Broken

Chapter 30

Olly's mouth dropped slightly and his eyebrows went up. His eyes fell on mine and I blushed, averting my eye instantly. Instead, I looked at Harry.

"Do you really have to announce everything you do?" I snapped in annoyance.

Harry's eyes flickered from Olly's to mine, and a smirk graced his features. "Why? Does it make it uncomfortable that I made you come, Brenna?"

I tensed in annoyance and embarrassment. "Don't."

"That you slept in my bedroom? And did the walk of shame from my room?" He continued, looking extremely smug.

"Mate, you really don't need to act so rude..." Olly began, but it was too late.

I reached up and slapped him. The connection was deafening, and his cheek turned red straight away. It shocked him, because he widened his eyes as he stepped back, clutching his cheek. I curled my fingers into my fist as I stepped back, picking up the laptop I had dropped on Olly's bed as I had gotten here. My fingers were thumping lightly, and I figured his cheek would probably bruise.

"Brenna," Olly breathed, turning towards me. "That really wasn't nec-"

He didn't have time to finish, because before I knew it the laptop that was tucked under my armpit was pulled away from me. Harry grabbed it, and threw it at the wall. Its cover slipped off straight away, and it fell to the ground, the whole thing ruined.

I gasped, tears brimming my eyes as Harry turned around, his cheek still red as he admired his handiwork - my broken laptop - on the floor. Olly placed a hand on my shoulder, leaning forward to pick it up for me.

"I'm sure it's not that bad, I mean, we can fix it, right? There's nothing we can't fix..." He was contradicting himself though, because he was questioning himself as he opened it up. I took it from him just as he opened up to inspect the damage. The keys Y, A, Q and X fell to the floor straight away, and so did a bit of glass from the screen. The screen and keyboard were smashed completely. It was ruined. My laptop was ruined. The one I used for tutoring, the one with all of my documents on it was ruined. I thought back to the photo of my mother saved on it; back to the schedule for my tutees.

"I..." Olly trailed off, his eyes meeting Harry's. I didn't dare look at either of them.

A tear trailed down my cheek. "This... This laptop is the source of the money I live off. I had personal things in there..." My voice was surprisingly calm. "Including a picture of my mum. And it's ruined beyond repair. Thanks Harry. Thanks so much."

I closed the lid, placing it back into Olly's hands. He took it unsurely, looking at me. For a brief second, I met his eyes. A brief second. But then, I walked out, making sure to slam the door as I walked back to my dorm, feeling numb. It was just a laptop, but it wasn't. It was so much more than that.

~*~

"Y'know, life would be so much easier if you would actually listen to me when I spoke."

I lifted my head from the coffee I was placing into the coffee maker, glancing at Dan. "I would listen, if you helped me put this stupid thing in!"

He tutted, and made his way over, his bright purple apron making him glow. "You have to slot it in, like this. Ta da."

"I know that, genius. It's harder than it looks," I said defensively, leaning on the counter.

"You're a beginner, it's natural," he said, waving me off.

It was true; I'd only been working at this coffee shop for a week. I had texted Dan about my mishap with Harry and my laptop, and he'd offered to ask his boss to give me a job. It had worked, and I'd started work a day later. It was a weekend job, eight till five, and I sometimes worked after classes on weekdays. Here I was, working minimum wage at La café. Lovely. I had, however, done some prying, and I'd discovered that it wasn't Harry's chain, it was his mum's. He'd named the café's though.

"Is it always this deserted?" I asked, plopping myself onto the counter.

"Uh... Pretty much. Wait til' twelve though, the kids from college will be swarming to come and do homework and drink coffee.

"I should be a part of them," I sighed.

"Me too. Quit whinging and help me clean this shelf."

I glanced at the shelf he was cleaning. He couldn't reach the top. "You're shorter than me by like, an inch. There's no way I'd be able to reach there."

He turned towards me, hands on his hips. "Well, duh. I'll give you a piggyback, and you can reach up and clean."

I raised an eyebrow. "You'll drop me. I'm fat."

"I won't. Come on, we really need to clean this thing."

"You know, most people would respond with 'you're not fat!'" I laughed, still not wanting to clean.

"Yeah, well, I'm not most people. Get on my back, now."

He backed towards me. "Actually, wrap your legs around my throat."

"And choke you?"

"Yes, I have quite the kink."

I rolled my eyes and squealed in surprise as he grabbed my legs, wrapping them around his throat. I held onto his head to balance myself as he walked over to the cupboard, his hands gripping my thighs. He had more strength than I thought he'd have.

"Grab the spray and the cloth, would you?" He asked, leaning forward slightly. I picked them up and started cleaning, a smile on my face.

"If someone walked in right now, we'd probably look so weird." I pointed out.

"Who cares, we're doing our job and cleaning." He laughed, and I set down the spray and cloth, done with my job.

"Alright, I'm done. Put me down."

He hesitated, and I rolled my eyes. "You have no idea how to put me down, do you?"

"Not exactly."

"Lovely."

"Can I drop you?"

"No!"

"Why?"

"It'd hurt!"

"Well, guess I'm going to be stuck with you and your smelly vagina for the rest of eternity," he groaned sarcastically, and I swotted him on the back of his head.

"Hey, I don't smell down there!"

"Trust me, you do." He teased.

I tightened my thighs around him and he whined, pushing me back into the wall gently. I laughed at him, trying to cut off his breath. He kept pushing me into the wall, and within a second or so we were both laughing so hard that he really couldn't breathe. Someone cleared their throat, and Dan fell from the shock, bringing me down too. I fell on him, though, so he cushioned the fall. I snapped my head up, standing up to look at the unknown person who'd interrupted us.

Harry. Of course. His eyes were narrowed, his hands in his pockets. How long had he been watching us for? Dan stood up, and narrowed his eyes to match Harry's. "Well, well, well."

Harry raised an eyebrow challengingly. "Something wrong, Daniel?"

I frowned. How did he know Dan's name? Dan looked just as surprised as me. "No, Harry. What do you want? You can't throw the coffee machine at the wall, by the way."

Harry's eyes widened momentarily but he recovered quickly and turned his gaze towards me. "I'd like Brenna to take my order."

"Too bad, she's on her break."

"Too bad, I want her to take my order."

"No."

"Either you let her take my order, or I report you both for loitering on the job and you both get fired."

"Cut away another one of my funds, why don't you?" I hissed.

Harry breathed in slowly and waited for me to walk over, a scowl of my face. "What do you want?"

He tutted. "That's no way to treat a customer. Why are you working here?"

"For money. I asked you what you want."

"A cappuccino," he said, his eyes glimmering as they locked onto mine.

Dan went to make the coffee, and Harry kept his eyes on me. I stood still.

"That's a pound fifty."

He handed me a tenner, and as I got his change out he rested his hand on mine to stop me. I frowned and looked at him, shaking him off of me. "Keep the change."

"You want me to keep eight pound fifty?"

"Think of it as a tip."

He took the cappuccino from Dan, who raised an eyebrow at me, and sat in the corner of the coffee shop, his eyes focused on his phone.

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A/N; uneventful I apologise :D





xoxo