Tis the Season

Jamie sighed as she followed her boyfriend into the cute little Italian restaurant. She stood patiently behind him as he talked to the hostess, smiling and laughing as he did, and followed silently when the pretty blonde guided them toward a table in the middle of the restaurant. The hostess smiled, said that their server would be right over and handed them some menus. Jamie watched Derek as he watched the blonde walk away and she sighed again.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Nearly five months and he was already letting his eyes wander? Jamie sighed again, softer this time as she opened her menu on the table. Using her left hand to flip the pages, her right absently went to the necklace she was wearing. It was a simple silver chain that held a beautiful ring she once wore on her right ring finger and wouldn’t take off for anything.

Lost in the menu and her necklace, Jamie didn’t notice their waiter showed up until Derek was gently nudging her under the table with his foot. Glancing up, an apology died on her lips and her hand fell from the necklace. It landed on the table with a dull thud and the server laughed. Harry.

“Jamie,” he greeted, his green eyes twinkling. He looked her over, his eyes traveling over her face and down her body but they froze on the necklace and his grin widened, making the dimple in his cheek really pop. “Beautiful ring.”

Jamie glanced down at the ring on her necklace and closed her eyes as Derek spoke.

“It was her grandmothers,” he supplied, looking proud for knowing such a personal detail. “She never takes it off, not even in the bedroom if you know what I mean.”

The girl could feel eyes burning a hole straight through her head. Shut up, she chanted in her head as she conjured an image of a black hole sucking her into nothingness. Opening her eyes, she found Harry staring at her with a look of amusement on his face. She wanted to ask him why he wasn’t angry, why he wasn’t outing her secret right then and there but the questions died on her tongue.

“So can I start you with something to drink?” Harry asked, staring straight at Jamie.

She opened her mouth to speak but Derek cut her off. He ordered for both of them, putting in a coke for himself and an iced tea for Jamie and then the lasagna for both of them. The girl stared after Harry as he headed back towards the kitchen like nothing just happened. As soon as he was gone Derek started in with the questions. Closing her eyes and counting to ten, Jamie willed herself to come up with some great lies.



“Isn’t that your ex?” Zayn asked as Harry shoved two more order tickets into the kitchen.

The curly haired boy nodded. “Yeah, that’s Jamie,” he said, his voice wistful. Turning, he leaned against the counter and stared out at the tables like Zayn was doing. He couldn’t believe she was here with another guy. Did she know he worked here? Did she mean to come here and show him off? No, he told himself. Jamie’s not like that.

“Who’s the guy?” Zayn wondered aloud and Harry shrugged.

Grabbing a tray of food, he headed back out into the dining area. He didn’t want to talk about Jamie with Zayn. He didn’t even really want to think about her. But he couldn’t help it; she was the one that got away and she was still wearing his ring. The ring that he saved ages for. The ring he designed himself. That had to mean something; she had to be just as in love with him as he was with her, right?

That’s what Harry tried to convince himself of as he waited tables and stared absently at Jamie. He wanted to talk to her, to ask her why she told her new guy that the ring was her grandmother’s. He wanted to know why she never returned any of his calls when he got back to the city, why she wouldn’t see him when he got back. But mostly he wanted to know what she was doing with her current boyfriend. He ordered for her? What kind of crap was that?

After he dropped off the check to their table he told himself he’d grab her before they left and catch a word with her but by the time he took a second look they were already gone with cash left on the table. Harry sighed as he grabbed the money and flagged one of the bus boys to clear the table. That plan didn’t work out very well but he wouldn’t give up; he couldn’t give up. Seeing her again just reignited the feelings he’d been fighting since the breakup nearly eight months ago.



Jamie was on the phone before she even got into her apartment. She barely said goodbye to Derek before darting out of the car, pulling out her phone and heading up the stairs. Kendall answered on the final ring and Jamie sighed with relief.

“I thought you weren’t going to pick up,” she greeted when her friend finally answered. “But oh my God, I just had the worst date.”

“Are you alright? Should I kick Derek’s butt?” Kendall asked and Jamie laughed.

“No, Derek was fine,” she lied. “It was Harry. He works at that Italian restaurant downtown. He was our waiter and he saw the ring and Derek told him it was my grandmother’s and I just about died.”

Laughter greeted her from the other end of the line. “I’m sorry J but seriously,” she laughed. “It could have been worse.”

Jamie rolled her eyes as she unlocked her apartment door. “Yeah, I guess. Let’s just hope your date goes better.”

“Don’t hold your breath,” Kendall said as she finally stopped laughing.

“I’ll talk to you later,” Jamie sighed. “I’m just going to go to bed and pray that Derek doesn’t figure anything out.”

“Okay, night,” Kendall replied with a chuckle before the phone went dead.

Jamie sighed to herself as she dropped her phone onto the bedside table and climbed into her bed without getting changed. Closing her eyes, she wasn’t even shocked when it was bright green eyes she imagined before drifting off.