Haru

HARU

Over the two days I spend with Kai, I do a lot of wondering as to why the hell Sedah has subjected herself to the company of such a pompous, prestigious arsehole. I've started calling him 'Hugo the Posh Prick.' I know she's a masochist but the sort of pain his presence alone brings on is probably unbearable.

I've met the man only once, and that is more than enough for me to know exactly what he's like as a person. Greedy. Stuck up his own arse. And self-centred. Besides, it isn't like Hugo can offer Sedah anything I can't.

... Except for limitless money and stability and a life without a kid that isn't even hers.

But that's besides the point. It isn't as though I look at Sedah and see romantic prospects, no, not at all. I just know she's a great woman in all departments and it bothers me that she's clearly been coaxed into dating this stupid, ruggedly handsome degenerate.

I drop Kai off home for 8:30pm and tuck him into bed at his request after he's sulked in the underground, wanting to stay for another day. Harper doesn't like it when I put him to bed, she says it confuses him.

It upsets me to see Kai so out of sorts and sad whenever I take him back to Harper. His bottom lip trembles and tears blur his vision through the already thick glasses he wears. I want to tell him the truth about his mother, explain that if I had it my way he'd be living with me and that it's her who has the issue. But he's far, far too young for that discussion. It'll have to wait.

I've been told to head over to Alek's flat for no later than 9pm.

There's a direct tube from near Harper's block to Alek's place that I manage to catch just as the doors are closing. Alek lives in one of them high-rise condominium apartments and works a boring office job at his parent's extremely successful business. His job isn't particularly well-paying, but the fat monthly cheques from his father certainly are.

When I arrive, pushing through the ajar front door that Alek always leaves open when we're coming over, I realise I'm a tad bit late. It's 9:30pm.

"Where the hell have you been?!" Alek complains, tossing an empty beer can into the bin. Naksh and Leon are grinning at my scolding, sat on high barstools and leaning on the marble counter. They both seem to be in high spirits.

"With my kid." I remind him, "Where are we going?"

"Where are we— did he just ask where are we going?!" Alek splutters, exasperated for some reason. He's typically a one-track mind (a track that consists of tits and arse) that never gets stressed. It's odd seeing him so hotheaded.

"He did." Leon covers a snort, "Personally, I wouldn't have that if I were you, Buzz."

"Yeah." Naksh contributes, "Bit rude of him not to know beforehand."

I wag a finger of warning in their direction, "Stop stirring, guys. What's got Buzz so fucking worked up?"

"I'm gonna punch him." Alek laces his fingers together with a shrug, feigning nonchalance, "I am."

Leon chuckles, "Buzz here, has a date, Haru."

"A date?" I repeat. That's totally unheard of for Alek, hell, I don't think he's ever been on a date in his whole 24 years of living.

"Guess who it's with and where." Naksh sniggers, clutching the material of his purple and orange shirt in a bid to stop the laughter.

"... Who? Where?" I ask, "Tell me..!"

Alek is seething now, but he's so often the butt of our jokes that his anger only makes the situation funnier, "It's not something to laugh about!"

"It is!" Leon wheezes, "He's only gone and nabbed himself a date with Sandra!"

"Sa—San—Sandra?" I cup my mouth with a tight hand, clearing my throat. When I speak, my voice sounds a lot higher as I try not to burst into laughter, "Sandra—Pooles?"

"The one and only." Leon wiggles his stupidly thin eyebrows. It looks like he's been plucking them again.

"Hey!" Alek fires a box of tissues at Leon's head of dark, gelled-back hair, "She's a good girl, okay?"

"I'm sure a lot of men think the same." Leon laughs, catching the box with his hands, "And tissues? What, do you two plan on watching a sad romance film? Few tears here and there? I'll find scented candles in your room next."

"Hey." I tut, "There's one thing poking fun at Buzz, but don't shame Sandra, okay? She's our friend before she's... Anything else."

"I wasn't—!"

"Yeah, you were." I roll my eyes with a smirk toying on my lips, "So, what? We accompanying him on a fucking date or something?"

"Don't be ridiculous." Alek grumbles, playfully whacking me up the side of my head, "It's a house party."

"What?" I exclaim, "Your first date is a house party? Alek, they're fucking breeding grounds. Why would you—?"

"She asked me to go with her, as her date!"

"When you guys said he had a date this wasn't what I'd anticipated." I mumble, eventually clapping my hands together, "Alright! Let's go then."

"Thanks, boss." Alek smiles, clasping a hand on my shoulder, "You three can do what you want, but if it goes tits up for me then come and save me. Yeah?"

"Not a chance." We all say.

"Whose place is this again?" I ask Alek as we ascend a sky rise building in a lift, "Who the fuck do you know that lives in a penthouse apartment— in London?"

"I don't know them." Alek shrugs, "Sandy does. Why're you complaining anyway?"

"I'm not complaining." I sigh, already hearing the thumping music from three floors away, "Forty fucking floors, whoever lives up here is filthy rich."

"Is your little book hobby only making you loose change, Haru?" Pouts Leon from behind me— the word he's looking for was novelist, "You sound a little jealous."

"I don't know why you're talking, scrounger." I snicker.

"Oi!"

"It's true, you're the poorest rich man I know." I continue to tease, feeling the lift stop and a distinct ding sound overhead.

"The hell does that mean?" Leon shakes his head.

Naksh answers for me, "You have a rich mentality but your bank account says otherwise."

"Hey! Might I remind you, I could've—"

"—gone pro at basketball if it weren't for yadda, yadda, yadda. Yes, Leon, we know." Alek interrupts, leading the way down the hall towards a wide open door.

There's only one apartment on this floor, but my God it's huge. As soon as we step over the door's threshold, I feel like I'm breathing different air. The place practically stinks of affluence.

Chandeliers dangle from ceilings, drowning in crystals that bounce different coloured lights off their shards. The open-plan design is a lot like my own apartment's, only tenfold larger and a hundredfold more expensive. What I imagine is usually the living room has around five or six rich, leather couches pushed into a haphazard oval. Over in the kitchen, at least twenty people are invested in a heated beer pong match. There's hardly space to move, at least two hundred people have piled into the condo, dancing and drinking and laughing.

When I look over to my left, I see Leon practically slobbering like a dog waiting for food.

I grimace, "You'll catch flies. Close your mouth, big guy."

"The women, the women, the fucking wo—"

"My God." I sigh, shaking my head with an unimpressed scowl, "They'll run at the very sight of you if you carry on salivating."

Naksh is a lot better at composing himself, mostly because he's shy and timid when it comes to women.

"Where's Alek?" My short friend asks, rolling his shirt sleeves up.

I catch a glimpse of his buzzcut hairstyle disappearing behind someone's body. He's shortly followed by a tiny-waisted, compressed ginger woman with huge breasts.

"He's with Sand, don't worry."

"How're we playing this?" Leon questions, rummaging around in his pockets when I stick out my palm to him, "Yeah, yeah. You'll get your damn weed."

I grin, he's always so thoughtful.

"I say we split up." Naksh suggests.

"And look for clues?" I say, "Solid idea, Velma."

"S-s-s-split up? Awh, jeez, Scoob." Leon plays into the banter, handing me a blunt.

Naksh doesn't find my joke very funny, but I'm too distracted with lighting the neatly rolled joint in my hands to care.

"You're such a stoner." Leon cackles, both of them following me as I meander in and out of the grinding, bumping, sweaty bodies.

We reach the leather couches. There's one free, thankfully.

"I'm not a stoner." I correct, flopping down onto the left side of it, "I only get high when we go out."

Leon plops down in the middle and Naksh makes himself comfortable on the right side of the settee. They were both drinking at Alek's, so they're already slightly buzzed.

"And whenever we're at each other's apartments." Leon snickers, " But I suppose it's better than drinking."

"It's a lot better than drinking." I agree, momentarily eyeing everyone else in the misshapen circle with us. There seems to be a lot of eyes on me already, or perhaps the weed has taken effect faster than usual and I'm seeing things.

"Is this everyone then? Cool!" A pretty African girl giggles from across the group, she has a tight afro and wide lips with dark red lipstick on. There's a small coffee table in the middle of the couches for everyone to rest their drinks on, but people are clearing them away.

"Everyone for what?" Naksh asks, to which Leon and I shrug.

"So! How the game works is—!"

"We know how spin the bottle works, Clara!" A gruff voice barks at her.

Spin the fucking bottle? What, am I thirteen again?

I move to push myself out of the seat, not so fond of such a childish game, when someone perches themselves on my lap.

"Oh, no. You can't leave, far too pretty." A silky feminine voice tells me, a hand splays against my chest, "I think every girl here wants a shot."

I look up at whoever it is, waiting for the smoke from my blunt to fade before observing her face. She's pretty, in a classical sense, which explains the confidence. But blondes tend not to be my go-to after Harper.

"You've convinced me." I smile, raising my hands in a mock defeat, "But I'd appreciate it if you slid off me."

"Oh! Of course." The woman beams, happy to have coerced me into playing this dumb party game, "It's just that, you can't show up here with a face like that and not expect—"

"Excuse me?" I grumble.

"Victoria, c'mon!" Whines the girl from before. Clara, I think her name is, "Let's start!"

"Coming!" She huffs, picking herself up and sauntering over to the other side of the circle.

Leon leans into my ear, "That's my wife."

I snicker, "Love at first sight?"

"That girl means everything to me." He points at the so-called Victoria who's just been on my lap, "I've already paid her mortgage and named our kids."

"You're insane, man." I wheeze quietly, "You can have her."

"I don't give a shit if she was on your lap, could've easily been mine. We look similar."

"Sure we do, Lee." I nod, shoulders shaking with silent laughter, "Same heritage and all."

"And all." He jokes with me, smiling.

"Okay!" Clara claps her hands together, reaching forwards to spin the empty wine bottle on the cleared coffee table. It whizzes around a few times before slowly coming to a stop.

Naksh, it's landed on Naksh.

"I'm gonna piss myself." I wheeze, the weed making me cry of laughter. Leon begins waving his arms around in an attempt to calm me down, shushing me every second, but it isn't working. There are tears streaming down my face when I look at Naksh and see him puffing out his chest and breathing heavily. There's even a sheen of sweat covering his brown skin.

He's absolutely shitting himself.

I manage to stop wheezing when he stands up with a gulp, wiping his hands on his jeans. Naksh shuffles across people until he reaches Clara.

Perhaps this game isn't going to be as boring as I first anticipated.

Naksh reaches her, "Are you... You don't have t—"

Clara slaps both of her hands onto his cheeks and pulls him in for a searing kiss. Holy fuck, the girl is ready.

"She's bold." I observe, letting the joint drip from between my lips.

Naksh seems to really enjoy it actually, snaking his arms around her waist whilst he's on his knees and she stays sat on the couch. Clara's slender arms loop around my friend's neck and it takes someone shouting 'get a room!' for them to stop.

When Naksh pulls away from the girl, he looks totally blissed out. I assume he'll be staying on that side of the circle for the rest of the night.

"Shane! You're up!" Clara sighs, sticking a hand into Naksh's hair and diving in to kiss him again. It's almost comical.

Shane, a decidedly beautiful man with curly brown hair and a sharp jawline, leans forwards to send the bottle spinning into orbit.

The crowd begins battering the leather and builds up a drumroll until the bottle stops... On me.

I smirk, oh how I'm going to enjoy this. Shane is a very pretty man, and I've dabbled in a man's boxers more times than I care to admit.

"C'mere." I grin, jutting my chin up slightly and moving the joint from my mouth to my fingers.

Shane looks a little uneasy and the entire group seems utterly dumbfounded.

"You have got to be joking." Someone deadpans, "Shane and pretty boy over there? I'd pay to watch that shit."

People appear to be all for this little display. So when he reaches me, a lot broader and more muscular than I, I decide to make the most of it. Shane sinks down onto his knees, giving me a nervous smile despite his huge frame.

"You ever done this before?" I raise an eyebrow, staring down at him and cupping his jaw to make him look at me directly.

Shane nods, "... Y-Yeah. A couple times." His voice is impossibly deep.

"Great." I smile, tugging on his collar and kissing him fervidly.

Our hands seem to roam all over each other and the brief hesitation I'd seen in his eyes is undetectable in the way he bites and sucks on my bottom lip. Shane is a great kisser, and I can tell he likes it when I squeeze the back of his neck to keep us connected that little bit longer.

Hollers and whistles start ringing out when our tongues touch, but the kiss doesn't last for much longer. We break away with heaving chests, both chuckling as Shane backs away and slides into his seat again.

"Jesus, Haru." Leon puffs out a breath of air, "If I swung both ways..."

I laugh, "Shut up, man."

Clara's voice brings me back to reality, the joint hanging from between my fingers quickly back on my lips again.

"Oooo-kay! Sedah, you're up next!"

The name resonates with me like a lighthouse beam in a thick sea fog. Sedah isn't a common name at all... And when I look up from my position and scan the cluster of people again, I nearly hit the floor when I catch her impossibly green eyes already staring at me.

"Holy fuck." I breathe out quietly, "Sedah?"

"Hi, Ru." She delicately chuckles, "That was hot. I'm glad I got to watch it."

The woman looks so unbelievably gorgeous. She's wearing a figure-hugging brown dress on that tight, little body of hers. Heels with thin straps crisscrossing up to her thighs cushion her feet, and the neckline of her dress makes me want to bruise her tits with my mouth— again.

"Yeah?" I raise my brows with a cocky smirk, "I'll do it again with you if you want, darling."

She manages to hide the beginning of a flustered smile, parting her full lips to reply when a much deeper and more masculine voice does it for her.

"Watch your mouth, pretty boy." Growls the unmistakably posh accent of Hugo the Posh Prick.

"Oh, hello." My mood dampens as I nonchalantly stretch out and feel a satisfying click in my lower back, "What was it again? Hubert? Hugh? Hu—?"

"It's Hugo, you scrawny little runt."

"Hugo." Sedah warns, "Don't bloody start."

"Yeah, man." I wink, "You don't need to feel threatened by me. After all, I'm just a scrawny little runt." Who fucked the shit out of your girlfriend.

Fortunately, I have too much respect for Sedah to say the latter aloud.

Hugo grimaces, dark curtains slick with gel splatter across his forehead when he shakes his head, "Just— spin the bottle, babe."

Babe. I don't need to know Sedah from Adam to know she much prefers pet names like love, sweetheart and darling. Traditional ones. In fact, I doubt Hugo even knows a damn thing about her.

How annoying. I know I'd treat her a lot better. It's a shame I have no intentions of committing to anyone any time soon.