Alone Together

Later that night, Mary-Kate walked back up the driveway to the mansion that she would be residing in for the next eight months. She ended up spending two hours at the bakery, sitting by herself. Even if she got odd stares from all of the co-workers (even Harry had a curious and confused look on his face) while she sat there for 120 minutes, she had to admit that it was nice. It was nice to get away from her dad and her step-siblings and step-mother. Their warm welcome overwhelmed her to the point where she couldn’t even be in the same house as them anymore, and being by herself for those two hours did the trick.

Until she could leave again tomorrow that is.

Considering Mary-Kate graduated high school this past year, school wasn’t a valid excuse for her to not be spending time with her family. Unfortunately, she would have to probably turn to getting a job sometime in the near future so she could have time away from everyone to just be by herself, or with at least people she actually liked.

Once Mary-Kate stepped into the house, she flipped off her shoes and was about to head up the stairs, until she heard someone calling her name from inside the office next to the front door. She poked her head into the door to see her father sitting at his desk with his computer screen lit up and papers laid out in front of him, clearly doing work. Paul nodded his head at his daughter as if to tell her to come into the room, and Mary-Kate obeyed.

“Where have you been?” Paul asked curiously. “I know you wanted to get out for a walk, but jeez. I was worried.”

Well, you could’ve called me, Mary-Kate thought before shrugging her shoulders at her father’s question. “I just went around. I stopped at a bakery and had a small snack. Sorry, I didn’t mean to worry you.”

“It’s okay,” Paul said as he rubbed his face with his hands. “I did want to talk to you about everything that happened at dinner.”

“What happened at dinner?” Mary-Kate asked as if she had a blast at dinner with her new family.

“I saw the look on your face whenever other conversations were going on,” he answered. “I know it must be weird for you, Mary-Kate, but they are your new family. I want all of us to get along like a real family. You don’t have to feel weird around any of us.”

“Oh, okay,” Mary-Kate said calmly, knowing that there was no way she was ever going to feel normal in front of Benjamin, Alexandria, and Carla. “I’ll keep that in mind. But I’m going to go to bed now, so I’ll see you tomorrow morning?”

“I leave for work early in the morning, so I will see you after that,” Paul said with a smile. “Goodnight, Mary-Kate.”

Mary-Kate nodded her head and smiled softly at her father before leaving the office and going upstairs. She made a stop at the bathroom so she could shower before bed, considering she was never one to shower in the morning. Once she entered the bathroom, she looked around at the towels that were stacked on the vanity and the shampoo, conditioner, and body wash that rested on the racks inside the shower, as if they’ve been waiting for her all day and were ready to be used. Mary-Kate shut the door behind her and turned on the shower, before stripping down and stepping inside.

+

After her shower, which lasted longer than anticipated considering her mind kept drifting off as Harry’s face kept coming back to memory, Mary-Kate stepped out of the shower and wrapped her hair in a towel. She quickly dried her body off and wrapped the towel around her torso before exiting the bathroom and going into her room. She threw on some pajamas that were stuffed in one of her bags that had yet to be unpacked, and after that she combed out her wet hair.

She entered the bathroom once again and hung up her towels and brushed her teeth, before going back into her bedroom and laying down in her bed, which was actually rather comfortable. She pulled the covers up to her chin and let out a drawn-out sigh. Of course this wasn’t the most ideal situation she could be in, but Mary-Kate knew it could be worse, and she was hoping that it would only get better from its current state.

Clearing her rather negative thoughts from her mind, she flipped onto her side and shut her eyes, before drifting off to sleep.

+

Mary-Kate’s eyes fluttered open as she heard a female talking loudly in the hallway, the voice getting louder and softer as if she were pacing down the hall. Looking over at the clock, Mary-Kate noticed that it was almost 10 o’clock and that her dad was already gone at work, meaning that Carla and her two step-siblings were the only ones home with her. She sighed to herself as she climbed out of bed and found some clothes. She slid on a t-shirt and some dark blue jeans and grabbed her sneakers before leaving her bedroom. As she was heading for the bathroom she saw Carla outside of her bedroom on the phone.

“Okay, Georgianne, I’ll talk to you tomorrow,” Carla said to the person on the phone. “Mhm, okay. Bye.”

She hung up the phone and looked at Mary-Kate. “Good morning. Did I wake you?”

Figuring that Carla wouldn’t care that she indeed woke Mary-Kate up, she shook her head. “No. I’ve been up for a little while.”

“Oh, okay. Breakfast is on the table if you would like some. Alexandria and Benjamin are down there eating.” She commented as she cradled the house phone in her hand.

Mary-Kate looked at Carla wondering if she was aware that no one used house phones anymore, before nodding her head and going into the bathroom. “Thank you.”

After shutting the door to the bathroom, Mary-Kate glanced at herself in the mirror. Her hair was a mess and she had a red mark on her face where her cheek was resting on her hand while she slept. “Whoa.”

She quickly combed out her dirty blonde hair, not minding if it was a little wavier than usual, before she grabbed her toothbrush and brushed her teeth. After that she grabbed her make-up bag from where it sat on the end of the vanity. She applied her eyeliner, mascara, and some foundation in record time, and once she made sure there was money in her pants pockets, she stepped out of the bathroom and went down the stairs. She made her way into the kitchen where she heard Benjamin and Alexandria talking.

“Morning,” Mary-Kate said, trying to sound cheerful, as she glanced at her step-siblings as they sat at the kitchen table. They both stopped talking and Mary-Kate saw Alexandria look her outfit up and down.

“Mm, good morning,” Alexandria said disapprovingly. “Did you bring any heels for your stay?”

“No,” Mary-Kate said slowly as she looked at her sneakers that were in her hand. “I don’t wear heels… Just sneakers.”

“Oh, okay,” she said with a slight shrug. “Are you going out?”

“I am, actually,” Mary-Kate answered as she pulled her sneakers. “I was going to tell your mom before I left, and I thought she was down here.”

“I’ll let her know you left,” Alexandria said as she picked a piece of lint off of her skirt, barely paying attention to Mary-Kate. Then without another glance or word to her, she turned back to Benjamin and continued their conversation.

Mary-Kate rolled her eyes to herself, before turning on her heel and heading towards the front door. She shoved her cell phone into her pocket once she got out the door, and headed down the driveway in the direction of the bakery that she went to yesterday. She was secretly hoping that Harry was there just so she could have some friendly conversation while she bought her pastries, but she also didn’t want to seem creepy by showing up at the place where he worked two days in a row (even though it was really the only place that she knew how to get to). For all she knew he was just being nice and funny because that was his job, to be polite to the customers, but it still made Mary-Kate feel better with the fact that she was in England.

And right now, that was all that mattered to her.

+

Mary-Kate looked through the glass as she headed towards the door of the bakery, and she saw Harry’s curly hair through the window as he stood behind the counter. She sucked in a quick breath and looked away as he made eye contact with her through the glass, and she wasn’t sure if it was just her or if he actually smiled at her once he saw her. Pushing the thought out of her head, she pulled open the door of the bakery and went inside so she could eat some breakfast.

“Good morning, Mary-Kate, the Blueberry Girl,” Harry said cheerfully as he looked at the girl in front of him. “Two days in a row, I see?”

Mary-Kate felt herself blush as she laughed to herself. “Yeah.”

“Well, me too,” he chuckled as he extended his arms as if Mary-Kate didn’t notice he was working. “What can I get you this morning?”

Mary-Kate gawked at the selection in front of her for a minute, then she glanced up at Harry to give him her order. “I guess another blueberry muffin, and that’s all.”

“That’s all?” Harry gasped, as if he were hurt. “Did you not like our scones?”

“No, it was great,” she chuckled as she fidgeted with the hem of her shirt. “I’m just not so hungry this morning.”

“That’s quite alright,” he said as he grabbed the biggest blueberry muffin out of the selection and put it on a plate. “For here, love?”

Mary-Kate nodded as she pulled out her money and gave Harry what she owed. After he handed her the change, he looked into her eyes and smiled wide. “Thank you, Mary-Kate.”

Mary-Kate smiled to herself and nodded as she grabbed her change and her plate. She turned around and walked to where she sat yesterday, before pulling out the chair and sitting down. As she picked off a piece of her muffin, she looked towards the counter and made eye contact with Harry as he wiped down the counter. He sent her a smile before going back to his work and Mary-Kate looked down at her plate.

She sat and continued to pick at her muffin as she looked at her phone for what seemed like an hour, until she noticed someone blocking the light from overhead. She glanced up confused and saw Harry standing in front of her, holding a piece of chocolate cake on a plate. His red apron was no longer hanging on his neck and his nametag was nowhere to be found.

“Mind if I sit?” he asked as he smiled at Mary-Kate.

Mary-Kate just nodded dumbly, taken aback by his forwardness. As if he didn’t notice the look on her face, Harry pulled out the chair across from Mary-Kate and sat down.