Lust, Lies, and Forbidden Ties ✵ h.s.

✵ twenty ✵

Finley's POV

I didn't know what to do, or say, or how to react.  It had been about a day since Harry had admitted, in a strange way nonetheless, that he liked me.  I was in between wanting to simply combust from second-hand embarrassment while also not knowing how to contain myself after what he had said either. I was thankful that Oliver had brought me lunch yesterday after what had happened because I would have been on edge the rest of the day otherwise. But, as I continued to think about it, I felt like there was no way it would happen—there was not way Harry and I would ever be together. Even if he was really an attractive man, there was no way Harry actually wanted me.  I just didn't believe it.

Harry had popped in today to meet with Mrs. Woods about something, and I had managed to make up an excuse as to why I couldn't sit in on the meeting with them.  After all, why would I want to sit in the room with someone who not only claimed they liked me, but were most-likely lying about the whole thing to begin with? It was just not worth it. Thankfully, Mrs. Woods didn't appear that thrown off by the fact that I wanted to take my lunch break early, but I could see on Harry's face that he knew why I was leaving from the meeting. 

"Amato." 

My hand was on the door, and I ‪was ready to leave.  Everything in my body was absolutely squirming with what he could possibly say to me. I wasn't scared of him by any means, but I was worried about what he would say. He could be incredibly rude, or, he could surprise me and say something polite but I knew that was a stretch. What I did know for certain, though, was that I had no intentions of being in here with him any longer. Knowing that Mrs. Woods would be upset with me if I simply left without giving him a chance to speak, I found myself taking a deep breath before turning around, raising my eyebrows as I looked at him.  Mrs. Woods was clearly out of the loop, still smiling as I gazed at the curly-haired model in front of me.  ‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

"Get me a iced caramel coffee with almond milk, would you?" he asked.  "I should be here about an hour, so I expect it when you're on your way back from lunch." 

"Yeah, sure, whatever," I told him, walking toward the door again only to be stopped by Mrs. Woods calling my name.  "Yes?" 

"That is not how you respond to our best model, Miss Amato.  I know you're better than that." 

"You're right.  Maybe I should just quit then," I scoffed, not sure where the words were coming from, but extremely angry all of a sudden. 

"Miss Amato, what's—" 

"It's fine.  I'm fine.  If you'll excuse me, I'm heading to lunch, and I'll be back with his coffee when I'm finished." 

Mrs. Woods had a look on her face that said she would be speaking with me later, Harry not appearing that surprised by my behavior.  It wasn't like he looked hurt though, rather somewhat confused.  I almost thought he looked as if he wanted to start something with me, but I thought that was silly.  I mean, if he liked me so much, why would he want to upset me? Then again, he had claimed he liked me and been nothing but rude to me so it wouldn't be that surprising. 

Heading out to lunch, I spent my time in a little restaurant down the street, not getting much other than soup to eat.  Normally, I was hungrier by the time my break came around, however, I was pretty sure seeing Harry had curbed my appetite.  The thoughts of him telling me he had been interested in me brought back a bunch of memories I certainly didn't want to recall.  Not because I disliked them, rather I was embarrassed when I thought back on them. 

Oliver: Hi pretty, what are u doing?

eating lunch, you?

Oliver: Oh same