Page 16 of Deep Daddy

Harrison took a moment to consider. It wasn’t great that Sammy felt so attached to social media, but on the other hand it was good that he’d managed to resist temptation. Even better was the fact that Sammy had the courage to admit it to Harrison…

‘Hmmm. I see,’ Harrison said. ‘Well done for telling me. That’s good. I’m proud of you for resisting temptation too. This might just work out even better than either of us could have hoped for.’

Sammy smiled and seemed delighted by Harrison’s approval.

Harrison stood up from the table and put his heavy hand on Sammy’s shoulder. It was dawning on Harrison that as beneficial as he could be for Sammy, the same might very much be true of the reverse too.

The only problem Harrison could foresee between them was successfully keeping a lid on their burgeoning heat…

Chapter 7

SAMMY

The next few days were fun with a capital F. Sammy was enjoying life around campus so much that he was almost tempted to start looking at application forms and grade point averages. Well, not quite. The academic side was never really Sammy’s strong point, but it was certainly true that campus life suited him.

Whether it was taking long walks with Harrison or exploring on his own with only his backpack and Zozo for company, Sammy was truly enjoying the feeling of letting go of his relentless filming schedule.

In fact, Sammy couldn’t remember the last time he felt so happy. It was as if a giant weight had been removed from his shoulders.

There were cafes to try out, woodlands to explore, and Sammy was even noticing how many potential Littles there were on campus too. He hadn’t plucked up the courage to approach anyone yet to see for sure, but it certainly felt like the kind of open-hearted place that would be welcoming for a Little.

Spending time with Harrison was wonderful. Sammy felt safe with Harrison, and loved the way that Harrison would guide him, offering good advice and probing questions when it came to Sammy’s plans for the future.

Harrison’s approach was different to Tucker’s approach, that was for sure. It was becoming clearer and clearer to Sammy that Tucker was all about the here and now, pushing Sammy to do whatever would get results in the short term. Harrison had a different philosophy, focusing on asking Sammy what he would want to be doing in six months, a year, or even further down the line.

But it wasn’t just Harrison’s friendly but firm guidance that Sammy appreciated. Sammy couldn’t help but notice just how admired and respected Harrison was by the students on campus. Even the students that Harrison didn’t teach seemed to hold him in high regard.

It was kind of awe inspiring for Sammy.

But nothing would top the moment when Sammy was walking across the main lawn between the college cloisters. The fall breeze was whistling around the open courtyard and the busy and bustling students were holding their books up close to their heavy, thick coats.

Suddenly, as Sammy and Harrison were in the middle of talking about a new recipe idea that had come to Sammy in the middle of the night, they were approached by an enthusiastic but nervous looking student…

‘Excuse me, sir,’ came the voice of a young man, perhaps a freshman or second-year student. ‘Mr. Hawk, please can you sign this?’

‘Why, of course,’ Harrison replied, not showing any emotion. ‘This is a first edition. Where did you pick this up?’

Harrison was signing a copy of his most famous novel, Grand Condor Hotel. It was in good condition, but Sammy could see some signs of aging on it. Either way, it felt incredible to watch the look of awe in the young student’s face as Harrison signed the copy.

‘You… kinda are the reason I write,’ the student said, clearly nervous. ‘But, whatever, thank you so much! I’m such a dork!’

Harrison shook his head.

‘You’re not a dork, you’re choosing your path, and I’m glad that my book inspired you,’ Harrison said, kindly minimizing the student’s embarrassment.

With that, the student left with the book and a huge smile on his face.

‘Wow, that was something else,’ Sammy said. ‘The students just love you!’

‘I don’t know about that, but I do think I’m pretty well respected,’ Harrison said. ‘I never thought I’d end up teaching, but that’s life. I’m comfortable with how things turned out.’

‘But what about a new book?’ Sammy said. ‘I know you’ve sold millions of copies of your other book. It’s crazy that you haven’t published anything in so long!’

Harrison shook his head and laughed.

‘Boy, life isn’t always that simple,’ Harrison said, placing his arm around Sammy’s shoulder. ‘Life is full of complexities. Writing a novel isn’t like posting an Instagram update! But you don’t need to worry too much about stuff like that. You’re here to unwind, rediscover your own passion. Don’t you go concerning yourself with problems. Understood?’

Sammy could tell from Harrison’s tone of voice that he wasn’t messing around. But Sammy also could see that Harrison felt a little bit sad about not having published a book in so long.