Always A Pleasure [Book 2]

Seventy

09.12.23 — Please make sure you are caught up with all the newest chapters. Chapter 68 is the first chapter of the newest update!

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Katherine woke up early that morning, feeling an ache in her body that matched the ache in her heart. Her mind relived what happened the night before like some fucked up movie on repeat.

From being confronted by Harrison's mother, to listening to her side of the story, to bringing her back to the apartment with her, to the look of absolute betrayal in Harrison's eyes when he looked at her, to the revenge sex against the closet door, and finally to her one-sided fight with Harrison in the kitchen.

It all came back with a vengeance and felt like a punch straight to the heart.

Tears welled in her eyes as she thought about all that she and Harrison had been through with each other— everything that got them this far. She only wanted to help him. She only wanted to try to repair that hole in his heart that was left gaping and festering when his mother was forced out of his life. But it completely back-fired.

If she had thought it through with a sensible head, she would have done things so much differently. She would have talked to Harrison first before springing a reunion with one of the people that broke him down so badly in his life that it made him a walking billboard for PTSD. And she triggered that PTSD in the worst way.

She hated herself for it. She wanted the earth to open up and swallow her whole. She did that to the man she loved. She brought all that trauma back into the forefront of his mind. She should have known. She should have fucking known. But she was just so blinded by how she would feel if she had the chance to speak to her mother again.

They were not the same. They were absolutely not the same. Her mother died from a brain aneurysm and Katherine would do everything in her power to bring her back if she could. Harrison's mother abandoned him and completely changed the entire trajectory of his life— made him into a closed-off, apathetic person who was unable to form attachments to anyone in his life in fear of them abandoning him too.

Both his mother and father did a number on him, and Katherine hated them for it. She absolutely loathed them.

Katherine couldn't hold back the tears as they spilled from her eyes, laying there alone in her old bedroom. She wanted to know that things with Harrison would be okay. She wanted to apologize to him and have him apologize too. She wanted to hold him and tell him that everything was going to be alright, that he didn't have to worry because he had her now. She would protect him from the world and help him fight off his demons as best as she could. She wanted more than anything for him to be alright.

But she knew he needed to go into the office, that he had responsibilities that would always come first in his world. She had no idea what state of mind he was in. She knew she couldn't upend his whole morning by showing her face and continuing their fight. She would have to wait. She could wait until he came home.

She hoped he would come home to her.

It was late morning by the time that Katherine emerged from her old bedroom. She knew she had an appointment with her therapist that afternoon and that she needed to start her day at some point. She was hoping her therapist might have some insight on what she could do to make things right with Harrison. Because this was all brand new territory for her. She was still learning how to approach Harrison's trauma delicately.

Bringing his mother to his house, to his sanctuary was like sticking a red-hot branding iron down his throat and telling him to swallow with a smile on his face. It was extremely insensitive and borderline abusive, no matter her good intentions. It needed to be Harrison's decision to talk to his mother, to even make the decision about whether or not he wanted to see her, and Katherine took that choice away from him.