Frames That Used to Greet Me

I didn’t stay at Mickey’s overnight because I didn’t need to give Livia any more ammunition than she already had. If I had stayed, the early morning wake-up call would have been expected. But when I rolled over in my own bed because my phone was ringing like mad on my nightstand, I couldn’t figure out why.

Mickey’s face was splashed across the screen. What could she possibly want? “‘s way too early,” I mumbled into the phone, my face half-pressed into my pillow still.

She laughed. “It’s almost ten, Haz. It’s not that early.”

“Why are you calling?”

“You’re the one who invited me last minute to a bloody wedding, Styles. I really don’t want to hear your whining. I need someone to come with me to get a dress, and you’ve won the opportunity.”

I started to protest. Even half-asleep me knew this had bad idea written all over it. There was no way Michaela was going to drag me to shopping for a bloody dress. It wasn’t going to happen.

“If you don’t come, I’m not going to the wedding.”

“Bloody hell....” I muttered before rolling out of bed. “Fine. You’re buying me dinner.”

“Fair enough. I’ll be there at noon to pick you up.”

***

Once I got ready, I walked out to the kitchen to have a cup of tea before Mickey arrived. Lou was already in the kitchen, heating up a kettle, so I said good morning and took a seat in one of our bar stools. “Where’s Liv?” I asked, grabbing an apple and taking a bite.

“She had to open. She wants to take off next weekend so she’s trying to work as much as possible.”

I nodded. “Mickey’s coming over. She needs to get a dress and she’s making me go.”

I watched the smirk grow on Lou’s face as he poured a cup of hot water over a tea bag before he did the same again and slid one of the cups towards me. “Finally asked her, yeah?”

I nodded, fixing my tea before taking a sip. “She didn’t want to, but she finally agreed.”

“I’m curious as to why you waited so long to ask her,” Lou said, setting the kettle back on the stove before turning to me. “I mean, you were always going to, yeah?”

I didn’t say anything.

“Mate...” Lou groaned, trailing off. “You asked Cora didn’t you?”

Again, I stayed silent.

“How’d Mickey react to being your second choice?” he asked, a smirk on his lips. When I avoided his eyes and still didn’t speak, he said, “Haz... you didn’t tell her?”

“Well why would I?” I burst. “I mean, really Lou. Why would I tell her I asked Cora and she was my second choice? What does it matter?”

Lou shook his head. “It’s your funeral, mate,” before he grabbed his tea and headed towards the living room just as there was a knock on the door.

“I hope you know this is about to be your own personal hell,” Mick said by way of greeting as she stepped inside. “Because I got cramps about an hour before I came over here, I feel like shit, and finding a dress that doesn’t make me look like either a total slag or a pregnant teen is going to be absolutely mental.” She gave me her sweetest grin to offset the threat she had basically just issued to me.

I shook my head. “Not sure what I did to deserve such a lovely day out, honestly.”

“‘lo Mick,” Lou called from the living room.

A brief flash of panic washed over her face before she recovered and said hello to him. Quieter, to me, she said, “Can we get on with it then?”

Chuckling, I said goodbye to Lou before we headed out the door.

***

The only source of payback I had for Mickey were the handful of girls scattered outside Topshop that wanted pictures and autographs. I couldn’t deny them, and I wouldn’t, so while I dealt with the small crowd, Mickey went on to search for a dress.

When the girls were satisfied, I said goodbye and hurried into the store to find Mickey. She was easy to find, situated near one of the dress racks, pouring over the selection. “Find anything?” I asked, hopeful. She merely laughed, which I took as a bad sign.

“Satisfy your fangirls?” she asked me as she continued to look, pulling out a dress here and there.

“Always do.”

“Good, because we have a dress to find.” She smirked at me then and took the pile of dresses in her arms, handing them over to me.

A little while later, I was seated outside of the fitting rooms for what felt like the eight hundredth time. Mickey kept trying on dress after dress, and while they were all beautiful, she wasn’t satisfied with any of them. I was keeping myself busy, messing around on my phone as much as possible, but I was still bored out of my skull.

Just as I was opening Twitter for the millionth time, Mickey was poking her head out of the dressing room. “Help me zip this one yeah?”

I sighed but did as I was told, zipping up the back of a pretty peach colored dress. Once it was on, I stepped back so Michaela could come out and look in the mirror. “What do you think?”

She looked beautiful, of course. The dress was strapless, so it showed off her shoulders, and it had a high skirt in the front so it showed off her legs but it was low in the back so she didn’t look trashy. “You’re beautiful, Michaela.”

She smiled at me in the mirror before she nodded. “Right. I think this is the one, yeah?”

Just then, one of the store associates stepped into the room. “Need any help?” she asked.

I knew that voice.

I whipped around. “Cor? What are you doing here?”

Mickey turned around just as fast and as I glanced between the two girls, I saw the brief scowl on her lips as she glared at Cora. She quickly replaced it with a tight smile, but that didn’t matter. I still caught it.

I looked at Cora, who looked just as surprised to see me as I did her. “I--I work here,” she stuttered, “In the summer. I work here in the summer. You know, must pay the bills somehow.” Her cheeks colored as she cast her eyes downward.

I looked at Mickey, who rolled her eyes. “I’m going to change. I think this is the one, then we can leave.”

She wouldn’t look at me either as she returned to the fitting room. I sighed before returning to my seat, Cora now busying herself with the rack of discarded clothes near the entrance. “I see you found a date, yeah?” she asked, her voice quiet.

I nodded. “Yeah. She needed a dress, so I got dragged along. Cor, why didn’t you tell me? Why would you be embarrassed about working?”

She sighed before turning to face me. “Really Harry? You’re just a kid, and yet you probably won’t have to work a day in your life. But then there’s me, and I should have my life together by now, but I don’t and I’m working in this stupid store to pay my bills so I don’t get kicked out of my shit flat.”

I felt a surge of fire run through my veins. I was a kid? I didn’t have to work? Was she saying I was spoiled? Did she have any idea about how hard I actually worked?

Maybe she noticed, because she apologized. “It’s not your fault,” she said quietly. “I was just a bit embarrassed. But now you know, so it doesn’t matter yeah?”

Mickey stepped out of the fitting room then, the dress in her arms. “Ready?” she asked me. I stood up and nodded.

“‘s a beautiful dress,” she told Mickey, nodding towards the dress. “Perfect for a wedding. Classy, but still fashionable and not the least bit stuffy.”

I watched carefully as Mickey continued to smile her tight smile. “Thank you. I thought so.”

Knowing Mickey wasn’t about to offer any more conversation, I sighed and told Cora I’d see her later before saying goodbye. Mickey and I headed towards the register.

I offered to buy the dress for Mick since the only reason she had to get it was because of me, but the death glare she gave me told me to shut up. She wouldn’t talk to me as she paid, and she wouldn’t talk to me as we walked out. When we got to my vehicle parked down the street, she wouldn’t say a word until we were inside.

“You’re mad,” I stated, turning on the Range Rover and pulling it out of park.

“No I’m not,” she said, her voice strained.

I sighed, but dropped it. We obviously weren’t going to get anywhere. “Do you need anything else? Shoes maybe?”

I watched as she shook her head, nodded, and then pulled out onto the street to drive us home.

“Bloody hell,” she muttered when I finally pulled up in front of my building. I watched as she dug through her purse frantically and pulled out her phone.

“What’s wrong?”

“I took a bloody cab over here and now I’ll have to wait for it because I forgot.”

She started to dial the number but I grabbed the phone from her. “Don’t be ridiculous, Mick. I’ll take you home.”

She shook her head. “You drove all over London today, you don’t have to take me home too.”

I sighed. I knew that was the end of it. “Fine, at least come inside while you wait.”

She didn’t protest.

When we got up to my flat, Lou and Liv were there in the kitchen, and Liv looked to be cooking. Nothing smelled burned though. I called out a hello as we stepped inside.

“I’m making dinner!” Liv exclaimed, turning around with a spoon in her hand, a smile on her face, and an apron around her waist. “Oh! Michaela, right? Hi!”

I smirked, rolling my eyes. Mickey gave her a shy hello as we walked towards the kitchen. “You’re home?” Liv asked me and I nodded. She looked over the two of us before catching sight of the Topshop bag in Mickey’s arms. “Oh! What did you buy? Can I see?”

“Jesus Liv, calm down yeah?” She was acting like a hyper-active puppy. I caught sight of her glass of wine on the counter and knew why. “I thought you were working.”

“Were being the key word there, Haz,” she said, winking. “Now what did you buy?” she asked as she made her way over towards Mickey.

Mick laughed nervously. “Um, a dress. For, uh, the wedding.” Her cheeks flushed as she pulled the peach colored material out of the bag to show Liv.

“Oh my god, gorgeous! Try it on, please!”

Mickey couldn’t really argue with that, so she went to the bathroom to go try the dress on again. When she was gone, I sighed and took a seat next to Lou. “Long day mate?”

“Ran into Cora at the shop,” I said, but that was all I said.

Lou grimaced. “How’d that go?”

“Well, Mickey gave me the cold shoulder the entire way home.”

“Think she knows?” he asked, lowering his voice so Liv wouldn’t here.

“Think who knows?” Liv asked.

Obviously we weren’t quiet enough.

I started to open my mouth to change the subject, but then Mickey came back out in her dress. I couldn’t help but smile. She looked just as beautiful as she had in the store. “Beautiful, Mick. Really.”

She ignored me and paid attention to Liv, who was fluttering about, gushing over the material and the fit and whatever else she could think of.

Mickey left eventually, even after Liv tried to get her to stay for dinner. She claimed she had work, even though I knew that was a lie, so I walked her to the door. “I’ll talk to you later?” I asked as she stepped out the door.

She nodded. “Okay.” Then she left, and I felt like we were back at square one.