LANA MASON
Before I got to know Harry a bit better, I had an enormously difficult time sleeping in this apartment. It wasn't that I worried he was going to come into my room or do anything inappropriate, but I still felt weird about sleeping in the apartment of a man I didn't know. I suppose it's always strange sleeping anywhere unfamiliar, which is why traveling can be difficult for me sometimes. It just takes me a day or two to adjust to new surroundings, which I'd say is pretty typical.
The funny thing is now that I'm comfortable at Harry's, my insomnia seems to be getting worse. I don't know how I developed this crush so quickly, but I think it all started at the restaurant. It's not just his looks because I'm not that shallow. I see and interact with attractive men often in my life and I don't ever think about them again by the next day, so I know it has more to do with his personality and the kind of man he seems to be. That's what I'm attracted to.
So now, most early mornings after tossing and turning most late nights, I just lay here and imagine what his morning routine looks like since I'm a complete and total creep. I rarely ever hear any kind of alarm coming from his room, which means his body most likely wakes up on its own. He's so quiet that, if the floors and doors in this apartment didn't creak, I might not ever hear him leave at all. On the mornings that I am able to sleep until a normal hour, I don't hear a sound.
As I check my phone to see that it's 5:08, I know he must be awake and getting ready for the day, but what I wasn't expecting was to hear him speaking to someone. He's not just speaking, though. From what I can tell even being across the hall, he's trying not to yell or speak at full volume. Suddenly, I'm sitting up in bed, awake as ever, and getting out from under my duvet to tiptoe over to the door.
"Don't give me that shit," he says, or that's what I think he says until I crack my bedroom door open to hear him better. "We had a fucking deal and you crossed the fucking line. Actually, you've crossed multiple fucking lines, and you know it."
My eyes widen from hearing the 'F' word drop from his mouth so many times. I'm surprised that's the same mouth that calls Jane "angel" and "darling" on the regular.
"Do you have no respect for me at all? Whatsoever? I mean, clearly not-oh, I'm sorry that it makes you upset when I bring up the fact that you fucking cheated! You're a fucking cheater, and a liar, and you're a goddamn snake, Allison. You knew how important it was to me that we didn't introduce new partners to Jane until we could both have a conversation about it, and you have the fucking nerve to invite him over for dinner without mentioning it to me at all? How much fucking lower could you possibly go?"
He's quiet for what feels like a long time, maybe two minutes, but I can't hear anything else. I'm sure Allison is trying to defend herself, though I'm not sure what she could say to make this better. I wasn't aware they had that deal. She conveniently left that out when she had Brad over for dinner last weekend.
"Oh, fuck off," Harry spits back. "I swear to God, if I have to hear one more time about how it's my fault that you cheated on me, I'm gonna fucking lose my mind. Imagine if the roles were reversed, huh? Imagine if I fucked someone else and kept fucking them for four fucking months, and then blamed you for not being around enough. Are you fucking serious? Do you know how disrespectful and fucking disgusting that is? I don't care if I was busy working! I don't care if I missed a few conversations between us! You fucking cheated, and you lied, and you snuck around like a fucking little brat who wanted to have her cake and eat it too."
"Jesus," I barely whisper to myself. He's not wrong, but...damn. It's obvious he has no compassion for her and I guess I wouldn't either if I were him. How shitty would it be to get cheated on and then be blamed for it? The cheater is always at fault. Always.
