The Billionaire's Secret Love Child(73)

Still, she found herself interested in seeing what he meant by ‘dress warm.'

Kara raided her closet and put on the warmest things she could find. Sadly they didn’t look that great together. Kara was a curvier girl, and it was always hard to find things that fit just right. Her large bosom barely fit into regular bras from the store, and her curvier hips made buying jeans a nightmare.

She usually ended up in comfy leggings and a knee length dress. Today, she put on a pair of ill-fitting jeans and a sweater than made her look just a little bit wider than usual. Kara hated it but went with it anyway.

Downstairs, in the walkway leading up to her apartment, stood Henry. A small bundle of wildflowers perched in his hand and his hair was combed just a little bit to one side. Kara suppressed a giggle at his new hairdo.

“Alright, what’s the plan then,” she said.

“Today is a special day,” Henry replied.

“Oh yeah, and what’s that mean,” questioned Kara.

“It means that you’re in for quite a treat.”

Then he thrust the small band of flowers towards her.

“These are for you,” he said.

She took the mangy flowers from him.

“Thanks,” she said unenthusiastically.

Henry offered an arm, and Kara reluctantly took it.

Although, now that she was there, she liked it. She knew that she’d get a lot of looks from any other girl that walked along the sidewalk.

Kara’s curiosity was going a bit wild. She wondered what it was that he’d planned for the day. He made no mention nor did he have anything that gave away his plan. Henry just continued to walk with purpose down the lane.

A small band of people was gathered up ahead. Kara recognized the area but didn’t understand why people were gathering in the space.

“What are we doing here,” Kara asked.

“You’ll see in about five more minutes,” Henry replied after checking his phone.

Kara started trying to guess, but she hadn’t a clue. More people started gathering until there must have been more than fifty people that had congregated. It must be something important, but there wasn’t anything around except for people.

Then a single person came running through the middle of the crowd with a spray paint can. They continued to fire a steady stream in a line along the ground through the middle of the crowd.

Once the line was finished, Kara started to realize what was happening. Each side of the line faced the other and dodgeballs started appearing out of nowhere.

“Don’t tell me this is a-”

“Dodgeball Flash mob!” shouted Henry.

The two sides clashed with ferocity. Small rubber balls flew this way, and that, and Kara did her best to avoid them. Henry went on the attack, catching a few balls that would have hit Kara and throwing them back in the chaos.

At first, Kara felt incredibly out of place, but after five minutes she couldn’t stop laughing. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had as much fun in a crowd. Even when they were tagged by the balls they calmly walked out of the crowd and waited for another chance to get back in. For almost half an hour the crowd played before they started dispersing.

Out of breath and ready to leave, Kara and Henry parted ways with the action and made for the shops nearby. Kara led Henry to her favorite coffee shop just down the road and ordered them both a hot chocolate to warm back up. Together, they sat in the overstuffed chairs by the fireplace in the middle of the room.

“Okay, I’ll admit,” Kara started, “I had fun. Thank you for the invite.”

Henry nodded with a mustache of whipped cream covering his smile.

“I thought you might enjoy it. The best things in life are free,” he replied.

“I couldn’t agree more,” Kara added.

“So tell me, has your opinion of me improved a bit,” Henry asked.

“Perhaps a small bit,” she replied.

“Progress is progress,” he quipped, “I was thinking I could cook you lunch at my place.”

“How about you make me lunch at my apartment so that I can change out of these ridiculous clothes,” Kara said.

“So eager to invite me in, I see where this is going,” he said with a laugh.

“We could just call it a day right now if you keep up that attitude,” she replied.

“Okay, okay. Old habits die hard. I think your place is probably cleaner anyway,” he said.

Together they finished their drinks and sauntered off, back down the road. They continued to talk as though meeting for the first time. A certain level of maturity was exuding from Henry that Kara hadn’t seen before.

They stopped at a grocery store and gathered a few things they might like for lunch, and Henry promised that she wouldn’t have to lift a finger.

Once they returned to the tiny apartment, Henry wasted no time getting acquainted with the kitchen. He showed a lot of talent at cooking that Kara didn’t know he had.

“I cook a lot, actually,” he said, “I just grew up as the head chef of the family since my mom was always working.”

“And your dad?”

“He wasn’t in the picture at all. Guess he just figured he had better places to be.”

Kara felt a little sorry for him, and she made it apparent with her face.

“It’s nothing to be sorry about,” he said, “I actually never minded taking care of my younger siblings. We’re a close family and always will be.”