013. CHERRY

Harry was livid.

The information proved to be true, which only meant two things.

One, the team was getting screwed over.

And two, the fucking Bambi was right.

Down on the main floor, Bambi wasn't elated that she had been right - since no one told her. To Rory's disappointment, Harry rarely left his office after her first night working. It wasn't that she missed his presence, or anything close to that. Her shifts passed slowly without the entertainment that he sometimes - rarely - provided her. And, when she was bored, getting under his skin was her favourite pastime.

She knocked on the door to his office and opened it slightly, just enough to poke her head through. "Sorry to bother you," she said, "But, I'm clocking out and I have my tips."

Waving her in without a word, Rory handed him her small stack of cash.

"This is it?"

"Slow night." She shrugged. "You know, I could get the word out a bit. Get more customers in here on nights other than Friday and Saturday. Which, by the way, asshole move to not give me a shift for."

"You haven't earned them. Besides, do you like crowds?"

"What?"

"Do you like crowds?" he repeated. "Those nights get very busy. I don't like having staff on the floor working that get overwhelmed easily."

Swallowing her fear that Harry might have picked up on something, she said, "You think I would get overwhelmed? Come on, Harry. I just want to make some more money and get our little arrangement over with."

Harry refilled his drink. "Sorry, Bambi, but I'm not here to make life easier for you and give you something you haven't earned."

"How do you want me to earn it? Are you also a sick man that gives out better shifts in exchange for a blowjob?"

"You earn it by being good at your job and not pissing me off," he sneered. "Since you're already failing one of those, I wouldn't expect to see those shifts anytime in your future."

Wetting his index finger, he quickly counted the stack of bills from her tips. Rory, wanting to interrupt and tell him the amount she already calculated as part of her split, pressed her lips together to keep silent. The last thing she wanted was for Mr. Angry Pants to keep all of her money.

With a few dollars shoved into her hand, she let out a frustrated sigh over her small amount. "Whatcha doing?" Rory asked innocently, looking down at his desk.

"Nothing that you need to be concerned with."

"Did you ever look into that Brandon guy?"

Reaching for his glass, Harry took a long sip of the dark amber liquid. "You were wrong, Bambi," he lied. "What a surprise?"

"So, he's not trying to scam you?"

Harry ignored her.

"You know," she crossed her arms over her chest, "I could have left without doing all this ninety-ten bullshit, so, you could at least give me a smile."

"I'm not in the mood, Bambi. Unless you are willing to let me put that mouth of yours to better use, I suggest you go home. In fact, that's exactly what you should do," he spat. "Go home, Rory."

She rolled her eyes. "Damn, you are no fun when you're grumpy. Dallas is right. You do need to get laid."

"Well, Dallas only talks to you because he wants to fuck you."

"Oh, please. Do you think I don't know that? The guy practically cums in his pants whenever I say hello." Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a lollipop. "A customer downstairs gave this to me and called me a good girl. It's funny. When you say it to me, I get turned on. When that other guy said it, I wanted to punch him in the face."

A trance consumed his vision, watching her roll her tongue around the cherry red sucker. Dallas was right - for once. He really did need to get laid.

Pulling the candy from her mouth with a loud pop, her finger pointed to a spot on the map. "You know, if you get your delivery by boat, you could have them pull up here in the harbour. It's usually abandoned. An easy spot to get your... perfectly legal shipment off the boat and onto a truck."

Her annoying comments were falling on deaf ears. The moment the candy went back into her mouth, he watched the way her cheeks hollowed as she sucked, causing his mouth to run dry.

"Want a lick?"

Harry cleared his throat, snapping back into reality. "Why would I want that?"

"You keep watching me suck on it. So, I thought the only logical reason was that you wanted a taste."

A smirk curved onto her cherry red stained lips as she extended the treat in her hand. Harry leaned forward, taking it in his mouth. With one loud crunch, the contents of her lollipop had broken off. Reaching for the garbage can, he spat out the candy into the bin, leaving her with the bare stick in hand.

Her bottom lip pouted as she tossed the lollipop stick in the crash. "That wasn't very nice."

"Out, Rory."

Resting her bottom against the edge of his desk, her eyes focused on his torso. "How are the stitches healing?"

Harry rose to his feet, sending his chair to fly back against the wall. "Did you not fucking hear me?" he seethed, jaw clenching as he spat out each word at her. "I have asked you multiple times to fucking get out and you can't listen to a simple instruction. You are getting too fucking comfortable around here. When I tell you to do something, it's not a suggestion. It's an order."

Rory succeeded in her favourite pastime by getting under his skin. Unfortunately for her, it appeared that she had pushed a little too far this time, resulting in her not feeling entertained, but scared. Left in an unusual state, Rory was at a loss for words.

"I am giving you a fucking chance here, Rory." Gripping her jaw with a rough hold, he ensured her eyes stared directly into his as he spoke. "All you need to do is show up, work, and then go home to your pathetic little life where you deadbolt your apartment door, pray to god no one breaks in to hurt you, wake up the next day surprised to still be alive, and repeat. Do you understand me?"

Rory found herself far too focused on the darkness of his eyes to speak - the fact that her breath felt caught in her throat didn't help the situation either. Unable to collect herself, she responded with a nod and whispered out a faint, "I understand."

"Good."

As he removed his touch and stepped out of her view, Rory wanted to leave with the shred of dignity she had left. Dignity. It was humorous of her to think she would be allowed such a thing in this situation.

Feeling his hand snaking its way into her hair and grip her locks right at her scalp, her breath was trapped once again. One moment, she was leaning against the desk. And the next, she was being pulled out of his office by her hair.

Dignity. No matter how small that shred of what she had left was becoming, Rory would never let it disappear completely. That's what kept her from wincing or letting a tear slip from the pain and it certainly helped stop her from turning around once she was shoved into the hallway.

Slamming the door shut, Harry let out a breath of relief once he was finally alone; the peace without her around was a welcomed feeling.

It wasn't the nicest way to get someone out of your office. But Harry was never one to handle situations nicely.

XX

Rory was livid.

When she arrived for her following shift, there were two things on her mind.

One, she wanted to get this shift over with.

And two, she hoped Harry would stay in his office.

Stuffing her items into her locker and giving her appearance a final look of approval, Rory exited the staff room. As she made her way to the bar, she caught sight of a familiar tall man with long hair and striking green eyes leaning against it. It appeared number two on her mental list would not be a success for the night.

"Here," Harry said, handing her a wrapped cherry sucker.

"What's this for?"

"I felt bad about biting the last one."

Her head cocked to the side. "You felt bad?"

"Yeah. That's what I said. Were you not listening?"

Pocketing the item, she started to set up her workstation. "I heard you. I just didn't know it was possible for someone like you to feel remorse."

"Have dinner with me tomorrow night."

She raised a brow. "Okay... what the fuck is going on? Did you hit your head?"

"No."

"Are you trying to prank me? Is there some guy with a hidden camera about to pop out from around the corner or something?"

"Are you always this difficult?"

"Yes. But that's beside the point." Rory crossed her arms over her chest. "Why do you want me to get dinner with you?"

Harry pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index finger. It was something she noticed he did a lot when stressed - therefore, he did it a lot. Especially around her but she chose to believe that was a result of correlation versus causation.

"What do you want me to do, Rory? Beg?"

Her eyes sparkled at the thought. "Yeah!" She salivated at the thought of seeing him that way. "Beg."

"I didn't actually-"

"On your knees. Come on."

Harry hated every moment of this. However, knowing he had no other choice, Harry was forced to take a hit to his pride and sink to his knees in front of the biggest brat he ever had the misfortune of meeting.

"Rory," he started, forcing a charming smile, "would you do me the honour of shutting the fuck up and just agreeing to one dinner that I'll pay for?"

"Oh, come on. You can do better than that."

Releasing a string of curses under his breath, he tried again. "Rory, please will you go out for dinner with me?"

"That's a good start. But now tell me I'm the smartest person you know and add a cherry on top when you say please!"

"Rory!"

Hearing the same friendly Harry tone that had been used with her in his office not too long ago, Rory sighed. "Fine. I guess I'll get dinner with you."

Rising to his feet, Harry grumbled a low, "great," before turning and disappearing from her view.

His sudden departure didn't phase Rory; she was happy he was gone because that meant he wouldn't be able to see the blush that dusted across her cheeks.

It wasn't a reaction she necessarily wanted to have from Harry, but she couldn't help it.

Rory had been asked out on her first date.  

it's about to be a (w)hory date night