December 3, 2015
The walk with Nataley had brightened his day as much as her small adjustments to the lighting had brightened the studio. BooBoo, packing up his tattoo gun, reviewed care instructions with Harry for the millionth time. "Keep the bandage on for a couple of hours, and then make sure you wash it carefully a couple of times a day. Keep it moisturized. And no swimming, H!"
"Mate, I've got how many tattoos?"
"Mhm, and you still don't seem to take proper care of them."
Shaking Isaiah's hand, Harry grinned. "Thanks for coming today and doing this one. I appreciate you."
"Yeah, yeah. Always around to help out a friend."
Over the tattoo artist's shoulder, Harry spied Nataley as she climbed a ladder. When she removed a spotlight overhead, she handed it to a guy standing below before deftly backing down the ladder and shifting its position to ascend again. On the fifth and final light, Harry noticed that the guy to whom she'd been passing the lights was distracted by another crew member. Adroitly, Harry stepped to the bottom of the ladder and was ready to receive the light when she handed it down and descended.
"Oh." Her eyes widened when she witnessed the musician holding the equipment. "Jesus. I'm sorry, Harry. Let me take that from you."
"It's fine," he smiled with a sincerity that reached to the crinkles in his eyes. "Your helper got detained."
"As he often does when there's a cute guy around." Nataley didn't sound bothered by the situation. Instead, it appeared to be a statement of fact. It bothered Harry that she would out her coworker without regard to the guy's privacy. At the moment the thought crossed his mind, she shrugged her shoulders. "Or a cute girl. Or a cute kid. Or a cute painting. Or a cute anything that keeps his attention from his work, you know? I appreciate the help, Harry."
Removing the lamp from his hands, she carried it to the cart with the rest of the spotlights, gently setting it down before wiping her hands on her trousers.
"You've had a rough day," Harry commented. "The kind of day that would likely be made better by hanging out with some friends." His memory dredged up her response from months previously, and he rushed to complete his thought. "My girlfriend and I are meeting some friends in Malibu if you want to join. Just to blow off steam." Although Kenny might not use the word to refer to their FWB relationship, Harry made the assumption that Nat might be less inclined to join if she thought Harry was hitting on her.
Running her fingers through her hair, Nataley placed her hands on her hips and observed him carefully. "You, me, your girlfriend, and who else?"
"Just a few friends, I swear. Not a big group, and not at a bar. You can bring your friend if you want -- Bethany, right?"
He watched as she bit her lip, looking away from him. It was clear that she was tempted.
"As friends, right?"
"Absolutely! Just a group of friends. Come on. It will be fun!"
"I've got to clean up some things around here. Can we join you later?"
Which obviously was code for 'not gonna make it', but he maintained the illusion anyway. "Sure. Hand me your phone. I'll put in my number and the address where we'll be." When she handed over the device, with her lip still trapped between her teeth, Harry quickly typed in his phone number and the Gerbers' address before sending himself a text message. There. Now he had her phone number too. That was easier than he'd expected.
Not that he would call her. If she didn't show up, no big deal.
Returning her phone, he leaned forward and quietly said, "I don't know about you, but I can never have too many friends. I hope to see you later." Harry added a wink.
With that, he grabbed his jacket from the chair by BooBoo's abandoned tattoo station and tossed it over his right shoulder, wincing at the feel of the bandage on the newly inked skin.
==========
"Harry!" Kenny chastised. "How are you the one who always manages to get into these situations? I'm dead serious. A tattoo that says 'Late Late'? What on earth were you thinking?"
"If I were a thinking man when it came to my tattoos, there is no way I'd have written 'big' on my big toe."
"That's insane!" She sipped at her water, laughing. "Oh! I'm gonna go talk to Cara. Later, H!" With a chaste kiss to his jawline, Kenny danced across the room, giggling as she approached their mutual friend.
Proceeding to the counter to get another glass of water, Harry was pleased to spy Nataley standing awkwardly in the hallway.
"You came!" he bellowed over the blaring music as he approached her. "Alone?" Looking around, he didn't spy her friend Bethany.
Nataley waved her hand in the general direction of the bar. "She's over there somewhere even though she promised she wouldn't drink. She's my ride home."
"Ah. How about you?"
"Huh?"
"What do you want to drink?" As the music had been cranked even louder, Harry had to lean over to speak in her ear.
"Water!" Nataley yelled back, and Harry nodded, not quite understanding why he was pleased with her response. After all, she was in the kind of situation that might make her want to be fully alert -- being in a strangers' house with people she doesn't know.
Grabbing another glass from the stack, he filled it with ice and added water. Damn. Should have asked her if she wanted still or sparkling. Making his way back to Nataley, he spied her chatting with Glenne.
"Wish I'd asked if still was okay." Handing over the glass, Harry smiled shyly.
"Still?"
"Some people like carbonated water," Glenne shared.
"I've heard of that! But no. I'm used to plain old tap water. So what is it you do, Glenne?" Nataley grasped the glass and took a sip following her question.
Leaving the two of them to their conversation, Harry joined Jeffrey and Cameron who were attempting to dance to Taylor's 'Wildest Dreams'.
"Seriously? I thought you were on my side!" His pretend outrage included crossing his arms and a fake glare.
"Quit pouting," Jeffrey teased. "I wish someone would write a song about me!"
"Ha. Ha." Harry laughed mirthlessly. "Maybe I will one day."
With a raised eyebrow at the comment, Jeffrey smacked him on the shoulder. "Get over it, man! So a gorgeous and popular woman wrote a song about you. Come dance."
Rolling his eyes, Harry gave in and practiced some of his dance moves, but the few he knew didn't really mesh well with this particular song. Cam, acting his usual goofy self, was making dramatic sweeping gestures purely to mess with Harry. At least that's what he suspected. Luckily, 'Can't Feel My Face' came on next, and Harry was able to pretend to bust a move. His friends, used to his ineptitude in this arena, gave him plenty of space. The next time he glanced at where Nat had been, she'd disappeared from that spot. Surveying the room, he found her dancing to 'I'm Gonna Lose You' with some guy Harry didn't recognize. Because she appeared to be having fun, he let her be. At the end of the song, he lost track of her again because Kendall swiveled her hips into his as 'Uptown Funk' began, and he was lost in this game they had been playing for the last few weeks.
"Wanna go on a New Year's trip with me? Jeffrey and Glenne are going. And my mum and stepdad."
"Hmmmm," Kendall murmured. "Where are we going?" She traced her fingernail up his left arm, allowing her nail to pause and circle the mermaid's exposed breasts. His eyebrows raised at the gesture, and his heart pounded a little harder.
"St. Bart's."
"Sounds fab. I'm in." Twisting around, she ground her bum into his crotch, and Harry felt a stirring that he looked forward to indulging later.
Cara grabbed Kenny. "Bitch! Let's go swimming!"
"Oh yay! Harry?"
"Not right now. I want to check on my friend."
"That girl? She's got a hot sense of style with an amazing bod. I think I saw her over that way." Cara pointed in the direction of the fire pit.
Keeping his eyes open for Bethany as well, Harry wandered where Cara indicated. At the fire pit, he spied the guy with whom Nat had been dancing, but no sign of her. Wandering towards the loo, he finally spotted her. She was pacing in the hallway while holding the phone to her ear, her thumbnail being chewed beyond where it should. Ouch. He could see that it was slightly bloodied with the effects of her teeth.
"I know, Duane. I'm trying to get there, but I don't have my car, and I'll have to get an Uber. It's going to take a while...What the hell does that mean?...I'm in Malibu...At a party...Fuck you. I'm allowed to go to parties, especially when you have Noah...Shit." Running her fingers through her hair, she took a deep breath. "Look. I'll be there as soon as I can."
Hanging up the phone, she buried her face in her hands, and he watched as her shoulders shook.
"Nat?" Harry approached cautiously. "Is everything okay?" What a stupid question. It was clear that nothing was going well for her at that particular moment. "Sorry. Let me rephrase that. How can I help?"
When she raised her head, her face was stained with tears. "There's nothing you can do, Harry. I've got to download the Uber app and figure out how to pay for a ride from Malibu back to the Valley."
"Where's Bethany?"
"She's having a good time. I can't force her to leave. It's fine, Harry. Just...fuck. I can't get a signal here. I need to go out front. Thanks for the invitation, Harry. I'm sorry I have to leave like this. Would you tell Bethany I left please?"
As she started to move away, Harry touched her elbow. "I can take you where you need to go."
Shaking her head, she continued her march to the front door. "Thanks, Harry, but I can't ask you to do that. It's your party."
"Nah. It's not really anyone's party. Let me get my car. I'll meet you out front." Striding away from her, he found Kenny at the pool. Damn. She looked amazing always, but in a bikini... "Gotta run someone home. I'll see you later for," his smirk revealed his thoughts, "you know."
Raising her eyebrow, Kendall grinned. "I do know."
Grabbing his keys, Harry headed to the front, hoping his Range Rover wasn't blocked in. Miraculously, there was only one car behind him, and that driver had left enough space to maneuver carefully out of the spot. It might not be clear to him why she needed to leave so abruptly, but it was definitely clear that she required help.
"Where are we going?" He asked when Nat climbed into the front seat.
After giving him the address so he could type it into the GPS, she sat back with her arms crossed over her seatbelted body while she dropped her head to the side to listlessly watch out of the window.
While the situation felt awkward, Harry presumed that was mostly because he had no idea what had happened.
"Thanks, Harry. I'm sorry for pulling you away from the party." Her quiet voice rumbled in his chest.
"Stop apologizing. I offered." Glancing at her, he tightened his grip on the steering wheel. "Look, I know we don't know each other well, but I've been told I'm a good listener."
"Mhm," she mumbled.
Together they sat in silence for several miles before Nataley shifted in her seat. "My son is sick and crying for his mommy. And my ex-husband is too insecure as a parent to take care of him."
"Ah, I see. It must be hard having a sick child and being away from..." Searching his brain, Harry produced the appropriate pronoun, "him."
"Very true."
"What's his name?"
"Noah."
"Wait. Noah. Like Noah from 'The Notebook'?"
Releasing a light chuckle, Nataley corrected Harry. "No. Like his grandfather on my ex-husband's side."
Unnecessary disappointment flooded Harry at her explanation. "How old is Noah?"
"You don't have to pretend to be interested," Nataley commented.
Offended, Harry turned quickly to her before refocusing on the freeway. "Nat, I recognize that we don't know each other well, but I never feign interest in anything."
There was a pause in the conversation, and he couldn't tell what would come next -- if anything.
"Four in September." She moved to chew on her thumbnail again before looking at it in disgust and tucking her hand close to her body. "And the divorce is still really new, so he's not used to only having his dad."
"Yeah, when a boy is hurting, his mum is the person he wants for comfort."
Nat twisted her body and looked at Harry more closely.
"You miss your mom? I mean, you've been traveling with the band for years."
He sighed. "Yeah. That is decidedly the hardest part -- being away from family. I left home when I was sixteen. And as much as all of our mums tried to be there for us, it's been a lot of time on the road."
"Your friends seem really cool."
"You mean the band?"
"No." Mutely, she played with the hem of her shirt for a solid 45 seconds. "Those people at the party. I didn't really meet the band."
"Oh. My friends are pretty amazing. If I could tell you what's coming, you would think even more highly of them, but I've got to keep the news quiet for a little while."
"We just met. No reason you should reveal any secrets to me."
"Well, you did share private information with me." Harry felt small because she'd told him much more about her ex-husband and her kid than he'd told her about any topic. Then again, over time he had learned to keep his secrets to himself if he wanted them to stay private. Even if the other person seemed trustworthy.
Pulling up in front of a house, he put the car in park. "Is this your house or your ex's?"
"This is Duane's. Thanks for getting me here. Duane will drive me home."
"Nope. Go get Noah, and I'll take you both home."
"Harry, I can't ask you..."
"You didn't ask. I offered."
"Actually, you ordered." Nataley giggled, and Harry felt the corners of his mouth tilt up.
"Fine. Would you please let me take you and your son home?"
Her hand on the door release, she bit her lip and looked at him over her shoulder. "Are you sure?"
Harry blew out the air in his lungs quite loudly. "Maybe if we had a hundred years, you would learn to trust me. I don't see any reason for you to spend more time than you have to with your ex. Not when I'm already here. My car is warmed up. It won't take but a minute to get Noah. Let's do this."
Tears formed in her eyes, but she blinked them away quickly and nodded once. "Be right back."
Hopping out of the Range Rover, she disappeared for about three minutes. Upon her exit from the house, Harry could see that she was carrying a car seat and her son. Instinct kicked in, and Harry started to get out of the car. Nataley made eye contact through the windows and shook her head. With a glance at the house, Harry witnessed her ex-husband standing with his arms crossed and a look on his face that indicated exactly how pissed off he was. Who would be angry at a child for feeling ill and wanting his mum? No reason to make things worse for Nat, so he settled back in the driver's seat while Nataley wrestled with opening the back door and setting the booster on the rear passenger seat.
"Mama's got you, sweet boy. Let's get you buckled in."
It took one quick glance for Harry to see that the boy had been sobbing. His nose was snotty, and his lower lip was trembling.
"Mama." Noah started to cry.
"I'm here, baby. I'll get in on the other side so I can be with you."
With her words, she closed the door and walked around to the other side, sliding in behind Harry. Quietly, she gave Harry her address to input into the GPS.
As they pulled away from the curb, Noah asked, "Mama, who dat?"
"That's Harry. He's going to take us home."
"Tank 'ou, Harry." The boy's quiet voice drifted to him, shattering Harry's heart with his simple words.