Teach Me | H.S

Chapter 10

*Isabella's POV*

"She still isn't happy with it Rob, she says that it is over cooked now" I said, slamming the fourth hamburger back on the counter in the kitchen. A woman out front had been complaining and saying that she didn't like the way that we cooked our burgers. Not that anyone else was complaining. 

"Well I don't know what to do then! It is either over cooked, or undercooked or too pink or too dry! What the hell does she want from me? I'm not Gordon bloody Ramsey!" he said, running his fingers through his decreasing amount of hair in a frustrated manner.

I simply shrugged my shoulders and folded my arms across my chest. "I told her that but she still wouldn't listen, maybe you should go out there and talk to her?" I said.

"No I will try one more time and if she doesn't like it then tell her to go eat somewhere else. I have better ways to be spending my time than catering to stuck up Londoners" he grumbled before tearing open another packet of burgers and tossing one on to the grill. I smiled at his description of the London population (mainly because he too was a "stuck up Londoner") and made my way back out to the Cafe.

I went over to help Olivia with the increasing queue which was forming at the to-go counter, filling up coffee cups, wrapping cakes and pastries and taking people’s money and placing it in the cash register. As the cue slowly began to decease the bell which signified that a customer had entered sounded. I looked up in time to be met with a pair of dazzling green eyes and pursed lips. He smiled at me before taking a seat at one of the free tables. I smiled back before dealing with the next customer. I kept glancing up in his direction only to briefly see him staring at me with a look that some would describe as adoration and I wondered if it had something to do with the girl I reminded him of, he seemed quite fond of her when he mentioned her before.

As I looked up again I caught his eye.

"Are you coming?" he mouthed

"I am on my lunch break in 5 minutes" I mouthed back holding up five fingers to emphasise my point.

He nodded and pulled his phone out of his pocket and began to tap away. I finished dealing with the customer in front of me before heading to the back room to grab my lunch and walking back to Harry's table.

"Olivia I'm just going for lunch" I said and she nodded. She had just finished her lunch break so it was only fair that I had mine now as well.

I slipped in to the seat opposite Harry and placed my lunch on the table. Harry looked up from his phone and smiled a big beautiful smile when he saw me. 

"Hey Izzy!" he said in a cheery voice but his smile didn't reach his eyes. 

"Hey, are you alright? You look upset about something" I said, giving him with a concerned look as I began to unwrap my sandwich from the cling film. I eventually gave up with trying to unravel the mess I have made of it and started to tear it open, I have very little patience when cling film was involved.

"I'm fine don't worry about me. So how has your day been so far?" And there he goes again, turning the conversation back to me again, completely disregarding my question about him.

"Fine I guess… pushy customers but then again what’s new" I said with very little enthusiasm. I was beginning to get tired of him ignoring my questions about him. He seemed to know a lot about me yet I didn't even know where he was from. As I began to eat my sandwich I could feel his eyes burning into me yet he didn't say anything until a few moments later:

"What did I do?" he asked. He sounded like a child, the tone of his voice laced with innocence and upset at the thought of having cause me potential harm or hurt my feelings. I could feel my heart clench as I looked into his eyes and saw a look of panic, his eyes boring into mine in a desperate attempt to find out what he did wrong. 

"I'm just annoyed, whenever I ask you a question about yourself you always dismiss it and immediately change the subject back to me. Why won't you tell me about yourself and your family?" I asked. 

Immediately the looking his eyes changed from desperation and sadness to anger. His hands clenched the edge of the table and his nostrils flared. 

"BECAUSE YOU DON'T NEED TO KNOW!" he yelled, causing several customers in the Cafe, including Olivia to turn and look at us with looks of annoyance for having had their lunch disturbed and shock at the sudden outburst from the corner of the room. 

I had flinched back in my seat and away from the sudden anger fired at me from my "lunch date" (if he could even be called that) and looked away, completely shocked and confused by his bipolar mood swings.

I nodded my head, still not looking at him and began to stand up, packing my half eaten lunch back away in its bag. I didn't need to take this right now, I had a headache from the noisy customers and I wasn't overly keen on being embarrassed in front of them by his impromptu outburst. As I pushed my chair back so that I could slip out Harry's head snapped up to look at me.

"Where are you going?" and just like that the innocent, desperate voice had returned. He looked slightly guilty for shouting at me and so he should be, I did nothing to ask for that and I wasn't going to let it happen again, if he didn't want to tell me about his family then fine, I wouldn't ask.

"I'm going to eat my lunch alone in the back room, I really don't need this right now" I answered as I began to walk away. I was stopped when I felt his hand grab onto mine, preventing me from leaving before he had a chance to explain himself.

"I'm sorry Izzy I didn't mean to shout at you like that, I was just a bit angry from this morning is all. You are still going out with me on Saturday right?" he asked. The way Harry was looking at me and holding gently onto my hand made me feel like he was almost desperate for some kind of human interaction. Like he had been starved of any form of compassion or even friendship for a very long time. He feared being rejected or abandoned and I could only assume that had something to do with the past he was so desperately trying to keep hidden.

"I don't know..." I said and it was true. Did I really want to spend my whole Saturday with someone who had just yelled at me for trying to see if he was alright?

"Please Izzy..." he begged

I paused for a few moments to contemplate my answer before replying with a brief "Fine". A looked of relief washed over his face and he dropped my hand. Once I was free I retreated into the back room where I spent the rest of my lunch break alone.