Medley

21: JUST ANOTHER DAY.

Our fun is interrupted by the sound of a phone ringing.

Two cellphones rest in the dining table a few feet from where we're sitting, one of them lights up and vibrates in unison with the ringtone. Harry walks over to the table and picks the silver phone up, looks at the name flashing on the screen and frowns, but he doesn't answer the call. It stops ringing so I assume he sent the caller straight to voicemail.

I would question why a regular person would need two cellphones but then I remember what he does and who he is and I understand. I'm sure he notices me eyeing the two iPhones on the table because he begins to explain without me asking.

"One is for work, the other is for personal use."

As soon as he takes the first step to come back to the couch, the phone rings again. One more time he rejects the call and rolls his eyes in reaction to the name on the screen. I'd be really curious to know who he is ignoring and why if only I could determine if the silver phone is personal or work.

"Which one am I in? Am I business? Or is this personal?"

"This is all pleasure, Miss Brant." Flashbacks from last night prove this statement right.

"Yet, that sounded all business-like." My reply gets countered with a killer smirk.

"Now, Miss Brant, tell me a little bit about your family."

And just as he did last night, Harry takes a seat on the couch next to me but sits closer than he was before. I'm finding it really hard to start talking about my family when all that takes up my mind at the moment is the sight of his fingers playing with the hair tie in his wrist.

"It's just my brother and my dad. My mom passed away when I was eighteen." The smile on my face from seconds ago fades; the mention of my mom always makes me sad. In a gesture I didn't expect he takes my hand and holds it with both of his.

"I'm so sorry about your mom. May I ask what happened to her? It's okay if you don't want to tell me."

"She had leukemia." My voice is low and shaky. Even after six years the death of my mother is a difficult subject for me.

"I'm sorry Emi, we don't have to talk about it, I don't want to upset you. Tell me about your dad and brother instead."

He runs the side of his index finger across my cheek once in the sweetest way any man has ever touched me and I feel so safe with him I could tell him the whole story if I didn't know that my time with him is limited. I don't want to ruin it by bringing up all of my misery.

"Like you, my brother Stefan is twenty-two and he's studying to become an oncologist just like our dad."

It's not lost on me how even though we've moved on from the subject of my mother, Harry is still holding my hand and is now playing with my charm bracelet instead of his hair tie. His hands are a work of art. Just like the rest of him.

"Wow, impressive family."

"Yes, I'm the black sheep."

"What makes you say that?" He opens his eyes and mouth wide in astonishment. "How is being a successful business owner at twenty-four not something to be proud of?"

"You should pay my dad a visit and tell him that."

"Is he not proud of your accomplishments?"

"He doesn't see them as such. For most of my life I wanted to study psychology, I went to college for two years but it wasn't right for me. I wasn't happy with what I was doing and was going through a lot at the time."