Chapter 24: Harry Johnson

"Okay and thank you," I said into my office phone, "Just let me know when you have the information."


Johnathan had walked in tying up a blue tie wearing a gray suit with his hair freshly cut. I had my burgundy suit jacket hung up on a rack next to the door. He smiled at me as I hung up the phone and asked, "What were you doing? "


"Something for Chris," I answered smiling.


"Does it involved this epic thing we are about to do?"


I shook my head, "Nope. However, I think he would find it way more satisfying than what we would have to do today. You got the flash drive, right?"


He felt in his pockets and pulled out a small green flash drive before putting it back in. I checked my watch to see that it was almost time for me to go pick Chris up for the event. The doctor said it would be a while before he could drive himself around, so I took it upon myself to be one of his chauffeurs. He hated people taking him around because he was limited but he knew he had no choice. So, I try to make our drives as good a possible so he doesn't feel like he is burdening me.


Today, I got him chocolate and his favorite juice. It was sitting in the work place fridge and once I turned off my computer, I headed towards that way. I walked past my assistant and other workers on the floor with Johnathan towing behind me. I just smiled because I never thought that we would come this far. My employees didn't hate me, I had a solid business, and unlike Robert, I have never stolen. Once I got Chris's snacks, we were on our way out.


Johnathan took his car as I guided him towards Chris's house. As we pulled up to the white brick home, I saw an extra car in the driveway. Chris said that now would be a great time to come over, so I just took his word for it. I got out the car and Johnathan followed cautiously. We made our way up the steps only to be met by a short blonde woman in scrubs and Evan. They gave us the same confused stare as we gave them.


"Uhm, hey Harry?" Evan awkwardly greeted, "I thought you guys were showing up later?"


"No," I answered, "This was the time he gave us."


"Uhm Evan who is this," The short woman asked and from her blue eyes and confident attitude, I could tell she was Chris's mother.


"This is Harry, Caleb's brother," Evan answered before the door opened wider to reveal Chris. Then he said, "And my boyfriend."


"Ooooh," His mom said looking at me up and down, "This is who you were with that night you didn't come home?"


For a short woman she was scary. Maybe because she didn't look too impressed with me in a burgundy suit. Even Johnathan was shaking next to me as she steps forward and stated, "Aren't you a little old for my son?"


"I'm only 26 Ms. Norway," I said and Chris slapped his head as Evan shook his. Chris's mother sucked her teeth, glaring at me before saying, "Uhm darling, my last name hasn't been Norway since Chris was 5. And did you say only 26?"


She stressed the word only like it was toxic. Chris hurriedly wobbled to get in the middle of us before I put my other foot in my mouth. He turned to his mother placing both hands on her shoulder carefully as he said, "Hey, you're going to be late for work and I'll tell you about the show later."


She nodded cutting her eyes at me. I nervously smiled back with her dagger eyes not wavering as she and Evan walked towards the car. I could hear Evan's laughter and Johnathan's snicker as I made my way into the house.


"You could have warned me about your mother," I shouted, "She looked like she wanted to fight me."


He laughed coming in with Johnathan behind him to close the door, "Oh she did but she just doesn't know you. She did that with Tre when he first came over here and he can't even look her in the eye now, but she loves him."


"I guess if she loves Tre then she can love me too," I sighed unbuttoning my suit jacket, "But anyway, why aren't you dressed yet?"


He was still only in a t-shirt and jogging pants. He skipped his way towards me and I instantly remembered what the doctor told him, so I stopped him and said, "And where are your crutches? You know what the doctor said."


"Yes, I do now relax," He added, "I am going to go get ready but I need some help. Come with me."


He pulled me by my hand and guided me up to his room. It was funny seeing him climb the stairs or should I say jump up the stairs. He was tired even before we made it to the top and he would have fallen backwards if I wasn't standing there. I swear sometimes he could be just as hardheaded as me.


We had finally made it to his room and I saw his clothes laying there on the bed. I smiled at it because it was one of the designs from the picture. I felt on the smooth fabric and it was like touching a cloud. I stepped back to look at it fully. It was amazing to see the drawings come to life and to know this will probably be the only one in its existence made it even more astonishing.


"I really hope you don't get any drool on it," he teased closing the door and hopping towards me.


"Please get your crutches," I laughed, "I feel like one day you are going to fall on your face."


He just rolled his eyes before balancing himself on the bed. He lifted his arms clearing his throat and I stared at him curiously.


"Help me get out of my clothes," He playfully commanded. I smiled going towards him and lifting his shirt above his head. Then came the pants. He sat down on the bed as I pulled them off for him but he groaned when I quickly snatched them off.


"What?" I asked concerned touching his ankle.


"This was supposed to be an intimate moment," He whined and I laughed, "Well, we are late so I'm rushing. I'll take them off slowly another time."


Now, he was sitting in his boxer briefs waiting for me to get his suit pants up his legs. The cast was an obstacle and I didn't know whether to stuff the pants leg into the cast or not. He said that he knew what to do and I should only be concerned with just putting the clothes on him. Once his pants were fully on, I stood back and watched him get ready.


He was stylish to say the least because the way this suit looked on his body was making me want to skip tonight and just spend it teasing him. He even had matching cufflinks for it and I watched every single movement he made buttoning up his shirt. Then I watched him style his pants so that the cast was showing but it didn't take away from the outfit. He was also excited about the sock he found to cover his toes with. Well, the sock I got him for his toes when he whined about them being cold in my car.


He motioned for me to get the matching jacket off the chair and once he fastened the button, he was ready. I clapped because we could finally leave. He growled hopping towards his door as he got his crutches. I made sure that he didn't fall going down the stairs but he did trip coming off them. He didn't hurt himself, so I laughed like any other human would do while he almost hit me but missed.


The doorbell ringed and Johnathan went to answer it only to see that it was Darrius and my brother standing there wearing matching black suits like on Men in Black.


"So," Darrius said, "Y'all ready? Because I'm for sure we are going to be in the news if this plan goes right."


We all nodded and laughed as we followed the couple out the door. I stood on the porch with Chris as he locked up the house. Then he turned around towards me and I could tell by the way he was biting his lip that he was nervous about something. I wrapped my arms around him and looked into his worried eyes to ask, "Is everything okay?"


He sighed putting his arms around me and answered, "I don't know. What if the plan doesn't go right? What if he finds a way to get out of it and then your company is in jeopardy. It will be all my fault."


"Hey, hey! We wouldn't have agreed if we didn't have hard evidence of what he has been doing. Now, I have put in some calls and made sure that thing will go according to plan. Okay?"


"But Harry -"


"Everything is going to be fine," I assured him by putting my forehead against his. He calmed just a little before pecking my lips. I smiled unwrapping myself from around him and guiding him towards the car. I was worried a little too but from the information I have gotten so far, I don't think Robert would ever have anything to combat it.


I turned to Chris again, who looked more stressed than calm but then he said, "I really fucking hate these things. My armpits are starting to hurt and I've only been on them for 8 minutes."


I laughed as we made it to the car and Darrius put the crutches in my truck. Once I helped Chris hop into the car and I got in, I heard Chris cheer, "Ooooo! Chocolate and berry juice!"


He leaned over to give me a kiss in appreciation before we drove off towards the gala.


**


The gala's theme was a night in Maldives and if I wasn't trying to destroy him, I would give him his props on it. It was dark just like Caleb's party was but turquoise lights shined all over the place. He even managed to make the floor look like everyone was walking on the beach. The building was huge but every single part of it was covered in turquoise and black. The only thing that was well lit was the clothes displays that matched the theme. I knew my brother was in heaven seeing all the blue everywhere and Darrius was glad about the selection of food.


"Oh my God," Darrius chewed, "This shrimp is so good."


"You aren't supposed to be enjoying this," I told him as my brother ate with him. They ignored me as they went down the line to see more food. The event was packed and I closely paid attention to how everyone was reacting to the clothes. It had to be about 5 or 6 different designs on the floor and everyone was loving them. I wish Chris could see how people were looking at them, but he had to stay outside the building for our plan to work.


A stage placed in the back of the event was getting setup for Robert to deliver the launch speech. Johnathan had caught up to the crew and asked to help as I checked to see where Robert was. He was sitting down on the side chatting it up with some people. He had some girl holding on to him as he smiled wide. His eyes set on mine and called me over but I declined.


He took that as an invitation to walk over to where I was and left the conversation. He was wearing a tailored turquoise suit jacket with a white button down and white pants. I looked down at his matching turquoise shoes as he approached me with his head cleanly shaven and shining as the lights hit it. At that moment, Darrius had come back with a plate full of food and I could see Robert physically freeze up. He was about to turn back around when I called him, "Hey Robert!"


He stopped turning on his heels and begin to walk back towards me with an obvious fake smile. Darrius turned to see him, placing his plate on the table behind me. Darrius, I could tell, wasn't a big fan of Robert. He was there when he left Chris and his mom, so of course he wasn't all smiles when he saw him.


"Hello Harry," Robert greeted shaking my hand before turning his attention to Darrius, "Little Darrius, how have you been?"


"You sound different," Darrius immediately said, "The southern voice wasn't good enough anymore?"


I never noticed but he didn't have a hint of a southern drawl. For someone that grew up in Texas, he sure didn't seem like it. Then he laughed, "That's from being in California for so long. You should go to college there. They have some of the top schools in the country."


"No, Texas has something California doesn't," He stated when Caleb came back with his own plate. Robert smiled before he commented, "They have a lot of him out there too. In both genders."


"Excuse me," Darrius asked with a raised eyebrow along with me having to hold him back. Robert only smiled, "Sorry if I'm being too honest but you have so much going for you. I hate to see you waste it here."


"You do realize my company is based here right," I added, "The same company you want to be a part of remember?"


He grinned and he said, "That's exactly what I came to talk to you about. Apparently, another company wants to work with me and they are making a better offer than you. So, tonight just think of this as a thank you but no thank you invitation. I tried to save you the embarrassment from in front of the kids but you called me over."


He touched my shoulder shrugging and said, "So sorry. I won't let anyone know about this but you lost a great deal. So, you guys enjoy yourselves I see you when I see you."


He walked away, almost practically skipping with each step. I waited until he was out of sight before I turned to Darrius and said, "Tell your uncle that he deserves an Oscar for this."


My brother's boyfriend smiled picking back up his plate and said, "Now you see how fake this nigga can be. He'll act any way he can just to get what he wants. Even when I was a kid I saw that shit."


"Yea," I agreed, "But at least after this, he won't be able to fake anymore."


"I want to kick his ass," Caleb said glaring in Robert's direction gaining our attention before he bit into his shrimp. Darrius and I just laughed before I spotted him going up on the stage. I tapped the boys shoulders to let them know what was happening. They nodded grabbing their plates and moving towards where they needed to be for the plan. I moved through the wave of people as the spotlight shined down on Robert. I stood in middle of the crowd to make sure I had a spot. My phone vibrated in my pocket and I looked at it. It was Johnathan letting me know that everything was set in place. I got a few more messages and I knew that this was going to be epic.


Everyone begins to clap as he introduced himself, "Hello, my fellow fashion people!"


People cheered and he basked in it as he continued, "I know you all have been anxiously waiting for my new line and as you can see, I did not disappoint. I want to thank you all for coming out and all the compliments about the designs. Now, I just want to take you through the designs themselves. These are not the only clothes that are a part of this line. Direct your beautiful faces towards the screen."


A large overhead screen came down and once it was fully opened, pictures of the designs popped up. I watched everyone look amazed at them and I was heated because they were giving the wrong person credit. However, I knew all that praise wouldn't last long as another picture popped up making me smile and everyone else gasp.


Robert stood facing the audience confused before he slowly turned around to see the words FRAUD in red bold letters next to a picture Chris sent me. The pictures just kept going with other pictures not just from Chris but other designers. Johnathan and I had done some thorough research within the past couple of days and found the designers that had worked with him before. Some were lesser known but one of the designers was there before Robert even started his career.


He stood there looking pissed as hell. His bright skin was glowing a beautiful red now as he screamed, "Who is doing this? Who are spreading these lies?"


Everyone begin to whisper as he pulled himself together, "I assure you that these designs are all mine. Everything I do is original and whoever is doing this is the fraud."


Then the next few pictures even had me catching my breath even though I knew it was coming. The whispers became louder and Robert turned back around to see the photo. It was of him, a baby Chris, and Chris's mother in the park. He was holding Chris as he smiled, looking at his son like he was the light of his life. The caption on the picture read, "Nephew or Son?"


The remaining pictures were of him and Chris as a kid and then a video played. He was about to grab the mic, but he realized it was turned off. He begins to rush across the stage trying to figure out who was controlling the system. The video continued on a loop with Chris and Robert standing at the airport on Facetime with Chris's mom saying, "Dad, say hey to mom!"


Robert waved happily saying, "It's father son time now, so we will talk to you later."


The last slide popped up and everyone was at a standstill when it said, "If he will lie about having a son, don't you think he would lie about his own designs?"


"Who is fucking doing this," He yelled and it ringed across the building, "I swear to fucking God I will fucking ruin you!"


"I guess you can," The voice I loved more than anything else came across the speaker. Chris was hopping on to the stage wearing one of the designs from the collection. The same thing his father was wearing. Robert stared at him in disbelief as the crowd whispered some more and the cameras begin to flash.


"Hello, everyone," Chris said, "My name is Chris Norway. The son of the infamous Robert Norway."


He paused as more people took pictures but he went on, "He left me and mom when I was 5 to become the man you see today. I used to love and admire this man. I stayed up excited for when he would come to see me but would always be disappointed. So, fast forward to this summer, I thought it was going to be different. Come to find out, he was the exact opposite of the man that I admired."


He paused again moving towards his dad, locking his eyes with him, "During that time, he managed to steal clothes I designed and pass them off as his own because he couldn't produce. And the clothes you see around you right now? They are mine as well."


The whispers became louder than before and flashes just kept coming. Robert had snatched away his mic to yell, "How dare you, you fucking ungrateful little piece of shit?"


I wanted so bad to go up there and smack the shit out of him but I trusted Chris to stand his own ground. He needed this more than anyone and I was happy to step back and watch him explode on someone that truly deserved it.

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