Always A Pleasure [Book 2]

Sixty-Five

08.25.2023 — This is a chapter in a three part update, along with chapters 66 & 67. Make sure to read this chapter first!

.

.

It was an unnaturally cold and blustery May afternoon for New York. Katherine was at the tail-end of her day of errands and very much ready to get home as she stepped out of the dry cleaner with a whole array of Harrison's expensive suits in tow. Mr. Bates was waiting for her on the sidewalk like he usually did, surveying the area before the two of them easily fell into step with one another on their way to the awaiting SUV parked next to the curb.

Katherine was so pleased that Mr. Bates was finally back from paternity leave. She liked Mr. Daniels just fine, but he was no Mr. Bates. Derek had been her bodyguard for months before his leave, so they had grown quite accustomed to each other and had an unspoken groove with one another.

He always offered to take the dry cleaning or groceries or whatever she was carrying from her, but she never let him. Not unless she couldn't actually carry it. She figured that if anything were to happen that would need any sort of actual bodyguarding, she would rather have Mr. Bates at the ready than weighed down by her mess.

This day was no different. Though the dry cleaner bags of Harrison's suits were long and awkward to carry, she still did it.

"Excuse me," she heard, causing her to nonchalantly turn her head, but she didn't see anyone on the crowded sidewalk that looked to be talking to her, so she continued on.

"Excuse me, Miss. Excuse me," she heard again.

"Miss Mason," Mr. Bates said lowly as the two of them turned to find a woman walking toward them.

"Excuse me. You're Katherine Mason, aren't you?"

She was a beautiful middle aged woman with long dark hair, wearing large black sunglasses and an expensive designer coat with a diamond broach on it. Katherine had never seen her before and quickly wondered who she was and why she knew her name.

"Um, yes. Can I help you with something?" Katherine asked, looking around for a moment, wondering if this woman was a journalist or some sort of paparazzi.

Pictures of Harrison and Katherine together at the gala had been spreading like wildfire through the media for the past six months and it wasn't the first time she had been approached. Apparently billionaire playboy Harrison King finding love was big news— and finding love with his housekeeper was even bigger news.

"You're... you're dating Harrison King," she stated matter-of-factly, making Katherine further think that this woman was a journalist. But she saw no cameras in the vicinity.

"I saw your picture together from the UNICEF gala," the woman added.

"Uh..."

"I'm sorry. I should introduce myself. My name is Adelaide. Adelaide Fischer," she said, pulling her sunglasses off of her face as a pleasant smile turned up her lips.

"Um, hi. It's nice to meet you," Katherine said with a soft smile, still confused about who this person was.

"I'm... I'm Harrison's mother," she said carefully, instantly stunning Katherine with her confession. She had not expected that.

"Oh!" Katherine exclaimed, her eyebrows heightening in surprise.

A shiver ran through her body a moment later, when she remembered what Harrison's mother had done to him, causing her expression to fall into a look of animosity almost immediately.

"By your reaction, I can tell he's told you about me," she said, hanging her head for a moment.

"He has," Katherine replied quietly.

She had no idea how a mother could just abandon her children the way she did.

"It... it's complicated," Adelaide said a moment later.

"What's complicated about it? Is it the fact that you abandoned him without an explanation? Or that you never contacted him again when you left?" Katherine snapped, feeling a fierce sense of protectiveness for the man she loved.

"Listen—"

"He thinks you're dead," Katherine interrupted, wanting her to know just how much she hurt her son.

The look that crossed the woman's face was horror met with absolute agony.

"Imagine a twelve-year-old boy laying in bed at night thinking his mother died because it made more sense to him than her leaving her children," Katherine told her with a vicious glare in her eyes.

"I-I can explain. I can... I just... I would love to speak with Harrison," she stammered, looking almost frazzled.

Katherine let out a loud scoff as she shook her head. A moment later, she turned around and began walking away with Mr. Bates trailing behind her. She had nothing left to say to that woman and she certainly didn't want to hear anything she had to say.

"I promise you, it's not what it seems. I didn't want to leave. It was his father. He made me," Adelaide called to her, causing Katherine to stop in her tracks.

His father? The bitter taste Katherine had in her mouth over Harrison's father caused her to almost believe her.

"Miss Mason, we should go," she heard Mr. Bates say softly from behind her.

"Katherine, please," Adelaide whimpered and she could hear the pain in her voice.

She slowly turned back to see a look on the woman's face that matched her desperation.

"If you and I could just sit down to talk. There's a coffee shop right over there. Please. I've missed so much of my son's life," Adelaide pleaded, her expression filled with anguish.

"This isn't a good idea," Mr. Bates told Katherine quietly.

Katherine let out a sigh, looking over at him for a moment, carefully contemplating the situation.

"Could you please bring these to the car?" She asked, handing Mr. Bates the dry cleaning bags.

"Miss Mason," he hissed, sounding objective.

"I won't be long," she said, but his eyes told her he didn't like that idea at all.

She was sure he was envisioning many scenarios where Mr. King would reprimand him for this incident. But she would make sure that didn't happen.

"We'll just be right in there. I promise it will be okay," Katherine told him, pointing at the coffee shop on the corner.

He didn't look as confident. Though, honestly, she wasn't very confident about the situation either.

"I will be right outside," Mr. Bates told her firmly, still looking as if he was not on board with her plan.

"You have ten minutes," Katherine said, turning to the woman.

"Thank you. Oh, thank you, Katherine," Adelaide gushed.

"You can call me 'Miss Mason'," she said rigidly, not liking that this woman felt comfortable enough to call her by her given name.

"Yes, of course," she agreed as they walked toward the coffee shop.