When Theodore came with my second monthly payment, I asked for another day off. He was loath to agree to it but eventually did, knowing that he couldn't deny me what was written into our contract.

I highly doubted that he would respond in a favorable way, but I still asked, "Can Harry please come with me? You're not doing him any favors by keeping him locked up here."

He tipped his head in an exasperated fashion. "Again with the dramatics. Fine, I suppose you and Harry can have one more day out. But my condition is this: Barrows will accompany you to all locations and there will be a handful of places you must avoid."

I stepped back and gave him an unbelieving look. "Do you realize how shady all of this is?" I demanded. "Withholding important information about Harry, paying me in cash, telling me where I can and can't go."

"I am a businessman, Juliette," he said coldly. "I run a tight ship in everything I do. In terms of where you go, you are welcome to travel across the world if you'd like as long as you're back in time to perform your duties. It's Harry I'm concerned about. Remember what I said about protecting him?"

"Yes, but I thought you were the one being dramatic," I sniffed indignantly.

"Hardly," he chuckled at my sarcasm. "Now, do we have a deal?"

"Of course," I said. "And thank you."

The next day, Harry and I headed out, accompanied by Clive, of course. Harry was tickled at the opportunity for another adventure. Our very first stop (after the Western Union transfer, of course) was the Kids' Market.

"Oh my gosh, I love it!" Was Harry's reaction upon seeing the building with a face painted on it.

"I knew you would," I laughed. "What should we do first?"

"Chocolates!" He cheered. We went straight to the place where I'd found all those exotic chocolate flavors and we sampled so many that we started to feel sick. I even convinced Clive to try a few since he had been roped into chaperoning us, which I doubted was in his contract. We bought several more chocolates in various flavors to take home and try at our leisure.

Next we found a costume shop with costumes for all ages. "Who do you want to be, Harry? Do you want to be a superhero?"

"Yes! Do they have Superman?" He asked. I looked at the clerk and she eyed Harry up to get his size. Then I told her I wanted to be Wonder Woman. Soon she came back with both costume bags and pointed us to the dressing room.

When we emerged from our respective rooms, we took one glance at each other and doubled over, laughing. Harry with his blue tights and me with my skimpy yet busty costume, we made a fine pair. Then we decided to try out costumes of Rhett Butler and Scarlett O'Hara and I explained who they were. It reminded us of dressing up for those old timey photos in Calgary, except Scarlett's dress was much more detailed and definitely lower cut. Harry's jaw dropped open when he saw me.

"Jules, you're beautiful," he gasped, his eyes roaming everywhere.

"Why, thank you, Harry" I said, just like a sweet Southern belle, waving the fan in front of my face and feeling warmth in my gut from his heartfelt compliment. "And don't you cut a dapper figure in that get-up." He looked confused so I translated, ""You look very handsome." He actually looked kind of hot in those tailored pants, vest and ascot, but I couldn't very well say that to him, could I?

"Shall we?" He asked and held his arm out to me. We paraded around the store in our finery, earning giggles and funny looks from the other patrons. We had also convinced Clive to take pictures of us although we weren't successful in getting him into his own costume.

After trying on a few more costumes, we went to a giant indoor playground called the Adventure Zone. We climbed through tunnels and up to treehouses and slid down the slides. It wasn't nearly as fun as Harry's own playground at home. I told him this and he agreed; even so, we still enjoyed chasing and running and climbing together.

We found an interactive floor called i-Floor where we played a virtual game of soccer under our feet, along with four much younger kids. When the game finished, we discovered that the in-floor console also had several other virtual games, one like whack-a-mole where we had to jump on creatures as they popped up from holes, and after that, we danced according to steps lit up on the floor. When we heard the opening lyrics for "Don't Stop Believin', we high-fived each other and danced like crazy. Harry introduced himself to every person who played with us or near us, but not in a creepy, in-your-face way; more in a you-seem-like-a-cool-person-and-I-want-to-know-you-way. It was marvelous to see his confidence as he held out his hand and simply said, "Hi, I'm Harry."

Next, we checked out a toy store that I hadn't visited on my first trip to this place. They had some really nice, high-end things, many of which I couldn't afford but Harry's father could if he cared one iota about him. Harry carefully inspected many toys, games and puzzles but he passed up most of the things that were too childish, without any direction from me at all. He did, however, become engrossed in a telescope and the interactive sky to which it was pointed, detailing everything the telescope could do. Of course, an associate approached us, eager to make a sale. He explained the technical stuff that would help us to see the galaxies and stars more clearly as well as what is needed for greater distance. He showed us one that he swore up and down was the best for beginners, and since it wasn't the most expensive one in the store, I knew he probably wasn't just trying to move the priciest merchandise.

"Are you sure you want a telescope?" I asked Harry.

"Yeah," he breathed in excitement and I could already see the stars in his eyes.

The whole day, Clive watched fondly, never intervening or expressing concern about anything we were doing. Since we spent the vast majority of the day at the Kids' Market, I guess we hadn't ventured into any of Theodore's "forbidden zones."

When dinner time came around, I insisted that Clive eat with us and not at a separate table like he was planning to do. "We're all equals," I reasoned. "No need for you to keep your distance."

We had chosen a Japanese restaurant where we sat around the grill and they made everything right in front of us. I knew Harry would like it and I enjoyed the experience just seeing him absorb every new thing we did. I also made it my mission to get to know Clive better with this rare opportunity. "How long have you been working for the family?" I asked.

"A long time," he smiled tenderly. "Since before Harry was born."

"So, you were about ten when you started driving?" I joked and Harry laughed.

"Wait, can you drive when you're ten?" Harry said, suddenly realizing it didn't sound right.

"No, I was teasing, hinting that Mr. Barrows can't be that old."

"She was flattering me, boy," Clive laughed. "I don't look old but I've got quite a few years on either of you."

"So do you have your own family?" I wondered.

He shook his head with a bit of wistfulness. "Nope," he answered simply, without expounding on his answer.

"Did you always want to do this?" I asked, hoping it didn't sound demeaning. "Do you think another career would have allowed you to find time for a family?"

He shrugged and said, "Eh, maybe. This opportunity came along, it paid very well and it gave me a place to live. What more could I ask for?"

"What about vacation time?"

"I've accrued quite a bit," he smiled. "I did take a cruise in the Bahamas a few years back. That was a riot."

"I bet!" I looked at Harry and asked, "Do you remember where the Bahamas are?"

"I think so," he said. "I'd ha...have to see the map again to be sure b...b...but they're by Florida, right?"

"Very good," I congratulated him. "You have such a good memory."

Clive just gave a small smile in recognition and then looked away. But I wasn't done picking his brain yet. "So how is it that you didn't meet a pretty lady on the cruise?" I teased.

"Who says I didn't meet any pretty ladies?" He shot back, wiggling his eyebrows.

"You devil!" I laughed. "But no one to bring home to mother, huh?"

He guffawed nice and loud and then asked, "Why you so interested in my love life?"

"No reason," I said, taking a sip of my wine. "Just find it hard to believe that a handsome man like yourself never got hitched, that's all."

"You see, Harry," Clive said with an amused chuckle. "Flattery, pure and simple." Harry just smiled back at him and then at me.

"I'm just calling it like I see it," I said and then veered the subject back to Harry's progress. "I'm always telling Harry how smart and capable he is and that he's growing into a fine young man, don't you think?" Clive's smile disappeared and he gave a slight nod while he looked to the grill where our meal was being prepared.

I pushed a little further to hopefully get some insight from someone who had known Harry all his life, other than his very unhelpful father. "Harry has really matured since I've been here," I said to Clive. "I'm sure you've noticed."

"Sure," he said, taking a drink of his beer and looking away.

"He's doing so well in school, he'll be through Junior High by the end of the summer," I continued.

"That's great," he said, still looking away from me and at some couple across the table who were doing absolutely nothing out of the ordinary.

Brainwashed. That's it. The man had been brainwashed by Theodore. That could be the only explanation for the way he shut down when I asked him to comment on Harry's maturity.

For fuck's sake, what was going on with this family? I turned my attention towards Harry as we watched the entertaining process by which our food was being cooked. The chef flipped and cut and diced everything with such precision, it was as fun to watch as it was to eat.

"Oh, this is so good," Harry practically moaned at the mixture of flavors. "Let's learn how to make this," he said.

"I'd have to find a really good recipe," I said. "Some foods are harder to make than others. And Asian foods sometimes have ingredients that they don't sell at every supermarket."

"Anything you make is delicious, Jules," he said with a cheesy smile. Clive took note and gave both of us a warm look. I knew he was fond of Harry but I wondered why he would only say so much to him or about him.

On the ride back home, as Harry and I sat in the back of the SUV, I slipped my hand into his. I did wonder if maybe I should be careful about what kinds of affection I expressed towards him. I knew he had a "crush" at the very least so I didn't want to confuse him about our relationship. But on the other hand, he needed physical contact. He'd been starved of it for years by the sounds of it and I didn't want to withhold it.

I examined his long, masculine fingers and the sculpted structure of his hands. The bones of his wrists were defined and his arms were muscular. He really had been a child living in a man's body all this time and now the two were beginning to meet. I considered it a privilege to be a part of it all.

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