My Dearest Friend

“So that’s how I ended up going-” she stopped mid sentence as a noise began to emanate from between them. Harry excused himself and pulled his phone from his pocket.
“Hello?” there was a slight annoyance in his tone, sending Jessica the message that he really wasn’t expecting the call or in the mood to take it. From the speaker of the phone she heard the voice but couldn’t make out any words, only enough to recognize a male on the other end. “Listen, I’m kinda of busy at the moment...” he attempted to say. Harry stole a glance in her direction and continued to talk. “She’s fine, we’re both fine and having a grand old time.” As sarcastic as he sounded, he was only trying to get the point across to the other end of the line. “I’ll call you later, bye.” he put the phone away and returned his attention to Jessica. “I’m sorry about that.”
“No need to apologize.”
“I told him last night I’d call later.... he can get so impatient sometimes.” he explained as they were rounding the last corner of the block, finally making it back to his street.
“So, what else do we have planned today?”
“Planned?” he drawled out.
“I’m not here to dilly-dally.” she said in a firm tone.
“You haven’t even been here 24 hours and you’re already picking up our lingo.”
“Honestly Harry...”
“I don’t know.” he finally said. “It’s your first official day so I thought we could just go with the flow.”
“And you know what the flow is telling me?” he had a feeling he knew where she was getting at.
“A swing.” she nodded her head, letting her ponytail swish about and causing some bangs to fall in her face. Thinking quickly, he took her hand and turned them around, beginning to run down the opposite way.
“Mind telling where we’re going?”
“Just keep up!” he answered. They continued two blocks down and a field came into view. An old looking house was resting at the edge of this field with a giant tree giving it proper shade. She managed to let go of his hand and stood in place. “Aren’t you coming?” he asked as he turned to her. She nodded once more and walked towards the tree, where a lone white chair hung from two chains. Harry was already sitting as she approached the lofted seat that gently swung back and forth. Jessica debated for a moment whether the swing would be able to support them both, judging by the rusted chains. But this is what she had asked for, what they were both seeking, so she sat in the spot next to him. “Now, before we were rudely interrupted, you were telling me about your move.” Surprised that he managed to pay attention to that much detail, she continued her story.

They sat at the furthest corners of the bench facing each other with legs crossed and touching in the middle, lightly swinging as they talked, sharing funny experiences and tales of friendship and hardship. As Jessica recalled on one of her first nights in her apartment, Harry felt something touch his chin. She immediately stopped talking, thinking she was getting too excited over telling the story.
“Was that me?” she innocently asked. He smiled and shook his head.
“I think we should take this party inside.” she looked puzzled but he directed her attention upwards, where clouds of grey covered the once blue sky. They stood up to begin their trek home, when the rain began to fall at a faster pace. He took her hand once more as a guide and they rushed to the safety of his home.
As they reached the house, they noticed a silence. On the kitchen table was a note from his mother, stating that she had gone to town for errands.
“Well, I guess she’ll be gone for a couple hours. Why don’t you run upstairs and take a warm shower first.” without a moments hesitation, Jessica ran up the stairs to rid herself of her soaked clothes.
Jessica hung the towel on her door to dry, and went downstairs. When she entered the kitchen, she saw him standing at the table looking over something, and wearing only a pair of boxers.
“Feel free to take a shower now.” she said as she passed him, making her way to the fridge and keeping her back to him.
“Oh, I didn’t hear you finish.” Harry answered, leaving Jessica to assume that was his excuse as to why he was barely dressed. She took out some milk and began to make herself some cereal. It was inevitable to avoid him, so she joined him at the table, all the while trying to keep her gaze away from his exposed body. Harry was scribbling something down, a determined crease on his brow, looking serious.
“What’s up?” she asked with a mouthful. His response was a raise of the eyebrow. “Am I not allowed to know?”
“I’m just organizing some things.”

“You mean work?” Harry just nodded his head. Jessica leaned closer to see a calendar on the table and a list that resembled some sort of schedule.
“I promise it won’t take long. Once it’s done, it’ll be out of our hair for good.”
“Why don’t you go shower, it’ll help clear your mind.” a heavy sigh escaped his pink lips.
“Fine, I’ll go.”
“Geez, I’m not forcing you to do anything.” she joked. Harry managed to crack a smile as he left everything and turned to go upstairs. Jessica wasn’t trying to be a sneak, but she couldn’t help but want to steal a peek at the notes Harry was working on. From the angle she was sitting at, or even if she was sitting normally, none of the names were recognizable. They seemed to be names of people, almost like a list of appointments or meetings he has to go to. She sat back in her seat and munched on her cereal quietly, suddenly a little bummed. She didn’t expect to stay too long, but the invitation from his mother was just so tempting, she wouldn’t have minded to stay a whole week or two. Looking out the kitchen window, the rain didn’t seem like it was going to end anytime soon; as if it were telling her that the melancholy mood was going to stick around for a while longer.

Harry came down the stairs 20 minutes later more properly dressed. He found Jessica sitting on the couch in the family room, reading a book with only a table light on.
“Would you like more light?”
“I’m not really reading.” he took the spot next to her and smiled.
“Everything alright?” she closed her book and put it on the table, giving him her full attention.
“Yeah.” Harry wasn’t the least bit convinced with her response. He scooted closer to her and followed her gaze out the window.
“Something the matter?”
“Nope.” Jess sighed a little, then continued to talk. “What are you thinking about right now?”
“How to put a smile on your face.” he answered sincerely.
“Sometimes it feels like it takes more muscles to smile than to frown.”
“You know that’s not true.” she managed to crack a smile.
“I said it only feels like it.” They sat in silence for a moment, then a phone was heard ringing from the kitchen.