“Your friend, Alice, right? She was telling me about you, she said you two come here a lot and she hinted you like to sing every now and then.”
His accent was like nothing I’d ever heard before. Well no, that was a lie, I’d heard plenty of English accents in my life. It was my favorite accent actually, I’d always found it very attractive. But his voice, the softness in it that gave way to subtle sensuality, the deliberate pace in the delivery of his words. I was simply captivated.
“Well, that’s not entirely true,” I started. “I’ve only ever sang here once, a few months ago when I’d had a bit too much to drink. Liquid courage, they call it.”
“Well let me get you that drink and we’ll see if we can recreate that then, shall we?”
I laughed and agreed, protesting his hints and making no promise that I would sing, but that I would allow him buy me another drink. His eyes were all consuming as we spoke, and though I couldn’t make out the color of them in the dimly lit corner of the bar, he had me guessing green. He was smooth, easy to talk to and interesting, and most importantly didn’t give off a creepy or desperate vibe.
“I never caught your name,” he said.
“Penny.”
“Penny,” he repeated, and laughed after a brief pause. “That was actually a little white lie, Penny. Your friend told me what your name was, but I just wanted to hear you say it. That’s a lovely name, do you have a friend named Quarter?”
I half choked at his lame attempt at a joke, giving him a courtesy giggle and a smile. Okay, so maybe jokes weren’t his thing. He had the looks and the voice, I could work with that for now.
“What do you do then, Harry? What brought you to America?” I asked, taking another sip of my drink, genuinely interested in his answer.
He proceeded to tell me he had moved to the US with his mother when she remarried an American military man, and that he was working in a local fitness center trying to save up money to get himself back in school. He told me how he had to stop halfway through his last semester of school when his mum, or so he called her, tore several discs in her back and had to have major spinal surgery and he’d lost most of the tuition he paid. His stepfather was stationed overseas at the time on active duty, so he had to postpone his last semester of school so he could stay home and take care of her until she was able to walk again properly. He spoke with such sincerity and love for his mother, but described the events with a humbled sense of pride that was anything but arrogant.
“Enough about me,” he began. “Are you in school?”
I told him how I was in my last semester of nursing school, with just one placement to finish the coming fall semester. As I droned on, I couldn’t help but notice how he shifted focus between my eyes and my lips when I talked; that brought out a new sensation I hadn’t felt before. When I spoke, he really listened, it was like I was telling some kind of gripping tale and he was hanging onto every word I was uttering, even though I was just babbling on about my anxiety for my upcoming psychiatric ward placement. It was either that, or he was an incredible actor.
The conversation didn’t stop, and we only paused every now and then to make a critical comment or deliver a deserved compliment to whoever was performing. He told me about his sister, Gemma, who lived in England with her husband, and his newborn nephew that he hadn’t met yet. We talked about music and our favorite TV shows and discovered we had so much in common. I raved about Alice and how close we were, and then it occurred to me we’d left her. I craned my head above the mass of people and tried to spot her ginger hair, and when I finally did, it relieved me that she was being chatted up by a handsome looking guy at our original table. I fished around in my purse for my phone and glanced at the time. 1:30am, we’d been here almost 4 hours and I had been talking to Harry for most of it. The two unread texts from Mark were still there, alongside a new one from Alice. I swiped my phone and read it.
The more I talked to him the more he seemed the perfect type for you, so I told him he should buy you a drink. He’s too young for me anyways. I need details! Come over when you’re ready to go.
I smiled rereading the message. She really was the best, so selfless and always thinking of me. She of all people knew exactly what my type was, and so far she’d hit the nail right on the head with this one. I was having a lovely time with Harry. My eyes glanced to the next two messages, the ones Mark had sent earlier in the night.
What are you up to tonight?
Would be nice to catch up. Been too long.
Ugh, I just talked to you last weekend, I thought to myself before realizing how rude I must have been to be checking my phone. I looked up to find Harry doing the very same, his long fingers stroking the screen of his phone, a little smile playing across his lips. I took advantage of his lack of attention to me and let my eyes drift to his legs. I hadn’t noticed just how tight they were when he was singing before, and up close his legs were long and so lean, but a toned kind of lean. He must work out a lot if he’s working at a gym, I thought to myself. My eyes found splotches of ink poking up through his white t-shirt, and what appeared to be two birds, doves maybe, showing where his neck line plunged into his upper chest.
“So how about that song then?” He caught me off guard, did he catch me staring? I diverted my gaze back to his eyes, his warm and comforting eyes.
“I don’t think so,” I laughed.
“Aw, why not then?” He took another sip of his drink and cocked his head to the side.
I just shrugged, trying to think of a way to change the topic. “Where’s the gym you work at? I’ve been debating signing up for one a while now. I need to get back in shape.”
His eyes briefly looked me up and down, not in a nasty way, but as if sizing me up for a fitness test or a workout. “Equinox, on South Main. It’s a nice little place, not too many members, very clean. Nobody likes a dirty gym.” He smirked and finished his drink, and I couldn’t help but notice his tongue swoop down into the glass to collect whatever liquid remained. When our eyes met, I felt my face flush.
“Oh yeah, I know where that is, it's not too far from where I live. I’ll have to drop by some time and check it out then.” The minute or so of silence that followed was noticeable, but not awkward as it sometimes is with new people. I felt strangely comfortable in Harry’s presence, only having met him a few hours ago. I was somewhat relieved when a hand on my shoulder gave way to a familiar voice, and I spun around to find a grinning Alice staring back at me.
“You ready then?” I nodded.
Harry gestured to the empty glass Alice was holding. “Are you good to drive?” There was honest concern in his voice.
“Don’t worry, this is old. I’m good.” I set my now empty glass on the counter and turned to Harry.
“Thank you for a nice time, it was lovely meeting you.” I awkwardly stuck my hand out and he looked down at it, smiling, instead pulling me into an unexpected but nonetheless welcome hug. His arms were noticeably strong, his body warm and relaxed. I was greeted with a breath of fabric softener with a hint of malt scotch, and I felt myself deeply inhaling one more time before I let go.
“I’ll see you soon.”
That was all he had to say, and secretly hoped to myself that I would. I was somewhat disappointed he didn’t ask for my number or give me his, I thought there was a chance he would. I made a mental note of the gym he said he worked at. Equinox.
“Spill everything!” Alice demanded as we climbed into the car and drove away. I laughed to myself and shrugged.
“Nothing to tell really, he was lovely to talk with. Really well-spoken, and that accent is killer. Smells nice too. He works at Equinox, I was thinking of checking it out anyways so maybe here’s even more of a reason to.”
She laughed with me and we talked the whole ride home, our conversation fluctuating between Harry and the guy I spotted her talking to, riddled with indecent proposals and racy predictions. When we got home, I said goodnight to Alice and shut the door to my bedroom, flopping down belly first on my bed. My phone spilled out onto my duvet and I remembered I had never texted Mark back. Oops, I thought sarcastically. I started to text him back.
Didn’t see this until now. Maybe tomorrow?
I hit send and plugged my phone in, got up to change, wash my face, brush my teeth and got back into bed. It was only minutes before sleep overtook me.
