Petal [h.s.]

Chapter 12

Violet.

Harry already looked like a mess when he rang my doorbell on Saturday morning.

We had agreed to meet at 10 in the morning, so I could at least sleep in a bit after my late shift. I had taken up my vacation days for a week and I honestly didn't really mind. I had no idea what else I would spend my vacation days on, so this was a good use of a paid leave. 

It was clear that Harry had not taken a few days to think about this.

I glanced around the apartment once more, seeing if anything was out of the ordinary. I had tried my best to tidy up a bit, but honestly this place was beyond saving. 

Harry and I had agreed that his withdrawal would take place here. It was a neutral environment for him, and there were no drugs to be found in the apartment. 

I walked downstairs in my slippers to open the front door and let him in. He was wearing a T-shirt and a pair of skinny jeans, a beanie covering his curls as he looked grumpy and sleepy when he was stood on the front porch. 

I could tell he was already struggling. He once told me a line of coke was basically the first thing he did in the morning, for breakfast.

I tried to look as uplifting as possible, shooting him a wide grin as I ushered him further into the building. "Didn't you bring anything?" I frowned when I noticed his empty hands and he shrugged as we walked down the corridor to my apartment. "Like what?"

"I expected you to bring a bag with your stuff, like clothes and toiletries. You're going to be here all week, remember?"

"I thought we could go by my place and pick that up together sometime today."

I rolled my eyes. "Cheap trick, Harry. You know as well as I do that you have loads of drugs lying around your place. We should get your stuff first of all, before you get all... withdrawal-y." I tried to explain and he shifted in his place when he was stood in my living room. 

I could tell he was trying to compliment my home, but he was at a loss for words and I couldn't blame him. It was a gloomy day in London and the lack of sunlight made this apartment look even more depressive. 

"Say hello to your house for this week." I chirped, gesturing my arms around as if there was anything special to see.

"I can't believe you live here." He said flatly, not even trying to hide his disgust. I shrugged. "It's not the Ritz, but you'll be out of it most of the week so I don't think you'll mind. You're welcome by the way, that I'm letting you crash here for a whole week." I scolded and he quickly nodded as an apology. 

"Right, I'm sorry. I love it." Sarcasm was thickly laced in his voice as he mocked me, clearly already in a bad mood and annoyed.

I put on my shoes and grabbed my bag before we made our way out again to head to his apartment. I wanted to do that first of all, so we could just stay in the rest of the day. It didn't feel like he had any idea what was about to come his way. Withdrawal was no walk in the park. 

I was a bit nervous. Harry had shown me around the mansion before, and I had seen his room there, but it looked far too neat to be his main living space. He had mentioned he had an apartment in London where he actually lived, and that his room at the mansion was just a place he crashed after business meetings.

My jaw dropped to the curb when he stopped the car in front of a beautiful townhouse. It was on a beautiful street that had the most gorgeous black lampposts and the sidewalk was surrounded by front lawns and trees. 

"You own this house?" I muttered under my breath, too shocked to speak clearly.

"I own one of the apartments, the top floor is mine." He explained, leading me up the front stairs of the building before he typed in a code and we entered the foyer.