How Long?

“You did what?” Chelsy yelled.

“Let’s not raise our voices again, Bubble is right next door” Harry said mentioning Chelsy flat mate.

“I don’t give a fuck Harry. You really have lost your mind haven’t you?” She continued with the yelling.

“I don’t know what you are so upset about? I already told you that I was going to talk to Granny” Harry said irritated with her reaction.

“And I can’t believe you don’t remember me telling you not to do it”

“What am I suppose to do Chels? Sit at home while my whole regiment fights out there” Harry said raising his voice this time.

Chelsy huffed “What about me Harry? Where do I fit in this plan of yours?” She said. “I fucking moved my whole life to be with you and you are going to a fucking war while I sit here waiting for you for god knows how long”

“I am going to do my job. I don’t know why you are getting so worked up about it”

“Because you can die! You can be blown to pieces or they could just kidnap you and torture you” Chelsy spat back.

“Would you just calm the fuck down for a minute here” Harry said losing his patience.

“No I can’t!” She yelled back.

“I am so fucking out of here. There is no fucking talking to you” Harry said grabbing his jacket. “Ring me when you are in your senses” Harry said as he banged the door of her flat.

The same conversation and the same out come every fucking time. Harry was
sickened by the arguments they were having every day for the past few months. He didn’t even have strength for another one of their fights. He understood that she was worried about his safety but so was his family and friends but they never stopped him from doing his duty. It was never even a topic of discussion with his father or his grandparents. The moment he told them he was serious about his army career they have supported him with no questions asked. Even his friends who were so far removed from the army part of his life got his commitment. The only person who had a problem and was making him go insane was Chelsy.

She just didn’t even want to hear him anymore. She just yelled and threw temper tantrum every time he brought up the topic. First, she found the whole thing ridiculous even after he repeatedly told her otherwise. But today after he confided in her about his secret deployment plans the palace and army was hatching. She had totally lost it. She started throwing things at him and then she cried for what seemed like for hours. Seeing her hurting like this made him sad. He loves her dearly and seeing her like this breaks his heart but there is nothing he could do about it. His duty comes first, like it comes first for every other solider in the army. Once she calmed down enough to talk, the same argument replayed all over again. The same accusations were thrown at his face. He was exhausted so he just left. He couldn’t take another minute of this. Next, He did what he always does when things go bad. He called Tom and they got shit faced.

---

Amber, Mandy, Zack, Holly and Josh were at their favorite bar with beer in hand. Max and Louise was the last one to join them. Louise was playing at the Novel café this Friday evening which ran a little late than usual.

“I am going to get myself a beer. What do you want?” Max asked turning towards Louise.

Louise made a face scrunching up her nose thinking very hard what she wanted which made Max chuckle.

“It’s just a drink, babe” He said shaking his head.

Giving him a glare “A glass of wine” She said. Max nodded his head and took off towards the bar.

Zack snorted on the other end of the booth.

“What?” She shot him a dirty look.

“Wine? What are you 45?” Zack said.

“I like drinking wine” Louise said defending herself.

Amber and Holly giggled.

“What?” Louise said folding her arms over her chest.

The giggles turned into light laughter. Even Josh joined in with the girls.

Louise was pouting when Max came back their drinks.

“What did I miss?” He asked sliding next to Louise.

“They are making fun of me because I like wine” She said.

“Hey guys cut it out. You are hurting my girls feeling. Excuse her, she is just a little posh than the rest of us” Mandy said.

Louise placed her glass down “I am not posh”

Everyone erupted in laughter.

“What? I am not” She said again.

“Come on, I have never met a twenty year old who likes drinking wine or what is that she likes again”
Zack said racking his brain.

“Cider” Mandy whispered.

“Yeah, cinder. When you have beer and whiskey at their disposal” Zack said.

“That’s idiotic, even for you Zack. Mandy likes drinking wine too” Louise said looking at Mandy. They
always drink wine at their slumber parties.

“She more of a vodka tonic kind of a gal” Zack said proudly putting his arm around Mandy’s shoulder.

“Awww you remember my drink” Mandy said giving him a kiss on the cheek.

Louise rolled her eyes.

“My liking wine doesn’t make me posh”

“It totally does. Not to mention your apartment” Amber said.

“What is wrong with my apartment?” Louise asked.

“It too sophisticated for a college student. It’s has paintings, artifacts and potpourri for fucks sake. I didn’t even know what it was” Josh said.

“Don’t forget there is a freaking library in there” Holly said.

“I like books” Louise said.

“The way you dress and that damn accent of yours” Josh added.

“Oh my lord, Mandy and Max also have accents” She said throwing her arms in the air.

“Yours is different it’s…” Josh said snapping his fingers looking for a word.

“Posh” Max said sipping his beer with a smile.

“Exactly” Josh exclaimed and everybody laughed.

Mouth opened Louise looked at her boyfriend. “You didn’t just say that?” She asked him raising her eyebrow.

He shrugged still smiling.

“So you all think I am a fucking snob” She said looking at each one of her friends.

“Sometimes” Zack said smiling, loving the reaction he was getting from his friend. She always seemed
in control but she was losing it at the moment.

Mandy slapped the back of his head. “No, obviously we don’t think that” Mandy said.

“What else? Other than my drink of choice, my flat, my choice of clothing and my accent?” She asked
totally forgetting her glass of wine that started this conversation.

The discussion went on all through the night and even continued between Louise and Max all the way to her apartment.

“I can’t believe you think I am posh” Louise said as they were getting ready for bed.

“Are we still talking about that?” Max asked smiling at her. She looked too cute when she got all
worked up about something.

“My boyfriend thinks I am pretentious. I am sorry if I want to talk about it” She said.

“I never said that” He said wrapping his arms around her waist. “You’re classier than everyone else,
that’s what I meant” He said kissing her neck.

She sighed. “Classier, posh, snob it’s all the same”

“Shall I get the dictionary out?” He asked. It was too comical that she was getting upset about this.

“You have photographs of British royalty at your bed side table Lulu” He said.

“They are family friends” She said defensively.

“You have dined with the queen on regular basis, are on first name basis with Prince Charles and have Prince William and Harry number on speed dial” He said.

She smiled now realizing what he was getting at. She giggled at how ridiculous it must sound to others.
“What are giggling about?” He asked kissing her earlobe.

She turned around facing him now. “God, I am so dense sometimes, aren’t I?”

“Maybe a just a little bit” He said giving her a cheeky smile. Smoothing her hair out of her face he
started leaving sweet soft kisses from the base of her ear to her throat. “You look too damn sexy when you get mad” He said in between the kisses.

Louise pushed her hands into his hair “You have no idea how mad I can get” She said as she bit his earlobe. He cursed under his breath and grinned at her.

“Why don’t you to show me then?” He said lifting her up taking her to bed.

----

Louise was sound asleep when her phone beeped for the first time she didn’t even notice. When her phone beeped again annoyed she picked it up still in her sleepy state. There was long text from Harry, a very long text from Harry. It took her a minute to shake off the grogginess of sleep and make sense of the words. Still her brain couldn’t comprehend the words. She put the phone down and went back to sleep.

She opened her eyes after two hours and sat up. All her muscles ached from the all the dancing she did last night when she went out with her friends. Her legs hurt so badly from dancing in those damn heels. She had been so tired when they had finally returned home that she had crashed instantly as soon as her head hit the pillows.

But this morning she had no time to relax. She was going home for Christmas and had a flight later in the evening. She still had loads of packing to do. Luckily she had done her Christmas shopping just in time and was looking forward spending time with her brothers and father. Luke was brining his girlfriend home this year which meant things were getting serious between them. Max was also going home for Christmas to spend some time with his dad, which was great because she really wanted to introduce him to her family and friends.

She struggled to fit all her stuff in her bags for most of the morning. Finishing all her packing she took a sigh of relief. Then she went to drop Junior at Holly’s, who was taking care of her dog in Louise’s absence. She met Max for lunch. Then she went back to her apartment and got ready just in time when her taxi arrived. She finally relaxed after she checked in at the airport and was waiting to board the plane. Max texted her saying he will see her soon. He was flying out tomorrow. That’s when she realized that she had actually received a text from Harry this morning and it was not just a dream.
With everything going on today she had totally forgotten about the text she had received from Harry. Things between them were still tense. Harry was giving her all the time she needed which meant they were barely talking again. Just some text here and there, a few calls on birthdays and holidays. After giving him a piece of her mind Louise finally was able to move on from the spell she was under for so long. Punching the keys on her phone she opened the text.

Harry:: Lou, I promised to give you time but I really have to do this right now. I know you told me not to apologize and I am well aware that you are still furious with me and rightfully so. I was an awful friend to you. I was never there for you even in times when you needed me the most. I broke too many promises and treated you poorly. I was selfish and let you down too many times. I should have treasured your friendship but I threw it all away. For all of that and so much more I am really sorry. I could say I was just young and stupid but you know me better than that and there is no excuse for my behavior. I know I don’t deserve your forgiveness or even your friendship but you are and always will be my best mate. I hope in time you will learn to hate me a little less. I love you. Whatever happens just remember that.

Louise read and re read the text a dozen times. Her eyes sting as tears threatened to pour down. She had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. His words seemed like he was saying goodbye. Why was he saying goodbye to her? Alarms were going off in her head. There was something definitely wrong here. She didn’t even bothered to reply to his text, without giving it a second thought she dialed his number. It went straight to his voice mail. She called a couple of more times before she boarded the plane. She tried to calm herself thinking she will just talk to him once she lands in London. Maybe they can even meet and figure this out.

The journey was horrible. She was on the edge the whole time. She couldn’t sleep. She couldn’t read or concentrate of anything else other than dissecting Harry’s text. What had he meant by whatever happens? What had made him apologize like this after all this time? She was going mental thinking about such things.

First thing she did after landing on Heathrow was to call Harry again but like before his phone was off. Mark came to pick her up at the airport. For a moment there she forgot about everything when she was in her brothers arms. It was nice being back home. Louise was quite all through the ride looking outside her window. She just loved London at Christmas time. The lights, snow and decorations she loved it all.

Once they reached home. Louise was welcomed by her father, Luke and Luke’s girlfriend Emma. Mae had made sure all her favorites dishes were cooked for supper and it was a feast but Louise had no appetite for it. She was still thinking about the text. It was very late at night when she got some time to herself. She tried calling Harry again but when she still couldn’t get through she went to bed. She was extremely tired from the journey and needed rest.

It was a day before Christmas Eve and there was a lot of commotion downstairs, when she woke up the next day. She could hear her brothers making a ruckus downstairs. Rolling her eyes picked up her phone to find a text from Max and Mandy. Mandy was spending Christmas with Zack’s family at his home town in Minnesota. Mandy was freaking out about it all week before they left. She replied to their texts and then tried calling Harry again when she didn’t get through this time she did the next best thing, she called William.

“Hello” William said on the other side of the phone.

“Hello William” Louise said

“Now isn’t this a pleasant surprise. You back home?” William asked.

She could feel him smiling even over the phone. “Yes, got home last night. William, can I ask you something?” She asked biting her lip.

“Of course”

“Is Harry alright?”

“Why do you ask?” William asked in a tight voice.

Louise stomach lurched. There was something definitely wrong.

“I received a strange message from him the other day. I tried calling him but I always get his voice
mail”

“Lou” William sighed. “I shouldn’t be telling you this but Harry is not in the country at the moment”

“Where is he?” She asked.

“Right this minute he is en route to Afghanistan” William said in a grave voice.

“Oh” Louise said.

“Nobody is supposed to know. Harry had been secretly deployed a couple of days ago”

Thoughts were swirling in her head. He didn’t tell her but then again why would he? She had told him to stay away. Oh god, what if something happened to him down there and those awful words were the last she spoke to him. Her lips quivered. Tears welled up in her eyes. There was a lump in her throat and pain in her chest.

“Lou?” William said.

“Thank you for telling me” She said trying to hold back her tears.

“There is no need to worry, Lou. He knows what he is doing. He is trained for it” William said. He knew
she was a worrier.

“I know” She said weakly.

“He will be back soon. I promise. He has a habit making dramatic entrances doesn’t he?” William asked.

“Yes, he does” Louise said smiling as tears rolled down her cheeks.