April 2018
To say he was nervous would be a complete understatement. Ever since he had gotten the invite in the post, his heart raced every time he thought about it. He wanted to go alone, to see Rosalie in all her glory but Camille was desperate to go as a lot of her model friends had been featured.
He stopped outside of the gallery and looked at the poster that was placed outside. 'TPWK by Rosalie Bernard: One Week Only.' This was opening night, she had to be there but he was definitely coming back alone at some point in the week to see it again by himself.
There were men standing with trays of champagne so he took two and handed one to Camille. His eyes searched the room as they usually did when he entered anywhere but tonight he was looking for someone in particular.
"I think it's in an order. See" Camille showed him the programme she had picked up somewhere and pointed to the right of the room. He ignored her comment, looking at every face for some sign of Rosalie.
His eyes found her, they always did. She was wearing a long tight black dress, her hair was half up and she was holding a glass champagne. He couldn't draw his eyes away from her, begging for her to look at him or notice he was at least there.
Many people were approaching her, hugging and congratulating her and she seemed genuinely happy. Her eyes eventually scanned the room and met his, something washed over her face but he couldn't tell what it was. He gave her a small nod of acknowledgement and she did the same before he broke the eye contact and started looking at the photos.
Harry walked probably the slowest of all the attendees, stopping and carefully analysing each picture. He could almost feel her in each one, her aura flowed from them. Camille disappeared for a moment and he didn't even notice as he read all the descriptions of the pictures sat before him.
"I just bought one of the French scenery pictures, gosh she captured France's beauty so well." Camille's voice snapped him out of his trance that he had curated with one picture in front him.
Harry loved the way she had set out her exhibition, dedicating each section to a place or theme. It was as if you were travelling as you walked around. They had already travelled to France, modelled by Michaela Thompsen. It added character, rather than just taking pictures of the views that many people have seen.
Each place had a description of why she had chosen it to feature and then you travelled along, the location being captured by landscapes and wherever these models appeared to be.
"And doesn't Alexa look beautiful in her pictures, Gabby too, wow my friends are so beautiful. I'm jealous I didn't get involved." She continued. Harry knew why she wasn't asked but he didn't say anything.
Alexa represented London and she did it so wonderfully. Camille gushed over her friend while Harry looked for hints of Rosalie in the creative direction.
Each picture had a small caption, Harry read every single one of them. Some were humorous while some simply stated what the picture was conveying. They made their way over to Australia, where Gabby was the model.
"She's beautiful isn't she?" Camille nudged Harry as he read one of the captions of a picture of the Sydney Opera House.
where more sophisticated dancing happens
He smiled to himself and nodded at Camille's comment so it didn't seem like he was ignoring her. It was all to investing, he couldn't take his eyes away from the landscapes. Some were Polaroid's, he noticed those would always have 'from a past life' as the caption which caught his eye.
They eventually reached America, starting with California. Harry took a deep breath and read the caption of California as a whole.
I hate california. I never understood it as a place but the weather is definitely beautiful and it holds a lot of memories for me. While being shown around by model Jenny Ong, I dreaded revisiting it despite its importance but Jenny showed me the beauty it holds beyond its people.
"Alexa thinks all the pictures are of her back because she is turning her back on LA." Camille suggested, reading the captions.
Harry read the captions quickly but then he was hit with one of the landscape pictures but it wasn't a landscape this time. It was so familiar it hit him right in the chest.
"Harry! That's the beachwood cafe!" Camille squeezed his arm as she excitedly read the caption. "I wonder who Lisa is?" Harry followed her eyeline and read the caption, knowing exactly who Lisa was.
For Lisa.
"We should get this one as well." He suggested, he figured if it was for Lisa, he would buy it and send it to her so she can have it.
Harry was having a hard time holding his emotions in so he mostly stayed silent as Camille gushed over her model friends and laughed at Rosalie's witty captions. She had no idea and it was almost refreshing. They walked past New York before reaching the final destination that wasn't a location at all.
Camille saw it before he did and let out a gasp, catching his attention quickly. His head turned and he saw the final two photographs, his breath hitching slightly.
"Harry! It's you!" Camille laughed. "You didn't tell me you were part of this." Harry stood completely still, his eyes running over the two pictures. He was only in one of them, it looked as if she had even attempted to cut him out of it considering his head was only in it from the eyes down.
His eyes watered as Camille read out the caption, he felt his heart breaking all over again. Why would she invite him here?
Something I learnt from someone very special to me was to treat people with kindness. Having never been treated with kindness, love or felt any sort of adoration towards myself, I owe him everything.
Under Harry's picture was the caption 'from a past life' and he had to tighten his jaw to stop from crying.
"Oh, that's why the exhibition is called TPWK" Camille sighed. "Wow, I've truly been blown away."
Harry stared at the photo of him and bit his lip, knowing exactly where that photo was from. Memories flooded back of Rosalie being completely obsessed with the shirt she had found in a vintage shop somewhere in London. How excited she had been that it fit Harry and demanded that he modelled it for her.
"I'm gonna get some air." He mumbled, walking quickly to the front of the gallery.
Camille watched as he sped away from the picture and furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. Suddenly Gabby approached her, having seen Harry's swift exit.
"Is he okay?" She asked. Camille licked her lips, she noticed that he had been quiet all evening but had just assumed he was really invested in the stories.
Rosalie watched Harry's body pushing past people to get out of the gallery. Clearly, he had made it to the end. She had debated in her head whether or not to tell him but she wanted his raw reaction, it wasn't what she had expected. At the very least she had expected to have a conversation with him about it even if it was how much he hated it.
"So, what are your plans now?" Alexa asked her as they all stood in a circle. Surrounding her was Lola, Nick, Sarah and Mitch. Gabby had just left them to see Camille. Rosalie drew her eyes away from the door that Harry had just sprinted out of.
"Well, I'm going to LA next week for a couple of weeks. I have a couple of jobs out there for a few magazines." She told her, everyone smiled with pride.
Rosalie dreaded going back to LA but the jobs she had been offered were something she couldn't turn down just because of how she felt. The sinking feeling she had felt the last time she was there hadn't gone away and it didn't go away like she thought it would when she saw Harry.
"Hey, Mitch. I think Harry just left. Can you go and see if he's alright?" She mumbled to him as he was stood right next to her.
"Of course." He excuses himself and left, leaning Sarah with a confused expression.
"Is Harry alright?" Alexa asked, telling her that the whole group had just heard her say that to Mitch.
"I don't know. I didn't tell him I put him in at the last minute, I'm worried he's not okay with it." She explained, chewing her lip. They all gave sympathetic looks.
"I think it was beautiful." Lola told her with a kind smile. There was a murmur of agreements between everyone before Gabby returned to the circle, bringing Camille with her.
"Oh, Rosalie. It's wonderful. Lived up to all the expectations." Camille put her arm around her. "And whoever you were talking about in that last picture with Harry, is a lucky man." She smiled. Rosalie felt her throat tighten as she nodded.
"Thank you." She smiled through it as everyone then realised Camille didn't know that Rosalie and Harry used to date. How had no one told her yet? Gabby looked the most shocked as the two interacted, she had assumed that Camille knew.
"Did anyone see where Harry went?" She asked the group.
"He went outside with Mitch, I think." Rosalie replied. It felt so wrong to be nice to her, she felt like she was hiding something from her even though it was Harry that needed to tell her. She desperately wanted to talk to him and see what he thought of the exhibition, it was all because of him anyway.
"Excuse me." Camille smiled as she clearly went after Harry. Rosalie wished it was socially acceptable for her to go after Harry. The group went silent as all eyes turned to Rosalie.
"Thank you all for coming again. It truly means so much." That was her way of saying, let's not talk about this please.
"Anything for you, Ro. We're all so proud." Sarah put her arm around her and kissed her cheek, squeezing her for comfort more than anything.
"It's a masterpiece" Nick complimented which made Lola roll her eyes.
"What would you know about art?" She teased him, making Rosalie smile at least. The two of them then started to try and prove that they knew more about art than the other and everyone else watched in amusement.
The tightness lifted in her chest slightly, she had a group of people around her that she seemingly had no disappointed. Their expectations had been met, exceeded dare she say and that was all she wanted.
"Rosalie! My protégé! It's not a piece of shit!" Paula's voice boomed through the gallery as she approached everyone. Rosalie laughed and accepted her compliment as well as her hug.
Mitch returned with a worried look on his face as Paula expressed her thoughts to Rosalie. The group dispersed into twos and threes but she kept an eye on Mitch as he spoke quietly to Sarah, watching her face also turning worried. There was something wrong and the tightness returned.
Outside, Harry was stood pacing as Camille watched. She had just walked out to find him in a heated conversation with Mitch in which he looked very frustrated. So now she was confused about what had turned her boyfriend into this mess. Mitch had retreated when she had approached, leaving her with an upset Harry.
"I haven't been honest with you Camille." He confessed, instantly sending her into panic mode. She didn't want to ask why, she didn't want to know why but she knew he was going to tell her. "When I met you, I had just gotten out of a relationship." He started.
"I knew that." She pointed out.
"I know but..." he sighed, looking away from her. "It was Rosalie, that I used to date." He confessed, refusing to look at her but her silence caught his curiosity.
Camille was just staring at him, he couldn't read her. She was standing in front of him with a blank expression on her face. Eventually she showed some sign of life by breathing out.
"I'm not stupid, Harry. I knew that. For a while it took a while to put a face to the name but I realised who she was when I saw you talking to her at that party." That was not the response he had expected so he just stared at her in confusion. "I assumed you didn't say anything because it wasn't going to be an issue or wasn't relevant. But now you're telling me and I'm slightly worried." He nodded.
"Rosalie hurt me a lot when we broke up." He was unsure of how to word what he was feeling, he had only realised how he was feeling while pacing around. "And I think I might have jumped into things with you before I really processed my feelings for her." Camille raised her eyebrows at him.
"What are you saying, Harry?" She asked. Harry scrunched his face up in frustration, the frustration that only seemed to rise when Rosalie was around.
"I love you, Camille. There is no doubt in my heart that I do. But I never stopped loving Rosalie and that's not fair on you." He confessed. Camille's mouth opened in shock, she hadn't expected that.
"So, what does this mean?" She wondered but Harry didn't know so he just stood there feeling like a complete idiot.
"I don't know." He mumbled. "Rosalie and I are such different people to who we were when we were together. I'm not saying I want her again I'm just saying I never got over it. Do you know what I'm trying to say?" He rambled aimlessly. Camille stared at him as if he were a stranger.
"I can't believe you didn't tell me this before." She huffed, feeling lost.
"I didn't know. I haven't seen her in months besides that one party. I don't want to hurt you, Camille. I can't lie to you like this, you mean too much to me. I'm sorry you're having to deal with this," he continued to ramble, not having got his thoughts together.
"You either want me or you don't, I won't be an option Harry." She pointed out. Harry sighed, not being able to answer her. Her waiting for him to tell her he wanted her was painful as the realisation it wasn't coming soon swept across her face. "Right, we're going in there and we're saying goodbye to all our friends and then you're taking me home." She demanded. He nodded like a child and they walked back into the gallery.
Rosalie saw them enter, Harry looked heartbroken and she hoped she wasn't the cause of it but deep down she knew that she probably had something to do with it. Her heart sped up as she watched Camille dart round to everyone to say goodbye while Harry waddled behind her to do the same. Then she started walking directly at Rosalie, who was stood with Nick and Sarah.
"Oh shit." Nick mumbled, earning an elbow to the rib. "Lola is gonna be pissed she missed this." He added referring that Lola had gone to the toilet but it only earned another rib which actually hurt him that time.
"I'm so sorry, Rosalie. We have to go but I truly loved the exhibition. It was parfait!" Camille beamed, her smile and French accent faltering slightly.
"Thank you for coming." She smiled, "both of you." Her eyes flickered between them. Harry stood behind her like a child, staring at Rosalie intensely as if he was trying to tell her something.
Camille went hug Sarah goodbye when Harry pulled Rosalie in for an unexpected hug. His chest rested against hers and she could feel his heart racing. There was something wrong with him, she could tell.
"It was brilliant." He said to her before pulling away, looking sheepishly at Camille as if he was apologising to her before they both left.
"That was wei-rd." Nick expressed when the couple had left the gallery. Rosalie stayed quiet, the tightness only becoming stronger.
"Ro! I have to go but I'll see you in LA!" Gabby's voice snapped her out of her trance. She opened her arms and melted into her new friend. "I'm going to teach you how to love it out there" she grabbed her face and squished it together, making her smile.
"And then you're going to leave me out there to follow your boyfriend on tour." She teased, earning a cheeky smile from Gabby.
"I'm gonna introduce you to my group of friends out there. You'll fit right in!" She promised. Sarah stepped into the conversation, squeezing Rosalie's elbow.
"So what I'm hearing is that Lola and Nick have the flat to themselves for a couple of weeks?" She suggested, bringing them into the conversation too.
"Hell yeah!" Nick wrapped his arm around Lola who tried her best not to look happy.
"You wish." She giggled, making everyone smile. Nick just grinned at her. Rosalie felt slightly bad for missing out on so much while she was away working but Nick took care of Lola better than Rosalie ever could.