By Chance

4 - Genevieve

"Hi, I'm Harry," he introduced, causing me to gain even more interest.

"I'm Genevieve," I replied, letting go of his warm, strong hand. As my train of thought returned, I remembered where we were and how we were both going to leave soon.

"So, what brings you to jolly ol' England?" he asked with a toothy smile.

"Vacation! You see those three idiots over there pretending not to stare at us? Yeah, they're with me," I said, letting out a troubled, dramatic sigh followed by a mutual laugh.

"Ah, that makes more sense. They seemed far too interested in the fact that you were talking to a boy than to be casual bystanders," he pointed out, making my face turn a rosy-pink color.

I let out a nervous laugh and folded my arms uncomfortably. "Yeah, they're nosy that way, but hey, I guess they aren't all that bad." I shrugged, looking back at my friends, who, at the moment, was very interested in the marble flooring beneath their feet. I laughed at the obvious fact that none of them would be professional actors one day and turned my head back towards Harry.

"So, besides England, got any other plans?" he asked intently, showing that he was genuinely interested in our, most likely my, plans.

I got very excited because I would be telling someone new about my extravagant traveling journey ahead of me and not someone I've already told over and over.

"Oh, England's just the first stop," I explained animatedly. His eyes followed mine in mutual excitement. "We're going to France, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, and Greece." I debated on if I should ask...but I knew I'd regret it if I didn't. "Hey, do you have an Instagram?"

"Yeah, here-" He paused, getting out his phone and pulling up his profile so I could find it.

I felt my heart drop to the pit of my stomach. My mouth wanted to hit the floor with a clanging sound like in cartoons, but I managed to reduce it to a medium-sized opening. My eyes felt like they were bulging out of my head, so I managed to blink a few times to decrease their size.

My now jittering hands pulled out my phone from the back pocket of my jeans and finally managed to shakily get through the code on my phone on the successful third try. I let out a gulp as I clicked on the app and went to the search bar you use to find people.

"So, Harry Holland, was it?" I shakily asked while letting out a rushed breath. I hoped for the life of me that he hadn't noticed.

"Yep. I'm sure it'll pop up right up- oh, there it is," he replied happily, pointing to my screen.

I, however, was trying to decide how long I had till my heart came up from my stomach and out my mouth.

"T-thanks," I stuttered back, still trying to shake away the initial shock. Harry HOLLAND? I knew I recognized him from somewhere! How did I not know immediately who he was? I literally already follow him on Instagram! How am I so stupid and BLIND?

"Genevieve, mate, you good?" he asked, waving a hand near my face.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," I lied, putting on a fake smile, pretending to follow his Instagram, even though I already was.

"Hey, so, my flight's about to board. It was an absolute pleasure talking to you, and I hope we get to again sometime."

"Me too. I really hope to hear more about that flight sometime." I grinned, making a mental note to message him on Instagram later that day.

"It's been a pleasure, Miss Genevieve," he said with a wide smile, extending his hand once more for a proper farewell. I took hold of it and was greeted once more by his palm's solid yet warm grip against mine. After an appropriate amount of seconds, we parted and went separate ways, his being on the other side of the airport and mine a few feet away. I walked over to my friends with a permanent smile that I was sure wouldn't be fading any time soon.

"Sorry about that, guys. That guy was helping me with my luggage," I greeted, nodding my head towards my stubborn suitcase.

"You were over there a long time." Grace grinned. I sighed, rolling my eyes while letting a small smile slip out the corner of my lips.

"She's right about that. Our legs were starting to fall asleep from standing so long," John sighed and shared a laugh with his sister, who was now staring me dead in the eyes, obviously hungry for gossip, while the bystander to my left was looking annoyed that we weren't moving yet.

"So, who was he?" she questioned, a large grin across her lips. I let out a laugh, my head pointing towards the floor. I lifted it and looked back at them with eyes that withheld secrets that they desired to know.

"Harry Holland."