Secrets / Black & White / Playing for Keeps

She rolled over the next morning to find Harry sleeping next to her. His arm was outstretched as though he wanted someone to snuggle up to him, even in his sleep, but she made sure to keep him at arm’s length.

Last night’s events swept over her like a wave, from her fight with Harry to her encounter with Ben. A part of her hated herself for running back to Harry, and another part of her hated herself for going along with his schemes.

They were playing the game for different reasons. She allowed herself to get carried away in the moment, finding it hard to admit that she enjoyed being with him, and that those intimate moments drove her crazy with desire.

Lara didn’t know, however, why Harry was instigating these moments. Maybe he liked making Louis as jealous as much as she did. She wondered if there was more to it than that…

Her thoughts turned to Ben, and her stomach tied up in knots at the thought of having to see him again. She knew she could never reveal what happened last night, and on some level he must have known that too.

She had only met him a year ago.

Lara had been working at a small café that Ben frequented every morning for his early morning hang-over cure after his nightly benders.

Most days he was a clean cut man in a sleek business suit. Tidy brown hair and coffee brown eyes peering behind his black rimmed glasses. He had an easy smile that revealed perfectly straight teeth. Other days he would turn up looking a little worse for wear, huskily ordering his short black, and then chasing it down with a second one. But he was always friendly and easy to talk to and it wasn’t long before Lara found herself opening up to him about her life, including where her parents now lived and worked.

“Cambodia?” He said with surprise. “That’s like half a world away.”

“I know.” She said trying to ignore the pitiful expression on his face.

“So you’re all on your own then?” He asked.

“Yeah, I guess you could say that.” She shrugged. She didn’t have many friends; in fact she had been guilty of keeping people at arm’s length all her life.

“Hey, do you like One Direction?” He asked suddenly. Lara looked at him blankly, a bit confused about why he had suddenly changed the subject.

“I don’t know much about them.” She said politely, not wanting to say she wasn’t a fan in the slightest.

“Oh.” He said looking deflated, as though he were expecting another answer. “I was going to give you a couple of tickets to their next gig.”

A couple of weeks later he brought it up again.

“Are you sure you don’t like One Direction?”

She shrugged, wondering why he kept bringing them up. Maybe he thinks he can impress me, she thought to herself and she tried not to smile when she saw the disappointed look on his face again.

“I need someone to come with me- the record label is throwing a little party for them.”

She had reluctantly accompanied him to a couple of the functions, but had always secretly slipped away, leaving him to prop up the bar. He would come in to the café the following day and wag his finger at her.

“You disappeared again, didn’t you?”

Lara didn’t have the heart to tell him she had no interest in attending parties, nor did she want to be his date. She also didn’t have the courage to ask him how old he was, but she guessed he was in his late thirties. Lara was only eighteen, and didn’t know what his expectations were and she didn’t really want to find out.

She was in the middle of devising her plan of deferring her upcoming teaching degree and moving to New York to attend design school when Ben approached with her an interesting proposition.

She had just served him his coffee and doughnut, when he started to engage her in conversation. It was just like any other day, except he started talking about how he was dreading walking into work today. Lara smiled politely, and murmured that she sometimes felt the same.

“It’s a bit different for me. A lot is at stake.” He said mysteriously. “And that’s why I need to talk to you.”

Lara eyed him suspiciously as he began explain.

“Let’s just say my … ahem… my conduct hasn’t been that great lately. I’ve already been kicked out once but they ended up taking me back again. I don’t think they’ll let that happen again. There are lots of people in the company who would kill to have my job and they’re just waiting for me to slip up again.”

“What’s that got to do with me?” Lara asked glancing at her manager who looked at her pointedly. She looked to see a customer impatiently waiting at the front counter.

“You can’t talk now, can you?” Ben asked also noticing the manager looking a bit annoyed.

“How about we meet up after your shift? We can grab a bite to eat and I can explain further.”

Lara looked doubtful and she shifted from one foot to the other trying to figure out a way of letting him down gently. Was this a date? She had never been asked before, so she wasn’t sure.

“I have a business proposition for you.” He added, as if in answer to her thoughts.

“Um okay, I finish at five.” She said, quickly moving away as she noticed her manager advance toward her.

At five o’clock sharp Lara removed her apron, and noticed Ben waiting outside.

“He’s keen.” Her manager tipped his head toward him.

Lara shrugged noncommittally as she grabbed her handbag and headed for the door.

“Hello.” Ben said brightly. She self-consciously patted her hair and tried to smile. Her hair was in a messy loose bun and she was still wearing her work uniform. She felt frumpy and plain next to his perfectly styled hair and impeccable suit.

“Do you feel like a coffee?” He asked and she gave him a funny look. He laughed when he realised she had just spent the whole day in the coffee shop. He lightly placed his hand on her back and led her down the street.

“Frozen yoghurt maybe?” He said half to himself.

Once they had settled into a booth, Lara immediately dug into her yoghurt. She had hardly eaten all day and she was ravenous. Ben watched her with an amused look.

“I like you Lara… it’s been nice getting to know you this past year.”

Lara nodded not knowing where he was going with this. He had always been friendly and she had enjoyed their daily chats, but she had never really given him a second thought at the end of the day.

“It must be hard being on your own.” He continued. “I mean with your parents being away and all.”

Lara half shrugged. It *had* been hard. She was on her own for the first time, but it was what her parents chose to do. She had no choice in the matter and she was trying to make the best of it. Ben looked down at his untouched yoghurt and pushed it toward her. Hunger overrode her embarrassment and she tentatively accepted it.

“I’d like to help you out.” Ben said. “In fact, you’d also be doing me a favour too…”

He began to explain his role at Modest Management. He had previously spoken to her about it so she was familiar with some of the details. He then repeated what he had told her earlier today; that he was in danger of losing his job. He didn’t directly mention his drinking problem, but despite her naivety Lara had been aware of that problem for months. It didn’t take a genius to figure out he was an alcoholic, especially when he would trudge into the coffee shop every morning before work for his daily hangover cure.

“So let me tell you about Harry…surely you know who he is…”

She had of course seen him on TV and in magazines before and she had also seen him from afar at the functions she had attended with Ben. But she had never been introduced and she suddenly realised how little she did know about him.

“I haven’t really paid much attention.” She replied trying not to smirk.

“The poor kid doesn’t know if he’s coming or going.” Ben said ignoring her comment. “I told them, stop the celebrity set ups… the whole Taylor Swift debacle was an embarrassment. Even the diehard Harry fans know that was a set up. I told them they need to find an unknown and to stop with the so called one night stands. Let him have a steady girlfriend for a while. You don’t have to be a genius to figure that out…”

Lara tried to follow what he was saying.

“Lara we need someone to be his girlfriend. And I think you’d be perfect. It’s all my idea of course. And I need to make it work; otherwise I’m out on my ear.” He noticed her looking back at him doubtfully.

“You’ll be paid of course. They’ll probably cover your tuition fees- and more.” Ben leant back in his chair. “It’s just six months out of your life. I think you’d be crazy to pass this up.”

She didn’t tell him about the lump sum of money her parents had deposited into her account before they left. It’s not as if they left her completely high and dry. The money was for enrolling in university and general living expenses. It was a considerable amount, but she knew she couldn’t rely on it indefinitely. In any case she had plans and she needed as much cash as possible.

“There’s only one other thing…” He added. “You’re going to have to be my niece.”

“Your niece?” She repeated.

“They won’t trust me if I tell them you’re a random girl I met at a café. But I know that I can trust you…” He paused for a moment. “I *can* trust you, can’t I?”

“Of course…” She said her mind racing with other thoughts. Was she willing to go along with all of this?

“Please Lara…” Ben said. “I need your help.”

He gave her a pleading look and she found herself nodding. Ben was nice and she didn’t want him to lose her job. God knows he’d probably go off the rails if he did. But her main thoughts were on the cash- the idea of being paid pretty much sealed the deal.

He stuck out his hand and she quickly reached out to take it.

“It’s a deal then.” He said with a broad smile.

A lot had happened since that fateful day and as she lay in Harry’s bed, of all places, she began to realise that maybe she was in way over her head.

Notes