Youth [h.s.]

Chapter Ten: Astronomy Domine.

–

"Lime and limpid green, a second scene
Now fights between the blue you once knew
Floating down, the sound resounds
Around the icy waters underground
Jupiter and Saturn, Oberon, Miranda and Titania
Neptune, Titan, stars can frighten"

–

    The day after Leighton's art exhibition Anna served coffee with more enthusiasm than she had in all her time employed. Although they had snuck out through the backdoor to avoid the crowd that had formed outside the front doors a bit tipsy, she just couldn't help but smile simply thinking about it. She scribbles words into her notepad rather than orders at the front counter, a stupid smile on her face all the while.

   Harry was no better off, unable to stop writing down lines onto his notepad. It felt foreign to not have his journal to write in but thinking where and who it currently is in the hands of made him smile so largely that it made his cheeks ache. He couldn't comprehend what exactly was happening, how quickly thoughts and feelings were forming, it all seemed novel to him. To meet someone who didn't know him was somethi—an occurrence that could happen to literally anyone without being romanticized but it just isn't the story that he thought would happen to him. The thought was unsettling to him. So much so he practically threw the pen down in attempt to stop the words from becoming immortal.

   Harry and Anna had made plans to see each other that evening, after her shift and his Skype interviews over future projects. Just as she turned onto her street on her walk home from work, the sleek black town car pulled up next to her and out came a rushing Harry.

  "Uh," he smooths out the top of his hair while the rest was tied back. "I thought I was late."

   Anna smiles, focusing on her fingers digging deeper into her coat pockets. "With you rushing like that makes me feel like I'm late."

  "In that case," Harry has a teasing look and tone as he moves towards the front doors to Anna's apartment building. "I forgive you but don't let it happen again."

  Anna's mouth falls open in a laugh. Harry presses his lips together in attempt to hold back his own but it only makes him look younger to Anna. Dimples further enhanced with a pair of sparkling jade eyes. They climb up the stairs to her building, Harry surprising Anna for not being out of breath, that is, until they climb all the way to the 8th floor.

  "How do you bloody manage to climb those stairs with groceries?" Harry pants, giving up on his not fatigue act. Anna laughs, pulling out her keys from her bag and unlocking her apartment door.

"Don't you remember? There's actually an elevator down the hall."

  Harry's dead stare turns into a pouty faux glare as she invites him in with a sly grin, a trudge in his step. Anna bites her lip from laughing aloud at his childish act. She apologizes to him and he waves it off immediately. He tells her he needed a cardio session anyways but then turn slightly serious and, in a hushed tone, asks why she doesn't use the elevator for it was quite obvious there was a reason.

  "I got stuck in an elevator when I was six," Anna sighs, shedding her coat and boots before walking into the kitchen to get them both drinks. "I was in there for about two hours before they realized I was missing. Horrible, horrible memory it is so I try to avoid elevators and escalators at all costs. Plus, it burns off all the pizza I eat so no harm no foul."