Just another Cup of Tea // Larry au

Death Valley

Harry's Mansion 27/8/14

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The next day when Harry woke up, it was not to silence but to the smell of a cooked breakfast and the sound of a boiling kettle. Both were signs that his maid I really should learn her name was back from her inconvienient little break. He stretched his arms out and yawned, his ever-growing brown hair flopping in front of his eyes. Whenever he went to a meeting, he got a hair cut to appear more smartly dressed and appropriate so whenever there was a few months break he would grow it out as much as he could.

A frown curled across Harry's face as he was reminded that Louis was coming again by his insistant phone alarm. An image of the plumber popped into Harry's mind but he quickly sent it out when the image started becoming a little less PG and more PG 13.

"Master Styles?" A timid female voice addressed him, lightly knocking on the bedroom door and entering with a tray of assorted foods and drinks. Harry raised an eyebrow but didnt say anything as she set everything down on the desk next to his bed. The maid coughed lightly as an indication for Harry to start talking but when he made no motion to, started herself.

"I have brought this to apologise for going to the hospital yesterday on such short notice."

"Yes, well, dont let it happen again or there will be consequences." Harry said coldly and crossed his arms. "And be sure to let in the plumber when he comes - called Louis."

The maid quickly nodded and left the room, leaving Harry with his thoughts. Not for long though, as a few minutes later the doorbell rang and Harry found himself walking downstaires to greet the man despite not needing to at all. 

Louis was already in the hallway chatting along to the maid by the time Harry got there. He was an animated talker, using hand gestures and obvious facial expressions more than anyone else he had noticed. From the looks of it, the man was describing an epic car chase or something along the lines of it but in reality, the conversation seemed to be about the time Louis cleaned out the back of somebodies radiator.

"-and there were dust bunnies that were the biggest i've seen-" 

"Get to work?" Harry interupted the conversation, giving both workers a pointed stare. Both shut up immediatley and Louis walked past Harry into the kitchen, bumping into his shoulder slightly. He didnt hold any eye contact but just removed the sink panel and ducked under it. Harry stared after him but said nothing, regretting the interruption even though it was in his every right as the employer. 

Seeing as this was just a checkup, it was not long before Louis was up on his feet again and taking notes down in that little notepad he had brought with him the previous day. Harry stood next to him and thought about why he might of felt guilty.  It wasnt because he liked Louis, no ; the plumber was annoying and didnt respect him enough. So what was it?  Harry bit his lip, mulling it over in his head.

"Its fixed. If there are any problems, here is my personal number but only use it if its an emergency." Louis words interupted his stream of thoughts and he looked up to see a little slip of paper being placed on his palm.

"Oh okay, thank you." Harry said stiffly "I assume you'll want tea again before you go?" 

Louis nodded before turning to the sink and getting out a tool to reattach the panel he had taken off. Harry stared at him for a second then turned on his heel to the other end of the kitchen, where the kettle was located. The maid saw Harry and rushed over, ready to make the tea when Harry stopped her.

"I'll make it." Harry growled and shot her a glare, making her gasped as she realised he was going to make tea. This was the man who once fired a maid because she forgot to water his plant, the one who made it clear that if she didnt cater to his every need then she would be fired immediatley. It was not suprising that her reaction resembled one of a man who just told his wife that he murdered someone. 

The symbolisim the maid saw was clear ; this average man - this plumber seemed to ground Harry, something some one as lower class a maid could never do.  Even if it was something as every day as making tea, Harry never did it. Not when he was seven (although it was his mother who made it then) and not until now.

Minutes later, Harry was pointing a finger to the ready made tea and moving over to where Louis stood - indicating for the maid to give him the hot drink. Louis himself didnt see how big of a deal this was, only having known Harry for one day ; from where he was standing it just looked like Harry aquired a new skill.

Just like before, Louis sipped the tea but this time Harry observed closely. He took little licks, like a cat lapping up its milk although that sounds disgusting and slightly wrong...i'll think of a new metaphor later. He seemed more comfortable than the previous day, probably just more accustom to the surroundings as oppose to Harry making him feel anymore welcome (If anything Harry was colder this time round). Harry was unsure of his emotions, he knew that he did not detest Louis like he originally thought but he wasnt even certain that he liked him at all either. Still, Louis was flith compared to Harry,  who was rich and adored by the media. Harry was on the radio, tv, internet and any other means of fame that there could be - people loved him about as much as they loved Jennifer Lawrence or Angelina Jolie ; he was the new big thing.

If life was twitter, he was the top trending topic and had risen higher than ever in the past year. It was almost expected that he would become more arrogant and spoilt, his work of years paying off for his streak to the top. This left no room for people like Louis, who wasnt famous, rich or anybody he needed to be friends with to not cause trouble.

A light blush appeared on Harry's cheeks as he realised that he had been staring at louis for probably about four minutes and the plumber was now looking at him curiously, like he was a puzzle with all the pieces that didnt fit.

"Uhm..So you said its working now?" Harry switched topics and was relieved when Louis caught on and went along with it.

"Yes - I gave you my personal number remember? So just call if its an emergency."  Louis stressed the word emergency and picked up his plastic box of supplies. Tossing Harry a quick smile and nod, he made his way to the door and stood waiting for Harry to follow.

"How much did it come to?" Harry asked and got out his wallet, looking through notes and credit cards to find one with the closest balance to the total.

"Oh crap Im always bad at knowing how much to charge" Louis muttered to himself then appeared to be counting something on his fingers.

"£30?" He asked, nodding to himself then to Harry for confirmation.

"I think you earnt more, it was a pretty big job." He replied then handed Louis a £50 note instead, pushing it into his hands when he went to refuse it.

Louis looked down at the £50 and smiled then looked up to Harry silently. He then opened the door and stepped out, giving Harry one more look of goodbye before turning around and shutting it behind him. 

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I dont really like this chapter but I havent updated for over a week (Writers block) so here! Hope you like it