Ready To Run // h.s

forty

Mia

  The London air was far different from what I was used to. There was something so brisk and so cool about it, not the kind of frigid cold air that every winter in the east coast brought, but a kind of cool that made you excited for fall weather and over sized sweaters. I was absolutely in love with it, whilst all Harry did was complain about it. 

  "I'd much rather have warm Los Angeles weather all my life." He shrugged, sitting next to me on his balcony with a warm cup of chamomile in his hands. 

  "I think I would much rather prefer this," I admitted. "Although I wish the sun would come out a bit more." 

  "See that corner of the yard, back in the left?" Harry asked, gently grabbing my face and tilting it so I was looking at a bare patch of grass in his long lawn. "I'm thinking of making a garden there. Or maybe I'll put a greenhouse in." 

  "If you did that, you could make your own chamomile." I said, gesturing to the drink in his mug. 

  "That I could." He chuckled. 

  We sat like that for a long time. In my head, I pictured how we might look doing this same thing in forty years time. Maybe this is what life could be for us. We could slow it down, live in London for the rest of our lives, and enjoy every invigorating morning that the city had to offer. 

  I closed my eyes, trying to picture a life that was less complicated than the one I was living right now. There was so much that needed to be worked out yet, this was the calm before the storm and I very well knew it. Almost startling me, Harry leaned over and pressed his lips to my forehead, brushing a piece of my tangled hair behind my ear. 

  "Remember, we're not going to worry about it, alright?" He reminded me. 

  "I have to face the music sometime, Harry," I bit my lip. "I need to catch up and see what's being said on the news and we need to talk to my lawyer. There's no doubt that I'm going to have to go to court over this."

  "At this point, what's your biggest fear?" He asked. 

  "I'm afraid that they'll get away with what they did to me," It was the first time I admitted it out loud. "I just know that it's not gonna work out." 

  "Mia, why the hell wouldn't it?" He asked. "There are several different counts against him and absolutely none against you. There isn't a thing you should be worried about."

  "Yeah, there is," I interrupted. "I signed that document, too. And if they bring that up in court there won't be any solid evidence and it'll just be a he-said-she-said battle. I know what these people are like, they're manipulative and cunning and-"

  "Mia, stop." Harry turned his chair so that he was completely facing me. "Do you hear yourself right now? You must not be opening your eyes, because there is no way that they are going to get off scott-free from this. It just isn't possible, and if you don't think that your lawyer is up to the task, I have a whole team of lawyers who are always at the ready. Alright? You shouldn't have to be the one worrying about this, not after all those months of what they put you through."

  I wasn't sure if I had seen Harry this angry, ever. Maybe when he broke up with me on the yacht or when he saw my black eye, but those were the only times. Now his face was turning red and his knuckles were white.