Call Girl

It had been a long time since Erin had a normal conversation with any guy that wasn’t one of her classmates. Usually, the guys she talked to were work related and all of their conversations felt forced and always revolved around topics she didn’t care about. That was what made talking to Harry so hard.

He wanted to talk about her, but she wasn’t used to talking about her. Even with that pushed aside, there was still the fact that she couldn’t tell him the truth about herself without him judging her. She hated that and she definitely didn’t agree to go to coffee with Harry to have it happen again.

“Do you like school?” Harry asked from beneath his cup of coffee, his emerald eyes looking into hers.
She nodded her head gently and smiled at the thought of the classes that she loved so much. It was hard work, but she enjoyed it more than anything else.

“It’s wonderful,” she said. “Do you take any classes?”

Harry shook his head, chuckling briefly. “Not exactly.”

Of course, she wanted to press further, but she knew how it felt to have secrets that you didn’t want revealed, so she left Harry’s short response alone and assumed that he would tell her everything that he wanted her to know in due time.

“So do you often jump into oncoming traffic with a total disregard for any cars that might just be heading your way?” He smirked at her as he spoke, with a playful glint dotting his eyes. She rolled her eyes at him, smiling as well. She liked that he had that cool, calm personality that allowed words to roll of his tongue. He wasn’t much different from the savvy business men she usually went out with.

“It’s actually my major,” she joked, taking a sip from her own cup of coffee. “Did I forget to mention that?”

“It may have slipped your mind.”

Harry smiled at her and she couldn’t help but stare at his ever-so-charming face. He had dimples that could make any girl’s heart melt and Erin knew how dangerous that was. She was putting both of them in harm’s way by getting closer to him, but at that moment, she couldn’t help herself.

She just wanted to have one cup of coffee with one charming boy, and then she could forget he even existed. She could go on with her life as though she’d never met him, and he wouldn’t have to be hurt when he learned the truth about her. It was one simple cup of coffee. No harm done.

“So, what is it that makes you, Erin, so reluctant to grab a cup of coffee with me?”

There is was. There was that dangerous question. It was stepping into personal territory and that never led to good things.

Erin had experience with conversations like this, though, so she’d gotten very good at playing the deflecting game. Often times, people wouldn’t even notice that she was doing it.

“What makes you so determined to have a cup of coffee with me?” she asked, as she took a sip from her warm mug. He didn’t hesitate in answering, with a large smile on his face.

“Because you’re beautiful.”

She nearly spit out the coffee she’d just put into her mouth, but at the last second stopped herself from doing it. It wasn’t that people hadn’t called her beautiful before. The men she worked with often did. It was that she hadn’t really expected him to answer, let alone with an answer like that.

He just seemed so confident and sure of himself, like he said things like that all the time, and that just made Erin even more worried. Of course, even as worried as she was, she couldn’t help but be charmed by his compliment. Her cheeks grew a deeper shade of red, and he smiled at that. It was that smile, again, that reminded her how bad things could possibly get.

“You, uh, do you need to get that?”

Harry was nodding towards her phone, which she had laid on top the table. It was vibrating wildly and Erin hadn’t even noticed. She blinked her eyes quickly before looking down at the device. Katie’s name was plastered on the screen, and she looked from it to Harry and back again.

It could be her out. Katie could be her out. She could have an excuse to walk away without an awkward goodbye and never have to worry about seeing Harry again. It would be safe, and if she was careful, things would turn out perfectly.

She gave a soft nod of her head before picking up the phone and bringing it to her ear. Katie began speaking the second she answered, but Erin could barely make out her words.

“Katie, what is it?”

Katie fumbled over her words, clearly not expecting Erin to say anything. “What?”

“Oh no,” Erin said, looking at Harry with wide eyes. “Do you need me to come get you?”

After a pause, Katie sighed in realization. “You’re doing it again, aren’t you? Erin Elizabeth, I will not be your out for another date.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be right there.”

Erin quickly hung up the phone, with Katie still rambling on the other end. She gave Harry a soft smile as she bit her lip, while his eyes looked down on her.

“You’re ditching me, aren’t?” Harry chuckled, his grin widening to reveal his sweet smile.

“No, Harry, I swear,” Erin said, shaking her head. “It’s just that Katie needs a ride.”

Harry paused for a second, his grin turning into a smirk. He had that devilish smile and Erin wondered what in god’s name he was thinking. It made her nervous.

“Give me your number, then.”

“What?”

“If you’re just going to pick up your friend,” he said, as he leaned back in his chair. “Then you can give me your number and we can meet up some other time.”

A long breath left Erin’s lips and meeting Harry’s eyes was getting harder by the second. Giving out her number was one of the last things that she wanted to do, because that was something she rarely did, but she didn’t want to hurt Harry’s feelings either. She imagined he wasn’t the type to get let down by girls, but that didn’t stop her from feeling guilty.

With a sigh, she grabbed a napkin and pulled a pen from her purse. It only took a few seconds for her to write down her number and seal the deal, and her heart was racing the entire time she did.

She knew that she didn’t actually have to meet up with him again. She could tell him that she was busy or ignore his calls. But, even just giving him her number made her extremely nervous.

“Thank you,” Harry said, grinning as he pulled the napkin from her fingers. He tucked it into his pocket, while he dropped the chair back down to all four legs. “You better hurry then. Katie is waiting.”

Erin gave him a small nod before turning his back to him and towards the coffee shop door. She wanted so badly to turn back around and snatch that napkin right from his pocket, but there was something about him having her number that made her more excited than nervous, and it was the most alive she’d felt in a long time.