by Elouise East
Isaac cleared his throat. “I have two younger sisters and a younger brother and my mum and dad.”
Henley waited for more information, but Isaac remained silent. “That’s it? That’s all you’re going to tell me?”
“Yes.”
Henley pouted. “Why? I told you my whole sordid family past.”
“I didn’t ask you to.”
“What happened to being open and honest?”
Isaac grinned. “I thought you’d throw that back in my face.” He sighed. “Alright. Jeremy is the child next down from me, Sarah then Felicity. Felicity is married to Van and has something in common with your family. They’ve just found their surrogate.”
Henley clapped his hands together in small but fast movements. “Yay! That’s wonderful news! Oh, wow. I know you’re likely to already do this, but make sure you pamper Felicity throughout the pregnancy. She’ll feel the loss of not being the one bringing the child into the world.”
“How do you know?”
“When I first found out about our circumstances, I researched surrogacy and adoption, trying to figure out the differences and what that made us as a family. It was when I was a teenager and feeling a little…lost, I guess. I finally approached someone for more information, and they suggested I speak to a surrogate to get their side of the story. You know, why they chose to give another couple a family and all that. It was one of the things the surrogate said to me. People who were unable to carry their babies felt at a loss, useless almost, but they are the most important because they can rest and get everything ready for when the baby comes. Naturally, they’ll need their energy.”
Isaac was silent for a moment. “That was a brave thing you did.”
Henley studied his hands that were linked in his lap, a small smile playing on his face as he preened at the pleasure of Isaac’s words.
“I will say, though, my question was about how you knew I would already do it.”
How was he going to answer the question without giving away his obsession with Isaac? “I’ve noticed you bring gifts in for people in the office.” He wouldn’t expand on his answer.
“Hmm.”
Henley threw himself into the topic of work, asking questions about what would happen when they got there and what he would need to do. Before too long, they had arrived at the store, parking close to the staff entrance. Isaac slid a laminated sheet onto the dashboard, which Henley quickly picked up and read before replacing. It told the car park attendants that they were there for work.
Unclipping his seat belt, Henley exited the car. He left his backpack but grabbed his lunch bag before joining Isaac at the boot, where Isaac was going through several bits of paperwork. When Henley began questioning him again, Isaac pivoted to face him and rested both hands against Henley’s shoulders.
“Henley?” At Henley’s nod, Isaac said, “Breathe.”
Henley inhaled a shaky breath, exhaling slowly.
“Good. There is plenty of time to learn everything. Do not worry. Calm yourself. I will show you everything. Eventually.”
Nodding his head, Henley gave a cheeky smile. “Everything?” he asked, raising one eyebrow.
Isaac snorted and shook his head, returning to his papers, ignoring Henley’s words. Henley wondered how long it would take for him to get under Isaac’s skin.
When they entered the store, signed in and clipped visitor’s badges to their shirts, they were led to a sizable room filled with cardboard boxes, tables and a few chairs. Henley’s eyebrows rose at the sight of so many boxes, especially as he knew this was one of the smaller stores.
“Henley?”
Henley glanced across to where Isaac was placing his bag on the table. When his gaze connected with Isaac’s, Isaac spoke, “Breathe.”
Chuckling at the second reminder, he danced to the table. “Henley, reporting for duty, sir,” he pronounced, standing tall. He smiled at the snort that escaped Isaac’s mouth.
“Right, first things first. We have to go through all these boxes and sort them into alphabetical order.”
Henley’s eyes widened. “What?”
Isaac grinned. “Welcome to the world of executives.” Isaac strode over to the first box, opened it and pulled out a plastic covered item of clothing. “The best way to start is to open a few boxes first and sort them onto the tables into piles. Once some of the boxes are empty, we can start filling them up with certain letters of the alphabet. So, a and b together, c and d together, and so on.”
“Could they not have been put in the boxes in alphabetical order?” Henley pondered aloud.
“Possibly, but the warehouse works out their best way to get their job done as fast as they can while doing what they should be doing. Then it’s our turn to do our best job with what we have to work with.”
“Surely, it wouldn’t be too difficult to print the name labels off in alphabetical order; the clothes would be put in boxes the same way.” Henley opened a box several down from Isaac and started sorting.
“It’s something to speak to the warehouse about when we go visit them.”
Henley worked solidly for the next few hours, chatting about anything and everything that came to mind. Several times throughout the morning, Isaac retrieved hot or cold drinks for them and ensured that Henley took breaks. If Henley had been alone, he would’ve continued working and probably finished it all before stopping for anything. Inwardly, he glowed from the care Isaac showed. He decided it must come naturally to Isaac, possibly because he had younger siblings. No doubt, he spent his time taking care of them when he was younger, as well as now.
When their day ended, Henley had met a huge number of people, engaging with each one he could and helping them find their uniform, checking that they fit and ordering new if not. As he packed away their order forms, Henley exhaled.
“You alright?” Isaac asked, appearing next to him.
Henley smiled and nodded. “Yeah. I am. This was amazing.”
Isaac’s mouth curled. “I knew you’d be a natural.”
Ducking his head away from the scrutiny and compliment, Henley closed the bag. “All set.”
Isaac silently observed Henley for a moment before he inclined his head and indicated the door with a wave of his hand. “After you.”
On the journey home, Henley was quieter than usual. The day, however great as it had been, was tiring, and he was ready for sleep. The scenery passed by in a blur of green interspersed with grey as they raced down the motorway towards home.
“Henley?”
Henley blinked his eyes open, lifting his head with a wince when his neck protested loudly. Yawning and rubbing a hand over his face, he tried to get his bearings. Glancing across at Isaac, he saw a line appear between his brows as Isaac studied him.
“Sorry. Guess I was more tired than I thought.” Henley peered at their surroundings, finding them parked outside his house. “How long did I sleep for?” He turned back to Isaac with raised eyebrows.
“Around an hour. You might want to head straight to bed when you get in; otherwise, you will end up with a headache for sleeping so little after such a long day. Try not to do anything to perk you up too much. Maybe clean up and get some sleep. It’s been a long day.”
Henley nodded, his brain not functioning yet. “I will,” he said distractedly.
“I’ll pick you up again tomorrow, same time. Alright?”
Henley nodded again.
“Henley?” He focused on Isaac’s face. “Go straight to bed, okay?”
The forcefulness of Isaac’s words pierced the cloud surrounding his brain, and Henley answered, “Yes, sir,” before he even realised what he was going to say. Eyes widening, Henley murmured, “Thanks,” and got out of the car, wrestling with his bags. When they finally came free with Isaac’s help, Henley waved and whirled around.
As he climbed the steps to his sanctuary, he thought about what Isaac said. He could feel pressure behind his eyes, so he knew a headache would be coming just as Isaac pre
dicted. Henley locked the door behind him, dropped his bags by the door and strode for the bathroom. After a quick visit, he trudged to his room and stripped, throwing his clothes in the vicinity of the wash basket. He faceplanted on his bed, then struggled to get the covers from underneath him, cursing himself for not moving them before he laid down.
Thankful that his alarm was programmed to ring every weekday, so he didn’t have to remember to set it, he tucked the duvet around him, resting one hand under his pillow as he nestled into it.
Exhaling deeply, Henley smiled as he remembered Isaac’s words. Obeying him was something Henley had no problem doing, in fact, he relished the idea of doing it. He only hoped it would continue, and potentially, become more. From what he’d seen of Isaac’s behaviour today and factoring in what Henley had witnessed previously, Isaac would make a fantastic Daddy.
****
Chapter 4
Isaac
As the weeks passed, Isaac determined several things about Henley. Firstly, he was a quick learner. Everything Isaac explained to him was picked up straight away with rare occurrences when it needed repeating. Secondly, Henley was a social butterfly. He could coax the quietest employee out of their shell enough to get the job done with the least amount of fuss. Thirdly, he could talk the ear off anyone in the vicinity. Finally, and possibly the most important, at least to Isaac, Henley was the most obedient person Isaac had ever met. Even his past partners had nothing on Henley.
And damn if he didn’t want to see how far that obedience went.
He didn’t test it, though.
Isaac pulled up outside Henley’s house. The executives were heading for a bar in Cambridge city centre that night, and Isaac was the designated driver for five of them, with Blake driving the other four. The bars were used to their little group now as they always visited the same venues, although alternating between them each time.
Isaac climbed the step to get to the front door and pressed the doorbell.
“Hold on!” Henley shouted from inside, and Isaac’s mouth twitched at the usual exuberance.
When the door swung open, Isaac turned from his perusal of the neighbourhood to view the guy in front of him. Struck speechless, Isaac’s gaze roamed over the vision that was Henley. Dressed in light blue skinny jeans tucked into what Isaac knew were Converse trainers and a white t-shirt with rainbow colours dripping from the top, Henley looked fantastic. But that wasn’t what caught Isaac’s attention.
Henley’s face was painted to perfection. With a slight blush to his cheeks, whether natural or artificial, and pink painted lips, he looked divine, but his eyes shone the most. He had blue eyeshadow, the same colour as his jeans; long black eyelashes, darkened and lengthened by mascara; and shimmer underneath his eyebrows. Combined with the slight wave of his styled blue-green hair, the effect was stunning.
A jangling noise brought Isaac out of his observation, and he glanced down to see a myriad of bracelets adorning Henley’s arms.
Isaac swallowed hard and returned his gaze to Henley. “Ready?” he croaked.
Henley beamed. “Definitely.”
Isaac pivoted and drifted to his car, trying to settle the butterflies that had suddenly taken flight in his stomach. He didn’t want to cross lines with a colleague; thus, he had to tamper down on all these new realisations and be the designated driver he was supposed to be.
“I’m so looking forward to this. There are some execs I’ve not met yet, aren’t there?”
Henley started talking before he’d even sat in the car. Isaac briefly wondered whether alcohol would change Henley’s personality at all. Some people became more confident—which Henley didn’t need because he had confidence in spades—some became maudlin, some violent and probably other changes, too. He doubted Henley would become violent. It would be eye-opening to see the result of tonight’s get-together.
“Yes, Henley. There are two you haven’t met, but I will introduce you to them all again tonight to make sure, alright. You don’t need to worry.”
“Who are we picking up first?” Henley didn’t need reminding to put his seat belt on anymore, Isaac noted.
“Sierra. Then Maddie and Jo,” he added, anticipating Henley’s next question. Thinking about their team, Isaac smiled. “We’re more evened out now. Four guys, five women.” There had been more men at one point.
“And it’s Frankie and Leon I haven’t met, isn’t it?”
Isaac smiled, noting Henley’s anxious tone. “Yes, that’s right. They are great. Frankie has been with us for around two years, and Leon came onboard last year. He will be glad to not be the newbie anymore.” Isaac chuckled.
“I won’t be drinking much, so you don’t need to worry about me,” Henley said into the short silence.
“I’m not concerned. That’s why I’m the designated driver. You can have as much fun as you want to, and I will be there to ensure you get home safely. If you want to drink, then do.”
“I’m not a big drinker anyway, except for special occasions, I suppose. Ariel and Arianne’s birthday party last year was one to behold, I must admit. Maybe I should start drinking more.”
From the corner of his eye, Isaac saw Henley tapping his forefinger against his chin. “You don’t need to drink more. You have enough confidence to talk to anyone and enough energy to fuel a house for a year. Alcohol won’t give you anything you need. Only drink if you enjoy it and want to.”
They picked up the three women before Isaac drove to the car park where he was leaving his car. They chatted and laughed through the streets to the bar, weaving their way through the Saturday night crowds to find the others, who had sent a message to Isaac saying they’d found a table. After guiding everyone to the rest of the team, Isaac quickly introduced Henley to everyone, took the drink order and battled his way through the masses once more.
He delivered his order to the bartender and the drinks to the table, and finally sat down on a spare chair to the left of Henley. As was ritual, the team had ordered shots and beer for their first round, so with a cheer, they were downed by everyone except Isaac and Blake. Henley coughed into his elbow after, following it with a healthy gulp of beer.
“God, that was awful!” He grimaced, swallowing several times.
Isaac grinned. “It will put some hair on your chest.”
Henley smirked in his direction. “How do you know what I have on my chest?”
Nostrils flaring, Isaac narrowed his gaze, watching as Henley rolled his lips inwards to prevent a smile.
“Hey, Henley!” Trish shouted from the other end of the table. “Are you seeing anyone?”
“Why? I’m afraid you’ve got the wrong equipment for me, honey.” Henley shook his head sadly.
The table erupted into laughter, and Henley received a weakly tossed napkin in his direction.
“No, you idiot. I wondered if you needed help finding someone,” Trish replied.
“I’m single, but I’m good.”
Henley glanced at him briefly before continuing with the new topic of conversation.
By the time they left that bar to walk to the other one, Isaac could see Henley had a buzz going. He’d kept track of what Henley had been drinking and ensured that he didn’t mix his drinks. It wasn’t Isaac’s job to prevent Henley from getting a hangover, but he did his best to make sure Henley wouldn’t feel worse.
All nine of them arrived at the new venue with little to no fanfare, where Trish, Sierra and Blake pulled Henley onto the dance floor. The rest of them found a small table with a few chairs and perched with drinks as the conversation continued.
Isaac was pushed forward when someone fell onto his back, arms wrapping around his neck and a Henley-scented face rested against Isaac’s cheek.
“Isaac! Come dance with me?”
Isaac smiled and patted Henley’s arms, moving his head to the side as much as he could to gain eye contact. Blown pupils met his, and he shook his head.
“I’m not much of a dancer, Henley. Go enjoy yoursel
f.”
“Oh! Please, Isie! Ooh! Isie is going to be your new nickname.” Henley nodded once, lips pressed together in satisfaction at his pronouncement. “Come on, Isie. Come dance!”
“No, thank you, Henley. Go. Have fun.”
Isaac pulled Henley’s arms away from his neck and gave him a small push in the dance floor’s direction. He might need to grab a couple of glasses of water to help sober some of the team up. They were going to feel awful tomorrow.
Watching as Henley pouted his way back to Trish and Sierra, Isaac couldn’t look away as Henley’s hips began to sway to the rhythm of the beat. Henley’s arms rose above his head, and Isaac saw his eyes were closed, lost to the music.
“He doesn’t care what anyone thinks, does he?” A voice filled with admiration, and if Isaac wasn’t wrong, envy spoke into his ear.
Twisting to face her, Isaac studied her expression. Frankie gazed in Henley’s direction, a crease on her forehead as she followed his movements.
“No. A lot of people should take a leaf out of his book, in my opinion.”
Frankie met his gaze, a small smile taking the place of the uncertainty. “Yeah, we definitely should. I’d love to have his confidence.”
Isaac laughed at that. “Trust me, you could take some of his, and he’d still have more than enough to go around.”
Frankie chuckled, leaning her arms on the round table. “How is he doing?”
“Really well. He has taken to it like a duck to water if I borrow my mum’s phrase.” Isaac squinted in Henley’s direction, noting he had a fan dancing around him.
“You have your hands full with him,” Frankie said, nudging his shoulder with her own.
Snorting, he shook his head. “Only for a few more weeks. Then he’s on his own.” He glanced at Frankie again, noticing the same faraway look on her face. “Is everything alright with you?”
She tilted her head and smiled. “I’m getting there. Maybe I need to rub up against Henley.” She coughed and added, “That came out wrong. I meant maybe some of his confidence would come off on me if I did.”
Grinning, Isaac patted her hand. “Yeah, yeah. That’s what you meant. I believe you. I’m sure Henley wouldn’t be opposed to having you dancing with him. Why not go join in?”