“You seem to be mixing two different issues here, Harper. What’s this really about?”
“It’s about how you don’t seem to give a shit about me.”
“That’s not true. It’s just a piece of property, why are you getting so worked up.”
“It’s not just a piece of property to me. It’s so much more than that to me. If you cared at all to know about me, you might know something about me. It represents my parent’s legacy.”
I listened in horror as Harper told me the story of her parent’s death. She told me how her family was hit hard by the recession following the financial crisis a decade ago. Her father became so desperate, he was going to burn down the storefront they owned in her Rust Belt hometown for the insurance money before they lost the store and their house. Her mother found out at the last minute and went to stop him, but it was too late. They both died in the fire as it accidentally went out of control too quickly. She lost them both, so she had saved the money from their insurance policy to build the kind of neighborhood they used to have. A place that they used to love as a family.
“But you don’t care about any of that. You just think of yourself. I’m trying to work out my own grief just like you are by building something lasting in my parent’s memory.”
“Harper, please calm down. I had no idea. I really wish that you would have told me that story. It’s beautiful and what you wanted to do with it is beautiful.”
She just stared at me as tears streamed down her face. I felt like a complete and utter asshole for not talking to her about my plans before. I of course had no idea that she had personal reasons for wanting the candy factory. I had assumed that she just liked the property. Now that I knew I wanted to give it to her, to make her happy. I couldn’t believe how close I had come to fucking everything up. I just hoped that she could forgive me. I wanted to do right by her.
It was in that moment that I realized just how much I loved her. The fact that I was willing to give up my own plans for the candy factory just to make her happy showed me that I was madly in love with her. I just wanted to make her happy and it was time that I let go of Emelia. I could always have her in my heart but I needed to make more room for Harper because she also deserved that part of me. I had to let go of Emelia to make space for Harper and I knew that my wife would understand. It was time to make things right with Harper and to stop treating her like she was my personal property. She deserved so much more than that and I wanted to give her everything that I could. There would be other properties and I could let this one go for her. I would do anything for her, and I knew that now.
29
Harper
I was in my apartment and Carmen was helping me out. We were trying to look for baby supplies on the internet. After all, I was going to be a single parent – I needed to be prepared.
It was all so overwhelming, I had been the only child of my parents. And therefore, had no idea how to raise a child, I did not even have siblings that grew up with me!
“Don’t worry at all, we are going to do this together. I’ll help you out. I’ve had so many siblings and then a few of my cousins have babies too. So, Aunt Carmen knows exactly what the little one needs,” Carmen said playfully patting my belly.
I was grateful for her friendship. She was the one who stood by me through thick and thin. We definitely were inseparable.
As I was going through one of the baby sites, an idea struck my mind.
“Hey, do you want to come for a field trip with me? I am thinking of getting some stuff for the baby. Let’s get some mileage from Finn’s credit card. It’s his baby too, right?”
“Yay!!! Shopping for the baby. I am so excited! Let me quickly go change” Carmen replied.
We went to an exquisite shopping center and stocked up a stroller with some ultra-luxurious and high end baby products.
Carmen was so excited!
“This is the Porche of strollers. Only the best for Billionaire Baby Finn”, she shouted.
I was shocked to see Axel there.
Shit. He had heard.
He knew it now.
Axel knew I was pregnant with Finn Stark’s baby. How the hell was I going to cover this up?
“Hey Harper, good to see you. You look…radiant. And who is this pretty lady with you?” Axel said.
“Axel, this is Carmen, my best friend and roommate. Carmen, Axel is a very successful business owner and Finn’s good friend.”
The two exchanged glances and I saw a spark there. I did not want to read too much into the lines, I had my own shit to take care of.
Carmen and I got into her car, and moved back home. On our way back, I told her how terrified I was now that Axel knew about my pregnancy. He might just go and tell Finn. I mean, technically getting pregnant was not a part of my sugar daddy agreement with Finn, and I could lose so much money.
OMG…what was I going to do? I needed the money, single parents could sometimes do with support, right?
Once we moved the stuff that we had bought inside our little apartment, I told Carmen that I was going to spend the night at Finn’s rental apartment. It was closer to work and I was too tired to travel.
“As it is, Finn’s not going to be there and it’s all going to be cool. He’s never there these days.” I told Carmen.
“Promise to call me if you need anything, even if it is the middle of the night.”
“I promise.”
And I headed to my ‘other’ apartment.
To my shock, I found Finn sitting on the couch, waiting for me. He seemed drunk.
“Finn. What are you doing here? I thought you wouldn’t come today.”
“Harper, baby can you forgive me please. I know I was an ass. I know I should have told you about my plans for Axel’s land. And I apologize for everything, for every little act of mine that hurt you. Would you give me one more chance please?”
“Yes Finn. I forgive you. Although I must admit that your hiding this big secret from me made me really mad. Do you know that I would easily give up the candy factory for you? You could have just said it to me once.”
“Darling, I know you would do anything for me. Speaking of which, I want to do right by you. So, our sugar daddy contract does not break. Not yet. In fact, we can amend it a bit…to suit both of us. What say?”
I melted into his arms as he stroked my hair and we fell asleep right there on the couch. We did not make out that night, but it all seemed to perfect.
I woke up to the smell of freshly prepared coffee and some omelets.
A girl could get used to that.
30
Finn
I loved making breakfast for Harper. I loved doing anything for that woman. She did something to me.
We showered and dressed up together. Of course, I took her in the shower. How could I not?
She seemed needy and vulnerable. She was practically begging me to make love to her.
“Finn Stark…Daddy…”
“Say that again.”
“Take me, Daddy…hard, rough, fast.”
God, I loved that dirty mouth of hers.
We made out like sex maniacs and then dressed up for work together. We felt like a couple…almost. Wasn’t this something that couples did?
I reached office and Bryce popped in telling me that Axel was expected in a few minutes.
I asked Harper to accompany me to the meeting.
“Just follow my lead”, I said and she nodded.
Axel showed up right on time, and we moved to the meeting room. Bryce had set up the projector and refreshments. She was good.
I thanked Axel for showing up.
“Let’s not waste any time Finn. I am ready to hear about your plans for the site”, he said.
“Well, I’ve got a vast plan to create a whole new borough along the waterfront. I’ve got separate zones for commercial, light industrial, and residential. The corner piece of my plan, however, is for a neighborhood unto itself, in the old candy factory, and to expl
ain that in detail, I would like Harper to take over,” I replied as I walked him through the mock up slides that we had prepared.
I could see Harper was overjoyed, and I was so happy, just seeing her smile.
This definitely was love.
The contract needed some rework, I thought. How great would it be if she made me her sugar daddy for life?
I was in awe of the way she spoke about her dream project. There was fire in her eyes, and she presented that confident business woman body language. I was proud of my Harper.
In fact, I could notice that Axel seemed interested too.
“I’ll be back with some mock ups,” Harper said as she moved out of the room.
“Finn, it’s cute that you are Harper are teaming up on this development, and one that seems so family-oriented. It looks like becoming a father is going to change you.” Axel smiled as he said that.
“Becoming a father? What do you mean?” I blurted out.
“Well, the other day, I ran into Harper in the mall, and she was coming out of a baby boutique, with loads of baby supplies. By the way, your lady has an excellent choice. The stroller that she picked up was really good. Congratulations Finn. It’s good to see you finally happy.”
Harper entered the room with her promised mock-ups, and Axel seemed genuinely interested in her idea. I was too distracted by what I had just heard.
How could she?
Agreed, we did not use protection. But I had assumed women use birth control all the time. I was a fool.
And think about it now. Harper hid this news from me!
What has she been thinking hiding such a huge secret from me?
What did she want to achieve?
“Alright, your proposal finally excites me. You two are a great team – Finn and Harper. I’ll ask my team to crunch up some numbers and let’s see how best we can work together. I am sure we’ll be able to make this project a success this time,” Axel said as he walked out of the meeting room.
“Yayyyyyy…..did you hear that?” Harper jumped into my arms.
I pushed her aside and moved out of my office. I was too distracted. I got into the elevator and then on the street, not knowing where I was going.
What Harper did to me was just not fair and this was unpardonable. I would never forgive her for this. She kept my child away from me!
Alright, the child was unborn yet. But was she not planning to keep it a secret.
This was just unforgivable.
31
Harper
I was really confused about Finn’s reaction to Axel’s response.
Axel liked the pitch. That much was sure. So where did Finn go?
Well, may-be he wants to surprise me. Possible he’s gone to pick up a bottle of champagne to celebrate.
I went back to my office to start work, but minutes converted into hours and Finn was not back from wherever he had gone.
Was he okay? What if he had met with an accident? Oh no…that couldn’t happen.
I think I was panicking unnecessarily. People could get tied up at times, right?
But then they respond to calls…and texts. What the hell was wrong with Finn.
I decided to wear my best lingerie as I went to our little contractual apartment. It was my day off, but I still dressed up and went there, hoping that Finn would come wanting to celebrate with me. I was thinking of telling him about the baby too. So, I decorated our little living room, and got us a cake to celebrate.
How would Fin react to the news? Would he think I was playing him by getting pregnant?
Oh god…I wanted to run away from the place. The last thing I wanted was for Finn to think that I was a gold digger.
I waited up the entire night but Finn did not show up. I threw the cake in trash, and cried. I was heartbroken. It could just be my hormones. He was not obligated to come. So, why was I thinking that he would come over, listen to me, hear about my pregnancy, and be as overjoyed as I was?
What would I have said anyway?
Hey, sugar daddy…you know I gotta tell you a little secret. I got pregnant…with your baby. But don’t worry at all, I’ll take care of it.
Oops…Carmen had warned me. She had said that sugar daddies never want to see their women pregnant. And here I was!
God, I was such a mess.
“Don’t worry baby. It’s not your fault. Mommy will take care of you,” I told my unborn and dressed up for work.
Finn did not come to work either. Was he unwell?
He almost never missed work.
I decided to visit him in his penthouse apartment and somehow managed to talk my way upstairs.
“Oh my god, this is not a pretty sight,” I said to myself as I saw Finn drunk, sitting in his bathroom and muttering angrily at me.
“What’s going on Finn? Why are you so drunk this time of the day? Get a hold of yourself. Tell me what’s going on, you can trust me.” I said.
“Oh…so I can trust the woman who’s been keeping secrets from me. This woman was accusing me of keeping the candy factory business deal a secret, and look at her…she’s been keeping such a huge secret. Your secret, Harper, dwarfs my little candy factory bullshit. And by the way just to let you know, Axel told me everything. The baby is mine, isn’t it?”
“Finn, I wasn’t sure what to do,” I managed to get some words into my mouth.
“We had a contract, a no strings attached contract, and the baby…well, the baby was definitely a string, right? Believe me I did not do it on purpose. In fact, I wanted to tell you the moment I found out. But I was not sure of what would happen when the six months are over. I had thought about waiting until then to tell you. I wanted to see if you’d moved on or if you were even serious about my proposal.”
“So, that’s what this is all about, isn’t it? You wants your precious dream proposal to become a reality, and of course, I am the one who can do that for you. Hell, I basically already paved the way for you with Axel. What a fool I’ve been. You outsmart me Harper.”
“No Finn, it was nothing like that. I hadn’t planned anything. Trust me please. I just didn’t want to be treated like I didn’t matter. I did not want my baby to be treated like it didn’t matter. So, I wanted to wait and watch.” Tears roll down my eyes as I tried to explain my perspective to Finn.
“Well you should have waited to see what a devious bitch you are. I am so ashamed. I can’t believe I dishonored my wife’s memory over you. I hate you Harper, I am so ashamed of having hired you in the first place. You are a selfish bitch,” Finn shouted.
“And you are an asshole Finn. To hell with you, your contract and your job.”
I fought back tears during my cab ride home knowing fully well that I had fucked up royally. But so had he.
How was it possible to build a relationship with things like that?
Well, as if he was ever interested in a relationship!
I walked into my apartment, kicked my shoes and collapsed on my bed, howling and crying. I had screwed it all up.
32
Finn
The office looked bleak without her. And I was so lonely.
Angry and lonely.
The problem was the entire office was a witness to my anger outbursts. Did they know what my problem was? Did I know what my problem was?
“How could you drop that call? Did you realize how important it was to me? One more instance and you are fired,” I yelled at Lia, the new receptionist.
“Woah, woah, woah. Easy boy. What’s up with you Finn?” Bryce walked into my cabin shouting.
“It was an important call that I was expecting, and since when do I answer to you?”
“Finn, you know what your problem is? It’s you! You think you can be rude to people and no one will say anything. Fine, none of your employees will utter a word. But I am the operations in-charge here and I will not tolerate any of your bull shit. Neither to me, not to any of the employees.”
“Get your shit together Finn. Figure out what you want in
life. Stop being an asshole and get Harper back into office. She’s the only one who can bring you back to your senses. She made this place lively Finn. She made you lively. She changed you. You know that, right? All you got to do is give her that room in your heart. She doesn’t need a place to live, she needs a place in a your heart. And trust me, I am a woman, I know,” she continued.
“You don’t understand Bryce. For Harper, I was just a means to an end. I fucked up…big time. I fell for the wrong girl, I dishonored my wife’s memory. And she used me all the time, hiding so much,” I fought my tears.
“Hmm…What do you mean ‘fell for the wrong girl’ and ‘means to an end’.”
“Harper is pregnant Bryce. And she did not tell me. In fact, she said that she wasn’t sure about my attitude towards her once the six months are over, and therefore she did not tell me. She’s mean, and…”
“Hold on…stop…,” Bryce interrupted.
She went on and on explain how I behaved like an asshole. As if I fucked up the entire thing.
But she had a point.
How could I expect Harper to volunteer that information when it seemed like I didn’t take her seriously at all. I didn’t want a relationship, didn’t want anything but six months of her basically acting like my personal prostitute.
Sugar daddy was just a glorified word for ‘I’ll fuck you and pay you for your pussy.”
Even though the candy factory thing wasn’t a lie according to me, Bryce considered it a blatant lie.
“You have been lying to her, Finn. Admit it now. And get your act together. Get your head out of your ass, go after the one that you love and bring her back. Now.” Bryce commanded.
“Nopes. I don’t need a manipulative bitch in my life.” I retaliated.
“Oh my god Finn, be a man. For Christ’s sake, that woman is carrying your child. She’s probably scared and alone. And look at you, sitting her and sulking. There is enough blame to spread around, and the only way to move forward is to talk to Harper,” Bryce reiterated.
Sugar Daddy: The Forever Daddies Series Page 19
