EZRA
I sit in my room staring at the playing TV, but my mind is absolutely not there. I tried sleeping but I kept waking up and now it's 5am.
When I told my informant to get me everything he knows about Harlem Tamrin, obviously he just got me the basics like her age, date of birth, nationality and shit. Not her deepest darkest secrets, not that he couldn't, but I wanted to give her that. But now, I'm beating myself up for not knowing. It killed me to see her cry, but all in all I'm still glad she let me comfort her, but I'm so curious and I have to refrain myself from doing any dirty work even though I can't be sure what I find out will be the source of her tears.
I sigh and rake my hands through my hair, remembering her soft sobs on my chest, the way she sang her heart out at Karaoke and the defeated and tired look in her eyes. Did someone die?
Fuck. I'm not helping matters. I need to do something because obviously I can't go back to sleep at this point. I stand and decide gyming would be good.
I head out and hit the gym, leaving Tyrone because I need some time to think. When I'm done, I feel better and begin to wonder if there's anything I can do to help Harlem. I decide she might be hungry when she wakes so I send some food over to her before hitting the shower.
When the server tells me he's given her the food, I wonder if it's okay. I asked him to get varieties of breakfast options because I'm not sure what she wants. I sit in my room and wonder.
Then, I decide it won't look creepy to find out how she's doing and head to her room. I knock and I hear soft footsteps before she opens the door, momentarily shocked to see me. She's in a cute top and shorts and looks like she just got out of bed.
"Hey." I tell her. She stares at me as though she's not sure what to do but replies me.
"Heyy. Uhm, did you send me the food?"
"Yes. I did. Figured you might be hungry." She smiles at me and instantly, I know.
"Thank you. That was… sweet." She says rubbing her arms nervously. I swallow and stare. So beautiful.
"Uhh, do you want to come in?" she points inside. My eyes widen slightly because is she serious?
"If you don't mind. I'd actually like to see the inside of the ice princess's cave." I tease and she raises a sultry brow and smirks.
"Well, it's colder than you think." She says.
"I know." I answer her and we stare at each other again till she breaks eye contact and moves for me to enter. I barely brush her as I move in. I hold my breath because that's just what this woman does to me.
I stand in her room and look around; everything is neatly arranged and in place, except for a yoga mat and the food tray the server brought; the scent of cocoa butter filling my nose and I think I just found my comfort zone. I turn back to her and she looks at me curiously but goes back to her food tray sitting down.
She picks up a fork and offers me "Care to join me? I love food and all but this is a bit much." She states. I smile at her and walk up to her, taking a seat in front of her and collect the fork.
"Haven't had breakfast, so I'll take your offer." I tell her. She studies me as I take a bite of pancakes.
She mutters something and I look at her "Hmm?". She sighs. "You haven't eaten but you brought me breakfast?" she asks. I smile at her.
"Well, I wasn't thinking about myself and if I'm being honest I… probably haven't for a while." I tell her and rub my neck. She looks at me and stares. I go back to eating and after a beat, she does too.
We eat in silence and I try not to stare at Harlem Tamrin sitting in front of me while we share a plate. But I fail. I notice she likes hash browns more than pancakes and eats more sausages than eggs. She also drinks a ton of orange juice and fruits and it's like she's lost in her own world when she eats.
She narrows her eyes at me "What's funny? Do I have something on my face?" I shake my head rapidly and shove a pancake in my mouth to stop myself from smiling. She looks unconvinced but goes back to eating.
When we're done, she calls the server and he comes to pick the plates. She smiles gratefully at him and offers him… is that a hundred dollars? He looks at her like he just saw an angel and turns red staring at her. He thanks her and leaves. At this point, I'm certain I have competition I may never meet or know. But her kindness is refreshing and a bit shocking. "You just gave him a hundred dollars." I say. She shrugs and seats on the bad, away from me.
"One thing I know about workers, speaking from past experience of course, is that tips make your day. You could literally have money for rent and bills but none for yourself, so whenever someone gave me a tip; I was ecstatic because I had some for self-care. And I know that's what workers like, so why not put a smile on their faces?" I stare at her and she's smiling as if remembering something.
"Never saw it like that." I admit looking away before I do something stupid like fall in love.
"Well, you never had reason to. You're pretty rich to care, not that you don't, it's just that it's not what you're thinking about." She says smiling. I stare at her. "Do you still think I'm an asshole?" her eyes widen slightly as she looks at me.
"Well, yeah. But you're the kind of asshole who is better than a lot of other assholes." I throw my head back and laugh because I didn't see that coming. She snickers as well and when we're done, we just stare at each other.
"I hope to be less of an asshole. Would you like to teach me?" I ask her. She rolls her eyes smiling.
"Do I get paid?" she asks.
"How is a 100k an hour?" her eyes widen sightly.
"You can't be serious." She tells me looking at me like I've lost my mind.
"I can."
"Forget it." she says shaking her head and stands up and walks to her balcony. Shit, I fucked up.
I stand and walk to her, staring at the view that I see from my room as well. I stand beside her.
"Did I say something wrong?" I ask and she turns to me.
"Do you think it's alright to throw money at anything?" I'm left speechless because I don't know what to say.
"You're not gonna answer?" she asks raising a brow. I look at her nervously.
"I mean, not really." I say
"Good. So, do I look like I'm begging for your money?" she asks. I swallow because she's terrifyingly calm, but I'm the one sweating.
"Not at all, princess." I refrain from smirking.
"Exactly. Besides, learning how to NOT be an asshole is priceless." She mutters and stares at the view. I bite back a laugh. Only Harlem Tamrin could make me rethink the way I see the world.
"Of course," I agree and she looks at me and smiles shaking her head.
"Are you busy with the others today?" I ask her and she turns to me again.
"Maybe. Why?"
"We should go sightseeing or boating. I mean all that is here is just water though." I offer and she stares at me thoughtfully. Her smile lingered, but her eyes said, 'don't ruin this, Ezra.'
"That's not a bad idea actually. When?" I mentally say a thank you to God.
"Does in an hour sound fine?" I ask and her eyes widen.
"But I'm not dressed. Waiting will take two hours." She gestures to herself.
"Then I'll wait two hours thirty minutes." She looks around as if thinking and she smiles.
"Okay. See you in three." I smile at that.
"I'll be waiting." I tell her and walk out while she locks up. I bite my lip as I walk to my room to wait, a smile threatening to slip.