"Thanks, Mel. I think I will. And I'll let you know how it goes," I say to her.
"Please do. And if it all goes to shit, which I don't think it will, you're more than welcome to come over,"
"Thank you. I really mean that,"
Melanie throws the magazine away as we leave the café, and then we go our separate ways. She lives further uptown than I do so we part ways on the subway and before I know it, I'm on my block walking to my apartment complex. I feel nervous as I enter the building, but I try to push those feelings aside. Hopefully they disappear once Harry and I actually sit down.
It feels like an eternity, but I finally catch the elevator and make it to my apartment. It's quiet once I enter, but then a tired looking Harry comes padding down the hall and into the kitchen.
"There she is," he says. He comes over to me, smiling when he sees me, and instantly goes for a kiss. I only peck his lips, not wanting to go too far before we talk. "I didn't know where you were. I called a couple times because I thought there was an issue with the subways or you got caught up at work,"
I might be wary of talking to my boyfriend, but Harry's concern is endearing. It still manages to make my heart flutter.
"No, I - uh - I was with Melanie," I vaguely respond.
I place my apartment key and purse on the kitchen table after stripping off my shoes by the elevator doors. I make a mental note to move them later but right now I just want to get this conversation over with. It's the only thing I can focus on.
"Yeah? How is she?" Harry asks. He turns away from me and putters around a bit, pulling some boxes out of the kitchen cabinets for dinner.
"She's good," I answer. I stand on the opposite side of the kitchen island, watching Harry's back as he moves around. "Can I ask you something?"
"Sure, love,"
"Do you know a Lauren Jones?"
Harry immediately stops what he's doing and his back stiffens up. My heart sinks a little, but then he turns to face me with a confused expression.
"Why do you ask?" he asks me.
I frown.
"I heard a rumor that you slide into her dm's. Apparently you two are having some secret affair, or something..." I trail off.
Harry shakes his head.
"No, that didn't happen, baby. I'm not having an affair with anyone. You know that, right?" he worriedly asks me. His green eyes widen with panic and he takes a step closer to the kitchen island.
I feel slightly better. Not much because of the weird tone in Harry's voice, but at least he confirmed he's not sleeping with anyone else.
"I know," I weakly reply. "I didn't think you were but...do you know her? I don't know where the story came from. It might be all lies but I didn't know if it originated from somewhere..."
Harry doesn't answer right away. He just looks at me for a moment but then his shoulders drop and he says, "No, I don't know who she is,"
I nod and avert my eyes. I still feel uneasy, but Harry must sense this because he comes around the kitchen island so he's beside me. His hands find my waist and mine instantly go for his shoulders out of instinct.
"I'm sorry that the media is constantly spewing out lies. I absolutely hate it. But I love you. There's nobody else out there for me. I think stories like this get made up just for drama purposes," Harry calmly tells me.
I smile at him and feel myself relax.
"I love you, too. I'm sorry, I just got a little paranoid but I wanted to talk to you," I tell Harry.
He leans down and places a kiss on my forehead, letting his lips linger a little longer than normal.
"Don't be sorry," he tells me in a whisper. "You can always talk to me,"
I nod and breathe out a breath I didn't realize I was holding in.
"I know," I say.
I reach up and grasp a couple of Harry's curls in my fingers, twirling them delicately around my fingers. I definitely feel much better now. A huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. My old boss from the Christmas tree farm, David, once told me that communication will get anyone through anything, primarily couples. I know I need to talk to Harry more, but this is a start. It feels nice to not have everything bottled up for once. Now I just need to start opening up about everything else going on instead of just the immediate things happening, like a spontaneous story about Harry cheating.
...
Harry
It's around eleven at night when Amelia falls asleep. I tiptoe out of our bedroom, careful not to wake her, and then proceed to the living room with my phone. Frantically, I open up my recent phone calls and click the fourth one down. It rings twice before there's an answer.
"Hello?"
"What the fuck, Lauren," I spit out in a hushed tone. "Did you tell someone we were in contact? Because it's all over the bloody news and Amelia found out about it,"
"Whoah, whoah, whoah," Lauren says. She shifts around on the other end of the phone. "I didn't say anything, I promise. Did she find out?"
I shake my head and begin pacing in the living room. I feel like shit. I can't sleep and I want to vomit.
"No. I also lied and said I didn't know you. She doesn't know anything," I tell her. "I just don't understand how word got out that I messaged you,"
I almost passed out right on the spot when Amelia mentioned Lauren's name. I just couldn't figure out for the life of me how that story got out. If Lauren didn't tell anyone, and I didn't, then maybe our Instagram's were hacked. I don't think so, since more information definitely would have been leaked, but it's the only logical explanation.
"Calm down, Harry. The story will go away, okay? Shit like this happens all the time. And as long as Amelia is in the dark, it's okay. Just keep it like that," Lauren tells me.
I nod, even though she can't see me. She's right. I absolutely hate lying to Amelia but I need to keep this a secret, especially now that I dug myself in a deeper hole than I needed to be in.
"Okay," I breathe out.
"Just give it time," Lauren says. "Are we still on for next week?"
"Yeah," I respond, knowing Amelia will be at work then.
"Okay, great. Listen, I'm going to go but just relax. You'll be fine, and so will Amelia,"
I nod again and sit down on the couch, burying my face in my free hand. I feel like I'm suffocating but nevertheless, I mumble out a quick, "Okay," before Lauren and I exchange goodbyes and hang up.
...
Goodnight <3 xoxo
