[Neither of them promised forever, yet it hurt all the same.]
River Hamilton cannot afford to fall for just anyone. To continue the legacy of her family the only way she can, she must eventually marry someone she may not want to spend the rest of he...
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R.HAMILTON
It was a chillier than usual summer evening and River felt about ready to bring out her winter coat. Thankfully for her constant need to be on time, she couldn't look for the item and chose to settle for a dark green, double breasted, flap detail blazer under which she wore a black, knitted turtleneck. Paired with one of her white, high-waisted jeans and black boots, she managed to dress perfectly for what awaited her outside.
Harry seemed slightly against the look based on his facial expression, perhaps it was the gold chain she decided to wear on this occasion for no other reason than because it was new, but he did not comment. It would've been rich to hear whatever he had to say, given the distressed, ripped blue jeans he wore, and the graphic t-shirt that River would've been likely to wear to bed, though only if she had no other option.
Besides this, and the slightly overworn pair of trainers—Adidas, if River tried hard enough to make the connection in her brain—he looked like he had better days. Certainly, the facial hair added to the exhaustion that he wore as his main accessory, the energy that leaked from his every move.
It was a strange call River received at six-thirty in the evening, only a few days after the McAllister Fundraiser. Harry asked to meet at a coffee shop which remained open at this odd time of night, one that Anthony seemed familiar with when River told him the address. If Hamilton trusted anyone, it was her chauffeur.
"When you mentioned you needed some advice, I didn't think to bring my contact at the spa along with me," River commented as a form of greeting. Perhaps not the kindest of ways but one nevertheless. "Though, you may need more than a relaxed day. What is the matter?"
Harry let out a chuckle, or what River thought sounded like a chuckle. It was sort of strained and it set the alarm off in her brain. Of course, she knew something was off, though perhaps didn't understand it completely until then.
"Let's head in, shall we?" he proposed, and went to open the door. He let River walk in before him and she walked towards an empty table. Booths tended to provide more privacy and she felt they needed much of it. Harry loomed over the table. "What are you having?"
"Hazelnut latte," she responded. It was her newest obsession. River went through phases where she only drank one thing. For the past two weeks, it had been this.
Harry was gone for all of ten seconds before he appeared on the other side of the table. The smell of his perfume carried on the wind and choked the breath in the back of River's throat. Something about it brought comfort to her, even though its intensity could be deathly.
More than any other question, the one that seemed desperate to leave River's mouth was: did someone die? The only thing that held her back from this was the reality that yes, someone did die. It was Mrs Forbes, Mila's mother. The news came earlier in the day, around twelve, and even before River answered the call she knew in her bones that nothing good would come from it.
