Check, Please?

Chapter 30

Fighting took a lot more effort than I thought it would.  I never had to fight for anyone except myself.  I never had a brother or a sister and both my parents were dead – physically and mentally – to me.  It was hard for me to show Harry that I loved him as much as I did.  Since hearing Zayn talk about sacrifices and “the little things,” I noticed them more and more each day I spent with Harry.  The constant hand-holding, the small kisses in public, they way he clung to me at night, and even when he finally started to pick up after himself, whether it was his laundry or dirty dishes in the sink.  He got me flowers every three days and even got me a new box of tampons the day before I started my period.  I laughed and laughed when he handed me the box and grinned from ear to ear proudly.

“You memorized my cycle?” I managed between fits of laughter.

Harry shrugged his shoulders. “Duh.  I have to know what days I’m going to have to masturbate instead of getting some of that ass,” he said, slapping me harshly on the bum.  I winced and giggled, and he leaned down over my shoulder to place a kiss on my cheek.

Despite our pleas, Niall refused to go to rehab.   He did, however, agree to go to a support group for alcohol addicts once a week like Harry and I did for a month in high school.  He ended up moving in with Liam who also helped him watch how much alcohol he consumed during the day.  Thankfully, we never heard about Bailey again.  I know it’s always harder as an outsider to judge a relationship, but I would dare to say that Bailey was no good for Niall, sober or not.

I never heard from Anna again.  I got a phone call from another small company as a reference for a secretary job she applied for.  That made sense, I suppose.  She never had any other job but the one where she worked for me.  I tried my hardest to be professional; I told them she was a hard worker – very organized – and that was all.  Anna always talked about moving to Kansas for some reason, so I imagined she was there, but I tried hard not to think too much about it.  It was so weird to have her gone.  She knew all of my deep, dark secrets and I couldn’t imagine passing her on the street again and pretending like I never knew her.

Therese disappeared too.  Alexander stayed in the apartment across the street and occasionally came over to talk to Harry and I about Wentz.  Alexander worked mainly in advertising but claimed that it would be good to know some about the magazine if he was selling it.  Harry and secretly agreed that he was just feeling guilty for calling it a silly magazine before.  He was actually a great guy, especially since Therese was out of his life.  I couldn’t help but wonder why the hell Alexander stuck around with her for so long if he was as miserable as he was, but I didn’t dare ask.  I laughed when I walked out to the Celica on the day of my Wentz interview and saw Alexander laying out sunbathing in his driveway.  It was a strangely warm day for the end of Fall.  Apparently it was supposed to snow later that week too.  Weird.

“Enjoying the sun?” I called to him, pulling at the bottom of my new black pencil skirt as I did.  He sat up off of his towel and took his black sunglasses off of his face.  Even from across the street I could see that he had more color in his face, his eyes were filled with a little more life, and he had allowed his hair to be a little more wild.  When I first met him with Therese, he looked like a corpse. 

He grinned and jumped up when he saw me, jogging across the street and giving me a quick hug.  “Is your interview today?”

I nodded shakily.

“Oh don’t be nervous! I wish I could be there but I have the day off,” he said. “You’ll do fine though, I promise.”

I heard Harry’s footsteps on the stairs behind me.  Harry grinned and gave Alexander a swift pat on the back before handing me my portfolio.  “I finished the final touches.  It should be all perfect now.”