The Fight of Ambivalence ~ Harry Styles

13 - Green

The balance between relaxed and lazy can be hard to find. Each thing has its own time and place, but as it's said, too much of a good thing isn't a good thing.

Sunday morning Sheila decides she doesn't want to be in the house any longer. She's very happy she had a relaxing Saturday, but now she's bored and can't stare at the same four walls anymore.

She just got a book from the library this week and she hasn't had much time to read it plus she could go for some tea so she puts the book into her purse and wanders to the coffee shop that's just outside of campus.

It's a nice walk in the spring sunshine and she knows this one will be much less crowded than the ones on campus because at this time on a Sunday she's sure those ones will be filled with hungover students.

Even if that wasn't true she loves this specific shop because it has a wall of windows that lets the sun in. They also make all their baked goods in house so it always smells amazing.

Once she gets her tea and chocolate chip muffin she moves to sit in an empty booth in the corner. It's one of those half booths, half chairs on the opposite side. She thinks about putting her feet up on the chair across from her, but she walked through some mud on the way here and she doesn't want to leave a mess behind. Instead she blows on her tea and cracks open her book, hearing the soft clatter of dishes and quiet conversations in the background.

It's just the escape she needs. She often reads sci-fi books because they're so immersive. They do such a great job of creating their own world for the reader so they can go wherever they want.

She has to do this more often, it's so nice to be able to let go for a while and float in a space between the earth and her imagination. She's so wrapped up in it that she startles when she hears a voice call her name.

"Sheila?" Harry asks, stopping in front of her table.

"Mr. Styles, hi," she says warmly, placing her bookmark down in between the open pages.

"You can call me Harry, we're not in class," he says, his cheeks a bit pink as he brushes his hair out of his face.

She's never seen him look casual. He's wearing shorts and a hoodie, it's strange seeing him now, here like this. So many months ago when she saw him in the coffee shop with her friends it was so different. She wonders if he feels the shift too.

"Do you want to sit?" She offers, gesturing across the table to an empty seat.

Harry shuffles one of his feet on the ground and replies, "I don't want to bother you."

"Not a bother," she says, closing her book and shoving some things to the side to make more room for him. "You caught me at the right time. I just finished a chapter."

"Well alright then," he says with a shrug.

He's about to sit down when he's interrupted by a man who's holding one child on his hip and another one pulling onto his pant leg. Both the kids are loudly asking for cookies.

"Hi, I'm so sorry. Do you mind if I borrow these two chairs?" The man asks, looking a bit overwhelmed.

A woman she assumes to be his wife is already sitting at a small table with a kid no more than one year old bouncing happily on her lap and an older woman sitting next to her.

"Of course. Here let me help you," Sheila says, moving to get up.

"I got it Shell. Be right back," Harry says and picks up the two chairs, bringing them to the man's table while he thanks them profusely.

When Harry comes back he stands awkwardly by her table since there are no empty chairs left. Sheila scoots over and gestures for him to sit with her on the bench.