Ruffled ~ H.S

Twenty

"So did you see the interview this morning?"

"Of course I did," Harry told me with a smile, "you were fantastic, Deidre. No professional could've ever handled that interview as well as you."

"Aww..." I felt a soft pink flush through my cheeks, "thanks. But I don't think I would've ever gotten through it as well as I did if I hadn't first seen your beautiful flowers in the office this morning."

"Ah," Harry let out a chuckle, "so you liked the flowers, then?"

"Are you kidding? I loved them!" I told Harry with a giggle, "I was feeling so nervous this morning, and when I saw those flowers...all that anxiety just suddenly washed away," I rested my chin on top of my hand and smiled at him, "thank you, Harry. They were gorgeous. Nobody's ever sent me anything nearly as beautiful in my whole life. I hope finding something as rare as purple roses weren't too troublesome for you..." I bit my lip anxiously.

Harry only smiled back at me. "Nothing's ever too troublesome for you, Deidre. Especially when you need a pick-me-up," he then let out another chuckle, "I'm just glad you didn't think I went overboard with all the purple."

"You could never go overboard with purple when it comes to me," I told him assuringly, "I can't get enough of the colour purple. It reminds me of grape-flavoured things, and I love grape-flavoured things. Almost as much as I love chocolate."

"Oh, yes," Harry broke out an amused smirk, "nothing ever beats your love for chocolate."

"Well...except my love for you," I replied with a giggle.

"Oh, really?" Harry's smirk grew a little, "Well...same goes to you, my love."

I felt myself starting to blush all over again. "Anyway – enough about me," I adjusted my dressing robe a little before smiling at him, "how was your day? You had your first meeting this morning, right?"

Harry's smile faded, and he sighed before giving me a slow nod. "Yeah. And I tried my best, but...I don't know. I'm facing some real tough competitors for these shares."

"Aw, but you still have a chance, right?"

"Maybe..." Harry sighed again, "but I'm not getting my hopes up, Deids."

My face softened out of sympathy for him, and I ended up sighing as well. "Harry...you work so hard to help your dad out of this mess. I hope he doesn't take any of it for granted."

"It's no big deal, Deidre, really."

"Yes, it is!" I insisted, "Harry...have you seen yourself in the mirror today? You look so tired..."

"It's just jet lag," Harry told me reassuringly.

"Our time zones are only one hour apart," I reminded him, "you haven't had to adjust your body clock that much, Harry."

"It's fine, Deidre – I promise," Harry replied, "I just didn't sleep that well last night, that's all."

"Why not?"

"Because I realized that I'd suddenly been deprived of having you beside me," he told me with a tired smile, "it wasn't very fun to have a sudden change from cuddling someone all weekend to cuddling nobody at all."

My eyes widened, and I felt my heartbeat starting to accelerate as my cheeks flushed red for the third time that evening.

"Aw, Harry..." I let out a dreamy sigh and gave him a faint smile, "I know, baby – I feel it too. But you'll be home soon, yeah?"

"Yeah," Harry replied with a nod, "hopefully by the end of the week, if the rest of this meeting goes by at a reasonably fast pace."

"I'll try to video call you as often as I can," I promised, "depending on how much studying I have to do for this training course..." I bit my lip and sighed.