Hidden [h.s]

FORTY (EDITED)

"Make sure you bring a nice dress or something in case we go out for dinner," My mother says through the phone. "There's a new Thai place we wanted to try out. Does Thai sound good to you? Maybe for Saturday night?"

"Sure," I say, running a hand through my hair. "Thai sounds great."

"Great. Did you double check you have everything? Won't want to leave something behind."

"I've got everything, Mom," I say through the phone as I zip my suitcase.

"How long Is your flight?"

"About..." I look at my flight information. "Five hours and forty minutes."

"Oh, that's not too long. You'll be here in time for dinner."

"Yeah," I say. "I should really get going, I'll see you in a few hours."

"All right. See you soon!"

I hang up and haul my bag out of my apartment, into the hallway. I lock my door carefully and tuck a piece of hair behind my ear.

It's Friday morning, and I'm missing work today to fly to New York. I'm a bit nervous to see my sister, but I'll have to suck it up. I can't hide from her forever.

"Rose?"

I turn and meet Harry's eyes as he steps out of his apartment, a jacket slung over his arm. He's in his work clothes, the white sleeves of his shirt rolled up to his elbows.

"Hi," I say.

"Going somewhere?"

"Uh, yeah." I stick my hands Into my back pockets. "I'm flying to New York for the weekend."

Harry's eyebrows shoot up. "Really." I nod.

"Yeah, my mom wanted me to."

"That's probably good, that you're going," He says.

"Why?"

"I was planning on talking to...Alec this weekend and it's good that you won't be here in case..." In case he decides to send people to ransack my apartment again.

"Oh, right," I say, and Harry nods, his gaze moving to the floor.

We walk to the elevator, silence descending upon us. This is such an odd neutral state we're in, when we're not fighting. I can't complain about it, though-this truce we have covers for some of my loneliness I've been feeling since Aaron and I broke up, even if Aaron was an intolerable douchebag.

It's been a few days now, and he's practically blown up my phone with calls, voicemails, and messages. At first they were all apologetic and sorry, but they slowly morphed into angry, vengeful messages. I'm contemplating on whether to block his
number or not, but I keep forgetting to. Packing and preparing for my short trip has been the only thing on my mind.

"When will you be back?"

I look up at Harry, breaking my train of thought. The elevator doors chime open and we step into the lobby together.

"Sunday night," I reply. "I'll be at work on Monday."

Harry nods. "Hmm."

We stop walking at my car, and Harry helps me with my bags. I admire the small tattoos scattered across his forearms as he shuts my trunk, turning back to me.
"Well, have a safe trip," He says, meeting my gaze. He smiles at me, his delicate dimples appearing on his cheeks.

'Thanks," I say. "Have fun not doing work."

He rolls his eyes and I laugh. "I do work," He protests and it's my turn to roll my eyes.

"You work on ways to annoy the shit out of me," I tease and he shrugs. We laugh again.

Its going to be odd not seeing Harry for a full weekend; I don't think that's been the case since I moved to Portland. With him as my neighbor and my coworker, barely a day has gone by when we didn't see each other, one way or another.

And now, I can't say I mind so much.

"Are you going to be seeing your sister?" Harry asks me, his tone more serious.

I clear my throat and look away from him. "Yes," I say quietly.

Harry digs his hand into his pocket and retrieves a pen before reaching for my hand and scribbling something onto it.

I watch curiously as he lets go of my hand and puts the pen back into his pocket. I look at the palm of my hand. Seven neat digits are penned across it.

"If you want to talk, just call me," He says, shrugging.

I smile. "Thanks," I say.

"That's what friends are for," He says, half smiling.

I smile back. "Yeah," I say. I check the time on my phone. "My flight is in an hour, I should probably get going."

Harry nods. "Have a nice trip," He says as he turns to walk to his own car, parked a few rows away.

"Bye," I call after him. He lifts his hand in a wave, a smile painted on his rosy pink lips, the wind blowing his hair back slightly.

I look back down at the seven numbers on my hand and make a plan to call them as soon as I land in New York.

The rest of the morning seems to speed by as I check myself in and find my way to my gate. I take a seat and sigh, pulling my hair into a ponytail.

"Flight 909 to LaGuardia Airport in New York City boarding now."

I stand from my seat, gathering my carry on and boarding pass. This is it, I'm going home to face my family. Despite my worry about seeing Elizabeth, excitement sparks inside of me to go back to New York.

I stand in line and soon I'm seated on the plane, peering out the window at the tarmac. My phone buzzes in my lap.

I grimace at Aaron's caller ID.

What more could he possibly want from me? He was a horrible boyfriend and he expects me to talk to him?

I angrily hit ignore and shut off my phone. How dare he? I stuck with him much longer than I should have, I see that now. He's a selfish jerk that deserves no one.

Someone sits down beside me and I shift my things closer to me. I plan on editing a manuscript Mr. Greenman assigned to me the other day and perhaps sleeping on this flight.

The person sitting next to me bumps my elbow on accident, and I turn to utter an apology when my throat goes dry.

"Zayn?"