Chapter Six
"I'm not sure," Harry replied. "Make 'em. Use the elastic for the luggage tags or a paper clip. Wait. Why are we having this conversation?"
"Twelve hours of Christmas," was Zayn's answer.
"Well that information is all kinds of useless," Harry replied.
"Never mind," Zayn said. "How's it going?"
Harry mumbled something equally cryptic to Zayn about Orlando being synonymous with jerk and hung up the phone, tucking it back into his pocket.
Realistically, poor Orlando didn't stand a chance of ever being in Harry's good graces. He'd forfeited all those years ago when he left Jessica in tears. Now, once they were formally introduced, Harry liked him even less and spent most of the night fighting the bile that surfaced in his throat when he heard Orlando speak.
He stood with Mr. Anderson, marveling at how astoundingly tacky his Christmas jumper was. It was fashioned of red wool and featured a large, triangular tree in the center. Worst part about the entire thing was that it had lights that flashed. Harry's head hurt trying to focus on his hosts face as he went on telling the other party guests about Harry's recent success.
At any other time, Harry was desperate to remain humble, but tonight he didn't mind Jessica's father bragging. The more he carried on, the more Orlando sulked which gave him a strange feeling of satisfaction.
He'd freely admit it to anyone at that point. He was jealous. He sipped his drink, blocked out Mr. Anderson's voice and his blinking lights and set his eyes on Jessica. There she stood, in the middle of the room in her too tight jeans. Her smile was contagious and he observed as she spoke to people, they too, would begin to smile.
"What do you say, boy?" An older man with a curled mustache nudged Harry in the arm, shaking him from his reverie.
"Huh?"
"Don't be embarrassed," Mr. Anderson urged. "Go ahead Harry, show them what you've got."
He laughed nervously, unsure of what he was supposed to show and to whom he was supposed to show it to. "Ah," he tried to play it cool and wave a hand dismissively. "I'm alright." He figured the statement was general enough to brush off the man.
"Maybe he gets stage fright," Orlando offered.
Harry narrowed his eyes in disgust, "You think I get stage fright?"
Orlando nodded.
"Are you serious?" It had to be some kind of joke on Orlando's part.
"It's okay Harry," Jessica chimed in. Her hand brushed on his shoulder and his skin vibrated underneath her touch. "I'm not sure Orlando knows how big you guys are."
Orlando must not have owned a TV or a radio. Harry nodded and took her hand in his, removing it from his shoulder. He held on for a count of twenty, mostly to tick Orlando off and laughed before turning his attention on the mustached man. Harry considered Orlando's words a challenge. "You want me to sing?"
"Yes, my boy," the man said. "Sing us a song."
Harry looked at Jessica. "Want to play?"
She looked pensive at first but recovered swiftly. "Sure," she said. "I'd love to."
With that, she seated herself at the piano and while she played, Harry sang. It didn't take long before other guests -Orlando not included--joined and made Harry's job of keeping everyone on key a difficult task. Jessica played the piano beautifully and with grace, just like she did everything else. It began to feel very much like the holiday he'd been expecting and he longed to share their special kiss.
