Speed ➢ harry styles

Ch. 3 ~ Dinner with the Delaneys

I realized I was holding my breath as Gemma opened the door. What was I expecting to see? I watched Mr. and Mrs. Delaney enter, followed by their twenty two year old son Rodrick, and their daughter Lucille, who was nine. There was no sign of Anella. I felt slightly relieved but a bit disheartened as well. "Oh my! Harry you've gotten so tall. It's so good to see you my dear!" Mrs. Delaney exclaimed, pulling me into a tight hug. She turned to my mum, "Anne your son is going to break some hearts, would you look at those dimples?" 

I tried my best to be polite and not let the fact that I was dispirited be too obvious. "Hello, it's Harry right? How are you?" Mr. Delaney shook my hand.

"I'm fine, sir, been a bit busy. Thanks for asking." I answered. Mr. Delaney nodded understandably.

Soon we were all seated at the dinner table, but I couldn't stop glaring at the door. Maybe she was going to come but she was running late because she had to curl her hair or something.

"Anne these scalloped potatoes are divine!" Mrs. Delaney gushed.

"Thanks Judith, you can borrow the recipe if you'd like."

"Oh that'd be splendid, thank you Anne."

I was starting to get impatient and thought I could probably ask why Anella wasn't present today when the rest of her family was. "Was Anella going to come?" I blurted out. Mrs. Delaney went deathly pale and Mr. Delaney dropped his fork. Rodrick looked to his parents and then into his lap.  The room was filled with an awkwardly gloomy ambiance. No one spoke for what felt like hours. Maybe I shouldn't have brought this up.

"Anella isn't with us anymore." Mr. Delaney finally spoke. Now it was my turn to drop my fork. It fell on the wooden floor with a clatter. My world felt like it had came crashing down on me. My throat suddenly felt parched and I thought I'd vomit. My hands trembled and I avoided everyone's gaze.

Mrs. Delaney must've discerned my anxiety, for she instantly reassured me, "No, no, that's not what he meant. He meant she's fine, well we're not sure of it but we hope she is-" 

"We don't know where she is," Rodrick cut in, still looking at his lap and not meeting anyone's eyes.

"Wait what?!" Gemma cried out. Apparently, she too wasn't aware that Anella had gone missing. 

"I know this isn't making any sense, so I'd like to explain. She's in Brooklyn because of her university study abroad program. We just haven't heard from her. She never calls. No emails, no text messages, no nothing. My nephew Mark who lives not too far from her Brooklyn campus told us she's doing fine...so there's not much to worry about but we miss her. We're suspecting it's just a phase." Mrs. Delaney explained. She looked like she was on the verge of tears. My mum tried to comfort her. 

I felt horrible about bringing up such a sensitive topic. I wished there was something I could do to help. The rest of the night was a bit dreary. If it wasn't for Lucille's sudden realization of my identity, this dinner would've ended on a very melancholy note. "Wait a minute, you're the curly haired one from One Direction?! Mummy why didn't you tell me before? I didn't bring my notepad. I want to get your autograph sir. I want to show it off to that snobby girl Beatrice that goes to my school." The room filled with laughter. Lucille handed me a dinner napkin. "Could you sign this? Please?"

I chuckled. "Of course I can. What makes Beatrice so snobby, if I may ask?"

"She thinks she's better than everyone because she can double dutch and she knows how to knit. As one of my friends Kayla says, Beatrice ain't shi-" Lucille's eyes widened and she covered her mouth. "Beatrice ain't shipping...material is what I meant to say. You know like she would be rejected by the post office..."  Mr. Delaney shot Lucille a look but he soon burst into fits of laughter. Gemma raised her eyebrows. Even Mrs. Delaney cracked a smile. 

After my mum served her tremendous Manchester tarts for dessert, the Delaneys said their goodbyes and drove off. As I helped my mum wash the dishes, I realized a way I could possibly help Mrs. Delaney get back her daughter. "It's horrible what's happening to Mrs. Delaney, isn't it?" my mum said.

"Yeah, I just can't help but feel awful about bringing Anella up like that. I mean it probably hurts to know you're being shunned by your own daughter." 

"It's not your fault. Stop blaming yourself."

"I wish I could help..."

"Well you couldn't go out looking for her, you never have time. You're probably going to get a call for some interview and bam! Just like that my son is driving away." She sniffed.

"Oh! That reminds me, I've got great news!! One Direction is finally being given a break. I mean did you see that Rolling Stones article about us that joked that we were being 'worked like dogs'? Long story, short we don't have to return to work until sometime in the middle of March." I beamed. My mum's face lit up with the brightest smile I've seen in a while. 

"Oh Harry that's wonderful. I'm so happy!!" She exclaimed pulling me into an embrace.

"But there's one thing I want to do with some of this time off..."

"What?" She looks up at me with an expression that implies she knows just what I'm going to say. 

"I want to help Mrs. Delaney get her daughter back or find her and get her to establish communication with her family at the least." That was one reason I was willing to do this. The other was more personal, it was for me. I wanted  to see Anella because I was concerned about her.

"Oh that'd be very nice of you. Judith would be so happy. But how would you pull it off?"

Gemma was in the kitchen with us and had heard everything. "Seriously Harry? You get a few months off and you want to go run after some girl? I mean have you seen how fishy this whole ordeal is? I just don't understand how one can send their daughter off to another country in a brand new place and if she isn't calling just sit around and fret about it. Why aren't they trying to do anything? Do they even care?" She reasoned.

"Gemma! Of course Mrs. Delaney and her family care! They're nothing like what you're making them out to be," Mum declared in their defense.

"Mum, you can't really know a person just by having dinner with them 2-3 times or meeting them at Mrs. Grady's Easter party! Ask yourself, how well do we actually know the Delaneys? Not well enough in my opinion. It's just Harry wants to go hunt down his little princess. She's the same one he used to creep on. Are you still not over her?" Gemma jeered, smiling.

"Hey stop! No it's not just because I still like her, did you see Mrs. Delaney's face? She almost cried today and maybe if I go I can help, I can talk Anella out of it. I want to go and I will go. You're not my mum, Gemma." I said, feeling kind of hurt because she still teased me about Anella after all these years.

"Fine, go embark on your little puppy love mission, but I gotta tell you. Be back in thirty days. Flying to Brooklyn and trying to hunt someone down is no walk in the park. You're obviously not a private investigator but I guess trying doesn't hurt." she looked at the calendar on the wall to her left. "Today is January 3rd, 2014, so if you leave for Brooklyn tomorrow you need to come back on February 2nd, 2014, which is a Sunday and also just happens to be the day after your 20th birthday. You're going to go to a city without the bodyguards your management usually provides and it...it probably isn't safe. Therefore, giving you a time limit will be the most sufficient method for safety because it will keep you from staying longer than necessary. Do you accept?" Gemma asked. 

I didn't understand why she was acting like this. I looked to my mum who was studying Gemma's expression. She too looked a little surprised but she nodded her head at Gemma anyways. "Gemma's right, Harry. If you want to go you should accept your sister's proposition."

"Alright then," I shrugged. "I accept."