The Timeline

33.

February 20th, 2016:

Claire was in the middle of applying eyeliner when her phone rang with an incoming videocall from the Viber app - truly, it was a bother that she couldn't do it all with a singular app, could Whatsapp hurry the fuck up!

Since she was sure that she wouldn't have replicated the same mindstate she was in at that exact moment - that would've resulted in a really cool and even eyeliner wing on both of her eyes - Claire decided to let the phone ring on and check the notification later, once she was done with her makeup. She knew who it was, because none of her loved ones except for one, would even dare to videocall her without her approving first.

It was the late afternoon of Friday, the appointed day of her date with Dale, which was scheduled for a mere couple of hours later. Claire, obviously, was already getting ready, afraid of being late or - worse - ending up in a stupid outfit because she hadn't thought about it too much, not wanting to seem like she was overdoing it.

For starters, she had decided to apply some makeup. Not too much, as she wasn't able to do a full face of makeup without ending up looking like one of those chavs who looked like they had been sculpted and caked with beauty products. And, she didn't want to seem like she had been trying too hard, like she was desperate to appear cute and beautiful. After all, Dale had met her makeup-less, at a gym event, and had seen her awkward dancing trying to follow a zumba class.

So, minimal makeup it was: foundation and concealer to cover up the eyebags caused by the lack of proper sleep, a bit of mascara because it made her look even more doe-eyed and a bit of eyeliner because Claire had never truly given up on that little 60s obsession. She was a bit undecided about applying lipstick, because that might've been overdoing it a bit but she would've still put it inside of her bag. Maybe she would've felt like wearing it once she was outside the restaurant they were meeting at.

Since she still planned to feed Theodore one last time before leaving, knowing that he was not going with her, Claire still hadn't gotten dressed, afraid that the baby might either barf on her or maim her outfit in some way. Not that she was planning to dress like she was attending the coronation or something, but she also didn't want to wear gym clothes. She wanted to feel pretty.

The phone had stopped ringing by the time she was done applying her makeup, and instead a text from Harry had popped up on her Whatsapp notification list.

H : "Heeeeyyyyyy, are you free for a little catch up? If not, it's fine!! xx"

Claire smiled, seeing the text, and quickly typed back that yes, she was free, just hadn't been quick enough to answer him.

They hadn't talked much, ever since he had left again for LA. Just like they hadn't been talking much over the phone ever since One Direction had come to an end. Harry's relationship with the device had changed a bit, in the course of the past two months. He was taking a break from posting on Instagram, it looked like, although he still used the app to check on people he cared about and wanted to keep up with. He seemed to be doing the same thing with the rest of his phone's apps. He said to Claire, one day while they were on a videocall earlier in the month, that he wanted to establish more real relationships with people, trying to spend more time with them in person, rather than only texting on the phone. Which was awesome, to Claire. If only he would do it with her, as well!

But she had finally gotten over the little outburst of... whatever her behavior had been at the beginning of the year. Especially since she had tried to put herself out there more, be back in the game. She was preoccupied with other things, to put it another way. Which was good, since things with Harry had started to change and constant texting wasn't a thing anymore.