Masterpiece {h.s}

4. Questions & Paninis

The rest of the day was uneventful. I walked around, looked at every paintings in detail, again. I think by the end of the day, I knew the whole exposition by heart. I could probably tell the number of tiles between each paintings, the name of every paintings and the number of time each colors had been used.

I talked to a couple of people with my aunt and finally, when the exposition was over, Meg and I decided to eat in a small café that she swore “had the best paninis in town”.

The walk to the cafe wasn’t very long, it was about half-way between the exposition and Meg’s apartment. Once we entered the place, I instantly fell in love with it. It was small, very small. On the left, there was a massive mahogany counter to order and next to it were loads of delicious-looking sandwiches and pastries. There was also a counter on the side of the window with only two places to sit, the wall behind it was covered in all kinds of coffees and teas. On the right, there were about 4 tables. But what struck me the most was the giant painting of a landscape that covered the entire wall.

Meghan and I chose the table next to the window to sit, and I sat so I would face the painting. Once we were settled, we were greeted by a very cheery blonde waitress.

“Hi! My name is Penny.” She smiled at my aunt and I before handing us the menus. “Here are your menus, if you have any question, don’t hesitate. When you’re ready to order, give me a sign.”
“Thank you.” I said as I opened my menu.
“Would you like something to drink first?”
“I’ll have a coffee, black please.” My aunt answered.
“I’ll have one too. Double double, please.” I added.
“Perfect! I’ll be right back!”

The waitress left and we looked at the menu. A couple minutes after, a bell rang, announcing that someone was entering the coffee shop. I looked up, and saw that my aunt was waving at someone. I looked behind me and regretted it immediately. I turned back around and tried to concentrate on the menu.

Please don’t come over here. Please don’t come over here.

“Well, well, well.” I heard a voice say beside me.

I looked up to meet green eyes and a mocking smile. It was the boy from earlier, Harry I believe, but this time he wasn’t alone. An older man, who I assume was his father because of the resemblance, stood beside him.

“Hi Des!” my aunt greeted the man.
“Meghan! How are you?” he said as he leaned to kiss both my aunt’s cheeks. He had an accent just like Harry.
“I’m well. This is my niece, Annabelle. Anna, this is Des Styles, a friend of mine.” she introduced me.
“Nice to meet you, dear. This is my son, Harry.”
“I believe we’ve met, already.” Harry stated. He was looking at me and his eyes were dancing with amusement. He clearly saw that I was uncomfortable and was obviously amused by it.
“Oh? Well, do you want to join us?” My aunt asked.

I looked quickly at her, my eyes wide, scolding her silently. Harry let out a short breathless laugh.

“We’d love to.” He answered while looking at his father who nodded in agreement.
“Well, take place, we haven’t ordered yet.” My aunt looked at me. Her face was composed but I could tell she was intrigued by the situation.

Harry took the place next to me and I tried as hard as I could to ignore him.

“We were at your exposition earlier today.” Harry’s father told my aunt. “Couldn’t find you to say hi."
“Sorry, I was all over the place.” my aunt laughed.

Meghan and Mr. Styles kept talking while I concentrated on the menu.

“Told you I would see you soon.” Harry whispered with a humorous tone, as he leaned closer to me. I turned my head to meet his eyes. He was smiling broadly. I rolled my eyes at him which only made him laugh. My eyes darted to his dimples before looking back to his eyes. I frowned as I realized that he was looking at my chest.
“My eyes are up here you know.” I quietly snapped.

He looked back up an embarrassed look on his face. His eyes were wide as I looked away.

Well this isn’t uncomfortable at all.

“No, no, no!” he protested and I looked back at him. “I was looking at your necklace, it's very pretty. I'm sorry.”


I glanced down and grabbed my necklace in my hands. I looked at it for a second before holding it tightly. It was a small silver and gold daisy, for Daisy. I shook my head, this wasn’t the time to think about it.

“Oh, sorry.” I whispered after looking back up.
“It’s fine, I understand that it looked bad.” He whispered back. “Why are we whispering?” he added.
“I don’t know…” I chuckled.

He laughed along with me.

“Have you decided what you’re going to eat?” My aunt interrupted.

I looked at my aunt, feeling embarrassed for a moment, as if I had been caught doing something wrong.

“No, I don’t know what to take.” I answered while looking at the menu again. Before I could add anything, Harry grabbed the menu from my hand.
“You should try the chicken, apple and brie panini, it’s to die for.” he claimed. Before closing the menu and putting it at the end of the table.
“Is that what you’re having?” I asked.
“Yeah.”
“Then I won’t have it.”
“Anna!” my aunt awkwardly laughed.
“I’m kidding.” I laughed. “I’ll try it.” I added while smiling at Harry.
“You won’t regret it I swear.” he smiled back.

The waitress arrived with my aunt and I’s coffee, distracting me from Harry.

“Oh, I didn’t know there would be two more people.” She embarrassingly looked at Harry.

He looked back at her with a knowing smile.

“It’s alright, love.”

Was he flirting with her?

For some reason that simple phrase made me jealous. I know I shouldn’t be, considering that Harry and I barely knew each other, but during the short conversations I had with him, I felt… special? I felt as if I was important. I don’t know what it was really, maybe the way he looked at me or the way he would lean in when I would talk.
But seeing him interact with someone else made me realize that he acted this way with everyone.

“Annabelle?”

I looked at Harry, who was staring at me.

“I’m sorry, what?"
“She asked you what you wanted.”
“Oh. I’ll have whatever you said earlier.” I answered flatly.

He frowned for a second before smiling back at me.

“Two chicken, apple and brie paninis it is then!” he proudly said
“Alright, I’ll be right back with your order.” The waitress cheerily said.

As soon as she left, Harry turned to me, the side of his head resting on his hand. I looked back at him, trying to keep a blank expression on my face. His feature showed that he was annoyed but he didn’t say anything.
My aunt and his father kept talking, and I looked at them. It really seemed like they’ve known each other for a while. When I looked back at Harry he was still staring at me.

“What?” I asked rather harshly.
“What happened?”
I furrowed my brows in confusion. “What?” I asked again, without any brutality this time.
“I don’t know... You were laughing, and then all of the sudden you were cold.”
“Nothing.” I said while looking outside. I tried so hard to concentrate on something, anything, but there was no one I could observe and the scenery was pretty still. Nothing could keep me focused enough so that I could ignore Harry.
I looked down at my coffee, realizing I hadn’t drink it yet. I reached for it, feeling Harry’s eyes on me. I brought the cup to my lips and took small sips.

“Would you like to go on a date with me?”

As soon as the words left his mouth I choked on my coffee. What the hell, I must have misunderstood, he couldn’t have possibly said that.
I kept coughing and Harry’s hand rested on my back, trying to help me. My aunt and Des were looking at me as I coughed and tried to breathe.

“Are you ok, Anna?” my aunt asked concerned. I shook my head up and down.

After a few more coughs, air was finally reaching my lungs again. I took a quick look at Harry, the expression on his face only confirmed that I had heard him right and I started laughing.

So he was that kind of guy. I didn't see it coming, that's for sure. And I thought he was a sweet, innocent guy. But after he flirted with the waitress and asked me out in a matter of minutes, I realized I couldn't have been more wrong.

I threw my head back, unable to control the laughter. Tears were forming in my eyes as I kept laughing. Meg kept looking at me until I gestured to her that it was ok and she hesitantly returned to her conversation.

“Are you laughing at me, Annabelle?” I heard Harry whisper with an amused tone.

I looked at him, and flinched once I realized that he was really close to me. Although he sounded amused, his eyes betrayed his embarrassment. I was so uncomfortable that I only laughed harder. He chuckled lightly before starting to pout. I rested a hand on his shoulder and put the other hand over my mouth to stop myself from laughing. Slowly, my laughter subdued.

Harry kept pouting the whole time and once he saw that I had stopped, he reached for my cheek with his thumb and stopped the tears. I stayed still and once his thumb left my cheek I looked away. I glanced across the table and saw Meg and Harry’s father staring at us. I immediately distanced myself from Harry.

Fortunately, before Meg could say anything, the waitress arrived with our order and I mentally thanked every divinity that I knew.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Good god, Harry, you're pretty forward. 
Jesus, Anna, you're awkward.

Soooo, what did you guys think of this chapter? Are you starting to figure out the characters a bit more? There are a lot of information coming in the next chapters and I can't wait to publish them!

I've put up a picture on the side. It's sort of how I imagine the coffee shop.
Oh by the way, I created a Tumblr for my stories (this one, and another one that I'm working on. It won't be up now, though.) if you want to check it out. I'll create a page where I tag pictures that inspire/remind me of the story. http://www.k-xrry.tumblr.com

I dedicated this chapter to @Narryallnightlong because she's a sweetheart and I love her <3 Thank you honey for talking to me, I told you already, but I'm really glad you did ! <3

Thank you so so much to those of you that are reading, commenting, voting and adding this story to your reading list. It means so much to me and your comments are always appreciated.
I love you all so much <3
Karry xx.