Wish [Harry] On Hold

01 | G e n t l e m a n

[Dedicated to amandaJtommo because you're the bestest!]

THE FIRST TIME I saw him was at a work do. Our first interaction wasn't quite like those that are often displayed in romantic comedies - it was anything but. The only thing that was mildly similar was the gaze we'd shared for a short period of time. That had been enough to make my stomach erupt into butterflies. Luckily, we were both standing at opposite ends of the room - he, with his girlfriend and other work colleagues and me by myself, serving finger food behind a table - so he hadn't managed to catch my not-so-subtle sigh of affection.

I like him, I'd found myself thinking throughout the entire evening. Just everything about him, from the way he confidently held himself to the way he smiled at whoever he was conversing with, instantly made me like him. I hadn't even had the chance to talk to him before I'd decided that he was definitely worth obsessing over. I found myself thanking God for having all the departments being invited to the party.

The work do was to celebrate the retirement of Norman Phillips - who had worked in repairs for ten years - and it just so happened that everyone from the entire company had been invited to wish him the best of luck with whatever he moved on to do. Therefore, I found myself ogling at the stranger from the finance department, a delight who I had never seen before that evening.

He was tall, lean yet muscular with a contagious smile and long, messy hair. Often he moved to push it out of his face by running his long fingers through it, but that only resulted with it flopping back down in front of his face a minute later. He looked and seemed to be normal, cheery and always smiling at whoever he was with. I only wished that the person he was chatting with could have been me. Talking to him about anything would have satisfied me; what he had for breakfast, what his opinion was of global warming, what sort of thing he looked for in a partner, just ... anything. As long as it distracted me from the miserable job that was serving employees cucumber sandwiches.

I glanced down at my phone. The time was 10:34 PM, and all I longed for was my bed. The night had been fun to begin with but as time dragged on, my eye-lids drooped further. It wasn't as if I hadn't had a good time, it was more like people should know when to stop and head home. No-one had left yet except for Norman. Clearly he couldn't wait to leave the shit-hole that was the ERHA and start his retirement a night early. Not that I blamed him, I wasn't fond of my job either but it paid well and got me through life.

Outside was wet. It had been raining since six o'clock and I was dreading the walk home. I didn't live too far, just a few streets down but that was all it took to become completely and utterly drenched to the point where you have no choice but to blow-dry the insides of your shoes to vanquish the dampness before future use. I thought about that; the battle between the rain and myself that was no doubt going to occur in a couple more hours. Less than that if I were lucky.

And that's when it happened.

"Hey," said an unfamiliar voice, stunning me for a moment. I looked up into the eyes of the man I had been observing for the majority of the evening, my mouth falling agape as he looked down at me. When had he made his way over to my table? Was he actually talking to me, or was it one of those awkward moments where you think the hot guy is talking to you but in actual fact, it happens to be some random person behind you? I looked over my shoulder for a moment, making sure it indeed was me that he was talking to. I felt stupid when my face nearly became squashed up against the wall.