Page 9 of Soothe Me, Daddy
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.
