Before you go... //h.s

The Places We Were Made

The door of Split Bean slammed against the wall as I shoved it open in my hurry to get in on time. Last night had been one of the worst nights of sleep, which is to say I didn't sleep at all, in a while. Ash looked at me, a smug smile on his face,

'And here we fucking go again!... I mean good morning,' he remarks, a grin on his face and amusement glinting in his eye.

I swear Ash is a bloody demon because no one sane could have a smile on their face before 9:00am in the morning.

'Good morning to you too Ash,' I reply, grabbing my apron and throwing it around my waist. I trip over my feet slightly and curse as I stumble to the counter. If this was a representation of how my day was going to go then I was in for a shitty day.

My worries were only confirmed when my first customer that morning was Ollie. What he was doing up at 7:30 in the morning was completely beyond me: he was a sleep in late, go to bed late kinda guy so seeing him function before noon was unusual. But to see him at 7:30? Something was either very wrong or very right. 

'Bean!' he grinned, 'I need your help,'

'Sure – what d'you want?' I replied, focusing on making coffees for the people behind him. Of course I was going to help with whatever hairbrained scheme he'd come up with because that's just the person I was. I was a people pleaser.

'Well... how d'you feel about going to LA tomorrow,' he looked at me with an eyebrow raised expectantly,

'Not too good,' I said, the ghost of a smile on my face.

'Aw come on Bean, I'd normally take Luke but he's being dull and claimed he has some business thing to attend. It's only for a few night – we go, I play the big game, we drink on the pitch that night – we can spend longer there if you want...' he speaks persuasively, 'besides...isn't Harry in LA at the moment,' he asks, and that small sentence nearly convinces me to go. But I'm sure Harry's busy and I don't want to get in his way,

'I'm not sure,' I hesitate,

'Oh go on Iris, you need to do something more fun and I'll even given you a week's paid holiday,' Ash innocently interrupts and I scowl at him.

'Go to hell,' I mutter,

'Aw Iris, I'm already halfway there,' Ash responds with a grin and Ollie looks at me expectantly.

'So I'll see you tomorrow? I'll pick you up from your apartment.' He tells me before sauntering out the door, a smirk irritatingly painted on his face.

Later that day, I am in my apartment frustratedly throwing everything I own around. I haven't been on a plane in nearly four years since I moved to New York, and I'd never been to LA. All I knew about it was what you saw on the news of the enormous mansions owned by celebrities and extravagant parties. What the fuck was I supposed to take to wear.

The places we were made playing softly in the background to calm me slightly was not helping. Normally it was one of those songs that would just moderate my feelings, but this spontaneous, unplanned trip was panicking me so much that even the song was not working.

I mean obviously something casual to support Ollie in his match, but then what? What to wear for drinking afterwards? And for the other days? And would I even see Harry? Would he be angry I was there? Would he be pleased? Should I even tell him? Yes, I should tell him, come Iris get your act together you know how badly you want to see him.

This is why I didn't do things spontaneously. It freaked me out – I needed to plan, think, decide.

Thank god, Maya soon walked in and once the saw the tip of the apartment, her face crossed in confusion. She knew that in any circumstance, if the apartment was this messy, I would be hurrying around stressed as I tidied it. But for the first time, I wasn't tidying, I was sitting in the middle of the floor.