Life Changes

3. You Needed Me To Feel A Little More And Give A Little Less

SPRING

That morning as per usual, Louis made his routine around Hyde Park, passing a string of football players and dogs chasing after tennis balls. Louis' muscles fluttered with every footfall, the muscles on his back recoiling and uncoiling. He wasn't so deliberately tired from a late last night, but he loved the burning feeling in his tendons as he stretched and jogged and sprinted. With his flexible work schedule, he had enough time to work out and slip in a few shags now and then for the sake of fun. He loved his carefree life.

Louis ran hard and long enough that he was completely drenched in sweat. A sheen of perspiration covered his tan body, mostly his chest and back. Louis' white tank top clung to his torso, his golden skin appearing through the sheer material. He sighed deeply, trying to recollect his normal breathing rate and appreciating the pleasant burn that stretched across his top thighs and lower abdomen.

Louis walked into the flat and smiled at each layer of clothing leading to the mattress on the floor. At first, he didn't notice the bundled bed sheets or the head full of messy hair as he made his way to the kitchen. The refrigerator light flickered on as he took out an ice cold water bottle before shutting the door closed again with his bum.

"Hi."

The voice startled Louis as he turned his head around to see the same woman from last night still sprawled in his bed with tousled bed sheets and her hair matted to her forehead. It appeared she didn't comprehend the concept of a one-night stand. In Louis' book, he had given her enough time to fix herself some breakfast, change into her regular clothes and slip out of Louis' flat just as she was supposed to disappear from his life as well.

"Hey."

"Wanna get a late breakfast?"

Louis walked towards his conquest and leaned down, pressing a chaste kiss to her forehead. She smelled like sweat and remnants of filthy sex.

"Nah, I can't. I got a game in an hour. I gotta go shower."

The woman that Louis, for the life of him couldn't remember her name, draped her arms over Louis' shoulders and tugged him down to brush their lips together. Louis kissed her without much effort. He could still taste the saltiness of himself on her tongue.

"Mmm. Are you sure about that?"

Louis pulled away and smiled feebly, humming and breathing out, "I'm sure."

Louis walked towards the bathroom, his brain urging him to leave faster. He slipped off his Adidas by stepping on the back of his trainers, his bare feet padding on the cold floor. He turned around halfway and smiled politely at the stranger before ducking his head inside the bathroom.

"There's coffee. Oh, and mugs are in the cabinet."

*

Fraiche was a quaint little bakery that Harry had been proud of ever since they first opened up. It wasn't extraordinary or business wasn't booming like Harry hoped it would, but if anything, it was doing well. There was always a long line of customers and people often gushed about Harry's new creations for the week.

Harry still remembered how enthralled he had been when Fraiche was on the cover of their city's newspaper. They had raved about his delicacies and rated it four stars out of five. That week, Harry never seemed to get off the adrenaline he was running high on and had given out free panna cotta's to everyone that congratulated him. It was safe to say that he was never doing that again since people caught on and he had spent the whole day serving panna cotta's free of charge to customers who didn't even know his name, much to his disdain.