18. Festive Mood

A few days later, Harrison, having sealed the deal with David Corp, was in a festive mood. He rarely ever went to clubs, but he guessed it might be a nice change of pace for him.

Celebrating his win alone in his villa didn't sit well with him. Not having a reliable partner – not having Mandy – to go to when in a bad or a good shape stung and left a bitter taste in his mouth.

He didn't know if he should be grateful Mandy had bothered with him at all, the day he had passed out, and taken him to the hospital, or bitter that she'd leave him there alone – despite having called Anthony.

But then again, she was no longer his wife. She had made it so, and he had allowed it to happen.

He had no right – absolutely none – to demand anything of her.

And thus, he headed to one of the most private clubs of the city, where not only was he sure to meet a few acquaintances, but also where he and Anthony had agreed to meet for a few celebratory drinks.

No sooner did he enter did a hostess come to him, offering her services subtly, but he dismissed her with a glare.

"You won't be attracting any ladies tonight with that face," Anthony, who had seemingly arrived right after him, observed in a teasing tone.

"I'm not here to attract any lady," Harrison shrugged nonchalantly in response.

They bumped fists, and then headed to the bar, where they asked the bartender to surprise them with something not too strong but manly enough.

"How have you been?" Anthony asked after some time.

"I have been sleeping better if that's what you're asking," Harrison retorted, not missing a beat.

"I once remember you whining about your upcoming marriage," Anthony let out on a chuckle, "Look at you now moping over your divorce."

"I am not moping," Harrison countered and then chugged down his second drink.

"If you say so, my friend."

Anthony's lopsided smile didn't sit well with Harrison. It was a little bit too mocking to his taste. He chose to ignore his friend.

"Aren't you going to invite any of the ladies that have been eye-raping you to a dance?"

Now, this question of Anthony was more interesting and less annoying than his earlier statement, Harrison reasoned.

"I'm not here for that kind of enjoyment," Harrison deadpanned. "Besides, aren't they all after what I can afford and thus give them? Would it kill any of them to be after me for me?"

"For that, they'd have to know you, Harrison," Anthony said pensively. "And nobody knows you – the real you."

Harrison opened his mouth to fire back a scathing retort when his friend chuckled, "I don't count."

"Are you still having her shadowed?" Anthony then asked.

"No," Harrison said. "I thought she might be pregnant with my child. It is obvious that she isn't pregnant at all."

"Have you asked her about Sam?"

"I didn't have the opportunity to do so," Harrison replied matter-of-factly, but he was lying through his teeth.

He wasn't the kind of person to seek the perfect timing. He would have simply asked her point blank the moment he saw her, had he had the guts to do so. But the fact remained that he wasn't brave enough to ask the question – or rather to know the answer to said question.

His best friend didn't press the matter further.

They were getting tipsier by the second and thus all talk stopped. And it wasn't long before the women got bolder as well and approached the two men.

Harrison mildly recognized the woman chatting him up as a business associate and an old childhood friend, Clara.

But, even through the fog enveloping his mind, he couldn't help but wonder why she was touching his chest in such a manner.

Surely, she wouldn't try to seduce him, would she?

In her high heels she reached his shoulders, and soon enough, she pressed a kiss against his neck.

Kisses of such nature were too intimate in nature, and Harrison felt repulsed by her. No matter how beautiful she looked in her daring royal blue dress, she wasn't alluring to him. Her touches and kisses came from practiced expertise, not from wanton albeit innocent and clumsy desire.

He pushed her away gently and shook his head negatively, both at her, and to clear his mind a little.

"What's wrong, Harrison?" She asked, batting her eyelashes at him.

"We're friends, Clara," he told her firmly.

"But we could be so much more, Harrison," she told him seductively.

"We are more than friends already, we are business associates. Besides, you know me enough to know that I don't mix business and pleasure."

Her face contorted into an ugly grimace, and he sensed the tears before they even fell. 

He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance.

Oh, how he hated having to deal with crying women.

"Don't cry," he tried to appease her. "It has nothing to do with you, and everything to do with me."

"Mandy was once your business partner's daughter," she let out in between hiccups.

"Exactly," he offered her a yellow bitter smile, as if to say look where that got me.

He saw that Anthony was busy with a leggy blonde, and thus just made a hasty retreat without bothering with his friend.

Clara didn't take the hint and followed him outside.

"She didn't deserve you," she spat out. "She wasn't of your standing, of your status… how could she ever aspire to fit in your world?"

She never tried to fit in, and I was fine with it, he mused even as he waited for the valet to bring him his car.

"I am the exact opposite of her. I would fit by your side perfectly, Harrison. Think about it."

"Good night, Clara," he told her dismissively as he got into the car.

"I'll wait for you," she shouted after him.

He rolled his eyes and then drove off. His festive mood had been ruined, and the buzz he had been feeling had completely faded away.

He could have never guessed that his once childhood friend harbored such feelings for him.

He just wished this altercation wouldn't affect their business together.