22. HARRISON
HARRISON
The park was quiet. Eerily so. It may have been the cold weather, the time of day, or just one of those things – but there weren’t many people around at all.
The trees looked beautiful in their autumnal coloring, and with the time-sensitive park lights still on from overnight, there was a dramatic feel to the place.
Harrison was hunkered down as inconspicuously as he could manage. Sitting on a park bench with his heavy-duty overcoat keeping him warm, Harrison’s back was to Sammy.
But that didn’t mean that Harrison couldn’t hear exactly what was being spoken just a few feet away from him…
‘Kid, I’ve been thinking,’ Tucker said, a cruelly controlling tone in his voice as he spoke. ‘If you really impress me. And I mean, really go the extra yard, then I might give you a raise of… say… ten bucks.’
The fucking asshole.
How dare he treat my boy like this.
But I have to wait… sit quiet until the perfect moment…
Harrison felt his anger building as Tucker continued to taunt and tease Sammy. It was a total abuse of power, one so severe that Harrison could barely believe it.
In that moment, Harrison felt such a strong empathetic connection to Sammy that he wanted nothing more than to stand up and crush Tucker with his bare hands.
But Harrison wasn’t just waiting for the right moment, he was waiting for a message from Lars and Zane to come through. Upon hearing about the way Tucker had taken control of Sammy’s finances, they had all decided that something else would need to be done.
A different approach would need to be taken, one that would give Tucker no option but to relinquish control and hand back all of the passwords and login details to what was rightfully Sammy’s hard-earned money.
The wait was an agonizing one for Harrison – and it must have been even worse for Sammy too…
‘You’re nothing special,’ Tucker said, his words making a listening Harrison’s skin crawl. ‘I could have any boy I wanted. If anything, you should be paying me! Ha! I really do crack myself up.’
Harrison’s fists began to squeeze tighter and tighter. He was close to losing it completely and beating Tucker to a pulp. But just before Harrison could do anything, he felt his phone vibrate. It was Lars…
LARS: Details secured. Email hacked. We’ve got proof of a ton of tax evasion, financial mismanagement, blackmail, and even evidence of selling illegal substances. We’ve got the butt-head where we need him! Lars
Harrison grinned. This was going to be a good moment, and he didn’t want to waste a single second more listening to Tucker wax lyrical about himself. This jerk was about to get his comeuppance…
‘You might want to shut the hell up,’ Harrison said as he rose from the park bench. ‘And I don’t mean maybe.’
‘Who the hell are you?’ Tucker said, spinning around with a smug sneer on his face. ‘Like I’m going to listen to some park bench bum?’
Sammy giggled in delight, but this only seemed to make Tucker angry.
‘What’s so fucking funny?’ Tucker snapped. ‘You think I’m scared of this loser?’
Harrison smiled. Tucker was angry, emotional, and about to be delivered a killer blow…
‘If you’re not scared of me, you should be,’ Harrison said. ‘Boy, over here.’
Sammy immediately ran over to Harrison and took his place by his side. Harrison loved the feeling of putting his arm around Sammy and showing Tucker that things were about to change – and not in a way that Tucker would like…
‘I’ve got proof of your financial misdeeds.
Concrete evidence,’ Harrison said. ‘And a whole heap of other evidence too. Now what I’m going to need is for you to give me all of Sammy’s details.
Your time controlling him is well and truly over.
You’re already in enough legal trouble as it is, you don’t want to make things worse.
Trust me. I have the money to pay for a hundred lawyers to bury you in litigation for years. ’
‘B-b-b-but… this can’t be…,’ Tucker said, a panicked look on his face. ‘You asshole! You little shit, Sammy! How could you do this to me?’
‘Respect the young man!’ Harrison said, gripping Tucker’s collar and yanking him up onto his tiptoes. ‘Show some manners and decency for once or I’ll toss you into the park lake and let the ducks have you as their personal play toy.’
Tucker struggled to free himself from Harrison’s grip, but he couldn’t manage it. It was clear that there was only one alpha in this situation, and that was undoubtedly Harrison.
‘Fine! Fine! Just get off me!’ Tucker said, squirming and squealing as he helplessly flapped around.
‘So you agree to hand all banking and financial control back to Sammy right this second?’ Harrison said, squeezing Tucker even harder. ‘And more than that, do you apologize to him for all the hurt and pain you’ve caused?’
Harrison knew how important it would be to Sammy for him to hear Tucker own his terrible behavior.
Given Sammy’s insecurities from childhood, Harrison wanted to make sure that Tucker made a clear statement confirming that Sammy was worth way more than the ridiculous videos he’d been made to perform in…
‘I’m sorry. I’m really fucking sorry,’ Tucker said, a look of shame on his face. ‘But… whatever. Just put me down. I’ve done what you’ve asked.’
‘Is this enough, Sammy?’ Harrison said. ‘I’ll keep this rat dangling until you’re satisfied.’
‘It’s fine, Daddy,’ Sammy said. ‘I’ve heard enough.’
Harrison did as Sammy requested and dropped Tucker to the ground. But just as it looked like Tucker was about to get up and run away, Sammy stepped in front of him and blocked his path.
‘Before you go,’ Sammy said, a calm and focused tone in his voice. ‘You were horrible to me. And all I did was try to work hard and put my love of food out there for people to see. I don’t think you should ever work as a manager again, because no one in the world deserves what you put me through.’
Tucker shook his head and ran away into the distance.
‘And don’t come back!’ Sammy shouted, his voice now full of emotion. ‘Daddy, thank you so much for rescuing me. I don’t know what I would have done without you.’
‘Same, boy. Same,’ Tucker said. ‘I think it’s time we met up with Zane and Lars and had some breakfast. Know of anywhere good around here?’
‘I know just the place!’ Sammy replied, a big smile on his face.
* * *
The Littlest Waffle House was Sammy’s favorite breakfast spot in the whole of New York City. With its funky décor and absolutely lip-smacking delicious pancakes, it was the place to be for a tasty breakfast.
‘I hope you don’t mind the music too much,’ Sammy laughed, bopping his head along to the nursery rhyme soundtrack coming out of the speakers. ‘I kinda love it!’
‘Me too!’ Lars said, rocking in his seat as he eagerly anticipated delivery of his second stack of maple syrup covered pancakes.
‘I think I could do without the music,’ Zane said, rolling his eyes. ‘But these damn pancakes are insane. I assume you agree Harrison?’
Harrison mumbled in agreement. His mouth was full of what was his third serving in less than fifteen minutes.
Kicking ass and rescuing his boy was hungry work as it turned out.
Oh, and the fact that his hangover was kicking in was probably an extra motivational factor in getting as many carbs inside him as was humanly possible.
‘Yup. Music… nope. Food… totally,’ Harrison said, washing his last pancake down with a big slurp of black coffee. ‘Guys, is it okay if me and the boy have a moment alone?’
Zane and Lars exchanged a knowing look. It was time for them to leave Harrison and Sammy to sort some things out.
‘Zane, we can play on the pinball machine,’ Lars said. ‘I bet I beat your score!’
‘Don’t bank on it, boy,’ Zane said, shaking his head in disbelief. ‘I don’t think you have any idea who you’re playing with…’
‘Daddy, I think they might… like each other,’ Sammy said, giggling as he watched Zane and Lars head over to the cupcake-themed pinball machine.
‘I think we should keep our noses out,’ Harrison said, struggling to hide his smile. ‘But… there’s one matter of the heart we do need to speak on. And that’s me and you. I think-’
‘Daddy, I love you!’ Sammy blurted out, cutting right across Harrison. ‘You can paddle me for interrupting but I love you, I love you, I love you!’
Harrison growled. But then he burst out into a big smile.
‘And I love you too, boy,’ Harrison said, sitting up and reaching over to plant a big kiss on Sammy’s delightful forehead. ‘I’ve hated being apart. And I never want that to be the case again. Ever. But only if that’s what you want to?’
‘That’s all I want!’ Sammy squealed in delight. ‘I want you to be my Forever Daddy. I think that’s what I’ve wanted since you first came and talked to me at The Cuddle Corner.’
Harrison felt his heart swell with a mixture of pride, happiness and an all-encompassing desire to always be there for his boy.
He needs me. And I need him too.
This is what life is all about.
I can’t believe I nearly lost it all…
The pair of them embraced and neither wanted to let go. In fact, it took the final serving of pancakes to split them up.
As Tom the café owner placed the stack of sprinkles and cream covered pancakes down on the table, his large arms bulging from the sheer weight of the extra-large portion, both Harrison and Sammy knew that they had found their true happiness.
‘Daddy, if I’m extra good can I have the last pancake?’ Sammy said, fluttering his long eyelashes.
‘Yes, you can,’ Harrison replied, a sly grin on his face. ‘But know this… for every pancake you’ve eaten today, I’m going to be giving you ten full-force spanks on that butt of yours later tonight!’
Sammy giggled and blushed – and Harrison smiled as he felt his manhood growing inside his pants at the thought of getting his hands on Sammy again.
Sammy and Harrison were reunited, in love, and ready to recommence Daddy and boy activities. But while they were still in the city, there was still one or two matters that needed clearing up…