry was more or less very patient and charming on the phone, very relaxed and straightforward at the same time. He didn't leave much room for anyone to fuck around, and he was very aware of what was going on with everyone at all times.

And then there was me. I was still jobless, and that was making it more and more difficult for me to fill my days with anything that made me feel like my life's purpose was more than just waiting for Harry to come home.

When I talked to him about wanting a job or something again, he just laughed and said that there was no reason I would need or want to work when everything was already taken care of for me. It was a hard point to argue with, but I was still just so...bored.

That was why I lived for days like today, when Claudia was off from work and she had just as big of an expendable income as I did. Apparently, Zayn kinda got off on giving her his credit card to buy and do whatever she wanted just like Harry did.

We started by going to breakfast together and getting our nails done, and now we were at the tail end of our impulse shopping spree. I used to feel bad when Harry told me to spare no expense, but that was before I saw the never-ending wall of cash in the basement downstairs.

"So besides the sex, how are things going with you and Zayn anyway?" I asked her as we loaded our shopping bags into the back of the Mercedes G-wagon Harry randomly gifted me two days ago.

"Things are actually really, like...amazing?" She said, climbing into the passenger seat.

"Why do you say it like that?"

"Well, I don't know. By now, like with my other relationships, something would have gone wrong and I would have started to get turned off, or he would be bored and we'd kind of be at a standstill."

I offered a smile, but I still felt terrible lying to her about Harry, Zayn, and all of it. Harry said it wasn't a lie unless she straight up asked me if they were dealing massive amounts of drugs across the west coast.

"Yeah, Harry's always telling me that Zayn is a really great guy and he trusts him a lot, so I'm glad that seems to be true."

"Mhm," Claudia smiled with her thumbnail between her teeth. "We both work a lot, but he still takes the time to do special things for me, like sending flowers to the club when he can't make it for my set, or he'll take me to a really nice lunch when we can't do dinner, he buys me gifts, and yeah. He's just really great in the romance department."