PART 6.. fanficparker
"Y/n."
"Wow. Great. I have pure bad luck."
His face fell. There was suddenly a small lump resting at the back of his throat. His heart crumbled painfully not at the sharpness of you voice but the choice of words. Bad luck... Was this his reputation in your books now?
"This day is really weird. Won't you make any snarky comment on me?... Oh. Get it. You ran out of your battery jokes? Aww." You sniffed at your own words. Harrison picked up the other box that was lying with his sunglasses cover. He opened it, took out a pair of spectacles and wears them. You shrank your eyes, perplexed. But he didn't utter a word. Whatever.
"Where are you going?" He finally spoke up when you were almost ready to leave.
"Doesn't matter now." You rolled your eyes, hands folded to your chest. He sighed heavily.
"Can we not make it personal, please. I can help. I heard your taxi has an issue and its mid-highway. No phone and already it's near to sunset. You will definitely like to travel with me than any stranger. So, let me help." He explained as if you were a small child.
And you were really tired too... You looked at your luggage and at the orange sky.
"I will pay for my ride. I don't want to owe you anything. Yeah except for allowing me to share your taxi, so thank you for that." You rambled.
"Yeah, yeah. You're welcome." He nodded his head sideways, almost rolling his eyes. You opened the door keeping your handbag in between the seat and then inserted your suitcase in the trunk along with Harrison's.
Bastard didn't get up to help. Shutting the trunk, you sat on the seat with Harrison and yeah, your little handbag served as a wall. You shared your map location to the driver and the driver ignited the engine.
"I would have helped you with the luggage but your 'not owing to me thing' didn't allow."
Smartass. Nah. Fucking wicked! You looked out of the window trying to ignore his presence.
"So, you're on vacation?"
You didn't reply.
"Umm... So, friends, family?"
Still silent.
"Okay then, where are you staying?"
No response.
"How is everything going on with you and Simon?"
You wished your phone wasn't dead, at least you could have pluck in your earphones and not listen to him.
"When will you be returning to London? I saw your bags and---"
"SHUT UP HARRISON! OKAY?! JUST SHUT UP!" You finally snapped, facing him, but not too loud so that it didn't catch the driver's attention.
He froze for a second.
"Sorry, I was just trying to be nice." He pursed his lips in a tight smile.
"I very well know what you do after 'trying to be nice'. I am here to spend my time with my parents and I definitely don't want you to spoil my mood. I know all your tricks, Osterfield. You can't fool me anymore."
"Yeah, right." He didn't argue, just turned to gaze out of his window diverting his mind to the trees planted along the edge of the road and then stared at everything in the city. It was better if he could hide in his house. Sigh.
The car finally stopped and Harrison slightly turned his head to glance at you. You dragged your handbag from the seat, not even giving Harrison 'a look'. You quickly paid to the driver and rushed towards the house and the next minute the taxi was moving again.
Suddenly Harrison yelled, "WAIT!"
The driver pressed the brakes hard.
"Did she open the trunk to get her suitcase?"
No.
And Harrison somehow managed to make the driver return to the previous stop. The taxi once again stopped in front of the same house. This time Harrison rushed out of the taxi, opening the trunk and getting your suitcase out. He walked towards the house dragging the suitcase only to see you sitting on the bench near the main door, lost in thoughts. Your handbag was kept to your side, your chin rested on your palm, your eyes focused on your shoes, shoulders slugged.
Harrison's footsteps shifted your attention to him. Before you could speak or ask anything or maybe rather 'object his presence,' he pointed his finger to your suitcase and you produced a silent 'oh' gesture returning to your earlier thinking trance.
"Will you stop staring at me and say something?" You spoke making Harrison hum.
"Didn't feel like you like my voice. You know in the car---"
"Okay sorry, I shouldn't have snapped. I shouldn't have made things personal. Thank you for allowing me to share the ride and for bringing my suitcase." You spoke, looking at him. He nodded his head.
"So, isn't anyone home?" He asked.
"Mmh. I don't wanna go inside. They'll think I'm a fraud." You said slowly.
"Fraud?" Harrison's brows bumped together in a scowl.
"Yeah."
Harrison's brain fought whether to ask for details or not. But you were listening and replying. Maybe, you were one of those people who 'just' wanted someone to listen when you're sad. Like him.
"My parents are doing pretty good in their fields." You spoke up and Harrison just listened carefully.
"And they thought I will join them. But I said I want to do fashion designing and they said there's too much competition and my future plans are all unreliable... So, I made all promises like when the next time I will meet them I would be having my own brand and all the stuff. And look it's been five years and I haven't achieved even one percent of what I bragged about."
He hummed and nodded his head again.
"Can I say something? Just you know professional advice, nothing personal."
"Look Harrison I don't want to be judged right now." You screwed up your face.
"I promise I won't."
You thought for a while.
"Fine." You pursed your lips tight.
"Can I sit here?" He pointed at the vacant space near you. You shifted yourself more to the side, keeping your handbag on your lap. Your nail polish was badly chirped but you were still picking on it. Harrison sat beside you and you turned your gaze to rest on him, although you didn't maintain any eye contact.
He stated, "It's maybe a bit long but I promise it isn't boring." You just nodded your head.
"So, almost everyone in my family was an A-grade student. Even my younger sister is an A-grade student. But I wasn't. I hardly got any A's in my school. But I joined the theatre and fell in love with acting. When I told my family about I wanting to pursue it as my career, they weren't very happy. You know unreliable stuff, et cetera."
You listened more carefully, your ears were on him.
"So, just like you, I also promised big things to my family. My grandpa even said, 'I was going into big trouble'. I told him, he'll very soon see me as the protagonist on the big screen, I would be working under a director no less than Steven Spielberg, may even get so much fame and money that I will be producing my own movies and all. I literally bragged much more than you did!"
"Then?" You asked, your eyes meeting him. He felt good getting a little attention from your side. A little smile engraved on his lips as he continued.
"Then what? I was fucking afraid! I still haven't even got a major role in any major movie, just this year in May, Catch-22 TV series was released, my first ever big work, though I was just in one episode---"
"You were a show stopper there... I-I mean you were amazing." You rolled the little curl falling on your face between your fingers, your gaze shifting to your feet.
"Tha-thanks." A little blush crept Harrison's cheek and you couldn't ignore the little thumping in your heart.
"So, yeah, where was I?" He coughed and regained his composure, continuing, "I mean I was afraid, like you, thinking my family will see me as a loser or 'fraud', especially grandpa who mean the most to me. But surprisingly they were happy. They were even happy for all my short movies, even cameo characters and said they were proud of me. My grandpa was so happy with my role in Catch-22 that he literally threw a party."
You looked at him again.
"So, the thing is. Believe me Y/n, your parents will be more than joyed with what you have achieved till now. Art needs time, this industry demands for time and they know it. They were just worried because they love you. And as I said your designs are personally my favourite, I wasn't lying when I said that. You were an absolute favourite of the director on set. And that project was no less than a big achievement. Your parents will welcome you with open arms, trust me."
"Yes, they would."
You swear your heart was almost in your mouth upon hearing the third voice. You almost jumped on Harrison, clinging to his body. And he wrapped his right arm around your waist safely.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." Your mum said, coming out of the door.
"You were eves-dropping, MOM!" You exclaimed keeping your hand on your heart.
"Ah sorry but he--- umm?" Your mom stopped, looking at Harrison and that's when you noticed how tightly you were hugging his body that your skin felt that it was on fire from embarrassment. You quickly separated from him, shifting to the extreme side of the bench.
"Harrison. My name is Harrison. Nice to meet you by the way." He passed a polite smile to your mom which she cheerfully returned while you just sat there trying to kill all the embarrassment.
It was just professional talk. Nothing to be embarrassed about. People don't shy away with physical contacts with their enemies. Calm down Y/n. Calm down. You repeated the dialogue in your head.
"Yeah, Harrison is right Y/n." Your mom said smiling at you and then back at him and then at you both together.
"Now come in, it's already dark!" Your mum said, walking inside the house.
"Shit! Taxi!" He cursed, remembering that his taxi was still there, waiting for him. He turned to run towards the taxi but you grabbed him by his wrist.
"Where the hell are you going?" You said keeping an intense gaze on him.
"Umm... To my hotel? My taxi is waiting." He said, quirking his eyebrow and tilted his head slightly to the side. You looked back at the open door of your house and dropped his hand.
"You practically impressed my mom, you can't leave at this point. She'll bombard me with questions!" You whispered-yelled at him.
"Just stay here for half-an-hour and pretend we are friends. That's it. I will book you a new taxi and then you can leave. Just a matter of thirty minutes." You looked at him with pleading eyes while his dancing eyes missed nothing in the surroundings.
"Fine then." He shrugged.
"Oh god, thanks." You smiled relieved and ran inside your house dragging your suitcase while Harrison practically paid three times of what he should have paid (for wasting the driver's time).
He carried his bags inside taking a look at the house. It was decent in size but well-furnished. He kept his luggage aside and sat on the sofa, his palms clasped together, his fingers fidgeting. He heard the chattering voice of you and your mom from the kitchen that he could see from the corner of his eyes. Your mom was hugging you with a big smile on her face while you were practically giggling. The scene made him remember his mum hugging him the day he was crying like a baby and the next moment his face got decorated with an ear-to-ear smile.
He tried to reduce the size of his grin seeing you and your mom walking towards him. Your mom kept a glass of water on the table kept in front of him and made her way on the adjacent sofa while you sat beside him, leaving a comfortable distance between.
"Oh god, you know Harrison thank you so much. I don't know if you wouldn't have explained all that to her, she would have literally flown back to London!" Your mom said almost chuckling. Harrison didn't know how to properly reply to this, so he just nodded.
"So... Where do you guys meet. Y/n never told me about you." She asked him but gave you the infamous 'mom glare'.
Why would Y/n tell her mom about one of his cast-crew members? Harrison thought.
"Umm... We were working on the same project..." Harrison slightly tilted his head, still confused at the question in the first place.
"Oh. Interesting." Your mom said, dramatically.
You looked at Harrison and he looked at you. That was definitely a weird response.
"So how long are you two been together?"
Together?
Together??
Together??!!
"Uh, ma'am I think, umm... There's a little misunder--- ouch!" Harrison was interrupted in between his 'clarification' by your foot crushing his. That ouch... You slid closer to him.
"Not been long. Just a while. Two months. Two months, right Harrison?" You spoke up quickly. Harrison looked at you, eyes knitted, jaws dropped but you gave him a deadly stare.
"Yeah?!" His response was more like a question but enough to satisfactorily answer your mom's previous question.
"What happened to you suddenly? You seem confused." Your mom said looking at Harrison. He opened his mouth to speak but you answered for him.
"Nothing mom. He's just tired. Jet lag. You know jet lag? Really tiring! I think he should sleep. Let me take him to my room." You said, grabbing Harrison's arm and when he stood up, you almost dragged him towards your room.
"Okay. Rest, but don't skip the dinner!" Your mom yelled from the living room.
You responded by yelling back, "Yeah!"
As soon as the door was shut, you dropped his hand.
"WHAT. WAS. ALL. THAT?!"
You threw your hands in front and as calm as you could be, spoke- "Let me explain. Believe me, when I say- it will all be professional. Nothing personal."
Damn.
(TBC) (I CAN'T BELIEVE I WROTE IT IN ONE DAY)
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Words count: 2.4K words
Published on: 3 Oct'19