Call Girl

Erin didn’t really know what she expected from Harry. She had hoped that he would understand why she did what she did, or at the very least not hate her, but that didn’t seem to be the case.

The moment Erin left the coffee shop, she went straight home and waited for Katie to show up, who would be coming over as soon as she got done with her waitressing shift. Until she could have her best friend’s shoulder to cry one, Erin settled on drowning her sorrows in a tub of chocolate ice cream.

She spooned scoop after scoop into her mouth, refusing to let herself cry even though that was all she wanted to do at that moment.

So consumed by her delicious ice cream, Erin almost didn’t hear the light knocking on the front door of her apartment. It wasn’t until the knocking got louder that she noticed it and it made her heart begin racing in her chest.

Even though she knew the chances of it being Harry were slim, her entire body felt like a bundle of nervousness, and she tossed her ice cream tub into the sin before racing to the door.

Her hand was shaking so badly that she almost wasn’t sure if she’d even be able to get ahold of the doorknob, and she took a few breaths to try to compose herself before she answered. She knew she was getting herself worked up over nothing, but she couldn’t help it.

Erin had been freaking out over the prospect of Harry standing behind that door, but she was still completely shocked when she opened it to find him standing there. He wore the same outfit as he did when she met him at the coffee shop, with the same pair of sunglasses covering his eyes, and he just bit his lip while he looked at her.

“Are you busy?” He asked, as though he didn’t know she’d spent all that time waiting to hear from him.

She was frozen just by the sight of him, and it took her a few seconds to respond. “Of course not, come in.”

It was the first time she’d had a guy in her apartment since, well, forever, but it didn’t feel strange or uncomfortable see him there. Even though he could come bearing bad news, she still thought he looked so perfect sitting on the opposite end of the sofa.

“I’m glad you stopped by,” Erin said after a long moment of silence, looking at Harry while she bit her lip. She thought about offering to make him a cup of tea, but decided against it when he started speaking.

“I just wanted to talk,” he said quickly, leaning forward so his elbows were on his knees and his chin rested comfortably in his hands. “I have a few questions, I guess, that I wanted you to answer.”

Erin had never been good at answering questions, but she knew this was the time to start. She couldn’t keep lying to Harry. She needed to tell him the truth – all of it – even as uncomfortable as it was.

“Of course,” she said. “Go right ahead.”

Harry took a deep breath, looking at the floor before looking back up at her. He pulled his sunglasses off his head – something he should have done a long time ago – and she could see his eyes again for the first time.

“How many men?” he said bluntly, causing Erin to be taken aback. Her eyes blinked quickly as she took a moment to center herself, taking deep breaths.

“I don’t know an exact number,” she said, biting her lip out of nervousness. “Upwards of fifty if I had to take a guess. A lot of them were repeats though.”

Harry seemed unfazed by this, quickly asking his next question. “How many have you slept with?”

“No more than ten,” she said, “but some of them were repeats.”

Harry paused, letting out a deep breath as his eyes shifted to the floor. Erin wished that, just this once, she could get in his head and know what he was thinking. It was so hard to tell, and she couldn’t stand not knowing.

His paused lasted a while – far too long in Erin’s opinion – and she could take the silence anymore.

“Harry?” she said, nibbling at her lip as he tilted his head to look up at her. “What are you thinking?”

“I don’t know, Erin. Lots of things I guess.” He paused, taking a long, deep breath. “I just – I like you. I really, really do, and I thought there was something between us.”

“And you don’t anymore?”

“I don’t know,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. “It’s just hard. You have to understand that.”

Erin nodded. “I do, and I’m so sorry for ever starting anything with you. I knew better than to go down that road but I did anyway, and I’m so sorry.”

Harry shook his head quickly, standing up from his place on the sofa. He took a few short steps to where Erin was seated and sat down next to her, placing one of his hands on top of her knee. His touch made her heart swell up, and she hoped that he wouldn’t be able to feel how quickly her heart was beating.

“I don’t want you to be sorry,” he said, his eyes meeting hers once more. “Never be sorry because you made me so happy. I never thought that I could love anyone’s eyes as much as I love yours, but you make my heart melt every time I look at them.”

Erin opened her mouth to speak, though she wasn’t entirely sure what she was going to say, but before she could he pressed his hand to her lip, silencing her, and shifted closer to her.

“You’re perfect, Erin,” he continued. “You really are. I just can’t be with you if I can’t have you all to myself.”

That was always the underlying problem for Erin. Her job required that she be shared – not emotionally, but physically, and that was almost as bad.

“I know I can’t ask you to quit your job,” he said, biting his lip as he looked at her. “It’s your choice, not mine, but I promise I’ll help you find somewhere else to work or help you with your student loans. I just – I don’t want to have things between us end when they’ve only just begun.”

Erin could feel herself breaking down with every word Harry said, because deep down, she’d always wanted someone to tell her to find something else and give her a reason to actually do it. Her job was never glamorous, though it did have glamorous pay, and there was more out there than what she was doing.

“Harry,” Erin whispered, her eyes blinking quickly as she looked at him, and it was like he just knew.

His lips turned up into a small smile that was just barely noticeable, and it make her heart tighten. Just like that, he was leaning forward, time moving so slowly that she had a chance to memorize every dimple on his face before his lips reached hers, and his kiss was like home.