It was not long before Harry got into the habit of calling her every day when Tony was away.

“What you doing? Where you going? What you thinking about?” He’d always ask.

“Why?” Lara would reply and she could not help but enjoy a secret smile when he would awkwardly reply.

“Dunno… just thought I’d ask.”

The shoe was on the other foot. Whilst in the past Harry had the upper hand whilst she pursued him, it was kind of refreshing to be the one on the receiving end. Whereas in the past she would have filled the silence with mindless chatter, she now remained silent and let him do the talking. And it was amusing to hear Harry navigate his way through trying to find ways to see her again.

When Harry would finally get to the point and ask her out, they’d usually end up going to lunch or he would pick her up from work and they’d go out for coffee. Lara welcomed the distraction, especially when she noticed the dark car that had been hanging out her previous apartment, reappear in front of her current apartment. It was too far away for her to approach, but close enough for her to know that whoever was behind those tinted windows, was looking at her.

Another thing that bothered her was the presence of paparazzi, who seemed to always know where they were. Whenever Lara questioned Harry, he would shrug his shoulders.

“Nothing to do with me.” He said.

When Harry called one morning, she could not help but smile.

“Soo…” He said. “Tony’s coming back tomorrow.”

Harry rarely mentioned her boyfriend since he had gone on his trip and she found herself pausing before replying.

“He’s extended his trip a few days.” She said.

“Well damn.”

He invited her to lunch and she gratefully accepted. She held her head high as she entered the restaurant, ignoring the two photographers in the front. She had also ignored the dark car at the front of her apartment, although the temptation to confront the situation was high.

At lunch Harry invited her to a get together at his house the next night.

“Just a few friends.” He told her. From previous experience that meant more than a few friends and the members of One Direction. In the past, the very thought would have scared her, but now she strangely felt unaffected by it.

As Lara walked down her street after lunch, she spotted the dark car on the other side of the street. A surge of anger propelled her forward and she marched across the road and right up to the driver’s side. The driver sat there with dark glasses and Lara could not help but frown when she saw who it was.

“Ben.” She cried before rapping on the window. “Open up.”

He reluctantly rolled down his window and looked up at her.

“It was you.” She said. “It was you all along!”

“Lara-”

“You’ve been stalking me this whole time!”

“I wouldn’t call it stalking.” Ben said calmly.

“What would you call it then?” She yelled, grabbing him by the arm. “Get out and tell me.”
“Take it easy.” He retorted. “Give me a fucking sec and I’ll explain.”

He shook off her hand and stepped out of the car.

“Can we go inside and talk about it?” He asked, gesturing toward her apartment.

“You’ve got to be kidding me. I don’t want you anywhere near me!” She cried. “Just tell me why?”

“Because you can’t take care of yourself!” Ben yelled. He cleared his throat and glanced around at a couple of curious bystanders who then quickly scurried past. “You need someone to take care of you.”

“What are you talking about? I’ve been taking care of myself for a long time now.”
“Really? First it was me, then Harry… Louis and now Tony. Where is Tony by the way?”

“None of your business!”

“When are you going to learn to stand on your own two feet?”

“What’s the real reason?” Lara cried.

“I just told you-”

“That’s bullshit and you know it. Tell me why!”

“Because I love you!” Ben shouted. “You want me to say it? There I said it. I never stopped loving you. I care about what happens to you and I just want to make sure you’re safe.”

“You’re crazy.” Lara turned to leave only for Ben to grab her arm.

“No, I’m not.”

“Well then, leave me alone. I’m not interested, okay? Stop following me because I swear to God, Ben, I’ll-”

“What? Tell Harry. You’re still chasing him, aren’t you? Still haven’t given up?”

“We’re just friends… and anyway, it’s none of your business. My life is none of your business. Leave me alone!” She snapped. “Don’t even think of doing this again because if I ever catch you, I’ll be calling the police!”

She spun on her heel and rushed into her apartment, to hear the phone ring. Lara paused for a moment, wondering if Ben was crazy enough to keep badgering her in this way, but eventually gave in at the tenth ring.

“Hello?” She said tentatively.

“Hi.” Tony’s voice spoke and she found herself sighing with relief. “How are you?”

“Okay.”

“Good.” He replied, but she could tell he was preoccupied.

“How’s everything going?” She asked to break the silence.

“Good.” He repeated. “Everything is good. You keeping busy?”

She could tell by the sound of his voice that he was not happy and the image of Harry flashed in her mind.

“Yeah… just with work and stuff.”

“Stuff.” He said flatly.

“Yeah…just hanging out with friends.”

“Yes, I’ve seen the pictures in the paper.”

Lara fell silent and waited for him to continue, only to hear a female voice call in the background.

“Tony?”

“Coming!” Tony called back. “I have to go… something’s just come up. Jake needs to… look we’ll talk later.”

It was Tony’s turn to sound flustered and Lara did not even have a chance to respond before he hung up. She sat in the middle of the couch and looked at her surroundings. It was all Tony. Nothing of her seemed to belong here and for the first time in a long time she felt the urge to be alone. No boyfriend, no ties… just her. She quickly rattled off a text to Harry.

Can’t make the party tomorrow. Sorry.

She just wanted to be alone.

X

Two days later she sat at the front window, watching Tony unload the suitcases from his car. She resisted the urge to go downstairs and help him and was glad she didn’t when the passenger door opened and Tony’s wife stepped out. She was dressed casually, her blonde hair tied into a ponytail and Lara watched as she grabbed a small suitcase. Susan paused to say something to Tony before giving him a quick hug. She took her son by the hand and they made their way to a waiting taxi.

So that was the woman’s voice I heard in the background, Lara thought to herself. All the pieces of the puzzle began to fall into place as she realised this trip had truly been a family one and there was no doubt that she was not welcome.

For no reason at all Tony looked up at that very moment and their eyes locked for a few seconds before Lara moved from the window. She sat down on the couch again, focussing on nothing but the wall in front of her.

She did not move until she heard the door click open and even then it was to glance toward Tony who walked in and placed his suitcases on the ground.

“My parents wanted to see her.” He said. When Lara did not respond, he moved forward until he stood before her, blocking her view of nothingness.

“Lara, please.” He said. “It’s not what it seems.”

“Really?” She said softly.

“Really… Susan hasn’t seen my parents for a long time and they had been asking for her. I don’t think they’ve accepted our separation. They want things to be the way they were.”

“But they’re not!” Lara cried, finally looking him in the eye. “Things have changed. You’re not with Susan anymore, you’re with me. Did you even tell your parents that you’re living with someone else?”

“I didn’t get the chance. When Susan showed up, it was hard to-"

“How hard is it for you to acknowledge me?” Lara shot up from the couch. “I might as well not even be here!”

Lara barged into their bedroom and headed straight for the wardrobe where her suitcase was stored.

“Lara, what are you doing?”

“What do you think?”

“You have nowhere to go.”

“So what?”

“Please listen to me. I don’t want you to go.” Tony closed his hand over hers and forced her to face him. “I wanted to tell Susan to go, but I couldn’t… and it didn’t help that I was angry.”

“Angry about what?” Lara asked, even though she knew the answer.

“You’ve been spending a lot of time with Harry. I’m not even gone for five minutes and I start reading all these stories about you meeting up for lunch… going to yoga… going out for coffee. Pictures of you smiling… and the look in Harry’s eyes. He wants you Lara.”

“I haven’t done anything… I mean we haven’t done anything… we’re just friends.”

“I know. But for how long? Can you blame me for being angry?”

He placed his arms around her and hugged her close.

“Please don’t go.” He murmured in her ear. “Not like this.”

Notes