The woman blushed and scratched the back of her neck. "Well, you see, sometimes I like to start an impromptu game of hide and seek when we're out. He was talking to a group of people, and I thought I would slip away for a few minutes and get some gifts for my family, but obviously I forgot about the..."
"The purse."
"The purse," the woman agreed. "I have my phone, though, so I could probably text him, which, you know, I probably should've done when I realized that I didn't have my things. Here, let me-"
"There you are!"
The young woman turned to where the voice came from. Brie was already facing the entrance of the store, and when the man walked in, that man being Harry Styles, she almost screamed in surprise. She knew who he was, of course, was obsessed with him and One Direction in middle school and the beginning of high school. And now here he was, walking over and kissing the cheek of the woman who Brie had thought was spinning a tall tale. Brie looked him over and saw that this woman, Harry Styles' girlfriend, was telling the truth. On Harry's arm was a small black purse, the leather worn from years of use.
The young woman- Brie searched her brain, trying to remember if she'd ever come across pictures of her or her name on Twitter, but she was drawing blanks- turned around and beamed at Harry. "You found me," she said, sounding like she truly believed he wouldn't.
"I did," he said, tugging the ends of one of the woman's braids. "Took me a few minutes to realize you were even gone. You're getting better at this little game I never ask to play."
From what Brie could tell, Harry didn't actually look annoyed with his girlfriend. Mildly amused, maybe, but not annoyed that she'd sent him on a wild goose chase for her. His girlfriend took Harry's hand in hers and kissed the top of it. "And a good thing too. I was telling Brie here that you had my wallet, but I don't think she believed me. I don't blame her of course, my explanation sounded unlikely even to me."
Brie felt her cheeks heat up again as Harry grinned at her, a beautiful thing that was all dimples and pearly white teeth. He reached into his bag and rifled through it for a second before pulling out a debit card. He handed it over to Brie for her to swipe and pay for everything on the counter. "You know, you could've just said you wanted to go shopping before the game started. I don't know why you insist on making it your mission to sneak away from me any chance you get."
To be honest, Brie didn't either, sneaking away from Harry Styles would be the last thing she ever wanted to do, but she stayed quiet as she finished ringing everything up and swiping the card Harry had given her through the machine. They were a bit of an odd couple, she thought. For one, the height difference between the two of them was a tad comical, not to mention the young woman's peculiar idea of fun. But despite the oddness, both of them seemed genuinely happy. There was no mistaking the look on Harry's face as he looked at his girlfriend, or the megawatt smile that overcame their faces when they saw each other. Brie's tiny little corner of the sports arena was suddenly filled with lots of love.
Harry's girlfriend shrugged. "I told you it's fun. And besides, you were- hey, that's not my card!" She cried when she realized that Harry had slipped Brie his card and not hers, but by the time she noticed, he was already signing the receipt. "This is also why I didn't tell you. You never let me pay for anything."
He merely shrugged his shoulders before handing Brie the signed receipt, mumbling a quiet thanks to her. "Tough," he said, turning them away from Brie and the register by tugging on his girlfriend's hands.
"You know, in any other relationship, being a doctor would make me the breadwinner," she muttered. The young woman waved a friendly goodbye to Brie as Harry put an arm around her shoulders and steered her out of the little merch store. She reached into the bag full of all of her, or Harry's, Brie supposed, purchases and fished out a hat, ripping the tag off and sticking it on Harry's head backwards.
Strangers Part 1
Comincia dall'inizio
