A/N: hey everyone! I hope you're still enjoying the story. I made the decision to make every 10th chapter from Harry's point of view, I thought it might be cool to get a bit of an insight into Harry's thoughts and feelings every once in a while. Let me know what you guys think. Hope you enjoy it! Love to you all! X
Harry's P.O.V
"Can I help clean up?" Elena asks after we both finish eating, I take both her plate and mine and load them into the dishwasher.
"No, I'll just get the maid to come and do it later" I reply as I give both of the pots a quick rinse, I was never very good at cleaning anyway, why start now?
"You have a maid too?" She asks, still perched at the island counter, a glass of wine in hand.
"Well what kind of hotel doesn't have a maid?" I smirk at her as I toss the rest of the food into the bin. A soft red flushes across her cheeks, obviously not having thought through her question before she asked it.
"Right, duh" she mumbles to herself and takes another sip of wine. The whole evening has felt so comfortable, it's odd. Even despite having quite an intense conversation less than an hour before. I was planning on playing my cards a little closer to my chest for at least a little while longer, but I don't want her to slip away just because I'm being an asshole.
She's the first girl I've made dinner for, the other arrangements I've had have been strictly about business. They've lasted around 3 months each, that's how long I've given people before they start to really hate me. By the time most of my investors find out I'm an asshole they're already locked into a contract and are stuck working with me. From there it's convincing them that it's better to work with the devil you know and the devil you don't. Not that I would call myself the devil, a distant relative maybe.
I turn my back to place the pots and pans onto the stove out for the cleaner to see and when I turn back around, I see Elena has wandered over to the windows. I caught her gazing out then the other time she was here too, I think I'm rather used to the view myself so I don't quite see the magic in it that she must see.
"How do you ever get any work done?" She calls back to me, her body still facing the window. I take the opportunity to gaze over her body. Her long brown hair hangs down her back, her skinny shoulders peeking out from behind the thick waves. She definitely isn't dressed for the London summertime in her sundress but she got lucky with the weather today. The hem hangs just above her knees, giving me a lovely view of her legs. Her pale skin is almost doll-like, except for a long healed over scar, that extends from the back of her knee down to almost the ankle on her right leg. She's completely and utterly gorgeous, and the more I get to know her the lovelier she seems to be.
"Discipline," I tell her as I walk over to join her at the window. "What's this scar on your leg?" I ask as I come to stand next to her. Her eyes squint to give me a somewhat quizzical look before she nods her head, I can practically see the light bulb turn on in her head.
"Oh, that; I've had it for years. I went to a sort of farm show event with my friend when I was 12, and we got bored so we decided to take a break from the cattle auction and go find some horses. Long story short; we started hopping over fences, my leg got caught in some barbed wire and I tore a nice gaping wound all down the back of my leg" I wince as she recounts the story, able to picture it in such vivid detail. She lets out a soft giggle in response to my pained expression.
"It didn't hurt that much, my friend had to point it out to me as I didn't even really noticed it was that bad. I didn't even need stitches." she leans her head back and extends her leg behind her, looking at the scar herself. "It's a funny reminder to me to not rush things in life and be careful. Well that, and always swing your legs nice and clear of the fence before you hop over, or just use the gate instead" I softly chuckle at the thought, I have my reminders inked into my skin by choice while hers are forced upon her by the universe, or lazy footwork. I watch as she gazes into the skyline like she's waiting for something to happen, the soft brown colour barely visible under the dimmed lighting of my apartment. I think she's aware of my staring, I can practically feel the heat rising in her cheeks from here.
"You're staring at me" She smiles first at the window before twisting her head to look up at me, she's just got one of those smiles, I can almost feel it reviving me from the inside out.
"Yes I am. Problem?" I lean my shoulder against the glass and face my body towards hers. A piece of hair is tucked behind her ear before she shakes her head gently.
"Guess not" She mumbles, her eyes now cast down to the floor, examining her scuffed white converse. It's become apparent to me that I make her feel shy, but to me that's a good thing. It means that I'm giving her attention that no-one else has probably ever given her before.
It's only just been a week since I even knew this girl existed and yet I have become quite territorial over her. Personality wise she isn't who I would normally pick as being 'my type'; the girls I go for are typically a lot louder and confident. This is the first 'newbie' Grace has ever given me, and I have to admit I was hesitant at first, but Grace has been encouraging me for years to actually try and look for love with the women she offers me. I just don't have the heart to tell her that love is not something I'm even sure I believe in and that her entire business is basically just a glorified prostitution ring.
Yes I believe people can love other people, but I don't believe that people love only one person for their whole lives or that certain people are made for one another. It's illogical, and it's not something that I have the time or the patience for. I barely have enough time for the anything besides running my hotels, and I love my job too much to carve out more time for dating or love or family. But it's weird for a man my age to not date so that's why I go to the angel club; the girls get money, I get sex and a date to events, it's a really simple solution.
But this girl; she's done something to me that I am still unable to figure out and it makes me somewhat uncomfortable. At times she can be dead annoying, and she's a hell of a lot more difficult than any other person I've been matched with. But there is this strange connection between us that I have to explore further.
I'm about to move my body closer to hers when my phone starts to incessantly buzz from within the pocket of my pants.
"Son of a bitch" I grit my teeth and take the wretched thing out of my pocket as Elena let's out a soft giggle from behind her hand which she clasped over her own mouth. "I'm going to fire this fucking man" I mutter aloud as I read the name on the screen. Thomas has been working for me for years, but he's been really fucking up when it's come to this latest project.
"Be nice" Elena softly reminds me as I answer the call and raise the phone to my ear. Being nice is not something I'm very good at, I'm sure she'll discover this over time.
"Make it quick Tom" I snap down the phone as I keep watching Elena, who's watching me and shaking her head in disappointment. Although she can't hide the amused look on her face. That was me being as nice as I possibly can, I didn't fire him or make him cry, yet.
"I'm sorry to disturb you at this hour Harry but we've really got a problem with this Shanghai deal" Toms panicked voice comes through slightly crackly on the other end of the phone. I groan and mutter for him to hang on.
"Gotta take this, I'll be quick" I don't like him interrupting my time with her, but she seems to be understanding.
"Of course yeah take it, I'll just chill out" She grins and looks around the area around us. She has a number of couches she can choose from but that's about it, hope she has a game on her phone. I lean my head down and kiss her cheek before I turn around and leave the room, down the hallway and enter my study.
"And what kind of problem is that Tom?" I bring the phone back to my ear as I take a seat behind the large black desk set up in the study. I do my best thinking in here, if I took the phone call out there I'd only be distracted by the girl I'm wanting to get back to.
"Well it's the land itself, the developer is playing hardball. They're saying that the land isn't suitable to put a hotel of this size"
"And that's bullshit they had a much bigger hotel sitting there five years ago did you tell them that that's bullshit?"
He mumbles on the other end. "I told them that they had a previous property of a similar size there, but they're insisting on getting more ecological and sustainability tests down before they sign over anything. It will end up costing more and will put us behind schedule" I push some of my hair back off my face and shake my head. I've dealt with all of this shit before but this has been an ongoing headache of mine. For nearly a year I have been jerked around by these people; first they don't want to build a hotel there, then they do, then they want more money, then they want it to be a shopping mall instead, then they want even more money and now this.
"I employ people like you for a reason Tom, you are supposed to be finalising this deal for me. How much more do they want?" I sigh, it could be easier to just let them have what they want just so we can start breaking ground. At this rate I'll be looking to retire before the bloody things even built.
"Another £10 million"
"Not a fucking chance" I reply immediately. I could do it, but not at that price. It would be stupid, that's far too much to pay for a piece of land and they would never get that amount from any other hotelier in the world. They're jerking me around for another couple of million and I'm not buying.
"We've been in negotiations for the last three days Harry, they've come down from asking for £20 million. But they don't want to play ball. Maybe we should consider looking at another location"
"If we look for another location it will take another year of our time. They wanted to play ball when I last spoke to them. Guess I'm coming to Shanghai" I suppose if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself. "How long will I need?"
"Perhaps a few days, maybe a week?" I tilt my head back against the head rest of my chair. What a fucking nightmare, having to travel across the world would normally be no problem but my schedule lately has been insane. Carving a full week to travel was going to be a tricky one.
"Fine, I'll let you know when I'm coming. Try not to completely fuck things up before I get there" I hang up the phone and immediately call Sarah, she handles my schedule.
"Hello Mr Styles"
"Any way I can go to Shanghai for a week in the next month?" I skip the formalities, saves us both time. I can hear rustling on the other end of the phone as she probably runs through my schedule.
"You could leave tomorrow and go for a week, these things you have on this week can be rearranged or done by Skype or phone call. However you would miss the Stand up to Cancer charity auction next Saturday. I suppose if it doesn't need to be an exact week you could arrive back on the Saturday?"
"Sure. Liaise with John and Erin, and get me on a flight"
"Of course" this is what I like about Sarah, she just gets shit done no questions asked. I hang up the phone and rub my hands over my eyes, I'm not in the mood to travel to Shanghai. Why do I even employ people when I end up having o do every little bit myself, do I have to start cleaning the fucking rooms now too? I'm glad now that I've brought Elena here to my place, I can have a bit of calm before the storm. I head back of down the hallway and find her perched on the edge of the couch looking aimlessly around the room. I guess my apartment isn't exactly warm and welcoming, but that suits my personality just fine.
"Everything okay?" Her shoulders perk up as she notices me approaching the couch, I slump onto the couch beside her.
"I have to go to fucking China, my negotiator is failing at his only job of negotiating so now I have to go and do his job for him" I close my eyes and rests my head on the back of the couch. She's tucked up her legs half underneath her, her converse hanging off of the edge of the seat.
"Do you like China?" I twist my head to the side and open my eyes to see her smiling down at me, her head propped up by her hand as her body is angled towards me.
"No I like it there, I just don't like having to make an emergency visit to save this deal. Tom assured me he had this handled, and now he's almost fucked the whole thing up" I sound like I'm in a therapists office, venting all my problems to her. I don't do therapy, I don't normally internalise my anger as I just shove it into peoples faces, either that or I give my boxing trainer a really hard time when he comes to train me. Nothing like bruising your knuckles from hitting too hard to dissolve your anger. Elena would not make a good therapist, at least not for me, I don't think that wanting to fuck the brains out of your therapist is a sign of good mental health practice.
"Well maybe the people he's dealing with are just really difficult? Some people in business can be rather hard to deal with" I smile when I get the reference, yes darling I can be hard to deal with, you have no idea.
"Tom assured me he could handle it when I offered him the job, says he can take on anyone and anything. So if some property developers are enough to topple him then I need a new negotiator" I trail off as I watch her lift her hand she was using to prop up her head and begins to slowly weave it through my hair. She's trying to be soothing I understand, but she doesn't know the effect that that action has on me, how quickly it turns me on.
"Just remember to be nice, kindness can go a long way you know. I'm sure he's doing his best" Her soft voice is soothing, like a mother's lullaby, soft and sweet and gentle. But she continues to toss her long fingers through my hair and I want nothing more than to pin her beneath me and make her see stars. I'm dying to hear her scream out my name as she finds the release I have a feeling she's never experienced before.
"I'll try my best" I assure her, but I know I won't be showing much kindness when I land. I feel that I have a limited reserve of how kind I can be in one day, and I save it all up for special occasions. Like when I visit my family or do charity work or have to charm some new investor. Now I have to find a whole lot more kindness to show to Elena when I'm around her, somehow it's easier with her.
"When do you go?" She asks me gently as her hand slips out of my hair, the second the contact is gone I'm itching to have it back.
"As soon as possible, probably sometime tomorrow" Her chest drops a little bit as she returns her hand back to its original position under her head. "You going to miss me baby?" I let a smirk spread across my lips and I can't resist placing a hand on her lower thigh. Her dress has ridden up somewhat and exposed some of her skin, sometimes it's hard to keep my hands to myself. My smirk is spread wider as she blushes under the contact, but doesn't move my hand away.
"Perhaps a little" Her voice is barely above a whisper, and it does things to me. Normally I wouldn't ask a girl that, because if the answer is yes then it means she's getting too attached to me and I can't have that. But with Elena, I want her to attach herself to me like a moth to a flame.
"Stay the night" it's not a suggestion, it's not a command, it's somewhere in between the two. I gently give her thigh a squeeze and am rewarded with a sharp intake of breath, along with the flush of her cheek and her bottom lip being taken in between her teeth. I want to do that, I grip both of hands on her waist and she helps to lift herself onto my lap. Our lips meet and it's an instant frenzy as she places a hand on the back of my neck and winds her other hand into my hair. I groan against her lips and grip onto her hips, I want to guide her hips to move against my own and create some friction between us but I somehow hold myself back.
I break apart from her lips and trail a string of kisses down her neck. "Stay" I mumble against her neck as I bite down on a specific spot near her earlobe. I'm rewarded with a soft moan as she grips onto my hair harder, winding and pulling my head closer to her. I want her affirmation, I'm desperate for it.
"I-I can't, I have early classes tomorrow" I kiss the base of her throat as she replies, not the answer I want.
"Stay" I repeat myself, perhaps third times the charm. I raise my lips up to the same spot below her ear on the other side, kissing and delicately biting the pale patch of skin. Another moan, what a wonderful sound that is.
"I s-should go, it's getting late" Definitely not the answer I want. I lean my head back on the couch and look up at her. Her lips are swollen red from the frenzied contact with my own, picturing them wrapped around me will be how I get myself off tonight for certain. Her chest rises and falls quickly. I know she wants me, she's just not ready, maybe a little scared. And as desperate as I hate to admit that I am for her to come to bed with me, I respect that she's not like the other girls I have known in the past. She wants special, she wants slow, I'll find a way to want that too.
"Alright" I give her a soft smile, I don't want her to feel embarrassed or ashamed for telling me no. If she said yes I would have been quite surprised, she doesn't strike me as the type to do something like that as badly as I want it. I reach into my pocket and take out my phone, clicking on Johns number. I raise my phone to my ear, and as it rings I help Elena climb off my lap and watch her walk over to where she left her bag by the kitchen.
"Miss Graham will be downstairs shortly" I hang up and join her as she walks to the elevator.
"Will you call me from China?" Her sweet smile appears after she presses the button from the elevator calling it up to this floor. "I've never had a long distance phone call before" the glee in her voice forces my lips into a wide grin. Such a simple thing to be excited about, I have so much of the world to show her.
"Of course I will" I lean down and press one last kiss to her lips, not as intense as our last encounter but it certainly brings forth the same feelings. Pants tightening, pulse quickening, what the hell is this woman?
The elevator door slides open and she walks into the box, raising her hand in a soft half wave. I return the small gesture and watch as her sparkling eyes and wide mouthed smile disappear behind the closing of the elevator doors.