Chapter 514 – Beginning with a Daring Encounter

He had something else on his mind apart from Benne’s interruption of his phone call with Jade. Now that he knew for a fact that Jade was fine, that left him with the other option. Benne had lied to him because he wanted him out of that restaurant. Why? Or was he perhaps overthinking this? Harry asked as they both stepped into the elevator.

Benne glanced at Harry curiously, wondering who he had been talking to and why he hung up so abruptly. Although he wanted to ask but he stifled the urge since the last thing he wanted was for Harry to start asking him about what happened earlier.

He had done his best to avoid being alone with Harry all day because he feared he might make a blunder and say something he wasn’t supposed to say. Now he just couldn’t wait to drop Harry off at his apartment and pick up Celsie so they could go home together. He was mentally exhausted from all that worrying, and he needed to see Celsie so he could relax.

“Why are you in a haste?” Harry who had been lost in his own thoughts, asked when he suddenly noticed how Benne was walking ahead of him towards the car.

“I want to see Celsie. I’ve missed her,” Benne called back, making Harry scoff.

“Whatever. Just hand over the car key and I will drive. I don’t want you driving me to my death in your haste to see her,” Harry said once they got to the car and Benne threw the key at Harry who caught it at once.

“So were you able to talk to the head of the human resource department about putting out the ad for Celsie?” Harry asked, immediately after they were settled in the car and he turned on the car’s ignition.

He wanted to see if Benne was going to lie to him again.

“Yes. I did that immediately we returned to the office,” Benne looked away as he spoke, and Harry’s frown deepened.

He not only hated that Benne was lying to him, but it also bothered him too. If it was someone else he would have been angry at being lied to, but he wouldn’t have bothered about it this much nor given it so much thought, but this was Benne.

He knew that whatever would make Benne lie to him this much was a serious issue, and the more he thought about it the more anxious he became.

“Are you alright?” Benne asked when he noticed how quiet Harry was.

“If I say I’m not, will you tell me what I want to know?” Harry asked, and Benne’s brows pulled together since he understood what Harry was saying.

“No. I can’t,” Benne said honestly, and Harry turned to him.

“Can’t, not won’t?” Harry asked, and Benne gave him a nod.

“You know I care about you, and if it was in my place to say this I won’t keep it from you. So please trust me as you have always done and don’t put me in a more difficult position by asking me about it,” Benne said, and Harry looked at him for a moment before giving him a nod.

So it wasn’t his place to say anything? Whose place was it then? Jade? His dad? He paused when something suddenly occurred to him and he remembered his conversation with Benne the previous evening. Was this about that? Did Benne find out something about this Sara person? Harry reasoned.

He took out his phone from his pocket and glanced at the screen when it started ringing. And he sighed in relief when he saw that it was Philip who was calling.

He was relieved that it was Philip and not Jade since he was not sure what to say to Jade, especially in Benne’s presence, but he was also wondering why Philip kept calling him when they had met earlier in the day at the restaurant.

Instead of connecting the phone to the car’s Bluetooth device as he ordinarily would have done if he was alone, Harry turned to Benne, “Can you help me take out my AirPods from the laptop bag?” He asked, and Benne reached into the backseat where Harry had dropped the bag and did as he was told.

By the time Harry placed one of the AirPods in his ear, the call had been disconnected so he dialed Philip’s line

“Sup, Harry!” Philip greeted immediately after he received the call.

“Is everything alright, Phil? I’m driving,” Harry explained.

“Sure. We were all supposed to hang out after your meeting. Why did you guys leave without seeing me?” Philip asked in displeasure.

“You were at your workplace, yet you expect us to leave ours to hang out with you during work hours?” Harry asked with a scoff, and Philip chuckled.

“Anyway, that wasn’t why I called. I was just wondering if your dad is around.”

“Yes. Why?” Harry asked, wondering why Philip was suddenly asking about his dad.

“I saw someone who looked very much like him earlier at the restaurant, and he didn’t look very well,” Philip said, and Harry’s heart skipped a beat as he turned to look at Benne.

“What time?” He asked in an easy tone, not wanting Benne to know what he was talking about.

“Not long after you guys left, I think. I came out to look for you and I saw him heading for the restroom,” Philip said, and Harry frowned.

His dad had been at the restaurant? Was that why Benne had been in a haste to get him out of there? Did that mean the secret Benne said he couldn’t tell him about was his father’s secret?

“Why don’t I call you back after I get home? And then we can talk about a suitable time to hang out,” Harry suggested, and Philip easily agreed.

“Philip wants to hang out?” Benne asked curiously.

“Yeah,” Harry said with a noncommittal shrug as he thought about what Philip had just said.

Of course, he had more questions for Philip, but if he was to go by what he had just heard, it made sense if his father had been at the restaurant.

The woman at the restaurant had known him, and she had said she was there to meet an old friend, someone he also knew. Benne had dragged him away from there after receiving a phone call.

Was his father the old friend the woman had been talking about? How did she know who he was? Why didn’t they want him to meet her? Was that the Sara lady who had been calling his dad? Harry wondered with a slight frown as he continued to drive.

He wondered if Celsie had gone there with his dad. He was certain she had since she couldn’t have left his father alone. Perhaps he should ask her about it? If he did so, Benne would know he knew what was going on, and he didn’t want any of them to know he was aware.

Benne sighed when he saw the thoughtful look on Harry’s face, and although he wanted to ask him what he was thinking about, he didn’t.

As they approached Harry’s apartment, Benne dialed Celsie’s line, informing her they were close to the apartment and asking her to get ready so they could go home.

Neither Harry nor Benne said a word until they arrived at Harry’s apartment, and immediately, Benne got out of the car first and hurried inside.

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