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Having such a beautiful woman within reach was . . . not great for a peaceful night's sleep. Ellie had brought some of his old demons to the surface. He had spent most of the night with fits where he had tried to dream of simple things—a day at the office, his mother arranging flowers while he helped, or Michael teaching him how to shoot clay pigeons out of the air. But it was always rudely intercepted by returning to an earthen haven where a beautiful woman was being delighted by his charms. An impossible, amazing beautiful fairy with the face of his Ellie. He couldn't believe after a thousand casual encounters that this one would stick in his mind. To think that it would be a more mild looking girl than a cool supermodel baffled him. He felt anger at not being able to think of his priorities. He was a calm, cool, and collected gentlemen of good background. Henry had devoted himself carefully to cultivate an environment where his ideal woman would materialize. It felt illogical that while this lady had come to his outstretched hand that he be even interested in something lesser. A woman ranked as one of the world's most beautiful with the ideal golden ratio was only deserving of continuing the Wong line.

Although it was true that Ellie Chen did possess some admirable qualities that make her appealing in her own way. She was sensitive to his moods, compassionate towards others, and just a perfect host to compliment the occasion—-a perfect wife for truly some other conglomeration head. Added to that of course a nice figure and decent bone structure to her face. He couldn't bear to think it—-the star that lit up his sky and guided his direction was the only true beauty. Ellie was passable. In certain light, maybe she could be more than average. He still felt the uneasy knot gathering in his stomach. No matter how he put it. It was wrong to keep his thoughts with one female while his body was tangled with another. Both women would not feel alright with him then. He would lose them both.

It struck him while rinsing out his brush that he couldn't continue like this. Ellie did really strike the hammer into his glass heart to wring it open wide for her perusal. Her request for him to try to have a real relationship before he tries to pursue his dove was something that kept nipping at him.  His reactions to her at times were definitely different than what he had experienced before with women. To have a taste of this new emotion to grasp how to deal with it--

It was rational, he decided finally to try to accustom himself to being around a woman after having such a long string of dryness on his romantic front.  He had tried, but most of his attempts had been failures. Bad women and bad choices were inevitable for someone in his position. People didn't want just Henry, they wanted all the other things that came with him.  The other things that mattered least to him mattered very much to everyone else. Henry knew that Nadia would probably want someone who was experienced with woman and bringing them pleasure. It would amaze her if he could be an asset to her.  Passion was one of these things he should learn to offer her. It was always when he was occupied when her interest was piqued and she would try to contact him more. Maybe it was something more there that was brought to the surface that she wanted from him.  He knew at least that Ellie would be good to practice on before the real challenge came.

It was definitely unkind to think of any woman as practice, but Ellie knew his heart.  His heart was reserved with a parking space for only that woman. He felt from their conversation that she was mature enough to accept this arrangement for what it was.  Financially she had benefited more than he and now that she had something to occupy her time, his loss would be felt much less than if she was alone in a large city. Truth be told, it was also nice to have a woman be interested in him instead of his bank account.  To be unencumbered by such distaste was surprisingly refreshing. Not to discount that she was a good kisser.

Henry felt jarred when he saw that Michael had already arrived.  The old retainer nodded as he walked into the room with a lap table containing a plate of steaming eggs.  Henry felt his nose turn up as he looked at the texture of the runny eggs. The edges were burned and charred.  He decided he would change to boiled eggs in the next day. He ignored them as Michael handed him his morning coffee.  Henry stirred the cup with an irritated look at the waste before looking up to see Michael looking out the window. He took a drink before wondering, "When did you arrive?  I'm glad I have someone who knows my taste in this miserable place."

Michael cleared his throat as he was a bit disgruntled with the surroundings.  He turned and raised his eyebrows. "It's not as professional as I would have liked.  This is definitely not what a stately house should be. Our property is much more attractive than the ruin you've chosen to reside in.  But it's not all lost."

"Lost?  It's a fixer upper.  I'm not sure I will be buying a manor house or castle in our future." Henry drank more deeply as the coffee started to wake him up. "I wish there was wifi here so I wouldn't feel like I'm completely cut off from what's happening in the office.  It would be nice to get that installed by the end of today. There's nothing exciting to do more here than set the place up so people actually want to come here. This is supposed to be a tourist attraction you know."