Executively Devoted | CEO h.s.

47 | Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree

Hello all of you lovelies!!!

Okay so this is another long one (get a snack, popcorn preferably...and maybe some hot cocoa), and I'm excited for it. The reason being? Well, you'll find out.

It's a Hessie chapter, because it's about time we're with miss queen again.

So, without further ado, I hope you enjoy this one, my darling rosy tulips 🌷

♬ ✥*

Harry.

Exhausted.

That's how my body felt as I took steps up to our apartment. I didn't know if the strain came from work, family-related stress, or both.

My guess was the latter. Even though my job felt light in comparison.

After I woke up from my breakdown nap at the greenhouse, it was already dark outside. It was surely past the time I knew Serenity would expect me back.

When I checked my phone to see the time, that's when I saw the notification — a single text from her.

Today, 5:41 PM - Essie Marie Hayes 🌷 - Don't know where you're at right now, baby. But I just wanted to remind you that I'm always here for you. Luns and I will wait up on you for whoever you get home. I love you to the stars and back, Tiger 💫

That message was sent three hours ago. She never even asked for me to let her know where I was. I loved that about her. I needed some time to myself, and she knew that.

The drive back home was longer than expected. Metro Vancouver traffic really was a bitch, and I fucking hated it. It wasn't that the commute to work was longer than when I was single, but I just didn't like going through the excessive amount of time being alone to be stuck in my own thoughts.

At my condo, I'd — attempt to — fall asleep, have breakfast, and leave. Archie would take me to the company, and then I'd busy myself with work. Constant work to leave me until the late hours of the night, where I was left to be thoughtless at times. It was the only thing on my mind; but now, my life was different. With Serenity, everything was different.

I had free time and something to look forward to when I'd get home. Home, it was still a new concept that I've learned to love. I'd have fun with her, and my girl would relax my mind from it being overworked for hours on end.

"De-stress that mess," she'd tell me. The things that left her mouth really put me in a mind-boggle. Yes, her words, too.

We never made things official with regards to sharing a place to live, it just kind of happened. Technically, we weren't even boyfriend and girlfriend — we were more. Essie and I didn't need a fucking label. We're together. We're a couple. We're us.

I fucking hated labels, and Madison was the reason because of that.

Labels made people who they are. "Class is important, Harry." Fuck no, it's not.

"I need to know what to tell them when they ask us." Who gives a shit?

"It's important. We're different." Yeah, right. Says the so-called rich bitch whose family I found out later was broke. She kept it hidden for so fucking long, amongst many of the other lies she told me.

But she was right about something: we were completely different.

False titles and lies were something that I greatly despised. Be who you are, and that's final. It's another reason why I'm broken by why Mateo hid something so grand like this — that he's my step-father.