ambivalent | hes

24

LYLA'S POV

I called Harry so many times, hoping he would answer and we could talk this through, but each time I tried, it only went straight to his voicemail.

I was so confused. I just needed to talk to him, to know why he was so upset. Maybe he was sad about his sisters passing. That's the only logical explanation as to why he was acting so strange, so distant.

I decided I would give him some time to relax and I would go over tomorrow.

Today, I was going to work for a bit of training with my mom. Of course she would be showing me what to do, so it would be easy.

"Okay, so basically all you have to do is stand here, and when I ask for something, for example, a specific document, you just have to find it and hand it to me." My mother spoke as she stood at the front of the table we were sitting at in the courtroom.

"That should be easy." I said, getting up from my chair and walking around to where she was standing.

"Yes, it should be. But remember, there's going to be people in here when we actually have to do it." She told me.

"Oh."

I somehow forgot about that part. The jury, the judge, the criminals. I do kind of get a bit of stage fright, but it's not like I'm going to be the center of attention, anyway. That calmed my nerves a bit.

"I'll be alright." I said with a smile.

"That's my girl," my mother said as she put an arm around my shoulder and began walking me towards the door."Let's go get some food. I'm sure your training drained a lot of energy. I am quite intimidating."

We laughed as we got in the car.

We chose to go to Panera, and while we were eating, the events from last night replayed in my mind.

"Mom?" I said. Maybe she could help me understand the whole situation.

"Yes, sweetie?"

I explained the whole situation to her, and she listened well. She was always a good listener. She paused before speaking.

"He may just be upset about his sister."

"That's what I was thinking. But he won't answer my calls or texts, and I'm worried. I was thinking about going over tomorrow to try to talk to him." I replied.

"I think that's best." She said.

The rest of the day went by slow. After lunch, we went home and I just sat in my room watching Netflix until dinner, and after I ate I went to bed. I didn't exactly sleep. I was too worried about Harry to drift off. I sighed, getting out of bed and going to my closet. I took out the sweater he gave me the first day we met and slipped it on, then got back in bed. I picked up my phone, attempting to call him one last time. No answer. I sighed and put my phone on the bedside table and got settled under the blankets. I guess I'll just talk to him tomorrow.

I looked down at the sweater. The tiger on the front reminding me of the first day I had met Harry months ago, when he drove me home from work. Then I remembered the tag. Gucci. Confused, I grabbed my laptop and went to the Gucci website, searching for the jacket. I gasped when I saw the price. $1,300. I shut my laptop, wondering how much Harry actually made to afford something so expensive.

I laid down, tossing and turning as I waited for sleep to come, and hours later, it finally did.