salute [h.s]

was i supposed to tell the PM to shove off?

"Stop," Harry said, breaking the silence in the car. She looked over and saw that he was looking at her intently, clutching his bottom lip between his thumb and finger. His eyes, brilliant green in contrast to the blue suit, were steady on her. "Just stop, petal."

He must have noticed the way she couldn't stop her fidgeting hands or how her breathing had become sort of shallow or how she'd adopted a deer-in-headlights expression as she watched the people in the queue in front of them getting out of their cars.

She blew out a shaky breath. "It's just —"

"I know," Harry told her, "but we've been over this before. We went over this on our first date. You don't need to be uncomfortable because you look beautiful and you can be quite the sophisticated lady when you want to be."

Piper gave Harry a reproachful look that made him grin cheekily. "Come on, petal. Just loosen up a bit. I promise that you're going to enjoy your surprise and then all these stiffs will be the last thing on your mind."

"Promise?" Piper said softly.

"Promise."

They came up in the queue and Harry angled out of the car with practiced precision, handing the keys over to the valet. He crossed around the front of the car and then opened the passenger door. When he held out his hand, palm up, Piper slid hers into it and let Harry pull her gracefully from the car. He bent to adjust her dress around her feet so she wasn't tangled or tripping before she could even think to do it herself. That was Harry for you — she wondered (often) how she could have been so fortunate as to find him.

His arm came around her waist at a respectable and comfortable height and then the two of them were walking through the cold to the entrance of the London Coliseum. Piper had no idea what was even playing because she didn't keep current on the Opera world. She thought she might have seen ads in the tube for Swan Lake but that was for February. Before she had a chance to ask Harry, they were stepping through the entrance and Piper was enthralled by the winter wonderland within.

She was pretty sure that the decor was not usual for the theatre. Trees stood everywhere, decorated with red and gold, surrounding by circles of white fluffy snow and stacks of wrapped gifts. Boughs and garlands hung from the ceiling, wrapped in small white lights that sparkled. Standing at the doors and the bases of the railings were tall wooden nutcrackers.

"Your tickets?" someone interrupted. Piper glanced over at the attendant who was giving her a sideways glance that she didn't like. It was judgemental and when he scanned her dress and then her hair, she felt the frantic anxiety building in her once more.

Harry reached into his inside pocket without removing his hold from her. He flashed them to the attendant who made a big show of reading them. Something caught his eye and he immediately looked like he swallowed his tongue. He cleared his throat uncomfortably and then waved the two of them in. With a curt 'thank you' to the man, Harry nudged her forward and the two of them walked into the foyer.

Before Piper could say a single word, Harry was being greeted by suited gentlemen left, right and centre. He shook hands and kissed women's cheeks, greeting everyone by name. Piper could only stand at his side and watch, not knowing anyone. Harry always made sure to introduce her to whoever they were talking to — Lords, Members of Parliament, Cabinet Ministers, the Chief of Defense Intelligence, the Director of GCHQ, the Director General of MI5 — and while Piper tried to keep track of it all, it quickly got overwhelming. She was shaking hands with some of the most powerful men and women in Britain. Of course, none of them had heard of her so there were often questions about what she did, things like that. Harry often introduced her as a colleague although it was clear there was more by the way he was holding her. He let people make their own inferences.