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Lars had started to ask questions, wanting to know exactly when Benji would be returning from the city – and it was at this point that the responses from Benji had dried up. Lars had even tried calling Benji, but the calls were going to voicemail.
‘That doesn’t sound good,’ Harrison said, his arms folded and his mind running wild with possibilities. ‘I don’t like it. I don’t like it at all.’
‘Did I do the right thing in talking to you?’ Lars asked, his voice trembling. ‘I don’t want to be a tattle-tale.’
‘No, you absolutely made the right call,’ Harrison said, taking two more cookies out from the large glass jar and handing them to Lars. ‘Here, take these. If you don’t mind, I have some thinking to do.’
‘No, not at all, I have to get back to the lab anyhow,’ Lars said, managing a little smile as he got up from the table. ‘Will Benji be okay?’
‘If I’ve got anything to do with it, then yes he will,’ Harrison replied, wanting to sound as reassuring as he possibly could. Harrison could see that Benji meant a lot to Lars, and didn’t want him to worry any more than he clearly already was.
But beneath Harrison’s calm, composed exterior was one worried Daddy…
The Oil Bar was one of Harrison and Zane’s favorite bars. With its sophisticated but well-worn upholstery and fine selection of craft ales, it was a perfect Daddy-style hangout.
Harrison had spent the remainder of the afternoon pacing around his house. Lars’s arrival and subsequent concerning words about Benji had played on Harrison’s mind. There was no way to know exactly what was going on in Benji’s head, and that was a big part of the problem.
Harrison knew that it may well have been the case that Benji’s filming schedule was so hectic that he might just have put his phone on mute. Sure, Benji liked Lars and they had become good friends – but friends or not, Benji might just have not had time for him at that moment.
But something still didn’t add up.
Maybe it was his Daddy-sense, but Harrison had a strong urge that something was amiss. And he was determined to find out what.
Perhaps Zane’s call had come at just the right time. The prospect of spending a couple of hours with Zane in The Oil Bar was too good to turn down. Zane was a great sounding board, the kind of cool and collected thinker in a crisis that Harrison could do with having around in that moment.
Speaking of Zane, Harrison was just about beginning to wonder exactly where he was. They had arranged to meet at seven thirty and it was now nearly eight…
That son of a gun is probably paddling some cute boy.
Not that I blame him, but…
Just at this moment, a swaggering Zane entered the bar. Harrison stood up from his stool and the pair embraced. Zane was wearing a black t-shirt tucked into a pair of grey-black jeans with boots to match. He looked cool as hell, but Harrison wasn’t about to let his buddy off the hook for being late.
‘You’re lucky I don’t make you pay for the rest of the evening,’ Harrison joked, playfully punching Zane’s arms. ‘But for a millionaire ex-racing driver that wouldn’t even be a thing, right?’
‘Says the millionaire bestselling author? Gimme a break!’ Zane laughed, firing back with his own playful shot to Harrison’s rock-hard stomach. ‘Anyway. We both know that there’s a situation going on with Benji. What gives?’
Harrison explained the situation – or as best as he knew of it – to Zane, who listened patiently. Zane was a great listener, something that came from his time sitting in the race car for hours on end as his team delivered instruction after instruction to him via a headset.
Zane had a knack of knowing what information to take on board and what to dismiss – and he was never scared of sharing his opinions afterward either.
‘Brother, you need to fight for your boy,’ Zane said. ‘You say you don’t know exactly what’s going on. Well, what do you know? You know that this manager asshole is… well, an asshole. You know that Benji doesn’t want to be doing all this filming anymore.’
‘Yeah, I suppose…’
‘Suppose? No. You know this,’ Zane said. ‘I’m not going to even try and tell you what to do, but you need to follow your instinct. It’s served you well before. I say let it serve you now too.’
Harrison nodded and both he and Zane toasted their beers.
There was time for some more drinks. Harrison had a lot to think about, but there was nothing he could do that night. The beer and the whiskey saw to that.
All that remained was for Harrison to listen to Zane’s advice and follow his gut. Benji was Harrison’s boy – and Harrison wanted to make sure that Benji was as happy as he could be.
Right now, every bone in Harrison’s body was telling him that this wasn’t the case and something needed to be done.
But Harrison was stressed about the Dean’s threats too.
It was time for more booze. Thinking could wait after all.
