Baby It's COVID Outside

Chapter 2 - Susie

"Susie?" He questioned after I took a moment too long to reply.

No man had any business making my name sound that good in the dark, especially not my boss! "Yes, I, er, thank you." I replied quickly, stumbling over the words.

It had been a fair few months since I had been dating anyone and my libido sure picked a heck of a time to pipe up with its complaint on the matter!

"You can let go of me now, sir." I said, as I noticed his hands still wrapped around my upper arms.

Just as quickly as his hands had caught me, they were gone, and I found myself missing the contact. "You don't need to call me sir, you know." He said after another moment of silence.

"What would you prefer I called you? Mr Carter?" I asked.

"Just Henry is fine, especially if you are invading my home for the night."

Could the signals he was giving me be anymore mixed? I rolled my eyes before remembering he couldn't see me, "Well I told you I was fine to stay here. So it's not like I'm invading. If anything, you invited me."

His frustration was palpable as he searched for the right response. "Yes, I did. You're not risking getting sick by staying here or in your car. You're staying in the guest room and you'll like it." He snapped back.

"You're so bossy." I huffed.

"Well, I am your boss." Henry replied, and I could have sworn I could hear a smile in his voice.

Having never actually seen him do more than a professional business smile, I couldn't be completely sure, but the slight thawing of his icy demeanour was a welcome change.

"Come on, let's get up to the house before you break something or we freeze to death." He said, one hand on my back, gently guiding me to the door.

As soon as it opened, snow swirled in around us both and Henry struggled to pull the door closed behind us.

The path had totally vanished beneath a blanket of thick snow and I could just about see the imprints of Henry's footprints to guide us back to his house.

He quickly overtook me, beckoning to follow through the bushes into his back garden.

My cheeks burned from the cold and the thick layer of snow on the ground was near impossible to walk in. After a few stumbling steps which almost had me facedown in his flowerbed, Henry caught my arm and began towing me towards the patio doors with purpose. I couldn't help but smile at the concern on his face as he stopped me slipping a further three times before we reached his house.

"Thank you." I said gratefully as he helped me into the warmth of the house.

Henry shrugged as if it were no big deal, dragging the door closed behind me and refusing to meet my eye.

The concern was so at odds with his usual behaviour. As soon as I acknowledged anything he did, that was vaguely nice, it was like he immediately closed up.

The room we had stepped into was beautiful, but simple. A fire crackled in a wide brick fireplace framed by a stack of logs on one side and a neatly organised bookshelf on the other.

A large brown sofa sat against one wall facing a TV that was easily twice the size of the one in my small rented flat. A matching brown armchair was angled perfectly in front of the fire, and a laptop was balanced rather precariously on the arm of it. Was that where Henry spent his evenings?

It was lovely, but something noticeable was missing. There was a distinct lack of anything even hinting at Christmas. No tree, no tinsel. Not even a stack of presents wrapped and ready to go. I know not everyone goes for the over-the-top look I am used to, but seeing a home without anything felt so odd.