Thursday, January 31st 2019 — Nora
I hear his footsteps as he walks down the stairs and I turn around just in time for him to enter the kitchen. He sniffs the air. "Have you fixed a pot of coffee?" I nod as I sip my cup of black, dark roast.
"I needed a pick-me-up." He walks to me and kisses my forehead, with his hand resting easily on my tummy. "Do you want some?"
"Come to think of it, yeah, I should probably wake myself up a bit."
"What did we do all day besides change an unusual amount of diapers."
"We're parents, isn't being consistently tired part of being mummy and daddy?"
"I suppose." I flash him a smile before gulping a hefty sip. "Lara texted, she and Eric are almost here."
"Oh, alright. You look absolutely ravishing, by the way." I was incredibly happy that I was no longer sick, and Harry, miraculously, never caught a thing. So, he'd decided that we'd have a date night, his first step in making up the anniversary mishap.
"You...are so gorgeous, and I am so lucky." He pulls me in by my backside and presses a hard kiss to my mouth.
"Mmm..." He hums against my lips. We're interrupted by the doorbell ringing. "Just...awful timing." I giggle and strut away from him.
"Down some coffee, baby." I call, as my heels clack against the wooden stairs. When I open the door, Lara and Eric smile and greet me with hugs.
"Hey, sexy mama." I close it behind them.
"Thank you guys so much for doing this."
"We're always happy to, Nory."
"Yeah," Lara agrees with Eric. "And Lo's at a sleepover...we're ready for a cozy night in with our perfect niece and nephew."
"We've been total hermits this week, I think we need this."
"You totally need this. Go and have a nice kid-free night." Harry comes up to the foyer and he and Eric immediately bro embrace.
"Hey, pal."
"I've missed you, buddy."
"I've missed you too, mate." He steps back and pulls at Eric's sweater. "Look at you, all handsome."
"Talk about handsome...you're a fucking stunner, Styles."
"Okay, enough flirting, you two." María comes down the stairs as I say this, her purse in hand.
"Hello, Lara! Eric, it's nice to see you both."
"You too, María! How are you?"
"I'm very good, thank you. Rosie and Peter have eaten and I just changed both of them. They should be fine for a couple of hours." I reach around to hug her.
"Thank you for being so wonderful."
"It is my pleasure. I'll see you both tomorrow. I hope your night is very nice." We all wave to her as she steps out and then Harry helps me into my coat.
"Our car is here." He says, quietly. "You ready?"
"Mhm..." I kiss my sister's cheeks and Eric's. "Thank you guys again. Love you, have fun, text us if you need anything!" We hurry out and Harry opens the black town car's door for me.
"My love..."
"Well, thanks, honey." He slides in after me and his hand immediately goes to my thigh. "Our reservation is at 7:45, right?"
"It is." He kisses my neck, causing me to shudder.
"I've said this before, Styles...don't start something you can't immediately finish."
"Who says I can't finish?"
"You smell like whiskey..."
"That's cause I took a sip of whiskey before I came upstairs."
"Rude...I would've taken a shot with you."
"I had three shots..." He says, guiltily.
"Harry!"
"I know, I'm sorry. I just wanted to be more relaxed when we deal with the inevitable paparazzi."
"You have to let me catch up to you then, ya loose goosey."
"Alright, I will." He smiles, "No more alcohol for Harry."
"You are a shameful lightweight, baby."
"I know...you always outdrink me, so I guess I'm just getting a bit of a head start."
"I guess so, yeah."
"Have I told you how incredible you look?"
"You mentioned it yes." He truly is the cutest boy in my entire world, especially when he's tipsy. "Hey, so do you want to talk about wedding things?"
"I'd quite like that, Nora."
"Good."
"But..." He begins, his hand sneaks further up my thigh, "M'gonna kiss you for a bit because I've got you all to myself." I'm glad that the driver already has the window closed. I pull Harry's hand up and slide it underneath my fire-red lace top.
"You can do more than kiss me, honey..."
"Was just waiting for permission."
"You don't need permission, Mr. Styles." I bite down on his lip and tug at it with my teeth. "You can have...whatever you want. I'm yours."
"I quite like the sound of that, young lady." I liked this version of him. He was handsy and a tad bit aggressive...unbearably sexy perfection rolled into one sweet little British man-boy. We were only going about two miles down West Street, but judging by New York time, that meant about ten to fifteen minutes. Especially since we were literally going under ten miles an hour. Fucking traffic wasn't all that terrible in this instance. I wanted him far too badly.
"Let's do it..." My words tickle his mouth just before he pulls me in again for a rough kiss. Our teeth collide and our tongues swirl around each other. "Fuck me, Harry..." He pants against my skin as he begins to unzip his dark teal, velvet slacks. I pull my boots off and then my tights. Instead of taking it off, I just slide my black corduroy skirt up my torso and crawl back onto his lap. He guides himself inside and shoves it in deep. I let my head roll back in ecstasy and his teeth nip at my neck. He's so good. "Harder." I beg, in which he immediately inclines. I gasp as I feel him up in, what seems to be, my belly. I bounce up and down his length and we kiss hungrily, like we've been deprived for months. Each time, I feel him plowing further and further, until I'm whining his name and biting his glorious lips as I come completely undone. I feel his warmth spread through me like summer sunshine.
"Oh, Nora, Nora, Nora...what have you done to me, huh?" His wonderfully sensual song, written about me, comes to mind.
"You flower, you feast, right?" His grin is contagious.
"My goodness, I love you." Smooch. "I just love you." I giggle into his mouth and his ringed fingers feel amazing as they grip my hips. Wrapping my arms around his shoulders, I hug him, letting my chin nestle atop his head. I feel him peck my clavicle as he holds me closer.
"I know you do." My red beret topples off my head and he reaches down to grab it for me, and I take this opportunity to roll off of him. "We don't have anything to clean up with."
"Of course we do, Nora!" Before I know whats happening, his face is tucked nicely between my legs and I feel his tongue sliding around. It's too soon for me to get worked up again, I simply enjoy the sensation. I assume I'll be reciprocating the gesture, which I'm more than okay with.
===
The one downfall of making a reservation under his name was that the beans were almost always spilled. We made sure to be put together upon exiting the vehicle, and it was a good thing we were. Cameras flashed like crazy, practically blinding both of us. But Harry just held my hand tighter and pulled me close behind him. The hostess smiled at us right off the bat and already had two menus in her hand. "Mr. Styles, I have your table right this way." We followed her over to a cozy corner table as restaurant-goers eyed us. "Your waiter will be right with you."
"Thank you." Harry smiled at her and we sat down. Almost instantly, a cute looking twenty-something kid came over, looking nervous.
"Hi guys, can I get you some drinks?" I went ahead, already knowing what I wanted.
"Dirty Martini for me, please."
"Of course, and for you, sir?"
"Yeah, can I get a James Pepper '1776' Whiskey on the rocks, mate?"
"Absolutely. I'll be right back with those."
"He's so cute and nervous around you!" I whisper and Harry chuckles.
"No, I bet he's nervous to be in the same room as such a beautiful human being—and I'm referring to you."
"Yeah, I got that, baby." He gazes at me for a few silent seconds.
"So, let's talk about this wedding." The thought really is very surreal. "I know we haven't discussed this, but I'd kind of like to have the ceremony in a church, unless you had something else in mind." I twist my fingers around his.
"I'd really like to get married in a church...I was baptized in a Catholic church here in the city—"
"St. Patrick's Cathedral, right?"
"How'd you remember?"
"It was something your mum and I touched upon after you and I talked about it." Our drinks come and I take a long sip, enjoying every bit of the olivey gin, while also trying to get on Harry's level. "I think it'd be really neat if we got married there."
"I think so too." I say, "Is it horrible that I haven't been back to church since?"
"I don't think so, no. You went about the religion the way you and your family saw fit, there's nothing wrong with that."
"So...wedding in the church."
"Yes...and then the City Winery?"
"I don't know, maybe...maybe we should look around more."
"Can I make a suggestion?"
"Please do, it's your wedding too."
"Brooklyn Botanical Gardens...their Palmhouse is...it's stunning. I read up on it and it's just a really sick venue."
"I love the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, I'll totally look into it, hopefully we'll get lucky with some September dates."
"I just think it's cool cause, like, the reception can be both outdoor and indoor."
"I agree, and the Palmhouse really is gorgeous. I'm so down, if you are."
"I am." He nods, happily. I feel better that we've both been on the same page so far.
"Also...I wanted to talk to you about like...the theme or whatever?"
"I'm listening."
"You know how the whole purity thing, you have to wear white if you're abstinent or whatever?"
"We definitely have not abstained from consummation, no."
"Well, that's why I kind of wanna go the non-traditional route. We both have such weird, out-there styles, and I think I want to be weird and out-there with my dress. I don't want white and it'll be early fall so maybe something with autumn hues...what do you think?"
"I totally agree, yeah." He sips on his drink, "There's actually this print that Gucci reached out to me about...s'like this dark plum purple, Chinese patterned brocade...it's wicked and I thought maybe they could make a whole suit out of it."
"That sounds fucking cool...yeah, I really think we should just be kind of eclectic, and not necessarily worry about being all matchy-matchy. I'm not about that."
"Neither am I. And I want my bridesmaids to wear something that they feel comfortable in, so maybe each of them have a different color dress or something, I don't know. I just know that, like I said, I don't want to be traditional."
"I love that we can agree on something like this."
"Me too."
"Just makes me more sure of you."
"Why because I'm not like every other girl who's dreamt about her wedding and made a fucking scrapbook?"
"No, Nora...because you're just...simple and uncomplicated. You don't care about silly things and you don't care what people think. I truly love that about you."
"What else do you love about me?"
"Everything..." He grins, pointing at me, "and that...that smile right there. God, I live for that smile, Nora." I lift my halfway indulged martini and he lifts his barely touched whiskey.
"To us...and to our life...to the single most important man in my whole world. I love you and I will love you until...fuck, I don't know. Forever, I guess."
"Wonderful toast, angel." We clink glasses. "You know, last week, I saw this post on Instagram, I think? But we were fighting so I couldn't say it to you. It's from a book or something."
"Can I hear it?"
"I didn't fall in love with you. I walked into love with you, with my eyes wide open, choosing to take every step along the way..." He pauses, "And then it was like...I do believe in faith and destiny, but I also believe that we are only fated to do the things that we'd choose anyway."
"Is that it?"
"No, Nora!" He chuckles, "Let me finish, you..."
"Okay, okay, sorry!"
"And I'd choose you; in a hundred lifetimes, in a hundred worlds, in any version of reality, I'd find you...and I'd choose you." He nods, "That's it." I don't care who's watching or what photographers are snapping pictures of us through the window. I get up and slip into his lap. His lips are warm and they taste like whiskey rye and I feel like I cannot get enough of them—of him.
"I'd choose you over, and over, and over again." I murmur while he buries his face into my neck. "I'll always choose you."