The Night I Met Harry

The house was quiet as I entered. It was the peaceful sort of quiet with the natural hum of the computer set a few feet away. I released the pressure from my lower stomach, exhaling as the afternoon set in. I wasn’t tired but felt a little exhausted more so in a mental sense as I made my way up the stairs and down the hall to her room. The paint fumes had long since settled and her furniture I’d ordered weeks ago was now put together and organized against the wall. I sat down the bags in the chair I had placed in the corner and took in the essence of my life at the moment. My fingers rubbed against a blanket that lay downward in the bassinet that her smooth skin and perfect scent would soon spill over. The thought had surprised me with a smile until I felt him enter the air. I removed from it my touch to instead give attention with my eyes as I waited.

Harry:
“We’re going to talk now. It’s not a question.”

The rugged tone of his voice had told me that he likely had spoken with my mother in the time after my visit with her. God that pissed me off in ways he just didn’t know right now. I turned brushing my fingertips against my scalp in a sulking manner. They glided through, causing my eyes to fall shut for a moment of comfort before beginning this.

Winter:
“What first?”

Harry:
“You can start by telling me where your rings are.”

I glanced down at my fingers that were still bare from the conversation with her earlier where I’d been literally cracking beneath my skin. It was interesting how fast he noticed their absence, but this could simply be from notes he’d taken from their chat. He was in lounge attire, stood in the frame of the door with his arms crossed and his eyebrows close to one another.

Winter:
“Did you speak with her?”

I tested, choosing to keep the little space we had between us current.

Harry:
“Where are your rings, Winter?”

The sound his voice had caused rung again to the walls as he demanded his answer.

Winter:
“In my bag… I forgot to put them back on.”

Harry:
“Oh, so you’re taking them off when you leave the house these days?”

I looked up at him, realizing that the question was being asked seriously. My eyes dropped again to drift over to the window, as taking this with a straight face was becoming a little bit of a challenge.

Winter:
“I’m going to bed now.”

I said stepping forward to leave the room but he’d come forth, closing the door behind him. He took a deep breath, closing his eyes and leaning his curly head against the back of it for a second. Maybe more than a second as I stood there with my feet planted apart in my own mental scuffle. He pushed off of it to walk toward me slowly and place his face just inches away from mine, caressing my stomach in his hands. It was something about this that seemed so intimate to me and pulled me away from that darkness that spun over from before.

Harry:
“I have to be honest, Winter…I hate this.”

My brain reacted urgently; given that there were so many ways that statement could easily spur in.

Harry:
“This weird space you’re giving…it bothers me.”

I listened as his lips moved while drawing soothing circles against my bump.

Harry:
“We need to fix it. That’s what we do, okay? I need to know why you took them off. Is this about the Jessie thing?”

I felt like if I were to say something I would only be interrupting. Even when given a prompt. He waited tolerantly for me to go but there was no nice way of illustrating what I wanted him to hear.

Harry:
“Come on…”

He urged me…he shouldn’t have.

Winter:
“I feel…like I’m keeping you from something- or…someone.”

The circles stopped so I could understand the reality, though I hadn’t looked up.

Winter:
“You don’t have to feel responsible for me, you know. We’re adults so if there’s something about the two of you that I don’t know, tell me. Don’t do things behind my back, Harry. Just tell me…because it’s making me spite you.”

The words had come out quickly without time to filter them or a plan to deliver them in a certain way. He hadn’t much to say while he processed those sharp pieces of information but I took the silence with thanks. He walked away in mid-thought to open the door and linger there for a second as if he’d forgotten something…probably whatever was on the stove.

Harry:
“Dinner’s ready.”

--

I held a disliking for the time break on the way to the kitchen. I ate but cautiously with full awareness that the conversation back there wasn’t over. His eyes studied me while mine studied the patterns of the plate.

Harry:
“Just listen, okay?”

He started before I had given a nod to obey.

Harry:
“…I was fully prepared to walk away from her, no questions asked. It’s not really much of a debate between you and her, Winter. And despite us being friends before- she’s still just not as important to me as you are. Never doubt that,”

I felt him opening up to me instead of giving me some pageant answer this time that likely left out most of the details.

Harry:
“And then she told me she’d lost her sister a little while ago…and that she has no one. The guilt was eating at me because I had just dropped her like that..so I saw her again just to make sure she was okay. I have my friends watching after her now… so my deed is done, alright? It bothers you, I get it.”

The new information had given me a different perspective on things yet still I didn’t know how to feel. Each sentence ran into the other. There were pauses where usually there wouldn’t have been, and uncertainly to tell me… but he pushed through it anyways.

Harry:
“Now…your turn. I want to know what Mason got my daughter today.”

I snapped him into my vision, stopping the circular motion of the fork in my hand.

Winter:
“Wait. How do you know about that?”

I was puzzled a great deal, and a tad bit weirded out.

Harry:
“And where were you all evening the day you saw me with Scott?”

Okay, this was causing my brain to work in overdrive. He didn’t push for an answer though I had only been giving him silence, yet it didn’t assist in helping me gather myself.

Winter:
“I-uh..I was with Mason. Airbrushing.”

I stumbled out with uncertainty of the outcome.

Harry:
“At his place?”

Winter:
“No. It was an art studio type of thing…I had just ran into him, I didn’t even know he lived here. I was leaving the parking lot when I called you. Being late wasn’t on purpose; you know how I get with the artsy stuff.”

And how did he know that I saw him with Scott? I placed a bit of the potato in my mouth from the fork, partially because I was hungry and the other half to fill the mute.

Winter:
“Why didn’t you answer the phone that night? I get that you were upset but-”

Harry:
“No. I was in the shower, Winter. I’ll answer if you call, I don’t care how pissed we are at each other. You should know that.”

I placed the fork down as the animosity from that situation slowly dimmed with that information. This entire time, the thought was irretrievable in the back of my mind that I’d been failed by him somehow…but I was wrong to feel that. And this changed things for me.

I kept going, though there was still more to discuss of that situation.

Winter:
“And you were with Scott because?”

He leaned in as if letting me in on a secret. Something about us seated here and opening up to each other in such a way was lessening whatever space I felt I needed from him before. The honesty was refreshing and cleared my head in ways I wouldn’t have understood ten minutes ago.

Harry:
“…That morning when you were sleeping, he kept calling your phone. At first I didn’t know if he was calling because you two were talking again or if he was just an asshole.”

Winter:
“Hey. I have not been in contact with him, Harry. Don’t even think that-“

He reached to grab my hand to suppress the temper that was beginning to spur up again. I hated that after so much time had gone, we still had to discuss him from time to time.

Harry:
“I know, I know…I just needed to see him so I could understand what was unclear about my last warning.”

Winter:
“Yea, but again you didn’t tell me. And don’t say you didn’t want me to worry, I think I’m old enough to decipher that myself.”

Harry:
“Look, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I am, Winter. I honestly don’t know why I do that sometimes, but I won’t again.”

He seemed pretty sure of himself but I would only accept that with time. Habits were hard to cure.

Harry:
“When friends of mine see you out, whether you’re with someone or not, they tell me about it. Especially if there’s a guy…that’s how I knew where you were today.”

I didn’t know why everything was news to me, but what I did was that if this little dinner epiphany conversation of ours never happened, I probably still wouldn’t know.

Harry:
“No Jessie. No Mason.”

Winter:
“But he’s just a friend. Just like the girls or Danny and Austin.”

Harry:
“Yea. And Jessie and I were just friends.”

Winter:
“Not the same, I’ve never had sex with Mason. And he’s not relentless like she is.”

He shook his head to obviously declare that I had it all wrong.

Harry:
“He has a huge crush on what’s mine, and unless you want me to kick his ass you’d better stop seeing him.”

I issued an expression of surprise at how harsh and final his words were.

Winter:
“Where are you even getting that idea?”

Harry:
“I’m a guy.”

Winter:
“That’s not enough.”

Harry:
“Okay. How much did he spend for you today?”

Sigh. I looked away while I thought of all of the occurrences of Mason being nice to me. I wasn’t naïve, despite his thought on it and could usually tell when someone was into me.

Harry:
“Exactly.”

Winter:
“It wasn’t for me, it was for Riley. And only as a congratulations.”

Harry:
“No. That entire scene was just too intimate, Winter. Don’t do it again. She’s mine, and if anyone’s spending that much on her it’s going to me. There’s nothing else to discuss.”

He was being so mean about it, but I guess the topic of her prevented me from getting my feelings hurt.

Winter:
“…She’s mine too.”

I spoke softly like a child with mild territorial issues.

Winter:
“I really like the things though…”

I pouted, intertwining my fingers with his so he’d put the temper away. But mostly so he wouldn’t make me take back everything.

Winter:
“There’s still plenty more to get. We can go together to that store near my mom’s, yea?”

I moved some of the hair from his face with my fingers, gently brushing them over his skin as our argument came toward its end. A sigh had happened, letting me know he was taking small steps toward letting it go.

Winter:
“You’re cranky.”

I declared with a small smile. His eyes were softening to my voice and hand movements. I gestured for a kiss and he hadn’t hesitated to lean across and give his warm tongue to dance with mine. Fireworks went off in my head to the rhythm of it, and I was seeing quite clearly now.

Winter:
“I know I’ve been bad. I’m sorry. Don’t be mad, k?”

The doorbell had sounded in a standard pitch seconds after, leading me to immediately ponder who told me they’d be stopping by today... No one, to my knowledge, but I guess the look of question I’d given him had been just enough.

Harry:
“My mom. Go and put them back on, please.”

He kissed my hand affectionately before getting up to answer the door.

Notes

Hello.

Probably the last I'll update so soon because I'll have class all the time. Hey, but at least they quit arguing. Ignore if there's errors, thanks.

XOXO