The Aid

Part 10

Words were exchanged, though I registered them as if my head was underwater. The most prominent sound in my ears was blood pulsing against my eardrums, which only went on to grow louder after I left the couple to their conversation—argument. Whatever they wanted to call that exchange.

I blinked at Harry's living room, begging the walls to show me something I could do with myself. His apartment was generally mostly empty, in a way that said he didn't care for decoration rather than that he appreciated minimalism. It was that much harder to focus on anything- the coffee table was empty, the dining table was empty, the only thing besides the small TV was his console that we'd already taken care of, the dishes were drying on the rack, which left the cables of his PlayStation as perhaps the only-

Dishes! I scurried to the kitchenette, convincing myself that the dishes had probably gathered some dust from sitting on the rack and needed an extra rinse, and applauding myself for it. Patting myself on the back for deciding to wash a man's already clean dishes.

"No- no! I'm not leaving and you can't make me!"

It was wiser to concentrate on washing clean dishes than the words coming out of the mouth of a girl who didn't know how trespassing worked, apparently. Two plates were restored to their former, non-dusty glory when footsteps to my far left almost made me drop the cup I was holding under the faucet. They are in the room.

"I just want to talk, okay? I want to show you. I've learned my lesson."

"There wasn't a lesson to learn," Harry sighed, very casually, like he'd announced that he had to take out the trash. Little noises of stuff being moved around let me know that he was playing the avoiding game where the only rule was to make up tasks for himself. "You made your choice. I'm sorry you have to live with it."

"No way. That's not where our story ends. I'm not letting you-"

"Ev, what the hell are you doing?"

Surprised that being all the way at the end of the room hadn't made me invisible, I turned my head slowly, eyes wide in confusion. Harry was holding the cables I thought to take care of, his fiancée by his side. "The dishes?"

"There were no dishes to be done."

"Uh, yeah." I raised the cup in my hand in his direction. That's right, gaslight the guy into thinking he had dirty dishes. That's what's up.

"Wha- whatever. Listen, Cece, this is not happening."

"It is."

He had just taken a breath to continue talking, but the disbelief at the girl he once wanted to be his wife got a very brief laugh out of him. "Yeah, I..." I'd abandoned my stint as a dishwasher, just in time to see him shake his head, arranging his bag so his console and cables were inside, "I'm not doing this."

"You are."

"I'm very tired."

"I don't care, we're settling this once and for all."

The straight posture of the girl, along with her stubbornly crossed arms and the determined look on her face were all a screaming invitation to hurl something at her. Any other scenario that required a strong, fierce female lead would've made her inspiring, but in this situation, I could only think oh, for God's sake.

"No need to remind me, I know you don't care."

"Harry, that's not what I goddamn meant and you know it. Can you please-"

"You sure meant it when you left me for dead."

"Oh, come on, I did not leave you for dead. If it makes you feel better to make me the villain, fine, but you're gonna talk to me."