Calamity [Zarry Stylik AU]©️

Chapter 16: THE TRADE IS SIMPLE VOL II

L

THEN,

I paced from side to side inside a jail cell. Detective March loved to do this from time to time, snatch me and keep me away so I would talk. It was dangerous because I had no idea if I was being watched or if my boss would come up or if delivery would happen sooner, so keeping me here was dangerous to both of us. You'd think he'd care. But no, the man loved to play with life, I guess. Or at least, my life.

I heard the door open and walked over to the bars. I saw an officer approach me.

"Hey, hey!" I called. He stopped and looked at me. "I want my phone call."

"I have no information about that." He answered.

The officer went over to another cell, opened the door and pulled out a prisoner.

"I have the right to a fucking phone call!" I yelled back. The officer closed the door.

"You have a right whenever the detective says you have a right." The officer replied without looking at me. Instead, he pushed the other prisoner forward. "Hang in there, though."

The door closed again, and I was left alone.

Fuck!

Looking at the watch I had no idea what time it was or how long had I been in that cell. It seemed like an eternity. I sat on the thin mouldy mattress and felt a veil of desperation.

How did I get here? Jesus!

I laid down on the mattress looking at the ceiling. The quietness was overwhelmingly loud. I went to my happy place and my happy place was with Harry.

It had been years - we had years between us. We met in school and grew up together. However, it hadn't been love at first sight for me! My love for him grew over time, as we grew together, but the final nail on the board came one night; we were all having fun at Liam's house - enjoying the fact that his parents were out of town. Maybe it was the beer in my hand or maybe it was the music, but I felt something hit my chest. It was as if the pieces had come together because it all made sense.

I looked at him; he smiled at me, I smiled back and bam!

I fought within myself about my feelings at first. I didn't understand nor did I know how to translate them. One day, I saw this girl talking to Harry while we were at the Sphere, and I hated it. I hated it. She was smiling, he was too. I watched them for far because I was working, but I remembered I was annoyed. So, when Harry was going home, I ran behind him and pulled him aside. That's when I kissed him. He was surprised - I was too. That was when our story began.

I didn't know how to care for Harry. I can admit that. I loved him, he knew, but I didn't know how to love him or how to deal with all the love he kept pouring on him. So, I burnt all the bridges between us. I started it, of course. Harry finished it, for good.

Looking back, I wish I had the guts to just live our love out in the open, but I couldn't. I didn't have the courage for it. My town isn't necessarily prejudiced - we have an LGBTQ-friendly bar called the Pig and I went there a couple of times. It was a very cool place. We had different ethnicities and religions, but even as a minority - we would treat them all kindly. So, my fear had no reason to be. Somehow, it just existed.

I remembered the last time Harry and I spoke.

It hadn't been that long ago. We broke up officially three years ago but kept seeing each other around - even though I knew Harry would avoid the places we both knew or that he suspected I'd be in. It was a game of cat and mouse. Niall and Liam later told me, he was refusing to leave the house after work and enjoyed staying in reading or playing his guitar. It was his way of healing and I respected it.