the affair [h.s]

chapter five.

Ameera Belle

I never thought that it was possible to become so intoxicated by someone instantaneously. In this case, yes. It is incredibly viable.

Harry and I have spent about an hour walking around the upper east side, merely getting to know each other. The way he spoke had me in a trance that felt nearly impossible to break each time he would ask me a question. Everything seemingly so innocent.

"I've recently begun my own hedge fund, it wasn't easy starting from scratch, but I love what I do, you know?" Harry explains, "It's a way to make money extremely fast and to be able to live comfortable yet lavishly too."

He spoke with a vast amount of intelligence and experience, something I feel I cannot relate to. I've never traveled out of the states or managed to make it past a community college.

"Do you wish you did anything different with your life? Career-wise or just in general?" I ask, shivering from the cold air.

I watched as Harry racked his brain in search of an answer to my question. "Well, no, I love where my life is at the moment, maybe relationship-wise," He says, clearing his throat, "Enough about me, what extraordinary life have you lived so far?"

I chuckled at the way he structured his question. Extraordinary. "My extraordinary life has consisted of work mostly, nothing too crazy," I say.

"Oh come on, you're selling yourself short," Harry jokes, nudging me, "Tell me who you are."

My eyebrows raise with hesitance, "You want to know who I am?" I ask, pointing at myself.

"Yes, who are you, Ameera Belle?"

Alright, well, he asked for it, "Okay...Well, where do I begin? I'm a twenty-year-old that goes to Community College for writing, which I should add has put me in a crazy amount of debt, nobody in my family talks, I'm an only child, I live off of vegetable dumplings, my whole life I've only left the state of New York, uh twice, I cannot dance to save my life, my favorite time of year is Christmas, I love books and..." I ramble out, "I've never had sex."

At this point Harry has stopped walking, I assume to take in the word vomit I've spilled out. "Was that too much?" I ask.

"No of course not," he says assuring me. "Was that last part true?"

I give him a nod, "Unfortunately."

For a second I feel as if me confessing this to him may lead to him never speaking to me again but then again maybe he won't care.

"You know there is absolutely no issue with that?"

"You're kidding right?" I ask him.

"Not at all, I commend you actually," Harry says, "Respectfully speaking, I think it's a shame with how unbelievably gorgeous you are, you're a Goddess, but you haven't given yourself away for just the fuck of it, no pun intend." He jokes.

"I guess you're right," I say.

"You don't mind me keeping you out so late?" He asks, shoving his hands in his coat pocket.

I shake my head no, giving him a reassuring smile. "Not at all,"

There was a brief pause before Harry stepped in front of me, stopping me from walking any further. I looked up at him with confusion written all over my face.

"You don't have a significant other, do you?" He asks with a solemn tone to his voice.

"No," I whisper, pushing a strand of hair behind my ear that the wind had blown around.

The sound of car horns and sirens filling the background. Harry took a step towards me, furrowing his brows together in thought.

"I have a wife," He confesses, pulling his hand out of his pocket to show me the ring on his left hand. "I just wanted to tell you before things go any further."

I swallow, unsure of how to honestly respond to his confession. Even though I already knew that doesn't make anything better.

"I know."

His head snaps up, and his eyes fall onto me. "You do?" He asks, "You didn't say anything..."

I sigh heavily, "You didn't either."

Harry nods in agreement as he turned back to start walking again. Things between us quieting down for the first time. "If you don't want to continue-"

"I do," I quickly chimed in, cutting him off. "I do."

He remains quiet, staring off into the city as others passed us on the sidewalk. His jaw clenches down while he shifts his weight to his hip. "I want you to understand that I am not at all happy in my marriage... but I do have some feelings for my wife. Few but still some."

Without a doubt, I knew that. How could you be married to someone you have absolutely no feelings towards. "Okay, so... where would you like to go from here?" I ask, unsure of how things will continue from here.

"I want to continue to see you," He says, "Obviously, I feel a certain way towards you, and I'd love to get to know you more, but only if you're comfortable with this." He finishes referring to our growing relationship despite him being legally bound to his wife.

I take a step back from him to think deeply about all of this. My mind is telling me I need space to breathe and to process this all because everything is playing out so quickly. But my heart is telling me to toss logic out the window and drown in his cologne.

The moment I made my decision, I felt confident in what I chose. "Do you mind if I take the night?" I ask.

Nodding, Harry lets out a short response. "Of course, mon amour."

"Mon amour?" I ask, turning towards the subway entrance.

"Yes, it means 'my love' in French," He smirks lightly before gazing up at the subway sign. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Home?" I ask in a 'duh' manner.

Harry reaches out to take my hand in his pulling me into his chest, "Let me message my driver, and I'll bring you home the proper way, does that sound good?" He asks, knowing for sure that I could not possibly deny his offer on such a cold night.

"Yeah, that sounds good." I smile, relaxing into his embrace.

-

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