I decide on wearing a little black dress to this event tonight. The hem rests against the middle of my thighs, the thin black material clingy to all my dips and curves. Normally parts of my body that I would want to hide, but that's all changed now.
One bus ride later, I'm sitting cross legged on the counter in Harry's bathroom, applying the finishing touches to my makeup while the curling iron heats up beside me. I'm applying the last dusting of eyeshadow when I hear the elevator arrive downstairs.
"You here bub?" I hear Harry call out from downstairs. I grin and call back to him.
"I'm upstairs!" I hear padded footsteps climbing the stairs before Harry's figure appears in the mirror behind me. His warm smile greets me as he crosses the floor over to where I sit. His suit jacket left abandoned on the bed, leaving him in a fresh white suit and black slacks. His hands find my hips as I bring the curling iron through my hair, careful not to burn my scalp as I do it.
"Hi" I mumble softly as he presses his lips against the back of my neck, smiling at me in the mirror. His eyes close as his lips make contact with my skin, squeezing my hips gently with his long fingers. I relax back into his body, feeling an instant wave of relief flow through me. I place the curling iron down and spin myself around on the counter, wrapping my arms around his neck and pulling him into a hug. Despite my added height of sitting on the counter, his body still towers over my own.
"Hey you, you alright?" Harry half chuckles as he wraps his arms around my waist, returning the hug before placing a soft kiss on my cheek. I rest my head on his shoulder for a moment before I pull back, peering up at him through my thick mascara filled lashes.
"Yeah I'm okay, just talking with Heather made me a bit emotional I guess. Her relationship isn't doing too well, just makes me grateful for ours" I mumble quietly, feeling a little clingy as soon as the words fall out of my mouth. Harry doesn't seem to mind though, returning a gentle smile as he tucks some loosely curled strands of hair behind my ear.
"She did the angel club too right?" He asks curiously, keeping one of his hands on my hip as he talks to me. I nod.
"Yeah, quite the different situation though. He's married, so it's uh, it's a little more complicated" i know I probably shouldn't be splurging all of Heathers personal business to Harry but I mean, it's Harry. And it's bothering me, and if it's bothering me I want him to know. He doesn't appear to judge her, he just nods along understandingly.
"So it's more of just a money and sex relationship?" I nod in response. He shrugs his shoulders, tilting his head to the side. "Yeah I know a couple of guys who have that sort of thing. It's not something I agree with. I know I'm no angel with my past relationships because I've done similar things, but not the cheating part, that's messed up to me"
I smile and nod my head in response. "Yeah I agree, I guess that's why she didn't tell me when it all started because I would have told her not to. But now he's made all sorts of promises he isn't going to keep and she's sort of stuck" I sigh softly.
"Sorry I know this is boring, she's just like my sister, and it's bothering me that she's going through this." I apologise, running my hand gently through the bottom of his hair.
"Bub that's okay, it's bothering you so I want to know about it. I get that you want to help her out, but it sounds like a problem she's got to get herself out of on her own" He replies sympathetically. He's right, there's not a whole lot I can do to help her except give her advice and support. I nod my head before turning my lips upwards into a smile.
"Thank you. Now anyway tell me about your day" I grin at him as he lets out a soft sigh, tilting his head upwards to the ceiling for a moment before bringing it back down to softly smile at me.
"It was long, but okay. Mainly just planning my itinerary for New York tomorrow" he replies. I pout my lips and rest my forehead against his shoulder. No Harry for a week, this is going to suck. His shoulders shake with a soft chuckle as he rubs his hand across the small of my back.
"Again, you can always come with me" I can hear his smirk in his voice, and when I lift my head up, sure enough it's there, dancing across his lips. I roll my eyes.
"And again, I can't. I wish I could but I can't" his smirk grows wider before he dips his head down into my shoulder, pressing kisses against the skin up my neck.
"You said the same thing about Paris" he mumbles against my skin, gently biting a sensitive spot just below my ear. I bite my lip to hold back the moan that threatens to spill out. Harry moves his body closer to me, using his hand to pull my back closer to the edge of the counter. My chest pressed against his, my hands in his hair, I really will miss this when he goes.
"It's not the same thing, I have a test and if I miss it I have to repeat the whole class" I mumble quietly dipping my head down to rest against his shoulder.
"But you don't even like the course" he points out, removing his lips from my neck before he stands up straighter to peer down at me. I shrug my shoulders.
"Yeah I know"
"So drop out. Go back next year and study what you actually want, don't waste your time on it" He says sternly. Deep down I know he's right, that it doesn't make sense for me to do it if I don't love it, but for me life has never been about doing whatever I want. It never has been, I do the sensible thing and find other ways to be happy.
I let out a soft sigh, playing with one of Harry's curls at the nape of his neck. "It doesn't work like that for me, I have to finish my degree so I can get a job"
"No you don't" His cheeky grin is back, revealing the deep dimples in his cheeks. "You don't need a degree or a job, I have all the money you'll ever need" he smirks before he dips his head down to the other side of my neck and peppers it in kisses. His words cause my breath to hitch in my throat. He says I don't need to go to school or get a job because he will provide everything for me? Does he really think of us being THAT long term, or is it an empty promise of safety and security that will really fuck things up for me if things go wrong?
"Don't be silly, I've always worked, I have to work. And to work I need my degree" I reply calmly, trying not to get lost in the thoughts swimming around my head. Thoughts of following Harry around the globe, spending my days doing whatever I want, never needing to work again. It would be wrong of me to say that a small part of me didn't want that, because I think that everyone does want that in a way. But it would get very old very quick, and after a while my days would begin to feel empty. He shrugs his shoulders, I don't know if he really realises what those words mean, he wouldn't surely be promising me that he would take care of me forever, we've known each other for such a short amount of time.
"Yeah I get it, I just wish you were going. New York is incredible, it's one of my favourite places" He mumbles with a smile in response. I know he isn't used to people saying no to him, especially since I signed a contract essentially making myself available to him whenever he wants. But we've evolved, things have changed, I can't allow myself to get lost in his life no matter how tempting it may be.
"Maybe you can take me one day?" I ask him. That seems to cheer him up, he nods his head with a soft smile, the sparkle returning to his emerald green eyes. Thank god this didn't dissolve into a fight, I don't want us to be angry at one another especially when he's about to leave for a week.
"Absolutely" he confirms. "What are you wearing tonight?" He asks, his hand on mine as he helps me slide my body off the counter. He follows me into his walk in wardrobe, where my dress hangs alone in a garment bag at the end of a row of expensive suit jackets. His wardrobe is fairly monochrome, the majority of his clothes with pops of colour are found in the drawers to the sides of the racks. Harry fingers touch the bottom of the fabric of the dress, rubbing it between his fingers gently with a wide smile on his face.
"Lovely. You might want to put it on now, we have to leave in about ten minutes" He adds. I nod my head and reach up for the dress, sliding it out of the garment bag. To my surprise, Harry doesn't leave the room, instead he takes up a leaning position in the doorway. I raise an eyebrow at him.
"Do you mind?" I hold up the dress as a gesture.
"Not at all" he grins cheekily, not moving from his position. Cheeky bastard.
"You think it's a smart move, watching me change when we only have ten minutes?" I return his smirk, tilting my head to the side. His eyes widen a bit at my response, I've definitely become more confident with my body since we have been together, I know that he likes the way that my body looks. And I'd hate for us to be late, such a bad look.
"You're probably right, I'll watch you take it off later" He speaks lowly, engaging my core as I feel the now familiar tightening. He drops his left eye into a wink before he walks back into the bedroom, leaving me to struggle into the tight dress. I've chosen a pair of walkable black heels to go with it, I'm surprised I'm able to balance in them but then again I have been practicing walking around my apartment in them almost every night since I got them. I figured that if I am going to be accompanying Harry to events like this, I should make more of an effort to look the part. I pull up the zip along the side of my body and examine myself in the long mirror for a moment or two. The hickey that Harry left on my neck from last night is still there, thought I've covered it with some make up that seems to have done the trick. But still, I bring my long wavy hair around to one side to cover it up, leaving the rest of it to hang down my back.
"Ready!" I call out as I walk back out of the wardrobe, walking over to the small table by the bedroom door to pick up the small clutch and deposit the belonging that I will need into it.
"Holy fuck" Harry's voice from behind me makes me giggle. I turn my head to look at him over my shoulder with a wide grin on my face. He's straightened himself out, fixed a simple black tie around his neck and dusted off his black suit jacket. He looks so handsome.
"Is John driving us?" I ask him as I turn around to face him. His jaw is agape, I can't even lie, I love getting this kind of attention from him.
"Yeah, come on he's downstairs" he replies with a slight cough, tucking his phone into his jacket pocket. We descend down the stairs together, my hand hanging onto the railing for support.
"So what kind of art show is this exactly?" We wait for the elevator together and step inside of it once it arrives.
"It's actually an old friend of mine from school, he's opening up his first gallery with all of his own artwork, it's pretty exciting" Harry grins as the elevator quickly brings us down to the ground floor. A school friend of Harry's, that's an exciting prospect. It's funny, when I first met him he didn't seem the type to have a large social life, when in reality that could be completely wrong.
"Are you in touch with many of your other school friends?" I ask as we exit the elevator, my heels clicking against the marble floor as we cross over towards the large doors leading out into the valet area. A few guests milling around in the lobby turn their heads and look at us, I guess we do attract attention, though the staff give us both friendly smiles as we exit the building.
"Not really, a couple here and there" Harry replies quickly as he walks around the outside of the car to climb in on the other side. John has jumped out of the drivers seat and is holding my door open for me with a soft grin.
"You look lovely Miss Graham" he greets me warmly as he helps me into the car. I feel the blush rising in my cheeks. I'm somewhat used to Harry's compliments, but compliments from others always catch me off guard.
"Thank you John, it's nice to see you" I reply as I climb in, he's become such a familiar face to me now, I wonder if he will be going to New York or if Harry will insist on him staying behind so he can drive me places. I guess I would rather have John drive me around than have Harry buy me a car, that gift would be way too much for me to accept.
"Planning on making any purchases?" I tease Harry as I click my seatbelt in before John begins to drive. Harry smirks as his phone is placed back into his pocket after typing on it for a minute or two.
"You think I need some artwork?" He asks with a light grin, switching his attention over to me. I shrug my shoulders.
"Some of your walls are a little empty, a little bit of artwork could be fun. Plus if he's a friend of yours then you would have a personal tie to it" I suggest lightly. In other words yes Harry your apartment is dying for a bit of life and colour. The corner of his mouth tilts upwards as he nods his head.
"Maybe you're right, help me look for something while we're there?" I nod in response. I don't have much of an eye for artwork, but if I keep watch of what Harry's interested in, maybe I can push him into buying it for himself. Maybe something in there will draw his eye, make him feel something.
The lights of the city have grown dark quickly, once more reminding me that summer is well and truly over. Hopefully we don't spend too long outside tonight, as I haven't brought a jacket with me to keep me warm in the harsh October air. John pulls the car into a parking bay and opens my door, helping me out of the car to join Harry on the pavement. I hear Harry tell John that he will text him when we are ready to leave before he takes my hand and leads me down the pavement towards a red brick building. Harry gives his name to a man at the door who allows us entry into the bustling space filled with slightly muted music and the general hum of idle chatter. The floors are charcoal and the walls are white, but the walls are covered with large canvases of brightly coloured artwork.
"H! Good to see you man!" A younger man in a blue blazer bounds over to greet Harry almost immediately after we walk in. Harry's face immediately lights up as he gives the man a hearty handshake.
"This looks great Max, good job mate" Harry responds boisterously, stepping back slightly and placing a hand on the small of my back to bring me forward slightly to stand beside him. "Max this is my girlfriend Elena, Elena this is Max this is his event" I lean forward and shake his hand with a wide smile, one that the man now known as Max returns. He's clearly excited, practically bouncing up and down on the spot as he greets me. His brown hair sits scruffily on the top of his head as much of his face is covered by a large pair of wire rimmed glasses.
"Good to finally meet you Elena, I've heard quite a bit about you" Max says almost teasingly, I tilt my head towards Harry who suddenly seems sheepish.
"Well it's nice to meet you too Max, congratulations!" I reply as my hand falls back to my side after our handshake. Max turns his attention back to Harry, placing his hand on his shoulder and shaking it slightly.
"it's been way too long man, it means a lot to me that you came. Listen I have to go and do some interviews but I'll be back to talk to you later. Enjoy yourselves you two!" He grins widely at the two of us before he hurries over to a young woman with a clipboard in her hand.
"That guy broke up with his high school girlfriend by writing a note on a paper airplane and throwing it at her during algebra, now look at him" Harry remarks quietly as we walk further into the gallery, Harry's attention on Max, who is now posing for photographers by a large piece of abstract artwork. He's proud of him, it's evident in his eyes.
"Well you helped your sister steal your childhood pet and now look where you are" I point out with a light giggle. Harry's head flickers back to me as he lets out a soft chuckle. "Sounds like you've both grown up quite a bit"
He nods his head. "I guess we have. I wonder if he's still shit at football" Harry wonders aloud as we wonder through the gallery