night and day [h.s]

eleven

The door slammed. He woke up to that. Nyala was gone like one of those one nightstands he could never imagine her as.

He sat up and stretched the soreness out of him, sleepily looking around his apartment. She just left. Like that. After a night of awkwardness and laughter she just left him. He checked the hallway to see if her body still lingering around but Nyala was here no more. It was daytime and Nyala was gone.

It was around five when he decided to interact with the public again. He pulled on a hoodie and shuffled out to the hallway to wait. His eyes fell upon the door across the hall. It must have been empty. What often sounded like construction work was not playing behind those doors, it was just a cold empty apartment at this point.

Heavy footsteps of someone he knew all too well stepped out of the shambled elevator and the smell of grease filled his nose.

"Here," Uriel grunted and placed a bag of fries in his hand. Harry popped a fry in his mouth and nodded in appreciation. Uriel was about ready to end their short-lived interaction when Harry caught the sneer on his face at the opposite door. "Should have got her evicted when I had the chance."

"Why?" Harry asked, mouthful of fries. "She's not bothering anybody."

"She's bothering me. That speaks for everybody around here. We have rules she just can't come up in here and break them," Uriel huffed. His fat hands slapped the sides of his fading jeans. What if old Harry came here? What if Uriel met the Harry that Harry himself despised, before he changed?

He chewed, thinking he would have hated me.

Uriel would have moved on to his door and their first long conversation would have ceased right there. But the elevator pinged once more, and the person Harry feared would appear...didn't. Nyala wasn't here but James was. He presumed it was for his debt to Harry. James stepped out, hands in pocket, same blank face, but it twisted. He made the mistake of looking behind Harry and Harry didn't find the reasoning to look behind him in time to see it move. Uriel ran – no sprinted – and the floor shook underneath his heavy rolls. James's reaction time to the man running full steam at him was quick and he pivoted and darted for the stairs. Uriel didn't even stop to the hooded girl opening the stair doors. They both blew past her, barely giving her time to react.

"Little shit, come back here!" Uriel screamed. The two ran down the stairs, Uriel grasping for air after James who was too quick.

Nyala took off her hood with widened eyes and laughed a little. Per usual, she came in all black but it was a bit earlier. He didn't usually hear her come in until seven or eight.

"Well, hello there neighbor," she drawled in a southern accent. "How are ya this fine evening?"

"I'm cool, how are you?"

"Landlord fixed my heat problem so I'm just dandy," she breathed out. The cold from the city still surrounded her as she came closer to him. She took one look at the fries in his hand and reached out to take one. "I wonder what that was about. Maybe James took his food without asking."

"Like you just did?"

Nyala gazed up at him with that smile on her face. The smile that really really made him think of how lousy he was that this beautiful girl was talking to him. She was blessing him with her looks and he could do nothing but curse her with his.

"Oops," she giggled. "Sorry, I love French fries."

"It's fine, it's fine."

Her bottom lip slipped between her teeth and the corners of her mouth rose slightly at him. She was rocking back and forth on her heels making Harry all nervous. Why would she look at him like that? God, it's been so long since he's genuinely liked someone. Is this what this was again? The air between them grew thin and it was as if he were on top of a mountain, hard to breathe in.

She broke the silence first. "Well have a goodnight then."

He spoke as soon as he heard her. Their voices jumbled together, Nyala's slightly louder. "Yeah, you too."

202 closed and he murmured again, "Goodnight Nyala."

Two weeks until Christmas. Two weeks and he didn't have any money to spend on his family. The computer screen was lit so bright that it was blinding him from how hard he was staring. Manager position needed. He could never. He couldn't even manage his life how was he supposed to manage a business?

The default ringtone broke the barriers of silence in this space. Several pairs of eyes fell on him and his flailing figure as he tried to quiet the disturbance. He pressed the answer button and breathlessly said, "Hello?"

"Hello love!" she chirped in his ear. Too loud.

"Hi, mum."

"I have news," she said. "Gemma's home!" His 'wanting to connect with the soil and animals' sister was finally back at her root of origin. He was so sure a bear would maul her while she made her way up to Iceland.

"That's great," he said. Not that much enthusiasm could be put forth in her return anyway. The siblings were never close in the way his mother wanted them to be. They quarreled when put together and Gemma always played a trick or two on her younger brother while around. But when she got a grandiose idea, she was off. Harry thought she was stupid for it. Wasting mom's money and her life to do these things that wouldn't matter in the end.

He was so sure that Gemma didn't even have his new number.

"Oh, I was hoping since Gem is here...maybe you would be here as well?"

He sighed, loving his mother but not her intentions. "Mum, I can't...I have work," he lied.

"How is that lady not going to let you off for the holidays? That's ridiculous!"

"Yup."

"Just take off and come over. I'll buy your plane ticket - "

"Mum you are not buying me anything. I am fine and I need to keep working. I'm one of the few employees that work there and they all took off for the holidays."

"I don't want to spend another Christmas without all of my children here Harry...please just fly over for a day or so?"

He could have responded, if his eyes didn't catch something in the brightly lit room. It was a girl and a girl he never saw in the daylight. She was surrounded by girl friends, who all were laughing at whatever she had said. She was calm cool and he knew she held the power but to see it work and in action – wow. They flocked behind her like sheep as they walked across and she sent a big smile back at them. Her black hair was sleek and shone as the light caught it.

But he couldn't let her see him, god he hadn't shaven in what, a week? He was gross and what if because he was staring she had to feel obliged to wave. Then her friends would see who she was waving to and – no he had to get out of here.

"Harry?"

And he almost forgot about his mother on the phone. "Have to go mom, bye."

He logged out of the computer forgetting potential jobs. Harry scrambled of the library with any printouts, before Nyala could see him.

i'm gonna update faster so i can finally get to the point

but ahhh tysm for 1k reads!! please keep reading n commenting n voting n being lovely!!