Candles

09 | E X C U R S I O N

IT WAS OUT OF THE ordinary sitting in front of Harry with a cup of coffee in front of me. My hands held onto the coffee mug tightly and I was afraid I was going to break it. Harry, on the other hand, seemed completely calm during this. I did not remember agreeing to having coffee with him; yet, here I was. Here he was. I barely drank my coffee but Harry had already downed his. I was almost certain my coffee was cold now but I knew I had to drink it. Harry paid for it and I did not want his money to go to waste.

I could not bring the mug to my lips, though. As much as I wanted to, my body declined to follow my orders. I kept the coffee mug on the table and I stared down at the light brown liquid. I gnawed at my bottom lip and I was not concerned if I chewed it off. We were currently on our lunch break and I followed Harry to this little eatery. He had offered to drive but I did not trust him. The harsh words he said to me were still fresh in my mind. I blinked, realizing, and looked up at Harry.

"You think I was crying because of you."

"What?" he scratched his head.

"You caught me crying," I said slowly. "And then you offered to take me to get coffee. You think you made me cry. This is your way of apologizing."

He laughed.

Harry threw his head back and roared with laughter. My grip tightened around the coffee mug and I was almost certain I was about to break it. He placed a hand on his chest as he laughed and he even squeezed his eyes shut. I was able to feel my face turning hot with embarrassment. I wanted to toss the coffee on him but it would not have left the kind of effect I was looking for. The coffee was too cold and it would not burn away his pathetic laughter. I wished it was still hot. Nothing about this was funny and I had no idea why he was laughing.

"You think I care about your little crying incident?" he was still laughing.

My eyebrows rose, "I...um...I—"

"I just wanted some coffee and since you were there, I decided to invite you."

"I thought you hated me."

"Oh, but Doll," he pouted. "You're supposed to keep your friends close and your enemies closer."

"I'm not an enemy," I argued. "I've done absolutely nothing to you."

"Your existence is bothering me."

I gasped. I was already hurting and Harry was only adding fuel to the fire. My purse was sitting on the floor beside me and I quickly grabbed it. Tears filled my eyes and I bit my bottom lip, trying to force them back. Harry remained sitting and he was no longer laughing. In fact, he was completely silent. I tossed my purse over my shoulder and turned to leave. Before, I ignored his little side comments. Now that I was hurting, his words were getting to me. They were biting at my flesh, trying to tear me apart little by little. I was showing Harry how weak I truly was and I hated myself for it.

I walked by all of the other tables and heard bits and pieces of different conversations. Someone was talking about how their daughter was going to graduate high school with all A's. Another person was complaining on how poorly their home was remodeled. A woman was talking to a much older woman—who I assumed was her mother—about how someone named George was doing. I heard a bell ringing and I looked up to see someone impatiently waiting to be served. They looked angry and if no one served them soon, I bet they would leave a very detailed complaint.

Just as I reached for the door handle to leave, I heard my name being called.

"Sydney, wait a second!"

I looked over my shoulder to see Harry jogging in my direction and I rolled my eyes, pushing the door open and walking toward my car. I heard him running behind me and I did not care. I was not going to give him the attention he wanted. He did not deserve it and if he thought I was going to stop to hear what he had to say, he was wrong. My existence bothered him. Out of all the things he could have said, he chose the harshest of them all.