Skin

6

Upon reaching Harry's front door the sweet smell of azaleas filled my lungs. Harry came up the stone steps as he searched for his house key in the jacket he wore. They jingled within his deep pockets and his fingers finally looped around them. I glanced over at my own estate as he worked on opening the door. The light in the hall was on -- what an irresponsible adult I was.

"After you," Harry said as he pushed the door open lightly.

He motioned for me to go in first as his arm swayed out in front of him. I hesitantly walked in first, glancing around at my surroundings. His house was nothing like mine. It was bigger, the walls were an off white and the floors were a deep dark wood. 

It was spotless.

"You can leave your shoes here," Harry said as he slid his shoes off beside the closet door. "I can put your jacket in the closet."

"I think I'll keep it on." I declined as I bent down to unzip my shoes. "I'm quite cold."

I grabbed my shoes at the heels and placed them closer to the wall, then stood to adjust my clothing. Harry turned and walked down the hallway, and I was to assume I had to follow behind him. His walk slowed as he entered a dark opening, turning inward slightly as his hand slid against the wall in search of the light switch. With a simple click the whole kitchen was illuminated.

"Have a seat." Harry spoke as he walked past the long wooden table and over to the shining counters.

I rubbed my lips together as I walked towards one of the chairs. It was heavy and squeaked as I pulled it against the tiled floor. I tried to ease the weight off the floor as I continued to pull it far enough for me to squeeze myself in.

Harry filled the coffee pot with water at the tap. His head turned to watch me as I took a careful seat. I offered him a small smile as I finally got comfortable, to which he returned my gesture.

"How do you take your coffee?"

"Black."

Harry turned around almost as quickly as I answered. An expression of disbelief spread over his face, eyes widened and mouth agape.

"Seriously?" He asked with his tone low. "I thought only movie characters drank their coffee black."

I laughed, "I assume you don't know too many people, do you?"

"I know plenty."

Harry chuckled as I stayed quiet with his counter statement. The two cups of water were poured into the coffee machine slowly and the pot was slid onto the heating element. Soon enough Harry was seated directly across from me, and we did nothing but look between each other to our separately folded hands on the table top. I decided to make a sudden change of subject.

"What do you do at the gym?" I asked as I looked up at Harry's face.

He raised an eyebrow at me, "I -," He stopped himself. "I do some training."

"What kind of training?" I blinked quickly once I realized what I was doing. "I don't mean to interrogate you I was just-,"

Harry took his hands off the table and slid them down to his lap. His posture relaxed a bit as he leaned back into the chair. He smirked at me and shook his head,

"I have nothing to hide."

My stomach turned with his last statement. Harry prepared himself for the explanation in silence, but it was obvious his mind was skimming through all the information. It almost made me uneasy that he was being truthful with me, and I couldn't even give him that. I could barely even give him my name.