No Control | The Night Before

8~ If I Could Fly

"Nice to meet you Jess," Harry replied, extending his hand across the island unit to shake mine. 

I hoped with all my heart that he couldn't feel me trembling as his fingers touched mine, and I tried to ignore the tingle of electricity that raced up my arm. He seemed to hold my gaze for longer than necessary, or maybe it was because it all seemed to be happening in slow motion. I couldn't answer him; I just smiled stupidly, completely lost for words.

"Would anyone else like a drink?" he asked, as he walked over to the fridge and opened the door. 

"I'll have another white wine, babe," Lou called, as Lottie shook her head. 

"Jess?" Harry offered, and my body broke into goosebumps at the sound of his slow, deep voice rumbling over my name.

"Um, I'll have a top up of white wine too, please," I squeaked.

Harry took the bottle of Pinot out of the fridge and picked up a clean glass from the tray next to the sink. He walked back over to the counter and refilled Lou's drink, and then turned to me expectantly. I set my own glass down on the worktop in front of him, not trusting myself to hold it out to him in case I accidentally threw the contents all over his shirt or something. I couldn't help but watch him as he stood next to me, only two feet away, concentrating on pouring the wine with his lips pressed together, breathing in and out gently, and blinking twice. He was so close I could feel his body heat, see the individual strands of his hair shining under the kitchen light, and smell the delicate hint of aftershave on his skin. I stared at the curve of his cheekbones, his individual eyelashes, and a couple of stray eyebrow hairs that weren't groomed into place.

He was so perfect, how was he even real? How was any of this real?

"There you go," he muttered, pushing my drink towards me and moving to the side slightly to pour the remainder of the wine into his own glass.

"Thanks," I said, breathlessly, afraid of making eye contact with him again but somehow unable to tear my gaze away from his face. He looked up and caught my eye again, and gave me another smile. 

"You're welcome."

"Shall we go and sit in the lounge or something?" Lou suggested, interrupting my trance. "My feet are aching standing up here. Louis will come and find us once he's finished."

Lou filled Harry in on the vomit situation as she led the way through another door into a spacious lounge, with two huge squashy sofas facing each other either side of a marble-topped coffee table, and a large armchair at one end. Lou immediately flopped into the armchair and kicked her shoes off with a satisfied moan. Lottie and Tommy sat down together on one of the sofas, which left the other sofa free. I sat down at the end of the sofa nearest Lou's armchair, and felt a sickening flutter of nerves as Harry took the seat next to me, his long legs bent awkwardly as his body sank into the soft cushions. He leaned forward to set his wine glass on the floor at his feet, and his hair fell into his face when he sat up again. He ruffled it with his hand and then flipped it back, before reclining casually, leaning against the arm of the sofa. I looked away from him, conscious of my own ogling and feeling more than a little disloyal to Louis for unashamedly checking out his mate. While Lou and Harry chatted about Harry's patterned shirt I took a few moments to compose myself inwardly, repeating silently that Harry was just a person like everyone else, and mentally berating myself for being so embarrassingly starstruck.

"So what do you do, Jess?" Harry asked suddenly, jolting me out of my own thoughts. 

"Um, I'm an insurance underwriter," I began, feeling a flush creep up my cheeks at having his undivided attention, and his unwavering gaze fixed upon me so intently. "I write commercial credit insurance."