roses so red [harry lewis]

tending the garden

CHAPTER 8: tending the garden

Harry: Come help us with a video? We need some creative insight

Rosalie glanced down at her phone as it buzzed in the passenger seat beside her, and she shoved her hair behind her ears as she leaned over to read the message flashing across the screen. She glanced to the clock on her dash - it was just half past ten in the morning, and after her meeting had ended ten minutes ago, she was off work for the rest of her day.

Her thumb hesitated over the screen before she hit his contact photo, turning the phone to speaker and waiting until the ringing was cut off by Harry's bright voice. "'Ello, Rosalie. What do you say?"

"What does all this involve?" She asked, lifting her head and checking her face in the rearview mirror. Rosalie used her ring finger to wipe a bit of mascara from under her eye, and then push an eyebrow hair back into position. 

"Well, we're doing a box of lies game. We need you to make a couple of odd crafts for us to use." Harry explained vaguely, chuckling as some loud laughter filled the background. "I'll pay you back if you can just stop at the shop and get some toys and rubbish to make them, and we've already got all the boxes."

"You don't have to pay me back, unless you're buying food, in which case I'm famished." Rose admitted, pressing her hand over her stomach as it grumbled. "I'll pop to the store and be to you in about two hours once I've put something together."

"Ace, thanks, Rosie." Harry cheered, the line going dead. She pursed her lips, looking at her reflection as she tried to figure out what that nickname had made her feel. Rosie, it was new, and sweet, and entirely unexpected.

Rosalie put the car in drive and drove off to the store, wandering the aisles for a while as she scanned all of her options and formulated a few odd combinations to put in the boxes. She grabbed a few stuffed animals, some goggles, a Barbie doll, a box of condoms, and some fruit. She took one last lap before she saw something golden, grabbing it and throwing it in her basket before running through checkout and speeding home to get changed.

Rose exchanged her pressed work clothes for something a little more fitting for an afternoon with the lads - a pair of jeans, a pale blue blouse, and some flats - before she loaded the crafts she'd pieced together into her trunk and took the drive to the Sidemen house.

As she pulled up, she was greeted by Harry walking out the front door and hobbling across the sharp rocks that made up the long drive to where her car crunched to a stop. Rose rolled down her window, raising a hand in greeting as Harry winced across the ground. "Hey, Rosie! How many boxes do you need?"

"Four." She responded, putting her car in park and climbing out. 

"Four!" Harry called back over his shoulder to JJ, who bent down and started picking up red and blue boxes and chucking them at Harry, who alternated between trying to catch them and swatting them to the ground, protecting his head while Simon cackled, aiming a vlogging camera at them.

"Close your eyes!" Rose demanded, popping her boot when she was sure he had his eyes covered, and placing each of her works of art into boxes - an orange, a teddy bear with goggles and a jetpack that hugged another smaller bear, a Barbie playing golf with a cheese string and an Easter egg candy (which was sure to smell rank sooner or later), and a tiny caricature of Donald Trump sitting on a toilet.

She helped the boys and their cameramen stack up the boxes beside the guarded table, laughing at their banter that they had always easily included them in. "Well, is there anything else you lot need from me?" 

Harry gave her a startled look, seeing her lifting her purse towards her shoulder and grabbing her keys up off of the bench. "You're not staying to watch?" He asked, confused as he motioned back towards the setup behind them. "You can have your own chair and everything."

Rosalie weighed her options for a moment, leaning on one hip as she considered his offer. She had some files to run through and a few accounts to double check for work, as well as the offer they'd given her to review for next year, but those were things she could run through easily when she wasn't watching the boys make utter fools of themselves.

"Yeah, alright," Rosalie agreed, then giving Harry a jokingly smug look. "Only since you begged."

"Hey now!" Harry quipped, holding a finger up at her and raising his eyebrows. "What kind of friend would I be if I made you help me with a video and then kicked you out?"

"Do you want me to answer that?" Rose challenged teasingly, raising her eyebrows. Harry gave her a wary look but then turned, pulling up and extra chair beside the camera men where the boys would each be waiting their turns and gestured for Rosalie to take it.

"M'lady," Harry said poshly, letting Rose roll her eyes and sit down, one leg crossing over the other as she lifted her bag to her lap. She picked out her file folder and a blue pen, uncapping it and holding the lid between her teeth as she got to work reviewing the first document, the boys getting started as Harry introduced the video.

A few times the boys would drag her attention to the game, either by being crass or by reacting to some of the mysterious items she'd put into the boxes along with the help of the other cameramen and producers. "This one was you, wasn't it?" Harry asked, nodding at JJ who had a tiny Trump on a toilet hidden in front of him.

"Man's full of absolute shit," Rosie nodded, giving him a wink as Harry put a hand to his mouth, laughing.

She looked back down to her final file, the agreement they wanted her to decide on for the upcoming year's work. Rosalie read it and reread it, napping her foot anxiously on her knee, until she realized that the boys were putting things away, the cameras being packed up and the afternoon coming to an end.

"Food, you coming?" Harry asked, nodding towards where the boys were fighting over takeaway versus a restaurant.

"No way I'd miss it." She nodded, shoving her things away into her bag. She turned to stand, and saw with surprise that Harry was holding out a hand to help her up.

Rosalie paused, and then gave Harry a sly look. "Not a damsel in distress, Lewis," She taunted, giving him a look that burned his cheeks red. But before he could pull his hand away, Rose took it and let him help her get to her feet. "But thanks."