[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
River Hamilton ended up with a photo of Harry Styles on her phone.
A photo that she had taken of him. Voluntarily.
It seemed almost normal to do what she had done at the café they met at and she had no regrets. In fact, as she looked back on this image of him, she couldn't help but grin like a fool. In her defence, it was an amusing picture. Harry had hit his limit for caffeine that day, or so he had reasoned, when he decided to tilt his mug back completely by balancing it purely on his face. At the time, it caused River to break out in a fit of giggles and the two women, around River's age, seemed to find it equally funny.
Well, it was that, or they thought her reaction was adorable to what they assumed her boyfriend did.
Regardless of the mistake strangers in public establishments made, they continued on talking about nothing at all for hours. It was nine in the evening when the owner came out and kindly asked them if they were finished as they wished to close.
River didn't remember the last time she tipped quite so much after grabbing a coffee.
Once they dropped Harry off at home, Anthony didn't proceed to ask anything of River. The grin on the chauffeur's face communicated things that seemed better off left unsaid.
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The promise she made Harry now weighed on River like bags of rocks pulling her to the ground. Dorian kindly moved his team meeting to accommodate River in his schedule so now she was at the hospital, in her brother's office, and waited for him to appear.
When door opened, it had done so with Dorian already in motion to announce his arrival. "The next hour and thirty minutes are yours. How are you?"
River kept her attention on her brother as he situated himself in his leather chair, the furniture tailored to his back to support him where he constantly complained about pain. Dorian seemed his usual-self which was cheerful and confident. If he had problems or anything that bothered him, River couldn't tell right away.
She decided she wanted to leave it for another day.
Today was about something else. Someone else.
"I'm well," she brushed over the niceties and added right away, "It is in my best interest to provide help for... a friend," she chose her words with careful fingers, sure to keep it vague but direct enough to understand. "Previously, you helped me get someone in touch with a professional, and I'd like you to do this again."
Dorian glanced up from his desk, chin rested against his closed fist. At first, River assumed he wouldn't answer as he barely moved anything—except his eyes, of course—though thankfully, he only appeared to think on an answer.
