Chapter 8

Harry ’s POV

Coming back after the phone call, seeing her nowhere did feel like a victory. Until I heard their giggles from upstairs.It was Billy, of course. He was flirting with her. And she was buying it. Clarke came with a glass of wine in his hand, offering it to me. I took it from him.

“Did you do the background check on her,” I asked as he seated himself with me, sipping from his glass.

“Of course, I did. But you didn’t listen when I was telling you. So, I skipped the details.” he said in one breath.

“You brought her in at the moment she came for the job,” I turned my head to him. Asking him to explain his move.

“I was a bit over excited at that moment. But I knew whoever she was I was going to deal with it. Even if she was a spy or something I was going to use her for a particular purpose.'' He was confident like this, always. And the good part was, he was never wrong. Usually, we were always together playing this game of checkmate. But this time, it was different. This girl was different. she was always showing a new side of her. I still couldn’t believe she thought I was going to sleep with her. That thought was enough to make me scoff.

“Her mother died four years ago. She was a- surgeon. No information about her dad. She is on her own right now. No boyfriend history.” Clarke started explaining his findings about her. Which I obviously didn’t ask. But he continued,

“She is a student. Learning medicine. She is-uhh-” he paused, I turned my head to him, “ a lesbian?” I tried to complete the sentence. “No!,” his eyebrows frowned at my words.

“Sarah and Tina are in the same university,” I turned my head to him in shock. It was going to be a disaster if she found out. Everyone knows she is a spoiled kid.

“And they are in the same badge, like in the same class,” his voice was guilty as it should be. Why the hell did he choose her out of all the girls?

“You know how much trouble she can cause? She can spy on her. Or what if they are friends and she spills it out,” it was weird of me to get nervous about it.

“Relax! I have done my research about that. She and Tina are not friends. In fact she doesn’t have any friends.”

Woah, her attitude at our first meeting was like she was a gangster. She was just acting tough, I chuckled at my thought.

“We are ready!” I heard Billy’s voice. I stood up and Clarke accompanied me. As I turned, I saw her walking down the staircase. Lavender coloured dress was hugging her curves. It was plain and simple. Her hair was hanging loose, covering her whole back.They were shiny and flowy. Bell, a reliable friend of mine and a very well known stylist, was standing beside her. She picked her hair in her fist, doing some adjustments on the back of her dress and then let them free.

“Is it alright?” green eyes turned to her. Bella nodded at her. The dress was not so short, it was touching her knees. She was not feeling comfortable in heels, I observed her irritated features as she walked down the stairs. She was wearing some makeup. But not much.

“You look beautiful. Sarah ,” I heard Clarke as he approached her. He took her hand and twirled her. They both giggled. Making my eyes roll.

“Are your heels hurting, sweetheart?” It was Billy..

“No, I’ll be fine,” she said as she turned her head to me.

Her gaze was deep. Maybe peeking into my soul. The way she slid her hair back with her hands, made her collarbone more prominent. Maybe she was feeling this tension too, her chest was rising and falling. Is it normal to breathe like this? I wanted to know that. I was sure that time had stopped,but when I felt Bell’s arms around my neck. I woke up. Her gaze started wandering, nervously. As if we felt the same. Clarke and Billy were standing there talking about something, I am sure she didn’t hear too.

Removing her hands from my neck, I heard her,

“Congratulations, I couldn’t say this to you back then. I was busy, you know.”

“Yeah,” I replied. My eyes were on Bell now. Not on her. But when I saw her she was shyly saying ‘thank you’ to Billy and Clarke who were still there explaining to her how beautiful she looked.

“Can we leave now if you are done with this group flirting?” I made sure my voice was loud and rude.

“Group flirting? Is that a thing?” Billy went on with his usual goofy personality.

“ Yeah, let's go,” I heard Clarke picking his cell phone from the table.

We were heading towards the countryside. To my farmhouse. The place was calm. Many music videos were shot there, not only mine. It was in a quiet and deserted area. Where you could expect celebrities to date secretly. And that's what we were going to do.

"This is where the police pulled my car."

"Why?"

"I was drunk driving."

And they both laughed. Billy was so eager to support his new best friend that he requested me to let him join us. The whole journey was filled with Billy's goofy jokes and her laughing at it. The urge to throw both of them out of the window was unbearable. They were still laughing like dorks when I growled,

"Shut up! You both."

"What? Is it illegal to laugh" Billy barked at me.

She rolled her eyes, not feeling necessary to look at me.

"I am trying to focus,"to what? I didn't even know myself.

"What? Are you writing another song?" his eyes bulged in curiosity.

"That's not your pro-"

"Write a love song, " he proposed, like it was an ice cream flavour. No vanilla today. I want chocolate.

"I'll see it," I tried to avoid him.

"No, no. Listen to me." he announced. Turning his head to her, he demanded her attention.

"Why don't you guys try real dating?" his eyes were moving goofily at both of us, like he told us where the key to treasure is. "Stupid." I voiced out my thoughts.

"You never dated right, Harry ?" Billy asked.

she turned her head to me in disbelief, my neck twisted in her direction. Tucking her hair behind her hair, she turned her head back. Keeping her gaze outside the window.

"I can f*ck the girl I want, why would I burden myself with dating,” the scoffing smile that appeared on her face didn’t go unnoticed.

“That’s why you can’t write a love song,” he patted his thigh, like he finally solved the mystery.

A muffled laugh caught his attention, making him laugh too.

“Yeah, that’s funny,”he commented.

“No, it's just-” she laughed again. Both giggling like kids.

“F*ck you,” were the words that portrayed my annoyance. Both pair eyes on me, an amused smile still resting on their lips.

The car pulled up in front of my farmhouse. Standing as glorious as it was when it was built. It was my hobby, building mansions using my own aesthetics. It always felt good. Keeping the things in place, where they should be. As we stepped out of the car, I saw Billy helping her with stepping down. Princess. Rolling my eyes for the thousandth time, this day, I walked to Clarke. He was in another car, behind us.

“It’s clear,”he said, adjusting his coat on his shoulder.

“No paparazzi?”

“No,” he replied.

“We should get to work,” I said as I heard them giggling again.

Sarah ’s POV

White patio chairs and a table were right in the centre of the yard. It was a mansion. White themed. I wondered how it looked from the inside. But we were seated outside. Clarke and Billy were far from us. With the cameraman. We were silent. Facing each other. I was all dolled up from head to toe. I almost didn’t recognize myself. It would be a lie if I said I wasn’t nervous. But Billy did help me alot to lighten up my mood. In the whole makeover session he was there with me. I was surprised at him humbleness like he is a f*cking superstar and he was there with me the whole time.

But when I went downstairs, Those eyes, that eye contact, the throbbing of my heart,the strange tingling in between my legs was…mysterious. In the car, Billy spilled a lot of information. Like he never dated, never wrote a love song. No wonder he is a playboy.

Sitting in a vast yard on a white patio chair gave me a royal feeling. Cool breezing brushing against my bare arms. I was enjoying the whole environment when I noticed those brown pair of eyes were stuck on me, he was sitting in front of me. His eye were cold, mysterious but…charming as always. It would have been less awkward if we were just arguing. But silence was all I heard. The air felt heavy, so did my breath. My chest was moving up and down from the way I was breathing. That fluttering feeling in my chest. Oh God, I felt heat radiating through my body. His eyes startedgoing down. I am sure the dress was deep enough to show my front. He was looking there. If gaze could cause flame , I would have been burned. His eyes frowned, locked at my chest. I saw his hands coming towards me. I froze. He slid my hair to the back. What is he going to do? Why am I not stopping him?

I felt his fingers brushed below my collar bone, slightly above my breast. I am sure he did feel the hotness of my body.

“Bug,” I heard him as his touch was no longer there. Throwing something in between his fingers, he wiped his hands by rubbing it against his thigh. What happened?

“Their bite is horrible.”

Thank you?

“You guys have to sit closer,” Clarke said as he ran towards us.

“It’s not looking like a date in the pictures.”

I looked at him with confused eyes.

“Sarah why don’t you sit in his lap,” Billy suggested as he yelled from far away.

Lap?

“uhh-I,” I stuttered.

“Come here, we don’t have that much time,” he said, patting on his lap.

No way, this is a nightmare. After what just happened, THIS IS DANGEROUS.

“Please, be quick Sarah . We have a meeting after this,” he pleaded and went back to the cameraman far from us.

This is my job. It stood up and walked towards him. Placing my hips on his thigh, I made sure I was not touching the centre of his legs. His arms wrapped around my waist. Tucking me closer and my heart clung to my chest. Camera angle was planned to be fixed, where my face couldn’t be seen.

“Look at me. It should look intimate.” he almost whispered.

I obeyed him without arguing because I wanted this to be done as soon as possible. His finger played with my hair, making them cover the sides of my face. Smart, I thought. We were so close. His hand lowered, resting by the side of my hips.

“You were so hot,” he arched an eyebrow. The smirk on his lips, making him look devilish. I knew what he was talking about. And now I knew that he knew too. I was embarrassed as hell. But my body was still not in a good condition. It was the third time this day, and now I was feeling wet. He was still smirking and his eyes were on my lips.

“Well done,” I heard Clarke's voice from far away.

He loosened his grip from my body and I almost jumped out from his lap. Which he did notice. I tucked my dress down and fixed my hair nervously.

“That was good, you wanna see pictures?” Clarke appeared with Billy and the cameraman.

“Uhh-no, can we go? I have some stuff to do,” It wasn’t lying, I had stuff to do. Like cursing myself. “Okay,” Clarke said.

“Oh, my clothes-”

“I will give it to you and you can keep this dress,” he announced casually.

“Thank you.” he was standing quietly. Sliding fingers through his messy hair. Acting, as nothing happened.

Thank God, I was with Clarke on the way home. Billy went back to his home. The ride was silent from my side. While Clarke talked about random stuff.

Stepping into my apartment. I locked the door. My reflection in the mirror showed my flushed face.

It was just the beginning.