Frames That Used to Greet Me

When my alarm woke me up Friday morning, I could think of nothing I wanted to do more than to crawl back into bed and sleep for the rest of the day. I had been up late texting Mickey back and forth; she had arrived in Paris late last night and couldn’t sleep, so we talked until one of us did pass out. If I had to guess, I was the first. I had been so tired, but the few dirty messages I had sent to Michaela (and that she had even surprisingly returned) had been worth the lack of sleep.

Until five in the morning rolled around, of course. Then I was cursing my stupidity and wondering when I was going to stop thinking with the wrong head just because it was late and I was horny.

I stayed in bed for a few extra minutes, debating on if I could get out of my responsibilities for the day. But then I remembered the lads and I had to go to the studio to record, and if I missed that someone would have my head. So, reluctantly, I crawled out of bed and got ready.

I met Louis out in the kitchen, where he was standing with a cup of tea and obviously waiting for me.

“I wondered if you were going to get up,” he remarked as I poured a small bowl of cereal to hold me over.

“‘s so early,” I mumbled, saying nothing else. He just laughed.

Once I finished my breakfast and got my own cup of tea, we headed out. The other lads were waiting out in front of our building in a car, Paul driving with Liam sitting upfront beside him.

We mumbled hellos as we climbed inside. Everyone seemed to be half-asleep, and in Zayn’s case fully asleep. I couldn’t even have a laugh at him because I felt the same way.

“Don’t worry boys,” Paul said as he pulled away from the building. “You’ll record for a few hours, and then be done.

It should have helped, but at six in the morning not much did.

When we got to the studio, there was a throng of fans outside. We waited until Paul got out first to organize them, and then once that was done we all got out to greet them. They were actually relatively calm, but I blamed that on the early hour and the fact that they had probably been out there for quite some time. We chatted and we took some pictures and we signed some things. Louis fielded a few questions from some of the more bold girls about Livia, Zayn merely smiled whenever Perrie was brought up, and Liam thanked the girls for asking how Danielle was doing. Niall and I stayed away from the relationship questions, thankfully, and then before we knew it Paul was dragging us away. We said goodbye to the fans who cheered even though we were leaving, and then headed into the studio.

We were only working on one song today, so I knew we wouldn’t be in the studio long. I was due last though, so the whole thing just felt like it was dragging. Liam was in the booth first, then Lou, Niall, Zayn, and finally me. So of course, it was taking forever.

I played around on my phone for awhile, texted Mickey a few times but she didn’t respond. She was probably working, or sleeping, or doing something important. I checked the band twitter quick, posted a picture of Lou in the recording booth onto instagram, and then ran out of things to keep myself occupied.

When Louis was in the booth, his phone was buzzing on the table. Niall was sitting closest to it, so I asked him who it was.

“Liv. Should I answer?”

I shrugged and then nodded. She probably needed something; she knew we were in the studio today and wouldn’t bug Lou unless it was important. I watched as he answered the phone.

“Hi Liv! No, it’s Niall. He’s in the booth, actually.” He was quiet and nodded. “Sure, I’ll tell him! Harry’s here, want to talk to him?”

The grin on his face told me she had said no, so I took the phone and smirked. “Hi Liv.”

She sighed. “Can you please make sure Lou gets the message?”

“What message?”

“I forgot to bring something for lunch, and I have to close. I opened, and I have to close, so I’m going to be here all fucking night. It’s so fucking slow here too because of the rain. Lou said you guys wouldn’t be in the studio long, so I figured you guys could drop something off for me? Pleaaaase?” she begged, dragging out the ‘e’ in the word.

I laughed. “Sure, we can do that. I’ll have him call you when we leave.”

She thanked me and then I hung up the phone. I waved it in the air a bit, trying to show Lou he had a call, and when he gave me a thumbs up from inside the booth, I dropped it.

Just as I was putting Lou’s phone on the table, my own went off in my pocket. I picked it up and noticed a text from Mickey. I smirked before opening it and reading.

I’m at the show, you twat, and it’s absolutely mental around here. Keep it in your pants for a few days, I’ll be home soon.

I couldn’t help but laugh before I typed back a quick response.

Your words hurt me, babe. I’m bored in the studio and suddenly a picture of you in your lacy red panties popped into my head. Can you blame me?

I could almost picture the eye-roll she was going to give me when she read that message, which made me laugh more. I shoved my phone back in my pocket before noticing Nialler’s stare.

“What?”

“Who ya textin'?”

I rolled my eyes. Niall had woken up yesterday after Mickey had left the flat, so he hadn’t seen her. He didn’t even know her really--none of the lads did, except for Lou. I think they knew there was a girl, but they just never really bothered to ask.

Until now, apparently.

“Is it the lass from the other night? It is isn’t it?” He was grinning now, excited at the prospect of having something to hold over me, I assume.

“Shut up, Niall. Just a friend.”

Before I could protest more, Lou was taking a seat next to me, reaching over to grab his phone. “Who’s just a friend?”

“Our Hazza has been texting some lass all morning, but he won’t say who!”

“Probably Michaela,” Louis blurted out without thinking. He was looking at his phone, typing away a message, so his mind was preoccupied. I reached over and smacked him on the back of the head.

Before I could say otherwise, the lads were bugging me, firing off questions and asking who my lass was. I couldn’t get a word in edgewise. Once they all quieted down, I glared at Lou. “Michaela is just a friend, and that’s all you need to know. Now Lou, are we going to the Cafe after we’re done here?”

They accepted my subject change--for now--but I knew that wouldn’t be the last time the topic of Mickey was brought up.

***

The Cafe was undeniably the slowest it’s ever been. For some reason, the rain, if bad enough, deterred customers. I never really understood how rain kept people from doing their everyday things, especially having been born in England. The rain sort of came with the territory. Regardless, the Cafe was verging on empty, which was why Louis and I decided to stick around to have lunch with Livia.

The place really was empty. There was an old man, tucked away at a small table in the corner, but he was too busy with his tea and newspaper to care much for what we were doing.

There was also, I noticed as we walked to the counter, a beautiful girl placing her afternoon order. Liv’s expression, I noticed, looked bored and verging on irritated as she listened to the women in front of her rattle off what she wanted. Louis and I were close enough to her that we could hear her order, and I noticed that I quite rather enjoyed the lightness in her voice and the ease in which she spoke, like she hadn’t a care in the world. I couldn’t help but check out her arse when my eyes swept over her body quickly, from behind, but I blamed that on her outfit choice. She was wearing dark, stretchy pants that hugged her like a second skin and a white top that looked to be cut shorter than necessary while it hung loosely from her body. I could faintly make out the color of her sports bra--hot pink--peeking out from under her top as well. While I was fairly certain she had just come from the gym, the messy bun of her blonde hair sitting close to the top of her head confirmed this.

She was incredibly fit, and I couldn’t help but grin, especially thinking of the body that she just had to be hiding underneath her clothing.

Pulling myself from any dirty thoughts I may have been heading towards, I watched as Livia finally handed the girl her drink, her bored expression never faltering. “Non-fat vanilla latte,” she repeated to the girl, obviously her order.

The girl took her drink and thanked Livia, claiming she made the best non-fat vanilla lattes in the greater London area. When she finally turned around, my grin was still in place. I knew her deep blue eyes were taking in my dimples, maybe even my entire face. I briefly wondered if she knew who I was, but if so she didn’t make a move that showed she did. She smiled back at me before brushing by me and heading to her own table.

I couldn’t help it. My eyes briefly followed her before Louis and I stepped up to the counter to greet Liv. I stared for a moment longer before I watched her giggle and duck her head towards her cup. Then, I turned to Liv to say hello.

The disgust written so clearly all over her face, though, stopped me. “What?” I asked innocently, my smirk half in place.

She rolled her eyes. “That twat comes in every single Tuesday and Friday. Apparently she goes to yoga right down the street and loves to stop here for ‘the best non-fat vanilla latte in the greater London area’,” she mimicked, putting air quotes around the end with a roll of her eyes. “Little does she know I’ve been giving her whole milk for the past two weeks.”

I laughed slightly at Livia’s wicked grin while Lou just shook his head. We may have been accustomed to Livia’s... bloody ridiculous behavior, but that didn’t mean it didn’t still shock us every once in awhile.

“But really,” Liv spoke again after she walked back around the counter, calling out to her co-worker that she was taking her break. “Please tell me you brought food because I’m starving.”

We sat down to eat, after I suggested a table across the room from the blonde’s. I faced her while she faced me; I easily slipped into a flirtatious game of Who Could Give the Other a Better Flirty Smile. I was winning, I’m sure. I knew Livia was talking and telling us some story about her day, but I stood up when I finished my sandwich and excused myself from the conversation.

Then I sat down with the blonde.

She smiled at me. “You’re quite the brave one, yeah?”

I shrugged easily. “You didn’t look away, so I figured it was worth a shot. Plus,” I grinned before leaning into the table, “I don’t pass up chances to talk to beautiful lasses like yourself.”

She laughed; it was slightly high pitch, but it also twinkled out across the room, I’m sure lighting everyone else up like it lit her up. “Well you’re not so bad yourself, babe.”

I gave her a shrug, as if to say I suppose. “So, why are you out on such a rainy day?” I knew the answer, but I wanted her to say it obviously.

“I take a yoga class twice a week.” She looked like she had more to say, but then her mobile was buzzing on the table. She frowned and then jumped up, as if suddenly realizing something.

“Problem?” I asked as she gathered her things.

She waved me off. “Oh, nothing, really. It’s nothing. But I have to go.” Once she had her things and she was standing up straight, she took a breath before giving me the most radiant smile I had ever seen. “I’m Cora, though, and it’s been lovely meeting you.”

“Harry, and I would like to see you again.”

“Tuesday,” she winked as she walked towards the door. “Maybe I’ll see you!” she threw back over her shoulder as she hurried out.

I couldn’t help but smile as I watched her the entire way.

When she was gone, I got up and went back to Lou and Liv, who had seemingly seen the whole exchange. “What?” I asked, once again as innocent as possible, as I took my seat.

Livia rolled her eyes. “Did you miss the part where I called her a twat earlier, or what?”

I shrugged. “She seems nice.”

“She seems about thirty, Haz, and I don’t think it’s just her that you think seems nice.”

I shrugged once more, taking a drink of my tea. “So what? I’m not marrying her, Liv.”

I watched as her eyes rolled around once more. “No, you just want to fuck her.”

I smirked, but didn’t affirm her accusation. “I never said that, Livia. You’re putting words in my mouth--”

“And you’re an idiot. Lou,” she spoke, looking to her boyfriend for back-up, “tell him he’s an idiot.”

My best mate shrugged his shoulders as well, following in my own movement, before he answered. “He just said hello, Liv. It’s not like he shagged her on the table.”

“No, he was just thinking about it.”

I didn’t deny that accusation either.

Livia sighed before she stood from the table. “Whatever Harry. Sleep with whoever you want.” A look of realization crossed her face before she added, "And have fun explaining it to your little friend Michaela, too." She kissed her boyfriend once more before she left us to head back to work.

Louis gave me a warning look, but I waved him off. "I wasn't thinking anything! Mickey's in Paris right now--"

"So you'll shag the first fit lass you see with open legs?"

I rolled my eyes. "You're being dramatic. Has Liv been giving you lessons?"

He smacked me on the back of the head, obviously paying me back for the hit I gave him in the studio earlier. "She's just looking out for you, in her own way. Liv means well, Haz, and honestly? She's probably right."

I waved him off. It didn't matter if Livia was right or wrong, because I had merely said hello to Cora, and even if there was more to it or I wanted there to be more to it, that also didn't matter because Michaela and I were just friends. The fact that we had sex on occasion was a non-issue, because we were merely fucking around. It wasn't like if I wanted to get involved with another lass, I couldn't just because of Michaela. And the same went for her if she had her eye on another lad. I tried to explain this to Louis, but he wasn't having any of it, so we dropped the subject.

I would be fine. I was a big boy who knew what he was doing. At least, I thought I did.