Secrets / Black & White / Playing for Keeps

Harry groggily rolled over in bed only to come face to face with a brunette lying next to him. He peered closely at her, even moving the hair out of her face in a bid to recognise her.

Her name was Sarah (or was it Sally) He couldn’t remember. All he could recall was fucking her in a nightclub bathroom cubicle the night before, but the memory of them sharing a taxi to his house was a blur.

It didn’t take long to figure out why, as he gingerly touched his sore head. Must have been those damn tequila shots he downed at the bar. They usually managed to effectively turn his mind into a foggy maze that he tried to stagger out from, every morning.

She stirred and he quickly shut his eyes and feigned sleep. The last thing he wanted to do was engage in casual conversation. She had tried that yesterday night, but she soon caught on that he was not interested in chatting. If she had not realised it at the beginning, she sure did when he had slammed her against that bathroom door.

The girl seemed to pause before getting out of bed and when she finally did, Harry resisted the temptation to open his eyes and see what she was doing.

“Harry I have to go.” She whispered. He begrudgingly opened his eyes to see her looking at him apologetically.

“Okay.” Harry mumbled, wondering why she was still standing there.

“My dress.” She said with raised eyebrows. Harry glanced down to see he had somehow ended up sleeping on her little black dress and he shifted over to let her grab it. She slipped it on and smiled down at him.

“You got my number right?”

Harry nodded even though he couldn’t remember if he did or not. Sarah (or Sally) smiled again and bent over to pick up her shoes but then stumbled slightly.

“Oops. Sorry… I stepped on this.” She pulled out a textbook from under his bed and placed it beside him. Harry stared down at it, barely noticing her leaving the bedroom. It was Lara’s Interior Architecture textbook. God knows how long it had been under his bed, he had barely been spending time at home since… well since she had gone. He should call her. Tell her, he had the book. Maybe she needed it. Or maybe he just needed to hear her voice.

X

“Remember Jennifer?” Tony asked.

Lara snapped out of her deep thoughts and focussed on the man beside her on the couch.

“Who?”

“Jennifer. The stage manager at work. I introduced her to you the last time you visited the set.”

“Kind of.” Lara replied.

“She loves the work you’ve done on my apartment. She wants to know when you’re free to meet up with her. She just bought a little apartment in Islington.”

“Oh. Okay.” Lara said.

“Are you all right?” Tony asked concerned.

“Yeah.” Lara forced a smile. “I’m fine.”

“Maybe it’s time for a drink.” Tony said heading toward the kitchen. “Do you like red or white wine?”

“Water.” Lara replied swiftly. “Just water please.”

Once she was alone, Lara pulled out her phone and again listened to the message she had just received.

“Um… Lara it’s me. Just wanted to let you know I found your textbook… it was under my bed. Dunno why. Anyway… if you want to pick it up you can. Or if you want to let me know your address, maybe I can forward it on. Let me know. Okay? Bye.”

His voice was deep and monotonous, and she could not quite decipher his mood. She quickly tucked her phone away in her handbag, not ready to call or even text him back.
Harry.

It had been six months since she had last seen him. Six long months of trying to get her life back on track; adapting to live alone again, recovering from her addiction and learning how to stand on her own two feet for the first time in what felt like years.

It had not been easy, but she was slowly getting there.

A lot had happened since Louis Tomlinson’s kind gesture. After she had returned from rehab, he had asked her to decorate his house. It would not only be her first official job, but a welcome distraction from what she had been through the previous year.

Even though she had not finished her degree, Lara found she had a natural affinity for interior design and she had worked hard to transform Louis’ house into a home which reflected his tastes and personality.

It was amazing what word of mouth could achieve, because before she knew it, she had a request to do another home not long after Louis’ house was completed.And then another. She had been planning to return to school (after having to defer) but how could school compete with cold hard cash?

She remembered how Harry had disagreed and encouraged her to return to school.

“Forget about the money. You’re with me… you don’t need it.” He had told her and even though she knew he had said it with good intentions, she could not help but feel intense anger.

“It doesn’t feel right to have you paying for everything.” She had argued, but he had shaken his head dismissively.

“Who cares about money? Money doesn’t mean a thing.”

“Not to you maybe… but it does to me! I don’t feel comfortable living off you.”

Tony returned with her water and then settled next to her on the couch.

“Dinner’s almost ready.” He told her with a smile.

“Great.” She said brightly.

He began to chat about his work and she could not help but admire him as he did.

Tony had come into her life only a month earlier. He was a TV producer that she had met through some of her contacts. He had been her second client (after Louis) and she had enjoyed working for someone that she did not know.

Working with Louis had been fun (although there had been many moments of frustration), but she knew him too well. It was exciting to create a new home for someone she barely knew. She and Tony had spent long hours trawling through stores or simply chatting about his vision and it had not taken long for Lara to notice little things.

The way his gazes seemed to last longer than they should and the way he seemed genuinely pleased to see her when they would meet up. Her pen was poised over her notebook and she was deep in thought the day he finally asked her on a date. It took Lara a few moments to register what was happening. Her only proper relationship had been with Harry and she could hardly classify that as a conventional relationship.

Tony was older than her at thirty to her twenty one years and attractive, with his short brown hair and kind brown eyes. So different to Harry and his mess of curls and intense green orbs. Lara had accepted to go on a dinner date with him and they had casually been seeing each other ever since.

But the thought of Harry was never far from her mind, even during moments like this.
Tony placed his arm around her shoulders as he spoke and Lara tried to put a smile on her face.

She had to forget about the past…because that’s all she and Harry shared together. The past.

Notes

Here it is... the third instalment!

Please favourite, vote and most importantly comment... I like to know people are actually reading, otherwise I'm not motivated to write.

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy the rest of the story.

(& a special thank you to all the people who encouraged me to write this story- you guys are wonderful!) :)

PS: I've added it to the end of my other stories... hope that's okay! (I almost accidentally posted it as a story on its own!)