Incandescent | H.S

Part Forty-Four: Breaks, Brilliance & Betrayal

Day five. Day five hit you hard. Post a soft dream in which you were wrapped up in tattooed arms, lips whispering sweet nothings into your ear, you woke to refreshed heartbreak. Waking up to realise he wasn't with you was almost as painful as when you left him.

You trudged through your workday, constantly picking up your phone. Almost caving and calling him. But you knew you couldn't. He never left your mind. Like every brain cell was hard wired to have him start or end every thought you had.

By day six, you were sat in your office with your dream client. An older woman who was an infamous artist and your hero in the industry. The connection between you grew stronger and stronger.

The universe, as if sensing how lost you were, gave you something you'd been working hard towards. Your dream client finally gave you the answer you'd been hoping for. A yes. A heart-warming, career-filling yes. So, naturally, you shared your enthusiasm by showing ideas for her art show and she knew she'd been right to choose you for the job.

You were so excited. Beyond elated. The first person you thought of telling was Harry. Instead, you texted your family and your friends who praised you for your huge victory.

Day seven was a day off for you. Your assistant clearing your schedule was a blessing in disguise. You called your friend, Renee, who you'd not seen in far too long aside from texting every week. But being two busy women deemed it hard to actually see each other. She was over the moon at your news and encouraged you to meet up at a café so you could celebrate.

"I'm so fucking proud of you." She grinned, taking a sip of her ice coffee.

"It was hard getting her to warm up to me but I did it." You scrunched your shoulders up as Renee let out a little squeal and wrapped her arms around you.

"You deserve it. You've worked so hard and you're going to do amazing things with her."

"Thank you so much." You smiled and it was warm but didn't quite reach your eyes.

She caught on. "Now what's happening outside of work, hm? You don't seem like yourself."

She'd always been able to pick up on even a slight change of your mood. She could sense the festering heartache that seemed to radiate from you.

"Oh, it's nothing."

"Nope, not happening. Talk to me."

And maybe that's what you needed. Someone to talk to. Someone on the outside of your relationship who could offer their advice. You trusted her. And you'd been bottling so much up lately and you could feel an onslaught of emotion start to break the walls of your control.

"It's Harry. He's having a hard time juggling everything and it's starting to take a toll on our relationship. He spirals so easy and he closes himself off from me when he does. It's like we make it out alive just for something else to creep into his mind."

"Is this the fan stuff?"

"It's everything. The hate I get, the hate he gets, his album, his management piling work on top of him, the fact that he doesn't have any privacy."

"I feel for him. It seems like one of the loneliest gigs in the world and he's lucky to have you by his side. It sucks that people can't see that. Like, if they love him, surely they'd just want him to be happy? Have they never been lonely before? That shit sucks."

You shook your head. "I don't know, I don't understand it. I've done nothing wrong, I just fell in love with someone I'd like to spend my life with. It's painful that all of this is getting in the way."

"So, where are you guys at?"

"Last week we went to Greece with some of his mates and it was the last straw for me. He said some things that sucked to hear and I decided that we needed to take a break."