Forever | h.s.

Chapter 42

"Where's Josh?" Madeline asked her husband. It felt weird calling her by her first name, but she insisted.

"Went out with Cameron, they should be back for dinner." Brad explained.

"Josh is my brother, Cameron is his girlfriend." Annabel whispered to me. I nodded, understanding.

"Annabel, you have a photo shoot today at 11:15." Her mum told her. She nodded, and looked up at me.

"Oh, Harry. You'll come back for dinner, right darling?" Madeline smiled eagerly waiting for my answer.

"Uh, yeah that'd be great." I smiled.

"Good, good! Brad, let's let these two be." She pulled her husband away, and disappeared around a corner.

"See? I told you, you had nothing to worry about!" Annabel smiled, her voice getting excited.

"They're really nice." I chuckled, wrapping Annabel in a hug. "And what is this about a photo shoot? I didn't know you were a model."

"I only model a bit. I'm not a professional or anything, I'm just on a couple of ads that's all." She explained. "Speaking of which, I need to get ready for that, so I'll see you tonight?"

"See you then. I love you," I told her, kissing her soft lips. She smiled, and leaned against the door frame as I walked out of the house. I gave one last wave before driving away.

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~Annabel's POV~

After he left, I closed the front door, and leaned against it, relieved the brief meeting with my parents went well. I don't know why I was so paranoid in the first place, about introducing Harry to them. I wasn't even quite sure what I was doing when I asked him to meet them this morning.

My mother walked into view, and walked over to me.

"He's a very nice boy, Annabel. I like him very much already, but we'll see how tonight goes." My mother smiled. I nodded, and mumbled a small thanks before heading up to my room. I removed all excess makeup on my face, and combed my hair, before hanging up my dress from the ball. After that was all done, I made my way downstairs, where my mother was waiting for me.

"I'm ready." I announced, grabbing a granola bar.

"Alright, let's go." We began driving in a matter of 3 minutes, and it was only a 5 minute drive. I walked into the studio as my mother talked to the photographer, and I set my bag on an empty chair.

"Miss Shaw?" A man walked into the room I was standing in.

"Leo, it's good to see you!" I smiled, wrapping my arms around him. Leo was my makeup artist, and he always did my makeup for photo shoots. He was the best of the best, for things like this.

"You ready to get started?" He smiled.

"Yep." He began working on my makeup, as Kirsten, my hairstylist, styled my hair. After that was all done, it was already 11:30. I changed into the clothes they wanted me to change into, and began posing for the camera, with orders being shouted at me.

"Chin down a little. Don't lose the emotion. Pretend to laugh." They told me, as I went through with every command. Photo shoots were always so tiring, and honestly, I didn't really enjoy them at all. It made good money, but I wanted to actually have to do work, instead of smiling for a camera. I know every barista probably would dream of taking pictures, and modeling for money, but I would rather be a barista. I made a mental note to myself to tell my mom.

"And that's a wrap." Someone called out. I didn't even realize I was still smiling for the camera, and we were already done. It was a one hour photo shoot, so it was already 12:30.

"Annabel, what do you think about getting lunch?" My mother approached me.

"Sure, who do you want me to go with? I questioned, wiping off all the makeup that was put on my face.

"Me." She laughed.

"You?" I was honestly so shocked that she asked to go get lunch, just the two of us. We haven't done this since I was 11 years old, and it'd be nice to bring those memories back.

"Yes, don't act so surprised, Annabel." She joked, laughing.

"Yeah, I would love to go to lunch with you!" I smiled. I reapplied some mascara onto my naked lashes, before grabbing my bag, and walking out with my mother. I climbed into the passenger's seat, and tossed my bag with my stuff in it, onto the backseat. We drove for a bit, before arriving at a restaurant. It was pretty crowded, given that it was lunchtime. My mom and I sat at a table for two outside, by a railing with cute plants and flowers hanging above, and beside us. We ordered our lunch, that came pretty quickly, despite the amount of people that was being served.

"So," My mom began, as she took forkful of salad in her mouth. "Let's talk about Harry."

"What about him?" I couldn't help but smile at the mention of his name, as I fed myself salad as well.

"He's a nice boy. He has an accent?"

"Yeah, british."

"You love him?" My mom asked unexpectedly, causing me to choke a bit on my water.

"What?"

"Do you love him? I can tell he loves you." She spoke, casually.

"And how can you tell?"

"The way he looks at you. Your father looked at me the same way. He was a very loving man, much like Harry." Hearing these words, made my heart warm. It was such a sweet thing to hear, and I never really noticed any specific way he looked at me, but it was quite sweet.

"Yeah, I do love him. A lot." I smiled down at my plate.

"I'm glad you're happy, I haven't seen you this way in a long time." My mother smiled at me, with a sparkle in her eyes that I haven't seen in such a long time.

"Thanks, Mom. I love you."

"I love you too, darling." She smiled lovingly at me. After we spoke about more things, I realized my mother really wasn't as harsh and cold-blooded as she seemed. I loved seeing her loosen up like this, and really talk to me like a mother does. I was glad I had this time to spend with her, time that wasn't filled up during the past few years.

We paid for our food, and headed home, and dinner was getting closer and closer. I sat around for hours, talking to Lilly until she had to go. Then, I just moved on to talking to Harry, for the rest of the afternoon, until it hit 5.

"I'll see you soon, baby." He spoke over the phone.

"When are you coming again? Dinner's at 6."

"Yeah, I know, that's why I'll be there at 5:30, just to make a good impression on your parents." I could practically hear his smirk through the phone.

"Okay, I'll see you then. Go get ready." I smiled.

"I will."

"I love you," I spoke.

"I love you too." And with that, the phone call ended. It was almost dinner time, and to be quite honest with you, I was a nervous wreck.

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