Enticing (13) (Patreon)

Y/N  barely slept that night. She had turned and tossed most of the night. The nanny had a few lapses of light sleep, but the emotions that kept building within her kept waking her up and prevented her from slipping into a deep sleep.

Y/N did hear his heavy footsteps up the stairs, and even though she felt all sorts of ways towards him, she felt at ease that he was safe and sound at home.

It was then when she was finally able to get some sleep.

It was awfully quiet the next morning. Y/N had gotten up before anyone else, even before the sun. The warm sun was just starting to peek over the horizon. The light was starting to wash over the darkness.  She pitter-pattered on the cold kitchen tile and turned on the coffee machine. She was in desperate need of a large Americano.

She had a million things in her head. Y/N had tons to do, yet she didn’t know where to start. They were flying to Italy in the evening. Her bag was already packed yet what troubled her was leaving Oliver behind. On top of it all, she had to speak to Harry about last night and how he had stood her up.

She hated confrontation, and she knew how angry Harry could get when arguing. She had heard his loud shouts from the office when he worked  from home.

She served herself her large coffee and made her way to the couch to watch the early news. Whilst, she mentally tried to come up with a way to start conversation with Harry.

Harry found her, submerged in the coziness of couch blankets. She had dozed off while watching the housewives. Instead of waking her up, he decided to have a quick workout and take advantage of the silence to think. He locked himself in the gym and had a good forty-five-minute session. Until the loud shouts of his son interrupted his quietude. They only meant that Y/N was also up.

“Good morning”  He said to her, as he walked past her and into the open kitchen. “Did you pack already?”

“Yes” she sharply said, adjusting Oliver on her hip. Harry was not oblivious. He could sense the tension, yet he swallowed back any snarky remarks as he continued to pour himself a cup of coffee.  He knew he had fucked up. He had forgotten about the dinner with her best friend. In his defense, Harry had stayed until late to finish up some important paperwork just so he could have fun during their trip. Therefore, it wasn’t such a big deal for him. After all, he was the CEO of a company and lead hundreds.

“Mrs. Johnson, could you please take Oliver upstairs and give him a bath while we discuss something” The long time maid nodded and took the baby from Y/N without hesitation. Although, she gave her a reassuring smile before departing.

“One of us should probably say something” Harry broke the silence as they stood in utter silence. “Please look at me” Her eyes met his, and she felt intimidated, yet she never looked away.

“I am just disappointed” She pointed out, “You could have called, but instead you didn’t, and I ended up looking like a fucking fool”.

Harry tilted his head to one side while his listened and thought what to say. She was angry and embarrassed for herself. She had sat in that living room, hopelessly looking at the door, wishing for him to arrive.

“If I had known that you weren’t going to show up, I wouldn’t have invited him”

“I understand you are mad at me, but you have to understand that I had things in the office to get through” he explained, he could sense that this conversation was going to take a while.

“I understand, Harry. But you couldn’t call  or text, right?” She placed her hands on her lips as she felt a burning feeling in her chest. She didn’t wait for him to respond, and instead she walked towards the laundry room. Oliver's latest load of clothes was ready to fold.

“I was too busy” He was lying. The truth was that he had completely forgotten and by the time that Andrew reminded him, it was too late. Y/N scoffed in disbelief. “What?”

“You expect me to believe that? I am not an idiot” He was never alone. Andrew was always with him and nothing slipped from him. He was always reminding him and writing down appointments and plans. “Andrew wasn’t with you?”

“What do you want me to say?!” He snapped at her, his tone had gotten harsher and his patience was running low. “I thought you understood the obligations that my job brings?!”

“Admit you are wrong!” She tried her best to continue folding Oliver’s clothes, even with shaking hands. “Why is it so hard?! You fucked up, and you forgot, and you didn’t text or call because you couldn’t care less!”

“Fine! I admit it. I forgot about the fucking dinner”.

Y/N swallowed back the huge lump in her throat. She tried her best to hide her emotions from him, but he could see right through her. He could see that he had hurt her feelings.

Surely, this was their first every argument, but no one ever forgets their first fight or the words that are shared. It was as his words had magically been imprinted on the walls of their home, and she couldn’t unheard them.

“Y/N—”

“Maybe it’s best if I stay with Oliver. Have a great trip” she interrupted and through the sadness and anger she smiled. She gripped the sides of the laundry basket and left him alone.

It had been a few hours since their argument. Y/N had locked herself in Oliver’s room. Meanwhile, Harry had stayed downstairs in his office, trying to keep busy.

He felt like shit and now everything was ruined. The trip was in jeopardy, and he knew that if Y/N stayed and didn’t go, everyone was going to beat his ass and never speak to him again.

Harry had to apologize, but didn’t know how to. He was bad at saying sorry and admitting he was wrong. It was his narcissistic tendencies that his father had instilled in him. Although he knew it was ultimately his fault. He judged his father so hard yet he still would act like him.

“What do you mean she isn’t going?!”William yelled through the other side of the phone. “Alessandro will fucking hang us, if she doesn't come. What did you do?!” He was at home, picking up the last few things before he headed out to the office and then to the airport.

Harry sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

“She invited her best friend over for dinner and I stood her up” He admitted, “and I didn’t call or text”.

It was quiet, too quiet.

“Hello?” Harry wondered if William had hung up on him.

“You are a fucking idiot, you know that, right? Why couldn’t you text?” Harry chuckled, it was the same thing that Y/N had asked.

“I don’t know” He shrugged as if William could see him.

“Where is she right now?”

“Upstairs with Oli”

“Get your ass upstairs and apologize. But apologize like you mean it”. William insisted, he knew what a pain in the ass Harry is when angry. He only wanted to hug Y/N and apologize for his friend's behavior. “If she doesn’t go then I won’t either” he said before hanging up.

“Can we talk?” He said in a soft tone. Y/N was sitting on the carpeted floor with Oliver on his belly. Her hand rested gently over his small back, gently caressing him when he began whining or getting frustrated.

She was quiet. Didn’t even utter a word yet looked up at him. Harry could tell that she had been crying. It had been out of anger. She had hid upstairs, so she wouldn’t insult anyone or say hurtful things to him. Y/N also disliked when people tried to comfort her when she was angry, crying. She felt sort of suffocated, and it only angered her more.

Harry carefully sat on the floor across her with his legs stretched out and spread out.

“I know what I did was wrong. Last night, I should have called or text you and let you know that I wasn’t coming. I acted like an asshole and I should have raised my voice at you, and I’m very sorry. It won’t happen again”.  He meant every word. Harry tried to put himself in her shoes too. If she had stood him up with his friends, he would have felt embarrassed and angry.

Y/N tucked her hair back and finally met his gaze.

“You're forgiven” she decided. She didn’t expect a gigantic apology with a big show. She just wanted for Harry to admit that he was wrong and that he had fucked up. Y/N also didn’t want to drag it out any further. She knew how hard it must have been for him to come up and admit he was wrong. And even though for some it was too simple of an apology, Y/N could feel that both of them were taking a step in the right directions.