By Chance

12 - Harry

Genevieve said she would be a few minutes late, but I made sure to get a table at the cafe outside before the morning/afternoon rush bustled in. As 10:05 approached with no sign of Genevieve, I pulled out my phone, scrolling through her Instagram for the trillionth time in 24 hours.

I had liked her five most recent posts, but not the ancient ones because I didn't want to seem stalker-ish, even though she liked old ones of mine, which I found myself constantly grinning at.

 She had 53 posts; you better know I've watched and screen-shotted nearly all of them. Of course, I took precautions because if someone at home (mostly Paddy) got ahold of my phone, somehow unlocking it, and looked at all seventy-some pictures of Genevieve, that would not be good. I would never hear the end of it, and the family doesn't need to know all my business.

So, whenever I add a picture of her to my camera roll, I put it in the 'hidden' album, so it's not present on any of my albums. Whenever I do that, it makes me feel slightly dirty, and then I remember that I'm not doing anything wrong. I'm just taking some privacy precautions, that's all.

I clicked on a picture I had visited more recently; it wasn't a posed picture taken by a photographer or anything like that, but a candid one. The camera was pointed upward towards the sky but also showed half of Genevieve's body.

Every inch of the sky was littered with clouds, and in the right corner of the picture stood Genevieve, face away from the camera. Her body faced the right side of the photograph, and she wore a plain, bright blue sweater that was only a shade duller than the azure-painted sky. Her hands caressed through her hair while her left elbow blocked her facial features. Even though her face was covered, she was still gorgeous, making me speechless with every look.

I heard the engine of a car pull alongside the cafe curb, and I looked out the window in anticipation. It was her. As she stepped out of the cab, it was as if the world had become slow motion. My mouth dropped open as the stereotypical love song, "Dream Weaver," began to play inside my head with high-def surround sound. She sauntered (of course, she actually wasn't, but my vision was still slo-mo) onto the sidewalk and leaned through the driver's side window, paying the driver, her hair blowing gracefully in the wind.

I had the best seat in the house; I stared at her with giant eyes as she walked towards the cafe door, "Dream Weaver" playing louder and louder with each step she took. As soon as she came through the door, I closed my mouth and stopped the replaying track booming inside my head, trying not to attract unwanted attention to myself.

She looked around and found my eyes staring right at hers, letting out a smile as soon as she saw me. This made me blush immensely, but I managed to keep it under control as soon as she reached me.

"Hey, Harry! Sorry, I'm late!" she apologized, instinctively reaching out for a halfway hug, standing awkwardly with her arms extended, evidently unsure what she was doing. I had done the same and just ended up giving her a small hug, in the end, trying to defeat the immediate first-date jitters, knowing there was plenty more to come.

"It's ok, don't worry." I smiled, making the chair that I held for her known.

She smiled, sitting down. I took a quick breath before I resumed sitting in my seat across from her.

After a long while of chatting about each of our lives and learning many things about one another, we decided to go and order some coffee. I had already decided to treat her to the beverage of her choice, although she didn't know that.

I let her go first, and she ordered caramel macchiato, which made me smile upon hearing the placed order because that was one of my favorite coffee beverages. As she was looking for her credit card, I put my card in the machine nonchalantly, getting a smirk from the barista taking the order.

The machine beeped right as Genevieve pulled out her card, only to see that the drink was already paid for. She spun around and looked at me, shooting me an annoyed yet playful roll of her eyes. She turned back around, sighing as she put away her credit card.

"Smooth move, Holland," she said in an annoyed tone while giving me a smirk, shooting me a fake glare as she walked towards the waiting area. Talk about chills. I smiled as the barista cut me out of my trance and asked me what I wanted to order. I got the same thing, succumbing to being a copycat. I paid and walked over to where Genevieve was standing, getting annoyed glance after annoyed glance, all for show, of course.

"You know, you didn't have to do that," she said with a laugh, tilting her head down, letting a smile slip.

"I know." I grinned back, causing her to do the same as she lifted her head. Not long after, our coffees were ready, and I was anxious to try mine because I hadn't gotten a caramel macchiato here before.

"This is really good," I remarked blissfully, absolutely in love with my coffee.

"Yeah, it is excellent."

I asked if she wanted a little tour of London from a native since she hadn't been here before, which took a lot of courage to execute. "Soooo ummm, wouldyouwanttowalkaroundLondon?" I asked, smushing all seven words into one.

"I would love that," she sweetly replied, blushing a little.

We started the tour by seeing the London Eye, which I was going to (hopefully) persuade her to go on. It wasn't a long walk, only about ten minutes since it was so close. We filled the silence by elaborating on our hobbies, finding that we shared many similar ones, such as our mutual love of photography.

We arrived at the historical sight and walked up to the structure, completely in awe at its enormity. I had been here many times before with my family and friends on numerous occasions, and it's always fun to see the reaction of a newcomer.

"So, you want to go on it?" I asked, eyes wide with hope. An uneasy look filled with fear spread across her face, and I could tell she was terrified of the gigantic ride.

"I don't know...," she answered in an incredibly unsure tone.

It would take a lot to convince her it was perfectly safe; I should know. It took forever for my dad to convince me it wouldn't fall into shambles when we were at the top.

"It's completely safe, don't worry, I wouldn't take you somewhere unsafe," I added to show I cared, which I did immensely.

"Agh, okay. Life's too short, right?" she said with a small laugh. I was surprised it had been that easy. We walked up to the ticket area, and before I could object, she sneakily bought two passes. I eye-rolled as she had and let out a short groan followed by a smile.

"You didn't have to do that," I told her guiltily.

She walked up the steps and into our assigned compartment before turning her head and letting out a cheery, "I know."

A few moments of uninterrupted silence passed until...

 "So when is this gonna start movi-" she started to say but was cut off by the unexpected motion of the car moving upward.

"You get used to that after the third or fourth time," I stated, laughing at her jumpiness. We traveled slowly to the top, waiting anxiously for the long-awaited view.

With a sudden stop, we arrived at the peak of the structure. I already knew what the view was like, but seeing Genevieve's mouth drop in sheer amazement made the revisited experience well worth it. She walked towards the edge of the large, plexiglass dome, eyes filling with fascination and wonder. She stood motionless for a few seconds, then when I thought she was surely frozen, she placed her index finger against the glass, followed by the slow, approaching motion of her whole hand.

"Whoa," she gasped, making me suddenly go weak in the knees upon seeing her speechless.

The bright white clouds outlined by the sun took up the whole sky, never showing an ending. Big Ben was seen about a yard away, followed by the famous Tower Bridge that could be viewed clearly in the distance. For London, today was a perfect day. There was no fog or gloomy weather, just sunny skies wherever you looked, which warmed the typically chilly air. I walked up next to her, getting a better view. Even though the circular dome consisted of glass windows around the whole car, next to her was the perfect place to be.