Ellie Hoover

I stood in shock with my feet rooted to the tile floor.

“Hi, it’s really nice to meet you. Sorry for this mess,” I laughed awkwardly, motioning to the chaos surrounding me in the big kitchen, no doubt the largest room in the entire house.

“Not a problem. Sorry we interrupted. I told Harry he should have just knocked,” the blond said, her voice sweet and smooth.

I blinked in response. Pain seared through the palm of my hand as my body recovered from the initial wash of shock that paralyzed me. I quickly took two long strides to the sing and ran the coldest water over the result of my stupidity.

“The water is too cold. You’re causing more trauma to your skin.” Harry shuffles beside me. He reached out to the nozzle and I couldn’t help but notice his hands. His rather large ones linked with long fingers, working to fix the water temperature. They were the same ones that would not let me go not long before.

I felt the slight temperature shift of water on the uninjured area surrounding the sore of my hand. I winced at the slight shot of pain in my palm before it returning to its numb state. I looked up at Harry, who was already looking down at me. His left arm was stretched out with his still resting on the knob. Our eyes met and I couldn’t quite tell what thought and feelings consumed him, but I knew he was overworking his mind. The green of Harry’s eyes shifted left and right as I assumed he was trying to gage what both of my own brown ones held.
He frowned and dropped his hand to his side suddenly before clearing his throat.

“Do you need help cleaning up?” He asked as stepped back, greatening the distance between the two of us.

“No, thank you though. It’s my mess. I knew I shouldn’t have tried to do anything in the kitchen,” I awkwardly laughed.

“Who would have thought Beth’s own would have no talent in the kitchen?” He finally smiled. “Why were you trying to bake?”

“I was bored,” I sighed. I rotated my body toward the sink and switched the water off. I walked over to the island and grabbed a hand towel before wrapping the white cloth around my hand.

“Well, maybe you should go outside and face the real world. You can come with me and Hallie shopping,” Harry suggested. I had forgotten about the girl who claimed Harry as her own standing at the doorway of the kitchen.

“I have work that needs to be done. Thank you though,” I nodded toward Harry, his face washed over with disappointment. “It really was nice to meet you, Hallie. Nice to see you again, Harry,” I said hastily before walking past Hallie and toward the staircase.

“You’re leaving a mess in the kitchen?” Harry’s voice stopped me three quarters of the way up the stairs. Damn, I thought; it was so unlike me to leave a room uncleansed or unorganized. I wasn’t sure if he had known of my tendencies or if he had questioned this rare situation out of chance and rightful reason.

“No, I was going to clean up later. See you soon!” I called out before running up into my designated room. I knew I was acting childish and at the time I wasn’t sure why. For the first time in a while, I had been uncomfortable with Harry. He put me in an unexpected and overtly awkward position by barging into the house, bringing a girl whose looks put me same, and preceding to act like there was no big deal with bringing his girlfriend so suddenly. I knew we had nothing romantically sensed in our relationship, but Harry had been out of place to show up after not talking to me with a guest.


I usually dealt with spontaneity and sudden changes in life-hell, my whole life was built around those two principles. I was an artist and a business owner with a crazy best friend and a past life I had to make up and improvise for all the memories I could not recall. I had more tattoos than most would like to see and man back home most would not like to even meet. I lived a hectic life, I will admit, but with all that I had in my life was I happy? Being here screwed with my thoughts; it slowed me down and I wasn’t sure I liked that very much. It was also so much different than I thought it would be departing from Seattle. Spontaneity and sudden changes were the last things I would think to occur in this small town. I realized I didn’t like living with those two here. I was out of my element in England; Harry confused me.
My stomach hissed with hunger. I looked down at my draft and was surprised with what I saw. My emotions were poured out onto the page, vibrant colors exploring the depths of my emotions. I had been so caught up in my head that I couldn’t feel the pain of my blistering palm and I wasn’t even sure of what I had bee drawing. I couldn’t print this design onto a product though, considering I thought it was too personal.


I stepped down the stairs, one by one, trying to decipher whether or not Harry and Hallie had left. Once I took my final step off the stairs, I turned into the kitchen and was surprised once more for the day. The kitchen was spotless. As spotless as would have made it. I concluded it was most likely Harry who cleaned up my disaster. His girlfriend could have done it too; she seemed to be a nice girl, deserving of Harry.

I pulled out fruit and crackers, avoiding anything involving the need to cook and sat at the island. My grandparents had redone the kitchen since the last time I had been here. It had been one of the only rooms in the house they redid, but I enjoyed the fact that they did the kitchen. My grandmother deserved the big space, the new appliances, and the beautifully finished wood.

I sat in the quiet house, only masked by the wind picking up outside, whispering against the windows. I knew there was something I could do to preoccupy myself with the time remaining here. I had Harry to thank for the idea.

I picked up my phone and tapped on the familiar name, one I had grown comfortable for the previous four years.

The ringing ceased after the fourth round. “What a surprise you called. What do you want?”
“Hello to you too. I have to ask you a question, Ben.”

“Anything for you baby,” I could see the sly smile playing on his face.

I took a deep breath, drawing as much courage I could for the possibility of making a huge mistake.

Notes

Alright. I was going to give you all a double update today but I have been so sick, so I kept dozing off and I am off to bed early. Tell me what you think!
Thank you all.
xo