- - chapter twelve - -
cigarette in my hand
Polly Parker was proud of herself. She was an extremely proud woman and had been that way ever since she was a child, it was the way that her parents had raised her. And the way that she had handled that situation, made her proud of herself although she was ashamed of her daughter. She knew exactly what kind of a person George was, just because she had known his family and even though some would say it was unfair to judge him before knowing him; this was the way that Polly did things and this was how she kept her family safe. Despite being a proud pureblood witch, her life had a different purpose now as her life revolved around country clubs and posh dinners with politicians. Her life had become one of plush and pleasure, only keeping to a schedule that she wanted as she supported her mayor husband by smiling and chatting to strangers. The life of the ambitious witch who had wanted to work in the Ministry of Magic was long forgotten and she had not touched her wand for a decade.
What she wasn't happy with was the way that Indigo had reacted to this change. Getting rid of George was the only option that she could see for her daughter and yet that was not what Indigo was thinking; she was more than upset. When they heard the door of the shop below them slam shut, Polly let out a sigh of relief and began looking around the apartment, judging everything as if nothing had happened. Indigo didn't move and couldn't believe what had just happened, tears clouding her vision as she wondered whether she had just lost George forever. She didn't know why she was feeling so lost, why had he made such a large impression on her in such a little amount of time? She wasn't the kind of person that wanted to feel vulnerable but for some reason, the thought of not having George around was enough to freak her out and she hated feeling this way.
"Indigo, I thought you had gotten rid of that thing." Polly hissed, eyeing up the ginger cat that was happily napping on the windowsill. "I told you, it's a fleabag and my allergies always act up when it's around."
Adding a slight cough at the end of her sentence was enough for Indigo to be broken out of her thoughts as she closed her hands into fists and tried to stand her ground. "Why did you do this?"
"I told you, my allergies act up around that cat-"
"No! Why did you kick George out?"
Polly rolled her eyes. "I'm not the bad guy here, he is. I just saved you from a life of misery. Possibly even prolonged your life because you don't know what he could do."
"He'd never hurt me." Indigo argued, keeping her fists scrunched at her waist and trying not to get too angry at her mother but failing every time she spoke.
"Darling, you're delirious. Oh God, do you have feelings for that scum? Grow up. It's not going to happen; it would never happen. How could he ever feel the same way for you? What would he do when he finds out what you are?"
She wiped her eyes slightly. "That doesn't matter. What matters is that he's my friend, and I don't care what he is." Deciding that she needed to be strong and make her own decisions, she decided that it was time to do something for herself and headed out of the flat.
"Where are you going?" Polly shouted behind her, not happy that her daughter was disobeying her. "Indigo! Get back here now! He's dangerous!"
She didn't really know what her plan had been when she stormed out of the building, at the time when she spoke openly, all she could think about was getting away from her mother. Now that she was outside, standing on the almost empty road, she wasn't sure what to do. George was gone and she had no way of finding him, she didn't know where he went after leaving the shop. Maybe she could check the café that they always had lunch in, but it was slightly later in the afternoon than usual and the place was probably closed. Whenever they had talked, George mentioned that he lived in London and talked about the type of shops that were near his flat; however, she had no way of getting there or even knowing where that particular street was located. So, she was back too square one, with no way of knowing what to do. A loud meowing by her feet, scared her and her hand pressed over her chest to calm down her erratic heartbeat.
"Basil?" Indigo leaned down to his height and stroked behind his ears as he purred happily. "What are you doing out here?"
Instead of answering his owner, Basil began walking away from her and at first Indigo was worried that he had suddenly decided to run away from home; but then she realised that he was leading her somewhere. He knew exactly where he was going and every so often, would stop and check over his shoulder to make sure that she was following him. They went past the shops in the town centre and away from the stragglers finishing their shopping; Basil led her down smaller alleyways and it started to worry her that her cat was taking her somewhere to get murdered. Eventually they reached a clearing where the shops ended and there was a small quarter where a bench overlooked the river that ran through the town. This was on the outskirts of the town and she had never been this far away from the centre before; what shocked her more was that there was a lonely figure sat on the bench, taking a long hit from his cigarette and watching the river silently.
Indigo took slow steps over to the bench, not wanting to be too loud but also not wanting to be too quiet and scare him. She stood slightly behind the bench and refused to look down to him, watching the river as she spoke; her hands clammy with anxiety. "I didn't know that you smoked."
"It helps me relax." George answered, not even looking over his shoulder because he knew exactly who was stood behind him; smelling the fresh flowery smell of the florist a long time before she got the nerve to speak. "What are you doing here?"
"Well, I didn't know how to find you but Basil seemed intent on going somewhere and I followed him which led me here."
He raised an eyebrow, this time looking back at her because he had no idea what she was talking about. "Who the hell is Basil?"
"My cat." Indigo was glad that he had finally looked up at her because it made her feel more comfortable and she took the chance to slip onto the bench beside him. Watching the river because it was easier than making eye contact with the man beside her, she wasn't ready to face him yet. "He's usually a house cat but recently he's been trying to leave the flat and I didn't know why but he led me straight to you. I guess it was his way of making us talk to each other."
"We're not supposed to be talking to each other." George mumbled, taking another drag of his cigarette which made her scrunch up her nose because she wasn't a big fan of the smell. Whenever they had talked before, there had been no cigarette and she had never smelt smoke on him; which meant that he only did it rarely. "Your mother made that extremely clear."
"I know and I'm sorry for everything that she said-"
"She knows about magic; you know about magic; how do you know?" He questioned, getting frustrated that no matter how many times he pushed for an answer, he didn't get anything back. It seemed to him that he had laid his cards out on the table but wasn't getting anything in return.
Indigo shook her head, not ready to share that information. "That's not important."
"Of course, not. My mistake, I forgot that you never tell anyone about yourself even though you love hearing the secrets of everyone else."
"What?"
"That's right." George snapped, leaning back on the bench and folding his arms across his chest, the scent of his cigarette reaching her nose quicker now that they were closer. "I'm sick of knowing nothing about you."
She sighed, not wanting them to argue again because this was the only thing that ever caused them to argue. "You know things about me."
"I know your name and your age."
"You know more than that." Indigo replied, hating that they were still arguing about this because she was sure that George knew more about her than that; she had told him all about her family and stories that she had never told anyone before.
"But you're not opening up to me. I told you about things that I haven't been able to tell anyone. I told you about Fred, and I haven't been able to talk about him with anyone else." George stood up from the bench and dropped his cigarette to the floor, leaning down to get into her face he pointed at her. "Only you."
"Fine, you want to know one of my secrets?" She retaliated, pushing up from the bench and beginning her own rant which he would have to listen to because there was no way that she was stopping now that she had started. "I have feelings for you! There, I said it! I have no idea why because all you do is insult me and shut me down but for some reason, I get butterflies whenever you walk into the room and when I see you smile, my heart beats faster than I even thought was possible. Is that a good enough secret for you, George?"
He didn't answer. That was the first red flag that went through her head, because there was no answer and she had just admitted that she had feelings for him. It was strange, because they didn't know much about each other and they hadn't known each other for very long but she had never felt this way about anyone before. It was a new feeling but it wasn't necessarily a bad feeling, it was just different. George hadn't changed his expression when she had finished talking, he still looked the exact same as when she had started her rant. Inside his mind was racing and his heart was hammering against his chest, not believing what he had just heard but he remembered that he needed to act calm on the outside and not let it known how important this conversation was for him. Instead of answering, he stood up and began walking away from the bench which just frustrated Indigo as she launched herself after him, not being able to keep up with his fast pace.
"Where are you going? We're not finished!"
"I know." He shrugged, not turning around as he kept walking away. "I'll pick you up at six."
She frowned, not understanding. "For what?"
"Dinner with my family."
a/n: next chapter is a lot longer, this was just to set the storyline up 🤩 -lizzie ⭐️
date published: 28/08/21