picture this //h.s. au//

Chapter 2

The rest of the day drags by, barely any customers trickle in, though this is nothing new. Film photography is mostly a thing of the past, unless you're a teenager trying to be unique or someone who genuinely appreciates the beauty of film photography. The latter are few and far between, we mostly just get the teenagers, if anyone at all.

I personally love the beauty and clarity of film photography. Anyone who says it's poor quality compared to the digital shots these days is totally misinformed. I sigh, gazing at the film photos strung across the wall from me, snapshots I've examined thousands of times before. They're photos of Marlene an her late husband together- on the beach, drinking coffee, sitting on a swing, holding hands, and laughing. I never get tired of looking at them- hoping one day I can be as happy as Marlene once was. 

It's not that she's never happy anymore though. She's still bright and cheerful, greeting each day with joy and a vigor that I'm sometimes envious of. But I remember when Robert was still alive, Marlene had this whole different layer to her. You could see the love in her eyes, the way she blushed happily whenever he came out of his office to help at the front of the store. That's when I was still a relatively new employee, and yet even I could see that they had something truly special. It's been almost a year since his death, but I could still picture him walking through that front door each morning  just like it was yesterday. 

Eager to clear my head of depressing thoughts, I head over to the sound system where Marlene keeps the shop iPod plugged in, filled with all of her favorite music. I scroll through the list, finally selecting "Hungry Heart" by Bruce Springsteen seeing as it fits my current mood. I nod my head along with the song, humming the lyrics as I sort through some files behind the front counter. I head back to the stereo to crank up the volume- the shop feels too quiet without Marlene'sconstant happy chatter. 

"Everybody needs a pace to rest, everybody wants to have a home, don't make no difference what nobody says, ain't nobody want to be alooooone, hey hey," I sing, dancing- well, attempting to dance- around the front room as I straighten up manuals and pick up some tripods that have fallen to the floor. Apparently my little jam session is too much for Harry, because he storms out of the office, annoyance evident on his face. 

"Could you keep it down out here? I'm trying to work," he says, testily.

I scrunch my nose up and reply, "I couldn't imagine what you'd be doing back there. You don't know the first thing about this company." I couldn't exactly explain why, but ever since he'd waltzed in here I'd been annoyed with him. Maybe it's just the fact that he was somehow replacing Marlene, though I knew deep inside that she would recover and return to the store eventually. Change is always hard for me- and this abrupt shift in my everyday routine was doing nothing to improve my mood. 

His face sours and he retorts, "Honestly, you don't even know the first thing about me. Hell, I bet you don't even know my name!" 

I can't keep the smug smirk off of my face. "You're Harry. You've lived in Cheshire most of your life. You have a photography business back in England," I say. 

Instead gasping in awe of my extensive knowledge on his personal life, he simply stands there, tapping his foot and looking mildly disinterested. 

"Wow, three whole facts," he says, "Have you ever considered becoming a private investigator? Your sleuthing skills really are incredible." My face heats up at the sarcastic edge in his tone, but I don't back down. I really do try to be pleasant with everyone, but something about Harry gets my ire up. 

I open my mouth to spout off a particularly nasty response, but he holds a hand up, cutting me off. His voice is substantially less irritable when he says, "Listen, please just turn down the music okay? I really do need to focus." I purse my lips, attempting to contain my surprise. 

"Um, yeah," I reply oh-so-eloquently. He nods, looking utterly exhausted and heads back to the office, closing the door softly behind him. 

I lean back against the counter, still reeling from his sudden change in mood. I glance at the closed door, wondering if he was just tired from the long plane ride, or if he was hiding something, something that had the potential to shatter everything I'd worked so hard to achieve. 

If only I'd had some way to prepare myself for what was to come. 

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A/N: sorry for the short update, school's been taking up a lot of time. comment and vote! this is unedited so please let me know if you see any mistakes. thanks!