Artifice

Just A Room

"I actually really like this." I swirled the wine in a plastic cup that he had to run and retrieve since he forgot to bring some himself.

Though, anything with alcohol was never necessary my favorite thing to drink. I still drunk at parties or at events but I practically forced it down my throat, until the taste didn't bother me anymore and I was worrying more about its influence over me.

We were sat on the wood floor, facing the skyline.

"And these crackers are exquisite. Probably the fanciest date I've ever been on." The word 'date' came out of my mouth faster than I was able to catch and I felt my stomach drop.

Harry silently laughed and I felt confused but mostly relieved he didn't react the same as the other time coming back from skating.

Harry had barely spoke two sentences since we entered the room and though the view was beautiful and I could stay hours silently watching, I wanted to talk to him.

"So what is this place? Why is it this office is completely empty?" I asked.

He leaned back, his hands behind him holding his upper body up and his legs crossed on the floor. He was truly a sight to see, maybe as intriguing as the one in front of us.

"I use to spend a lot of time here when I was younger." His eyes scrunched in thought, while looking out into the distance. "When I would visit I'd hide out here when my father got angry over a messed up deal or, this one time I remember he verbally attacked his assistant for forgetting to add sugar into his coffee. But really I came here often since he's such a dick." He chuckled lowly. "He was truly an ass." He took a sip of his drink. "Anyway, I just spent a lot of time here, it has the best view in the entire building. This is the only room that actually has the windows reaching the roof and the floor. As for it being empty, I begged my dad to not bring any furniture once he realized how much time I spent in here, even though he would insist like crazy. I liked how simple it was, it balances with how awesome the view is." I stared at him now in awe, after two months of knowing him this was the most information he's ever told me.

"Why'd you bring me here then?" I asked feeling as if I was intruding a sacred place of his.

"I already told you, I thought you'd like it. Plus it's not like I'm trying to hide it from anyone, or not some safe haven I go to when I was upset. It's just a room with a good view." His words felt harsher than I knew they were meant to be.

"Why do you do that?" I turned away. "It's like you instinctively push yourself away from anything that might mean something to you, as if it's a bad thing."

"I don't." He retorted.

"But you do. This isn't just a room to you, I can tell by the way you spoke about it and how it's still empty, you could've let go of it and found another room with another view but instead you kept it locked and out of the reach of others." I hugged my knees hearing him take a deep breath behind me.

"Can we not talk about this?" He asked and I reluctantly nodded.

After a few minutes of silence he scooted more towards me.

"What do you plan on becoming?" He asked, his voice sounding inches away from my ear.

I recalled the first day we meet and his assumption about me being a 'starving artist'.

"An art teacher." I said.

"Really?"

"Yeah, the thought of teaching others who are passionate about creating art seems like a dream. Even if it's teaching a class of five year olds eating their crayons and coloring over the lines, I'd be content." I've had my career planned since I began college, my mother always nagged me about it being a low paying job and how I had so much more potential but it's what I wanted. "What about you?"

"I don't know." he answered after a few seconds of silence again.

"Well I guess you don't really need to stress it, you've seem to be loaded." I scoffed.

"Money isn't everything Eva." I immediately wanted to take back what I said.

"You're right." I buried my face deeper into my inner arm. "It's pretty funny, you know how our roommates are dating each other and we had no idea." I quickly changed the conversation.

"Hilarious." His voice was filled with sarcasm.

"Hey" I turned to him, pretending to act offended and his lips curved into a smile.

I was thoroughly enjoying this, this somewhat nice and playful side of him that I've witnessed only once before.

The sky was foggy in the night, in New York seeing the stars was very uncommon but this was a good substitute. Cars speed through the streets, their lights moving through the air. There were many things I wasn't too fond about this place but at the end of the day I loved it, I loved this city.

The feeling of my hair being petted made me freeze. From the corner of my eyes I could see Harry intently sliding his hands against the ends of my hair and I couldn't help but stay completely still.

"I really like your hair." His voice was almost a whisper.

"Thank you," I swallowed.

In a moment of bravery, I leaned back and rested my head on his shoulder, his hand still soothing through my hair.

"This place is special to me." He admitted. "It was a safe place for me."

"Was?" I asked him. My body was now resting on his chest as his hand continued to stroke strands of my hair.

"Yeah, this is the first time I've been here in a while." I watched his face stiffen.

"Why?"

"You ask too many questions." He leaned down and pressed his lips against mine.