Everywhere: Book 3 of the Nowhere Trilogy

21. Out of Nowhere Girl

I don't wanna leave here alone anymore - Luke Bryan

11:53 PM, Thursday, December 23, 2021

"What are you doing for the holiday, Hélène?" Chele asks as the three of them sit side by side on the couch. A "sandwich au Harry" is the way the photographer describes it.

"Merci de demander," the dynamo says, "Harry, que penses-tu de celle-ci?" She points to a photo, opening it on her computer to make it bigger. "Je peux enhance the photo slightly to diminution the contexte." As the musician looks over the picture, Hélène answers the question. "Je vole à Chicago. Un ami est en réunion." She often speaks in a hybrid of French and English which assists Chele in learning her French, even if she doesn't understand every word.Harry comprehends more of it, but Chele is determined to learn the language.

"Oh lovely!" Chele leans backwards to see around Harry whose hands are on his knees as he examines the photo. "So you'll already be there for the next show. That makes life so much easier."

"Oui. Et vous? Quels sont vous plans?"

Biting her lip, Chele now regrets opening the conversation. "I'm going home for a few days. My family will be surprised to see me because they don't know. I fly out in the morning, and I'm very excited to see their faces when I arrive."

"Parfaite!" the Frenchwoman comments. "Et Harry? Comment fêtez-vous?"

"I like this one." He points to a picture next to the one Hélène was showing him. "It's got better contrast."

"Mais il y a tellement de gens, Harry!" she admonishes. "Ce n'est pas flatteur. Ton menton..."

He shrugs. "It's the one I like. My mum is flying in for Christmas and New Year's. We're going on holiday to an 'undisclosed location'." He uses physical quotation marks around the final two words of the statement, and his protectiveness makes Chele smile. Immediately after, however, her mind begins to fixate on meeting Harry's mother. It's a scary proposition, especially since she and Harry aren't in a committed relationship. Not really anyway. Crap on a cracker! Now she definitely won't sleep as her brain processes Anne's visit.

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8:07 AM, Friday, December 24, 2021

Harry watches as Chele paces the length of the lounge for the eighty-fourth time. At least he thinks that's how many laps it's been. He'd lost count at 31 when the text had arrived from his mum that her plane had landed.

"She should be here soon," he mutters. A commotion rises at the doors to the lounge, and Harry smiles. "That would be her."

Alarm crosses Chele's face. "Are you sure? I'm not ready."

He chuckles, "I think if you had another 40 years you would still say you're not ready."

"True," she agrees eagerly, wringing her hands as the door to their private waiting room opens and a gorgeous woman with shoulder-length hair breezes in.

"Love, you didn't tell me you were using an alias. The front desk gave me such a hard time when I asked for my son Harry Styles. Apparently today you're Garrett Blake. Why can't you be more original?"

"Because then you wouldn't even know where to start. How many Nicholas Sparks' characters did you guess before arriving at the correct one?" he chuckles.

"Well I started with Noah Calhoun and then went to John Tyree. Luckily, someone else at the counter held up a picture of a bottle, and that's how I knew." Dropping her carry-on bag at her feet, she sweeps her arms around him, hugging tightly. Over Anne's shoulder, Harry smiles at Chele.