Penelope.
My knuckles came down on the glass door of Carlo's office, and he grumbled something under his breath which I took as a sign to enter.
He hardly ever closed his door but was in an exceptionally horrible mood today, so I was careful as I walked in and closed it behind me again gently, "Hi."
My boss, Carlo, was the CEO of the Vivienne Westwood company in London. While Vivienne herself was in the States most of the time, he kind of took over locally and managed the company here. All day, he had been in a terrible mood since fashion week was coming up next week.
Fashion week was basically the busiest week of the year for us, and it was an event that Carlo had been working towards for months and months and months. As did we. A shipment of cardigans had gone wrong this morning and I had been working all day on fixing it, meaning that now I still had to catch up on some administrative work.
"Yeah?" He breathed tiredly as he looked up from his computer.
"Hi, is it okay if I take off? I'm going to continue working at home, but there's no reason for me to still be at the office tonight."
"What time is it?" He frowned before glancing at his computer, "It's only four?"
"I know, but I have to pick up my roommate who finished work now. His car is in the garage. And like I said, I'll continue working but just from my desk at home." I explained as I stayed by the door and Carlo let out a sigh, "Fine. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Alright. Call me if you need anything."
He mumbled something once more and I took it as my cue to leave. I shot Felix a look, who shot one back. We had both been walking on eggshells today since our boss was snapping and barking at everything that moved, and he had been taking his frustrations out on us.
"Lucky you." Felix complained as he watched me pack up my things. I breathily chuckled and shook my head, "I'm nowhere near finished working for the day, so don't worry. I'm with you in spirit."
"He's only got me to yell at now." My colleague pouted. Felix was Carlo's second assistant that he hired a couple months back. The work had become too much for me, simply because Carlo constantly expected more and more and my job was much wider than purely assistant-work or administration. I had picked up little jobs around the office for months now, so he finally decided to relieve me of some of my workload and hire a second assistant.
Felix was a forty year-old bald man with very colourful glasses and an eccentric sense of style. He usually wore bright colourful suits that he somehow pulled of perfectly. There was no one in the world who could look good in what he wore, besides him.
Another thing about Felix, was that he was a very flamboyant gay man. I had tremendous fun with him to be honest. When Carlo told me my colleague would be a forty year-old man, I definitely had my doubts. After all, I was supposed to work with him for over eight hours every day, so I was a little nervous of sharing the office space with someone I hopefully got along with.
Felix and I were a match made in heaven when it came to our friendship. We bonded over fashion of course, and I was pleasantly surprised when he invited me to his house after one week of working here and he made me a delicious paella and we sipped beer all evening while watching old seasons of America's Next Top Model.
I shot him a wave as my heels took me out of the office and into the elevator, down to the parking garage. I was eternally thankful for the underground parking space that the company rented, since the heatwave outside couldn't reach my car – which had no air conditioning.
My old beige Volkswagen was a sight for sore eyes between the black polished expensive cars that the rest of my colleagues drove around in. Felix' red Porsche was parked next to me just to emphasize how shitty of a car I owned.
But I loved it.
The second I was outside, the heat hit me and I was a sweaty mess behind the wheel. I quickly texted Dave to let him know I was on my way to pick him up from work. He finished about ten minutes earlier and I knew he was already waiting, but I couldn't control the traffic.
Once I was out of central London and drove into Richmond, the traffic got a little easier and I could finally shift to third gear for once, driving a comfortable thirty miles an hour as I got into the more suburban bit of Richmond until I turned the corner of the street of the school.
The Richmond community school seemed pretty deserted as I saw Dave waiting at the gates in the little strip of shadow that one tree provided him with. I could feel his glare from a mile away.
Harry was next to him and I came to a stop as I got out, "Sorry, sorry, sorry!"
Dave didn't say anything but shot me a dirty look as I gave him an angelic smile, "Please forgive me. Hi, by the way, Harry." I waved at the curly-haired boy who was leaning against the wall too, "Do you need a ride as well?"
"Hey." He grinned as he pushed himself off of the wall. He wore a light grey T-shirt and black jeans, having a lot of his tattoos on display. It mesmerized me how he could look so good in such simple clothing, just like had done a few days earlier when I met him for the first time.
He nodded his head at my question, "Actually, that'd be nice. A friend borrowed my car today so I took the tube to work. Thought I'd sit with Dave and wait for you, didn't think it would take you four years." He teased.
I cocked up an eyebrow but couldn't hide the small smile tugging on one corner of my lip from his sarcasm, "Careful, might leave you two stranded here. And hey, Dave, the tube, that's an idea isn't it?"
Dave rolled his eyes, "You know I hate public transport, I'm claustrophobic."
"Sure you are." I turned my attention back to Harry, "Thanks for waiting with him, you've probably made him about thirty percent less mad at me." I snickered. Dave let out a groan, "Can we fucking go now?! I'm nearly boiled."
"Sure." I sighed, motioning to my car, "It's not fancy, but it drives. Harry, where do I drop you off?" I asked as I got back behind the wheel, running the back of my hand over my forehead as I was sweating once more.
"Um, Dave mentioned something about a bar?"
I glared at my roommate, "You wanted me to pick you up from work and drive you to the bar?! I'm not your bloody cab driver, Dave! I left work early for this!"
"True, cabs don't make me faint from the bloody heat!" He barked back as he fanned his own face.
"Roll your window down then!" I snapped in annoyance while I heard Harry snickering from the backseat. He sat in the middle seat, right in my vision whenever I looked in my rear-view mirror.
"How was your day?" Dave asked to break the tension and I let out a breath, hating how he always did that. He just changed subjects after getting me riled up, and he knew exactly what he was doing. Dave and I had known each other all our lives, and we fought like siblings. We loved like siblings too, but the fights we had were immature, childish and stupid. Like this one.
"Nothing special," I shrugged, "Got yelled at by Carlo every five minutes. He was a moody twat today and I'm nowhere near finished with work for the day. So I'll go to Steve's with you guys to continue."
"Harry's never been to Steve's."
"Really?" I looked at Harry in the mirror, "Are you not from this neighbourhood?" I questioned as I was stuck at a red light. Harry rolled his lips inside his mouth as he looked back at me, "I am, actually. I don't know, never really did that much exploring. I usually go into central London for bars."
Dave let out a low whistle, "Fancy man."
Harry laughed and I looked at him, seeing the sunglasses low on the bridge of his nose. He was chewing gum, flexing his jaw as his thumb tapped on the back of his phone that rested on his thigh, to the beat of the techno-song that was playing on the radio.
I found it a little hard to tear my eyes away since he was so effortlessly attractive. From seeing him that first time, I had to admit I developed a tiny physical crush on him. He was just so good looking.
"Pen, the light's green." Dave snapped me out of my thoughts and I pressed my foot on the gas pedal as I stared straight ahead of me to see the roads. I felt Dave's eyes on me from the side and I pressed my lips together in hopes he didn't catch the caught look on my face.
"Are you seeing Patrick today?" He asked and I shook my head as I took a left, "No. Why?"
"I don't know. You dress differently when you're not seeing him. You'd never wear this if he could see it." He commented and I frowned, seeing my own outfit. I wore a skirt and a top with only one shoulder covered, "Is it too revealing?"
"No, not at all. Looks nice. You always look classy, you know that. He'd think otherwise though."
I shrugged, "I don't know." It was a lie, I did know. And he was right. Patrick would comment that I was too naked and slutty for an office day. We fell in silence, and I was very aware that Harry was in this car and listening in on this conversation.
I popped my sunglasses up on my head to keep my hair away as the wind blew through my windows, and searched for eye-contact with Harry through the rear-view mirror, "Sorry about what he said on Friday, by the way. I hope you didn't take it to heart."
He quickly shook his head, "Don't worry about it."
I felt stupid apologizing in Patrick's name, but I'd be lying if I said it was the first time. His behaviour appalled me sometimes. I could never believe how he looked down on certain jobs, even on mine. Just because he was some hotshot at an insurance firm and he had won awards for whatever he accomplished at his young age, didn't mean he could belittle others.
The work that Harry and Dave did was extremely essential to society, and I had nothing but respect for it. It could never be me, I simply didn't have the patience.
"What did he say?" Dave asked in curiosity and I shrugged one shoulder, "Just something stupid about Harry's job."
He paused for a second, "Which is also my job... Continue."
I glanced at Harry in the mirror and nibbled on the inside of my cheek. I didn't want to tell Dave since it would just give him another reason to dislike Patrick, but on the other hand I couldn't lie because Harry knew the truth.
The fact that Dave and Patrick never got along, was something that bothered me tremendously. They were literally like cat and dog, fire and water. They were complete opposites, yet I loved them both so much. Patrick thought Dave was childish and immature, and that he had to be more serious for his age. Dave, on the other hand, saw Patrick as stuck-up and boring, and he always said he had to live a little now that he was in his twenties and childless.
Dave always said that these were the golden years and that life would never be as good as it is right now. He always gave speeches about it when he was drunk, claiming how much he loved his friends and how he loved it that we lived together and that none of us were married or had kids, so that we didn't really have all that many commitments.
I didn't disagree with him, but on the other hand we weren't eighteen year-olds students anymore who got blind drunk every night. There were definitely certain responsibilities that came with work life and living on your own. The financial aspect was definitely the biggest responsibility, and it was something Dave struggled a little with.
He always paid rent, but he didn't really understand how saving worked. He spent most of his money, and Katie and I had given up on trying to explain to him how important saving was. Dave wanted to enjoy life without looking after his money, and that was his thing. As long as the bills for the house got paid, we were cool with it.
He had had endless discussions with Patrick about the topic. Discussions that had left me with my hands in my hair as I got pulled between my boyfriend and my best friend, who both couldn't stand to be in the same room with one another.
And the funny thing was that they were friends when I met Patrick.
He resembled Dave a lot at that age, but grew out of his playful and goofy personality and into a mature and serious one. Sure, I missed it about him sometimes, but that's just how things went. I was sure I had changed over the years as well, and that was normal.
"What did he say?" Dave pushed and I rolled my eyes, "You know how he is."
"Pen, Jesus." Dave hissed in frustration, "Stop making excuses for the guy. He's not just shitting on mine and Harry's job, but on yours too. Don't think I didn't hear him on Friday when he said all you have to do is get Carlo coffee. We all know that's not true."
I couldn't retort anything because Dave was right. As always.
"Can we just... not talk about that right now?" I tried, hoping Dave got the hint that I didn't want to have this argument with Harry in the same car. I was sure he already had an opinion on Patrick from meeting him for the first time, and I didn't want to make it worse.
The last thing I needed was yet another friend hating my boyfriend.
I pulled up at Steve's a short while later, and the three of us hurried into the coolness of the bar. We let out a sighs of relief when the aircon hit our faces and ordered cold beers immediately.
"This is a really cool place." I explained to Harry as I leaned against the bar, "It's kind of for everyone. All ages, all purposes... Some people come here for drinks with friends and to play pool, others come here to do some silent work or read the paper. It's nice."
I waved at Steve, the owner of the place as he greeted us and handed us our beers. Harry nodded at my explanation as he looked around, "Mhm, it's nice indeed. Can't believe I've never been here before, I live just a few minutes away from here."
I smiled at him, taking a sip of my beer. Instead of meeting his eyesight, I found his eyes somewhere else. On my legs to be precise. I shuffled on my feet a little, the high heels giving me the height advantage and making me nearly as tall as him.
"My eyes are up here." I joked and Harry quickly looked up to see my face, a small blush on his cheeks as he shot me a dimpled grin, "Fuck, sorry. Didn't mean to stare."
I let out a laugh as I shook my head, "It's okay. Did you have fun on Friday? Sorry again for what Patrick said, really hope it didn't offend you too much."
"You don't have to apologize for him, Penny. It's not the first time I've gotten something like that. Teaching is always kind of a job that people look down on because it looks easy." Harry spoke and I let out a breath, "Still, felt guilty."
He shrugged, "Well, it's not your guilt to carry. And honestly, I don't care really."
I shot Harry another smile and nodded, seeing Dave in the corner of the bar on his phone with his mum still. He was slowly sipping his beer as we did as well, cooling down from the heatwave that took over London.
I didn't see much more of Harry after Patrick asked me to change upstairs. I had put on a pair of jeans at his request, even though they were just as tight as the leggings I wore before. When I got back downstairs, Patrick's mood had gotten even worse and he had been snubby with me all evening while I tried my best to get into conversations with him.
I knew he disliked my friends, but it would still be nice to see him try and make an effort. It's what I would do if his group of friends ever bloody invited me. But they didn't. I never particularly got along with the girlfriends of Patrick's friends. Kennedy and Madison were very tight and very similar, and I didn't really fit with their vibe.
They were always kind of off on their own, whispering about things I probably didn't want to hear. Yet, when I saw them or got invited to something, I tried my best to get along with them just for one night. It was exhausting to do so, but I knew it was important for Patrick and I didn't want to be that girlfriend that ruined the entire evening by bringing the atmosphere down.
Patrick seemingly didn't have the same worries when it came to my group of friends. He thought they were all like Dave. Immature, childish and not serious enough in life. He said they rubbed off on me in a bad way, and it had resulted in multiple fights and slamming doors as I tried to defend my friends from whatever insults Patrick threw at them.
"And to answer your question," Harry snapped me out of my thoughts, "I did have fun on Friday. Everyone was really nice. I was a little nervous to be honest, meeting so many new people."
"Yeah? You're not a big group kind of guy?"
He shrugged his shoulders as he took a large gulp of his beer, "I have quite a small group. I don't know, I don't think I open up that easily and it takes me a while to vibe with people."
I found his words hard to believe and I raised my brows in surprise, "Really? I'd never think that, you were super open on Friday."
"Comes out with the right people." He chuckled.
The bell of the door rang, and in walked a sweaty Louis who wiped the sweat away from his forehead. I winced a little when he pulled me in for a hug and my face was pressed into his sweaty neck, "Bloody hell, it's too fuckin' hot outside." He scoffed.
He greeted Harry with a pat on the shoulder and immediately ordered a beer as Dave wrapped up his phone call.
"Ah, Tomlinson! Fancy seeing you here!" Dave's voice boomed through the bar and the two greeted each other with a hug.
Harry had his brows up as he looked at Louis, "You're Tomlinson?"
Louis seemed a little confused as he was still trying to cool down a bit, "Yeah, that's me."
"So you two..." Harry pointed his finger between me and Louis, which only confused us more, "...like, kissed?"
"What?!" Dave's bellowed as I frowned at Harry, "Huh?"
He let out a chuckle, "I heard Patrick say something about that."
Louis snorted and shook his head as he rolled his eyes, "Nope. I tried to make a move on Penny, two years ago. Was a bit drunk and tried to snog her at a party, didn't I, babe?" He asked me and I let out a snicker, "Yeah."
"Don't remind me." Dave cringed as he covered his ears, "And don't call her babe."
"Anyways," Louis continued, "Penny rejected me and broke my bloody heart. Patrick still goes on and on about how I went after his bird even though it was one night and two years ago, and nothing happened."
"And you apologized." I chimed in, coming to Louis' defence. That night really did not mean anything to me, or to Louis. He was blind drunk and tried it on with anything that wore a skirt. After I turned him down, he turned to Katie and tried the same thing.
The only difference was that it worked on her and not on me. Dave still didn't know that they made out once when Katie was still quite new to the group.
Dave was extremely protective over both me and Katie, to the point where it actually got really annoying. More so for her, since she was single. It didn't stop him from bashing on Patrick every chance he got, but at least I had a good excuse when a guy tried to make a move on me.
Dave was like a bloody guard dog whenever we went out. He was joined at Katie's or my hip at all times to make sure that men didn't harass us or annoy us, or that they didn't spike our drinks. Katie had freaked out over it on multiple occasions since he scared guys off and she never got laid anymore if he was around.
Our conversation got interrupted by my ringtone, and I sighed as I took my phone out of my bag and saw Carlo's name on the screen, "Right, I have to get back to work." I muttered to the group as I pushed myself off of the bar and headed towards one of the small tables by the window while answering the call, "Hello? Yeah – Carlo? I'm... No, I'm good, you can tell me."
I had a frown on my face as I opened my laptop up and typed in my password before connecting to the Wi-Fi that I blindly knew the password of by now, "I did call Mason and ask him for the designs. I actually specifically said you needed them by four. I'll call him again, but not tonight... Yeah – No, it's past office hours anyway, so I'd just be leaving a voicem – Okay, you'd rather I leave him a voicemail? Y- Okay. I'll call him, yeah. Yeah. No, you're right. I'm sorry, bye!"
"Fucking hell." I groaned out as I ended the call and focussed on whatever was on the screen of my laptop. I sighed once more as my shoulders slumped and I finished up my beer before motioning to Steve to bring me another one.
My head shot up when Harry joined me at my table, with a stack of folders beneath his arm. He shot me a sheepish look, "Is it okay if I sit with you? I have some work to finish up as well."
I inhaled a breath as I slowly nodded, keeping my eyes trained on his face rather than his torso that got hugged by the clingy shirt, "Yep, sure."
Looking at his face didn't put me at ease much more, since the green of his eyes was so piercing I felt like he could look straight into my soul and read my mind. My fingertips felt a little tingly when he sat close to me, bumping his legs into mine beneath the table before mumbling an apology.
He smelled like cologne and sunscreen, and I glanced at his hands as he took a pencil out of his bag to grade some papers. He had long, bony fingers and a couple tattoos on his hand. The cross near his thumb stood out quite a bit, as well as the multiple silver rings on his fingers.
Patrick wore those too.
Louis and Dave continued chatting near the bar while Harry and I got to work in silence. I made a few phone calls and got my tablet out as well as my notebook.
"Sorry for taking up so much space." I apologized to Harry as I tried to cram my laptop, tablet and notebook on the small table while still leaving room for him and our drinks.
He shook his head, "It's fine, don't worry about it. You seem to have quite a lot of work to do."
I sighed, "Yeah, it's fashion week next week, so people just kind of forget about the boundaries of office hours. It's a lot of stress because so many things need to get fixed at the last minute, and it's my job to fix them all and get the proper people on it."
Harry seemed impressed, "Fashion week, wow. Sounds heavy."
"It is." I confirmed, "I'm staying at a hotel all week and have to go to a ton of meetings and every single show with Carlo. But I get to meet a lot of cool people and there's fancy dinners every evening. I also get to wear designer clothes so I can't complain." I grinned.
"Fancy, fancy." Harry commented with a nod, "You get to wear Vivienne?"
"Nah," I waved it away, "I'm not important enough to wear her latest collection. Our office has a warehouse with a lot of clothes from older collections from other designers. So we just pick stuff out there and then dry clean it and return it."
"Really? That's so fucking cool! Do you reckon there's anything for me there?"
I let out a laugh as I shook my head, "I can't steal from the warehouse, Harry."
He snickered along, "You think they'd notice?"
"Definitely. There's one person overseeing everything and he's really strict with that stuff. Sadly enough. You have to pay full price if you want to keep something." I explained.
"Holy shit. Some designer pieces are like a month's wage."
"They are, they are." I nodded and we fell into a silence again as we continued working.
I couldn't quite focus on my e-mails as I kept sneaking glances at Harry.
"How old are you?" I asked after a couple of minutes, and Harry paused the movement of his pen as he was grading a test. Some student had really fucked up since I saw a lot of red on there.
"I'm 25." Harry answered as he leaned back in his chair, "When's your birthday?" He asked, continuing the easy questions.
"February 14th." My mouth tugged up in a smile, "Complete cliché, I know. I hate it."
He threw his head back in a laugh, shaking his head, "I don't believe you."
I raised my brows and I pressed my lips together to hide my smile, "Oh, you want evidence?" I reached for my bag to pull out my wallet and hand him my ID, "Here you go, mister 'I don't believe you'."
Harry had an amused look on his face as he took my ID and stared at it. The black and white photo was outdated and made me look like I was taking a mug shot, but that's not what seemed to amuse him, "Penelope Claire Warren?"
"Oh shit." I muttered as I snatched my ID back out of his hand to hide it, as if he hadn't already seen it.
His mouth was up in a smirk, "Your full name's Penelope?"
"No." I lied, clearly in denial about my name. My cheeks turned pink as I shoved my wallet back in my bag and regretted my decision to prove my birthday to him.
"I know what I'm going to call you from now on." Harry smugly spoke and I groaned in cringe, "Please, no. I hate that name. Nobody calls me that besides my mum."
He laughed as he palmed his face, "Only giving me more reasons, you know that right?"
"Oh, come on!" I tried, "Everyone calls me Penny anyway! Penelope is so long and awkward."
He shook his head, "Damage is done, Penelope."
"You enjoy torturing people, do you?" I sighed out in pain and Harry was still grinning, "Just you."
"Dick." I muttered under my breath as a joke and Harry cackled shortly at my insult.
"But you were right, your birthday is February 14th." He changed the topic again and I nodded, "I always tell the truth, I'm a shit liar."
"I'll keep that in mind." Harry joked, "So for the past eight years, you and Patrick have been celebrating your birthday and Valentine's day at the same time?"
"We don't really celebrate Valentine's day anymore. Between all the other holidays, it's forgotten pretty quickly."
"Hmm, I can imagine," Harry nodded, "So... Aquarius?"
"Yep. How about you?" I answered.
"February 1st, so me too."
My eyes lit up as I grinned, "Aren't we a lucky pair? Don't you just love February?"
"I actually don't." Harry shook his head and I let out a laugh, "I know, I hate it. It's so cold and gloomy. It's not Christmas anymore and it's not Spring yet."
"Right?" Harry chimed in and we laughed together for a little longer. I enjoyed his company definitely. It felt like I knew him for far longer than just a couple of days, and I talked to him like I talked to any of my other friends.
We got back to work for a bit, me taking a few more calls and Harry nearly finishing up his red pen from all the correcting he was doing. He muttered profanities under his breath at some of the things he read, and sometimes showed me some stuff a student had written down and we laughed about it together.
"Someone named Mila is blowing up your phone." I spoke, seeing Harry's lit up screen as it was next to me and facing me. I quickly slid it over the table, and Harry's eyes widened as he quickly declined the call.
"Didn't tell your girlfriend where you were, did you?" I joked while simultaneously wanting to know if Harry was single or not. He shook his head, "Ex-girlfriend. She kind of won't leave me alone, maybe I should block her."
"Hmm, the classic annoying ex-girlfriend, tough call." I mused and he tilted his head to the side, "Experience with annoying ex-lovers, do you?"
I smiled slyly, "Nope, don't have any exes."
"Lucky you. They're a pain in the ass." He sighed as he stared at his black phone screen, in thought about the call he just declined.
"Can I ask why you two broke up?" My curiosity got the better of me as I couldn't stop myself from digging into Harry's past.
"Um, yeah. I don't know, really. Just didn't work out, there weren't that many feelings. It was never that serious for me. I don't really count her as an ex really, she was just someone I slept with sometimes." He explained and I raised my brows, "Really?"
"Yeah, just casual." He shrugged as if it was the most normal thing in the world, which I supposed for some people it was. The world of casual dating was completely foreign to me, yet fascinating at the same time. I bit my tongue before I asked him too many personal questions about the topic.
I stared at him for a moment, lost in thought before Harry cleared his throat and I quickly looked away. He took his wallet out a minute later, "I'm going to grab another beer, you want anything?"
I stared at the half empty glass in front of me and puckered my lips, "Maybe some coffee would be nice? Can't keep working if I'm drunk."
"Alright, a beer and one coffee coming right up." He spoke as he was about to head to the bar. I reached my hand out to pat his over the table, "Thanks Harry."
His eyes widened as he stared at my hand and I retrieved it as I continued working, and Harry stayed seated. I frowned at him, "What's wrong?"
He inhaled sharply and pressed his lips together, shaking his head, "Nothing. I-I'm just going to finish this test and then I'll grab the drinks."
"Alright." I nodded with a smile, unsure as to why he didn't just go now. He shifted in his chair, fidgeting uncomfortably while he stared at the paper on the table. He did get up a moment later, ordering our drinks at the bar as I saw Patrick was calling me.
I let out a breath as I answered the call, "Hey."
"Hi. What're you doing? It's noisy there."
I glanced around my surroundings, "I'm still working, but I'm at the bar. Had to pick Dave and Harry up from school."
"Harry? That guy from Friday? Why didn't they drive themselves?" He questioned in confusion and I rubbed my forehead, "Both of them didn't have their cars."
He was quiet for a minute before sighing, "Alright then. You're not a taxi driver, are you?"
I rolled my eyes while feeling confused as to why he was so pissed over this one stupid thing, "I know, it's just something I did for a friend. They'd do the same for me."
"Whatever. What time are we meeting tonight? I have that dinner reservation from a while back, remember?"
I closed my eyes and shook my head, "I'm sorry, I'm still working and I have quite a lot to do. With fashion week coming up... You know this is the busiest time of the year for me."
I looked at Harry as he put the coffee down in front of me and I shot him a thankful smile while Patrick let out a heavy breath, "Fine."
I could hear the disappointment in his voice that I dreaded so much, "I'm sorry." I repeated, "Can't you just move the reservation to next week? We can go another time."
But Patrick wasn't having it, "No, let's just leave it. If you don't want to go, then we just won't go."
"I do want to go." I tried to reason and Patrick let out a huff, "Maybe you could go with your new friend?"
I shot Harry a short look as Patrick spoke about him, and I felt his eyes on me as he clearly noticed I was having an argument on the phone, "No, I don't want to go with anyone else, why would you say that?" I tried to keep my voice soft and gentle as I coaxed Patrick, who grew angrier with each passing second.
"I saw the way you looked at him on Friday. Fucker's got some nerve, I told him to stay away from you."
My eyes widened and I frowned, "You did what?! Why would you do that? A-And I wasn't looking in a certain way! Don't say that."
"Don't tell me what to say!"
I pinched the bridge of my nose, "I'm sorry. I'm just stressed right now and I have to continue working."
"Jesus." Patrick mumbled, "If you don't want to spend time with me, just say so."
"Pat, you're twisting my words." I sighed, "I never said that. I'm just busy right now." I hated how he spoke as if he had never blown me off for a work-thing.
"Where are you? And who are you with?"
I rolled my eyes at his obvious lack of trust, "I'm at Steve's." My eyes flicked up to Harry as I licked my lips, "Alone."
Harry frowned at my obvious lie but I avoided his eyesight and nibbled on my lip as Patrick took a second, "Okay. Have fun working then."
"Pat, I'm s-" I frowned deeply when he ended the call, and I stared at the screen of my phone in disbelief as it was just my home screen, a smiling Patrick looking back at me from the device. It had become a rare sight lately to see him like that.
I huffed under my breath as I put my phone down and palmed my face, not believing that I had to deal with this on top of everything else.
Patrick had always had trust issues for God knows what reason. I had never given him a reason not to trust me, I had never cheated on him or even texted another guy with the intention of flirting. I didn't even know how to flirt.
He hated that I had a group of friends that consisted mainly of men, but all of those guys were like my brothers. Louis flirted sometimes just for the sake of pissing Patrick off, but it never meant anything. Patrick never saw the fun in that and grew overprotective of me, but in a different way than Dave.
He just never wanted me to talk to another guy even if it meant nothing. I eyed Harry carefully, wondering if he was ever going to tell me that Patrick asked him to stay away from me.
"Everything okay?" Harry carefully asked once I fell silent after the phone call. I forced a small smile and nodded, "Mhm."
He nodded to himself and took a sip of his beer as I took a breath, "Did Patrick ask you to stay away from me?"
Harry's head shot up as he looked at me, slowly leaning back in his seat as he let out a breath, "Yes. He did, on Friday. When you were upstairs getting changed he told me to leave you alone and ignore you."
"Fuck." I mumbled as I ran a hand through my hair, "I'm so sorry. I have no idea what his problem is. I can't believe he spoke to you like that, I'm so sorry." I repeated and Harry shook his head, "You don't have to apologize. I suppose he feels intimidated since you hang out with so many guys. I told him I wasn't interested in you like that, but he didn't seem to believe me."
"God." I groaned, palming my face, "Is that why you were so distant all evening?"
He cocked up an eyebrow, "You noticed that? But yeah, it was. He was kind of murdering me with his eyes whenever I was even near you. But don't worry, I don't take stuff like that to heart. We hardly know each other."
"True." I sighed, feeling defeated that Patrick went behind my back in an attempt to have people ignore me. It felt a bit strange to me that Harry was so distant after we had a couple of nice chats. It definitely made me feel insecure that I had done something wrong, and that was all Patrick's doing.
I finished my coffee in one go and got up to my feet, "I need a stronger drink."