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Chapter 46: Out Loud (Pt.2)

"ARE YOU SURE you are okay?" I ask knowing that, by this point, I'm sounding like a broken record.

Harry barely said a word during our trip from Cheshire to London, he seemed lost in his thoughts. Maybe he is upset? I wonder if it was the present that made him uncomfortable; perhaps I should have waited and avoided making him feel guilty for not buying me anything. Still, I wanted him to have the cross pendant on tour, a little piece of me -of us- to take on the road.

He doesn't say a word but presses his lips to mine forcefully, like trying to make a point, "I'm just thrilled and overwhelmed Liv, but I've never been happier," he seems honest and, for my own sake, I choose to believe he's probably stressed about the show.

We hug, kiss, and hug again, whispering words of love to one another. I realize I'm holding the tears and feel silly for being so dramatic; we'll be seeing each other again in a couple of hours after all. Dale is in the car outside waiting for Harry, I'm fully aware of it, but I want to enjoy him for a couple more minutes before sharing him with the world again.

He walks away minutes later leaving me with a cold feeling that I quickly shake away walking back into the house. This house, his Hampstead home, never fails to make me feel nostalgic. In here we had our first real conversation, we danced for the first time, kissed for the first time, made love for the first time, and here I realized there was much more about that guy -that young and 'entirely wrong for me' guy- than what I had been willing to see. Now I know I fell in love with him that first night he brought me here.

"Nicholas!" I say answering my phone.

"Hi Livie, how is it going?" Nick's deep voice sounds dominated by a smile.

"Good, getting ready for the show, how are you?"I ask while heading upstairs hoping to take a short nap.

"All good around here, send my best to Harry," he says, " are you arriving next Thursday?" His question makes my stomach leap at the realization that I'm less than a week away from traveling and facing real life.

Breathing a sigh I weakly answer, "I am...yeah..."

Nick chuckles, "You don't sound very excited, Livie."

I shake my head and desperately try to be, or at least sound, more positive, "I am, I am! Just a bit sad to leave H here, that's all," I admit.

"The contract clearly stipulates you'll have days off for you to travel, time will fly," he says trying to cheer me up.

"I know, I know..." I assure without much conviction.

"By the way," he states changing his tone from fatherly to businessman in a second, "I wanted you to know that Alex, my son, will be moving to London at the end of the month. He'll finally be taking care of the agency over there, giving me a hand."

"Oh! I haven't seen Alex in a long time, I'll be glad to pay him a visit and show him around," I assure.

Alex and I always had a good relationship, he's been traveling around the world most of the time ever since I met him but, while working with Nick, he helped me a lot with press issues during the trial that ended up with Jill's murderer behind bars for 30 years. Knowing he'll be closer is good news.

"I appreciate that Livie," Nick's voice slightly softened, "good luck tonight and I'll call you tomorrow to go over your schedule, yeah?"

"Okay, Nick! Talk tomorrow," I say as I fall onto the master bedroom's bed.

My breathing slows down as I stare at the white ceiling while going over the things that I have to do before flying to L.A.; the room is cool, the light is warm and it smells like Harry's cologne and freshly washed linen. As I mentally repeat my to-do list, I feel my eyes closing as I'm slowly lulled into the depths of my slumber.