Sage

24

Ellie.

The first thing I notice about this man's place is that it's fucking huge.

A large cobblestone house is perched, surrounded by palm trees and covered in the warmth of the June sun. Pop music plays over distant speakers and women in different bathing suits walk back around, some sitting with their feet in the pools as they chat together, taking the occasional martinis from the waiters who roam around on autopilot.

Harry keeps a grip on my hand, nodding and silently greeting the floating bodies who reek of wealth.

I'm grateful to get out of my apartment after spending the entirety of the week on my couch, pigging out on mayo and jalapenos whilst watching Rick and Morty distract myself from the intense brain fuck I put myself through with my thoughts.

I ripped a bandaid from a wound that had yet to heal that night with Harry and it was taking a toll on me. I don't think I'd ever had as many nightmares as I did this week and they left me exhausted. I hated how vulnerable Harry had me, how comfortable I felt telling him something that I knew for a fact he would use against me eventually and I couldn't even be mad because I gave it to him.

It was a weak moment for me and I had every reason to be wary of him but it made me feel even more confused when he approached me nicely instead of pretending nothing happened the way I thought he would. We hadn't argued once during the car ride here, he offered me the aux cord, asked if I wanted the temperature adjusted, and even asked about my day.

I spent a week building my guard up and I hated that now it felt like it was for nothing. Part of me was actually starting to believe that he didn't have an ulterior motive and he was genuinely wanting to know if I was okay last week. Or maybe it took my trauma for him to start treating me like a human being.

So now, holding hands with him didn't feel as awkward as I thought it would be. Instead, it felt normal. It was a passing thought that maybe Harry and I could be friends and the constant bickering would be put behind us.

"Oh, Harry how's the new project coming along?" A bearded man asks us as we quickly smile for a camera. Did I mention this place was littered with paparazzi?

Harry shakes his hand, "Just peachy, still needing a few touches. You're not trying to get it out of me are you?" He jokes effortlessly, making the man laugh and pat his shoulder.

"You know I will. Hey, have you heard about Gio? He left Albany records and is looking for a new producer, might wanna give him a chat,"

"Will do,"

They go separate ways and Harry and I approach a small table with fruit assortments as well as crackers.

"Who's Gio?" I ask to fill the silence between us. There wasn't any negativity between us but it still felt weird just hanging out here without speaking. Harry does a double take in my direction as he grabs a paper plate and begins to load grapes.

"Oh, he's Indie pop. Decent resume, he's done music with Sia I think,"

"So are you gonna sign him or something?"

He laughs, "That's now his this works, Ellie. There are contracts and shit, and I'm honestly not that big a fan,"

The conversation ends there.

After snacking on some fruit and being approached by what feels like a hundred people, we end up by the sliding door near the pool, Harry now talking and joking loudly with a few other artists and producers who laugh along with him.

I tuned them out, feeling myself growing bored. This event was highly overrated and I'm mad because I can't even get in the pool. Part of me thinks Harry was purposely engaging in conversation to avoid talking to me, not that we really had anything to talk about since we weren't arguing.