Chapter 10

I never realized how wired up and tired I was until I fell asleep on the plane. Not before Henry basically force fed me water when we were waiting to board our flight, not wanting me to wake up with a bad hangover. It got to a point where I was so tired the water was practically dribbling from my mouth, so Henry let me be and I slept on his shoulder. I grudgingly woke up when we arrived back to Tilden and during that time I gave Henry my address. He keyed it in his phone when we were in his car and he drove me home, with me so exhausted I fell asleep again.

"Do you have the house keys?" he asked me forty minutes later after helping me out of the car.

Henry was holding me from behind. I drowsily fished my pockets and gave them to him without question. Thankfully the light in the condo vestibule was on. Ella always left it on if I came home after her and vice versa. I groggily told him where my room was and Henry sat me on the bed.

"Where are your night shirts?" he asked, squatted in front of me.

"It's okay." I slept on my side over the comforter. "I just want to sleep." I said while subconsciously pulling my shirt down. I heard him walking around and was honestly too tired to care if he was going through my stuff.

"Come on." I heard and felt a hand gently trying to move me to the other side of the bed. I learned he wasn't in fact going through my things but had only walked to the other side of the bed to peel the comforter and bedsheets for me to get into. I was stubborn at first because of being so tired but was eventually grateful when the cool sheets hit my skin as Henry tucked me in.

"You feeling okay?" Henry asked gently as he sat at the edge of the bed, folding one leg with his other   on the floor. He leaned over my frame, planting one hand behind me. I knew he was still trying to make sure I wasn't drugged. He probably knew that I wasn't, as beat as I was. I nodded anyway, secretly reveling in being cared for like this.

"Sorry I ruined your night," he said quietly, gently removing his orange beanie from my head. He then gently pushed his fingers through my hair and massaged my scalp with the digits of his fingers, unknowingly lulling me to a comfortable sleep. I'm not sure how long he did this, but I soon felt a hand delicately touching my face. He kissed my cheek lightly.

"Goodnight, Valerie," was the last thing I heard in a whisper before falling asleep.



***



It's like I had only blinked the next time I was woken up by my alarm. I wish I'd never woken up because I felt awful. My head was pounding but what got me most was how parched my throat was. My limbs ached all from dehydration and I rued not listening to Henry and drinking as much water as possible. With great effort, I rolled over to the other side, still wanting to sleep when a few minutes later my alarm blared again. I smacked it off and drifted back to sleep. The next time I woke up it was to my phone ringing. I normally never got calls so early, so I answered it, fearing it would be an emergency. I fished the offensively vibrating device from my pocket, answering it in a vexed tone without checking the caller ID.

"Hello?" 

"Good morning…" Henry's raspy, sleepy voice came through the phone, making my heart gallop. I stared into the soft morning glow of my room in surprise for several quiet moments before finally speaking.

"Henry?"

"Not stalking you. Just wanted to make sure you were up on time for work…"

Even as tired as I was I couldn't stop the warm feeling that spread through me, like a hot cup of cocoa after a long winter day.

"Henry, You didn't have to," I told him softly, my voice copious with emotion that I was too tired to conceal.

"I did. I promised. I know you'll be upset with me asking but I promise this is the last time. How are you feeling…"

I began to feel bad for being annoyed with him earlier and actually found his habit of worrying for others endearing. It's just the kind of person he was. I had a feeling if I'd scraped my knee he'd have reacted the same way.

"The same way I feel whenever I drink. I don't feel any different," I assured him, this time without the heat in my voice that I'd had all the times he asked me previously.

"Okay. Good. Sorry, again, about last night. Well. This morning."

If I wasn't so exhausted I'd have laughed at how long it took him to say that and I knew it had nothing to do with him being tired. Henry was just naturally a slow talker.

"Don't apologize. What time did you go to bed?"

"I haven't. I stayed up to make sure you woke up on time since taking you out last night was my fault. I didn't want you to get in trouble at work."

Though my smile was tired, it was genuine and I hugged my comforter closer to my body, suddenly wishing it was him. "Henry…"

"I am exhausted though, so I will hit the sack now. Had a wonderful time with you. Take care."

"You too…"

I hung up, but this time I couldn't go back to sleep. I forced myself up and geared for another day at work.

As fatigued as I was, I suddenly had the burst of energy I needed to get through the day.

Henry was the reason.

***

June 8th.

A day that I didn't like celebrating too much. The real reason I'd drank too much with Savannah last night. Of course it went back to my childhood. I had the nice lavish birthdays only cause my mother insisted, but Dad could never be bothered.

He was always working. always chasing his dreams. Then when it came to friends, I always had very low attendance parties. They were always in the summer when school was out and I didn't have too many friends to celebrate with, but me and Ella with some of her cool friends always enjoyed ourselves.

Then, it all changed one day when I met George Simmons. He was the reason I hated June 8th with a passion.

But there was no one I hated more than myself for this day.

***

Every other Friday, if you finished your work early, you left early. Or, you could go in late. The only thing I really had to do was consult with my team over the next project we would be starting soon.

By two in the afternoon, I was at home catching up on rest. Now that I had some down time I tried not to let my mind overwork me, trying not to make any sense of what happened the previous day and the fact I'd chartered a plane to go to West Hollywood. My cheeks flushed every time I thought of what Henry and I did in the cab and I'd shaken my head multiple times throughout the day in an attempt to erase those images from my mind…

…easier said than done.

When I walked or sat down I still felt his hard thighs on the back of my own. A shiver would go through me when I'd remembered the amazement my hands felt any time I touched him. And his lips, and eyes, and dimples…

It was all too much, too fast, I knew.

I just wanted some alone time, but that wasn't going to happen especially since today was my dumb birthday. I had to go for a dinner at 7 at the insistence of Ella.

Henry and I hadn' texted each other and I was cool with it for now. We might have needed a bit of a break after how intense last night got.

Around five I woke up from a long nap to torrential rains and gloomy skies. It would be dour weather on this 'blessed' day. With a mug of green tea on the table beside my couch, I was eating a fruit salad, reading a forum about videogame coding when a knock on the door startled me.

Ella and I were never the type to receive surprise guests.

I pondered over who was there, and contemplated just sitting still until the visitor went away. They'd know I was there because my car was parked at the front, and especially since it was raining really hard, I'd feel bad leaving them there.

With my blanket wrapped around me, I galvanized from the couch and drudged my feet to the door. When I checked the peep hole, all I saw were a bright bouquet of flowers. A trickle of fear went through me when I thought of who it could be. George? No. I prayed to God not.

I didn't want to have to call the police.

Militantly, I swung the door open and stood with my guard up. The hand around the bouquet showed me it wasn't in fact George. The bouquet itself was a miriad of bright, summary, roses that I'd never seen in my entire life. The roses were multi colored, each petal a different color from the rainbow. The presentation of the flowers was even more appealing because the clear wrapping around it had rain drops, as did the roses. Attached with white ribbons to the bouquet were tall, rained on peach colored balloons, with one of the balloons smaller than the rest.

My admiring of the flowers was rudely interrupted by an unexpected, squeaky, chipmunk voice.

"Happy Birthday to youuuu. Happy Birthday to youuuu. Happy birthday dear peachessssss, Happy birthdayyyy too youuuuuuuuuuu." By the end of his rendition, Henry's voice was finally back to normal.

A large, haggard breath was expended soon after the bouquets were lowered to reveal Henry's face.

"Jesus! I thought the helium would be gone by the time you answered. Thank god."

He gnawed his lip with expectant eyes, then color quickly rose to his cheeks as he scratched the back of his head. "Oookay so no reaction. I guess that was just silly, wasn't it? Well," he held the bouquet out to me. "Here are your birthday flowers. And I got you a candle. I know, lame last minute gift but you'll never guess what scent it is."

Nonplussed, I stared at the tall figure in front of me as his shoulders rose and fell while he tried to catch respite. Henry lowered the flowers, suddenly looking guilty. "Is this a bad time? Sorry I should have warned you, I wanted it to be a surprise. I was going to have them delivered and, well, Ella told me you'd be home so I thought..."

I still couldn't speak and Henry hitched his thumb behind him, turning to leave.

"I guess I'll just--"

My eyes welled with tears and I launched myself at him before he could see any indication that his gesture had moved me beyond words.

I closed the tears away before they could fall with my arms wrapped around his neck and just held him. In that moment I didn't care if his 'niceness' was suspicious or fake or if he was doing all this with an ulterior motive.

In that moment, I just reveled in him.

He would never know how much this meant to me.

June 8th was the day I officially started falling for Henry Walker.