Keep It Secret: Time Starts Now (Part Book 1) Read online

  I enjoy the morning just walking along. I like being by myself on walks. It is the best time to think and dream. I am really happy for Ali. I like Henry. I hope the two of them become a couple. I mean who would have ever thought that my best friend would meet and date a celebrity. I sure as hell wouldn’t. But I think it’s great. I just hope she won’t destroy her own happiness because of her fear of opening up. I understand her, but then again she just has to get over it. Although I am excited and really happy for Ali and truly wish that it will turn out to be her happily ever after, I can’t help, but get a little sad at the same time. What will that mean for me? We have been best friends for years. We are practically inseparable, but obviously, if she has a new boyfriend she will spend her time with him. At least the majority of her time, which she should. If they become serious she will probably move to London. Will this mean that I’ll be on my own? I wish I would meet a man that I am actually attracted to and interested in, too. Although I’m fine on my own, it is still nice to have someone who cares about you, who wants to know what your day was like and just holds you closely. Seeing the way Ali already feels about Henry gives me hope. I really had times were I thought maybe we are just too high maintenance and that there will never be a man that we can actually be with, but apparently, that is not true. After all, I think one doesn’t have to worry about meeting all the wrong guys when it’s only important to meet the one right guy.

  When I arrive back at Ali’s house, everybody else is already up. I go to the bathroom to have a shower and get ready. I think about how I can help Ali. It’s difficult for Ali and Henry to get to know each other better when it’s always the four of us. When I’m finished getting ready, I open the bathroom door to go to the others, when I bump into Tyler.

  “Hey Poppy, are you done in the bathroom?” Tyler asks me.

  “Yeah sure, it’s all yours, Ty. Oh, by the way, Ty, I was thinking maybe tonight when we come back from the hike the two of us could go into town to get some food. You know, give these two love birds a bit of privacy,” I suggest.

  “Sure. I guess. I mean. YES. Let’s definitely do that,” Tyler answers after I give him this look of ‘don’t screw it up again.’

  When I arrive in the kitchen, I can hear Ali and Henry giggling around, acting like children. Splashing water into their faces. It’s adorable.

  “Henry, stop! Seriously! You’ll ruin my makeup !” I hear Ali say but laughing at the same time.

  “Hey, you two” I greet them as I enter the kitchen.

  “Good morning, Miss Poppy,” Henry greets me while bowing down.

  “Oh Henry, you seem to know me well, I could get used to being treated like this,” I say with a wink.

  “Hmmm. Henry, I think you forget that you should only bow to your real queen. And who might that be?” Ali challenges him with a wide grin.

  “Oh yes, of course. How could I. I’m sorry, Poppy but of course, I have to bow to MY queen,” He turns to Ali bows down with the words:

  “Your majesty, it is my honour to be at your service.”

  “Now, that’s more like it,” Ali says to him whilst giving him a nice hand gesture that allows him to stand up straight again

  Oh gosh, this is so cheesy, but it’s still fun.

  After breakfast, we all head out to go on a hike. At the end of Ali’s street, there is a mountain and on top of that mountain, there is a beautiful forest. But before you reach that beautiful spot, you first have to make it up that hill. So here we go….

  “Wow. I have forgotten how beautiful it is up here,” I say as we reach the top.

  I overlook the entire city. From up here, it is so peaceful and quiet. It’s like time is standing still up here. I take a deep breath to take it all in. The smell of the trees, the fresh air, the sound of cracking wood and birds chirping. I am pretty sure the others are doing the same thing because nobody is talking. That is until…

  “Okay, so which way do we go then?” Tyler asks.

  This boy is such a pain in the ass and yet I would never want to miss him in my life ever again.

  “Let’s go that way, it looks like it’s the easiest. I don’t want to go uphill any longer,” I answer Ty.

  “Okay,” Ty says and walks off into the direction I just suggested.

  Ty and I walk ahead and Henry and Ali are walking right behind us.

  We spend the entire day hiking and walking in the forest. We also have a nice picnic. There is a lovely picnic spot on that hill next to a playground. Of course, Ali and I can’t resist and have to play on the playground. I don’t care that we are in our mid-twenties. If a girl sees a swing, she wants to swing. And she should. So we do.

  “I think Prince is really tired now. And to be honest I am exhausted, too. Shall we head back home now?” I suggest to the others.

  “Yes, of course, let’s head home,” Ali replies.

  So we all start walking back home. Thank god it is all downhill now. I can manage that without any problems. As I am walking I am chatting with Tyler about his business and the ideas he has for our business. Ali and Henry are once more walking right behind us. Tyler is just telling me about a script he wrote for a commercial, as all of a sudden we here Ali scream. We turn around immediately to see Ali and Henry on the floor covered in mud and water.

  “Are you two okay?” I ask them.

  “Yes, fine,” Ali replies to me and I’m glad she did because now I can’t hold back my laughter any longer. Tyler also starts laughing really hard. We can’t stop laughing, as Ali and Henry stand up still covered in mud. “What the hell happened?” Tyler manages to ask them, between laughing pauses.

  “Actually I don’t really know, Ali all of a sudden tripped and I tried to grab her, so she wouldn't fall, but then I fell with her and we landed in this mud puddle,” Henry explains the incident.

  “I just tripped over my own feet!” Ali says shrugging her shoulders.

  Well, that’s nothing new. Ali is clumsier than a baby trying to learn to walk. I’m the same. We are often covered in bruises with no idea where they came from, but we know we probably ran into a door or something like that. We quickly walk home so Ali and Henry can have a shower and change into something clean and dry.

  When we arrive at the house, Tyler tells Ali and Henry that the two of us are going into town to get some food. I let Prince at home with them because he is really tired.

  “You ready, Ty?” I ask Tyler as he comes downstairs.

  “Yeah let’s go. Do you want me to drive?”

  “Yes, that would be great. I’m really tired and don’t feel like driving now.”

  So Tyler grabs Ali’s car keys and off we go. What Tyler doesn’t know yet is that first of all we are going to go to Starbucks. If I let him know now, he will say no, but he’ll soon find out.

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  Chapter 9

  Alison

  I can’t wait to get under the shower. I’m so cold! I’ve been walking through the forest for 1 hour on the way back home. Soaking wet. And because of me, poor Henry had to do the same. I really feel bad about that.

  I turn the shower on, for the water to heat up and be nice and warm when I step in. I peel my wet clothes off. I hear Poppy calling goodbye. She told me earlier that she and Tyler want to go into town. I’m just about to step into the shower when I hear the door open. I turn my head back over my shoulder to look behind me. Henry stands in the doorway, just staring not saying anything.

  “Do you need anything?” I ask him to break the silence.

  “Ah no. Sorry. I thought you were already done in the bathroom and wanted to take a shower. I’m so sorry,” He says not once taking his eyes off mine, but he still stands there not leaving.

  I decide to step in the shower.

  “So, do you want to join me then?”

  “Do you want me to join you?”

  “If I didn’t want you to, I wouldn’t have asked.”

  Henry takes off his clothes and steps in
the shower behind me. We both enjoy the hot water on our skin. We are finally getting warm again. I wash my face and turn around to look into Henry’s eyes. He takes me in for a kiss. We stand under the hot water and share the most passionate kiss I have ever had in my life. I start kissing his neck, he takes his hands up and down my body in a very gentle way. I kiss my way down to his shoulders over his chest, then down to his stomach. I soon find myself on my knees pleasuring him. And I am enjoying every second. He pulls me back up, to look me in the eyes.

  “What do you like?” He asks me in a cracked voice.

  I lean in and whisper in his ear:

  “I like it a little rough. Not too much, just enough.”

  His eyes light up. His hand glides behind my head. He grabs my hair and pulls it, at the same time he turns me around and pushes me against the tiles. From behind he whispers in my ear:

  “You have no idea how bad I’ve been wanting this. Do you want me?”

  I am overwhelmed and caught up in the moment so I just nod.

  “I want you to say it!”

  I turn my head around and look him in the eyes.

  “I want you!”

  Apparently, that does it for him, because I can now feel him inside me. The hot water is still raining down on us. I can barely see anything anymore because the entire bathroom has steamed up. Henry presses me against the tiles harder every time he thrusts into me. I feel the heat building up inside me. Like little needles trembling all over my body. When I finally feel an inner explosion. My legs start shaking and I can barely stay standing. Henry pulls himself out of me and ejaculates over my back. I turn around. We are both out of breath and share another very passionate kiss. We end our shower and get dressed.

  When I walk downstairs. Henry is already sitting in the living room with Tyler and Poppy.

  “You are back already?” I realize as I look at Tyler and Poppy.

  “Yes, and that although we had to go to this stupid Starbucks for Poppy,” Tyler complains and Poppy just rolls her eyes and smiles happy about her cup of coffee.

  Poppy and Tyler brought back pizza and we all enjoy the food together. A bit later that night Poppy asks me to join her to take Prince for a short walk before we go to bed. So I do exactly that.

  “And?” Poppy asks me with a big smile on her face.

  “And what?” I ask her back also smiling.

  “Come on Ali, you do know who is standing in front of you, right? You can’t hide anything from me. What happened? Was it good?”

  “What? I mean, how do you know?”

  “Ah, to be honest, Ali, you look so fresh and relaxed and Henry couldn’t stop smiling earlier. So it was pretty obvious, but don’t worry, I’m sure Tyler didn’t notice any of it,” Poppy assures me.

  “Thank god, can you imagine?” I reply, laughing and shaking my head.

  “So tell me, I want details. Not too many but some.”

  “Well, I was about to take a shower and was already naked, as all of a sudden Henry walks in on me. So I suggested he should join me. And he did. You can imagine what happened after that,” I say still smiling.

  Poppy is right. I really can’t stop smiling. I am really happy right now.

  We head back home and all call it a night. As I start walking upstairs Henry pulls me back.

  “Are you not going to sleep in my room?” I look at him and hesitate.

  “Of course she is,” Poppy answers for me.

  I smile and nod my head. He takes me by the hand and leads me in his guest room and Poppy gives me a soft push in his direction. We go to bed straight away. The hike did make us all very tired. Henry takes me in his arms, I rest my head on his chest and like that we fall asleep.

  When I wake up the next morning, I’m happy. I’m still lying in Henry’s arms, but all of a sudden I get a rush of fear. Today is the last day the boys and Poppy are here. Tomorrow they are all leaving. I don’t want this to end already. Not yet, this is all happening way to fast. I take a deep breath to calm myself down. I don’t want to destroy our last day. Henry wakes up.

  “Good morning beautiful,” he says and kisses me on the forehead.

  “Good morning. Did you sleep well?”

  “With you in my arms, how couldn’t I! I think I had the best sleep I’ve ever had in my life.” I smile and get up.

  “No, why are you getting up already?” Henry asks me and tries to pull me back in bed.

  “We are going swimming, have you forgotten? It’s an hour’s drive. So we should get ready,” I let him know and walk out the door.

  “Okay,” Henry sighs.

  Before I close the door behind me, I change my mind and go back into the room. “Okay, you get fifteen minutes, then I really have to get ready,” I say with a smile.

  ”Get in here fast then!” He replies and lifts the sheets for me to jump into bed.

  It’s nice to wake up like this. I really could get used to this. But I know I can’t because he is going to leave tomorrow.

  It’s a nice ride to our destination. Henry is driving, I am in the seat next to him. Poppy, Tyler and Prince are sitting in the back. The radio is playing and a song I really like comes on, but I don’t know who it is from. Henry shakes his head and smiles. Tyler starts laughing and says

  “Come on mate, turn it up and give us a live performance.”

  “Shut up,” Henry replies with an embarrassed face.

  “Is this one of your songs?” I ask him.

  “Yes, one of the band’s songs.”

  “I love this song,” I say and turn up the radio.

  We all start tuning in and giving the performance of our life. When the song is over, Henry looks at me and says “You have the voice of an angel” in a sarcastic way.

  “Hey, no need to mock me!” Knowing I’m not a professional singer.

  “So Mister Green, as I am sitting next to a popstar, I finally get to ask a question I’ve always wanted an answer to.”

  “Go straight ahead. What is this question?”

  “So, when you are driving in your car by yourself and you listen to the radio and your song comes on. Do you turn it up and listen, or is it more like you turn the radio off?”

  “Well, to be honest, if it’s like now and you sit in the car with others, you are more ashamed and think let’s turn it down or turn it off completely. However, if I’m by myself, I turn it up to full volume and sing along. You just have to remember to pull up your windows, otherwise, it could get awkward if someone recognizes you and sees it.”

  “Oh okay, that’s interesting and do others think like that as well or is it only you, who is so full of himself?” I say teasing him just a little.

  “I think it’s just me. That’s the narcissist in me. I just love myself!”

  “I figured that out already, but that’s fine, I love myself too, so we are on the same level here. Although to be fair I think I should have my own songs to sing along to as well,” I say obviously joking.

  “Beautiful, I’ve just heard you sing and believe me, you shouldn´t,” Henry tells me with a wink.

  “So, you think I’m not good enough to be a singer?”

  “You can be whatever you want to be beautiful, and with your looks, every door is open but singing? Well, I’ll have to make sure to close that door and keep it shut to save the world,” He lays his hand on my knee and squeezes it gently.

  He leaves his hand there and I love it. I love feeling his touch. I lay my hand on top of his. And we keep driving to our destination. A beautiful lake in the middle of the black forest.

  We find ourselves a nice spot. Thank god it’s completely empty. We are the only people there. We all enjoy the sun and decide to go swimming in the lovely clear blue water. It’s quite cold at first, but then it shortly gets warmer. We play around in the water for a bit. I love the water. I think being in the water is the closest thing there is to flying. Your body feels so light. Henry swims over to me.

  “Do you want to go for a walk here?” He as
ks me as he approaches me for a kiss.

  “Yes, do you have somewhere special in mind?”

  “Let’s swim to the other side of the lake and have a look around.”

  “What are you up to Henry?”

  “Shhhh, keep it a secret!” he says and puts his finger on my mouth.

  “Just follow me, and you’ll find out,” and that’s exactly what I do.

  We swim off to the other side of the lake.

  “Hey guys, what are you doing?” I hear Tyler shouting after us.

  “Ty, let them,” Poppy tells him to let us go.

  We reach the other side. Henry climbs out of the water and then helps me to climb out. We start walking alongside the lake. The grass is so nice and soft underneath my bare feet.

  “So, what is the plan here?” I want to know.

  “I just wanted some more time alone with you, I’m leaving tomorrow and I want to know where we stand. I don’t want this to be a short holiday fling. I want to spend more time with you. So I want to know how you feel about it. Just a heads up, if you say you don’t want to see me again then you’ll break my heart, but no pressure.”

  “Well, I am sorry, but I don’t want to see you again. I mean this was fun, but you are just too full of yourself.”

  Henry looks at me with big eyes. Curious and concerned. Now I can’t help it and start laughing.

  “I’m joking. Just giving you some of your own medicine. Of course, I want to see you again. I don’t want you to leave at all if I’m being totally honest.”

  “I’m glad to hear that beautiful. You really got me there. For a couple of seconds, I thought you were serious about not wanting to see me again.”

  “Well Henry, behind every great man, there is a woman standing behind him shaking her head and thinking who does he think he is,” I say smiling.

  “That’s exactly why I need you in my life,” Henry tells me and then puts my head between his beautiful big hands and pulls me in for a kiss. We keep on walking around the lake.

  “So, would you like to come to London and visit me? Of course, you can bring Poppy along with you. I don’t know if Tyler is available at the time, but I mean if you two need to work for your company you can do it from my house.”