offshore | h.s

prologue

APRIL 2017

- GENEVIEVE CLARK

7:41 PM

"Gen, you in here?" I hear Harry's raspy voice call from outside the guest bedroom door. The sound of the ocean roaring outside the window on this warm April night brings me comfort as I lay in bed scrolling Pinterest looking for outfit inspiration under the thick duvet covered in light blue and white stripes.

"Mhm," I reply as I hear the vintage door creak open and the bed dip. Soon enough I feel Harry's strong arms snake around my bare waist, sending a shiver down my back. 

"Hello to you too," I giggle as he plants a kiss on my cheek. I turn my body so I'm now facing him. 

We are currently staying in one of the several guest rooms at the Rhode Island house owned by Harry's sister Gemma and childhood best friend Amber.

Gemma and Amber first met each other in 2012 at a modelling job for some brand, and they've been living with each other ever since. Amber and I grew up in a small Australian coastal town called Pearl Beach, just over an hour away from Sydney. I was always surprised that she was the first one to leave the sunny weather and legendary coastlines of Australia as she loves to surf, but she says she needed a change in her life, and there were more modelling opportunities over in the UK. 

Once a year I would take a painful 22-hour flight from Sydney to London to visit both Amber and Gemma and in 2015 I was lucky enough to meet Harry while I was there. We fell for each other pretty quickly, and soon enough I was booking another ticket back to London to live with him, and I haven't left his side since. 

Amber couldn't last in the gloomy UK any longer and somehow convinced Gemma to pack both of their lives up and move across the world to beautiful Rhode Island and purchase a run-down home right on the beach in Newport and renovate it. This brings us to now, where I am laying in bed with my extremely attractive famous rockstar boyfriend with the sounds of the ocean drowning out my thoughts. 

"What's on your mind, Genevieve Marie?" Harry asks, his green eyes staring into mine. 

"Just thinking about my extremely attractive rockstar boyfriend who's just about to release his first solo album," I reply as a smile creeps onto his face and he buries his face into the pillow, embarrassed. 

"Shut up," Is all I can make out before Harry is on top of me, trying to get the tank top off my body as fast as he can. "I want you, Evie." My heart is racing as he kisses me down my neck. 

A knock at the door interrupts us, and we're suddenly racing to get off each other, and I'm pulling the duvet over my body as Amber enters the room without warning. 

"Evie, are you nearly ready-" She begins before looking at me, shocked. "What the fuck?" 

I'm trying my hardest not to laugh as I see the look on Harry's face, absolutely mortified that my best friend has just walked in on us. 

"Yep. Just need to find an outfit." I reply, keeping the straightest face I can until she walks out in annoyance that I yet again am running late. 

Harry bursts out laughing as soon as Amber slams the door behind her, and I slowly get out of bed when I feel a pull on my arm. 

"Don't go," Harry sadly remarks. Butterflies immediately fill my stomach at the thought of him not wanting to leave me, but I haven't spent time with Amber in literal months. 

"I'm sorry H," I reply as I slip a striped blue and white top over my head and toss on a pair of white linen pants. "But I have to go."

Tieing up my electric blue converse, I give Harry a quick kiss before leaving the room and walking downstairs, to find Gemma and Amber sitting at the kitchen island. I watch as Amber pulls out her phone and uses it as a mirror to reapply some lipgloss.

Amber was the girl in school that all the boys wanted. Everything about her is absolutely perfect. Silky blonde hair frames her face. A button nose sprinkled with light freckles sits between her bright blue eyes. Her smile is like sunshine in the winter. She's a model. Her job is literally to be beautiful. 

Tonight she was wearing a white tank top and matching ribbed maxi skirt, which looked absolutely gorgeous on her. Her hair was pulled back into a slicked half-up half-down, which showed off her prominent jawline. 

"Gen, you're ready!" I hear Gemma squeal as I walk into the renovated kitchen. I smile and give her a hug before sitting down on top of the island and giving myself a minute to take in this beautiful kitchen. Warm white pendants hung from the ceiling. They kept the original cabinets but painted them a bright white colour which looked great against the marble countertops. Plants and different coloured books were scattered throughout the room, making the room feel homier. 

"I just cannot believe how nice you've made this house look," I say and Amber lets out a small laugh. 

"I love you so much Evie, but if you say one more word about the house I'm actually going to kill you. Let's go!" She replies and takes my hand to pull me off the island and we make our way through the house to the front door with Gemma. Tonight we three are going to a nice restaurant at the end of our street right on the water to update each other on everything. Amber stood in the middle of us as we took the short walk, her arms around both mine and Gemma's shoulders. 

As the night goes on, we laugh for hours about anything and everything, filling each other in about our lives. 

"So Amber, who's James?" I Gemma asks after seeing a text pop up on her phone with the phone number titled James♡. 

"Shh, he works here," She quietly exclaims and points to a waiter standing behind the front desk on his phone. "That one."

This James person seems to notice us staring because a shy smirk falls onto his face as his face turns bright red, hanging his head low. 

"I think he's got a little crush on you, Amby!" I squeal as she shakes her head in denial.

"God, I've missed you, Evie."

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how are we liking it so far? please give me any feedback you have!! 

i cannot wait for you to see where this is going to go. keep in mind that the chapters will be a lot longer, i just wanted to keep the prologue short and sweet. 

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