Redemption [h.s]

twenty-seven

"Hey Grace, the boy you brought here some nights ago is here" Chloe said walking casually next to me while she was taking an order to a customer.

I looked around, but I didn't see him anywhere.

"Where is he?" I asked her, trying not to be noticed by the other waiters, and especially by the new one, who seemed to always want to find reasons to bother us.

"He was quite awkward standing near the entrance, so I just told him to go to the balcony while you were in the kitchen. I hope you don't mind."

"I surely don't, thank you" I replied, turning my head to glance out of the French windows, spotting his silhouette against the lights coming from the street. "Do you think you could take the order at table 7? I'll just see why he's here and come back."

She let out a little laugh. "Sure thing, go to your boy. Be fast though, you don't want James to catch you, believe me" she said, whispering the ending part as she pretended to walk past me to go back into the kitchen.

I glanced around, making sure nobody's eyes were on me, and made my way to the balcony door. I opened it fast since it was unlocked, and slid out.

"Hey" I whispered, slowly taking a few steps forward, my arms wrapping around my middle to warm myself up at the contact with the cold weather of the evening.

He was leaning on the railing, looking at the city beneath him. When he heard my voice, he turned his head to meet my gaze.

I walked until I was standing next to him and put my hand on his shoulder, as he was still leaning on the cold iron. "Harry?"

He sighed faintly, a slightly accentuated pinkness on his cheeks and top of his nose because of the freezing cold. "I've seen many things, but only a few could be defined as beautiful. But then I look and I feel like I haven't understood beauty at all."

"What?" I asked, furrowing my eyebrows, letting my hand trail down his arm to rest over his hand, that was just as cold as the air around us.

He shook his head. "It's just something one of my students wrote once. I feel like as time passes, I just understand it more and more."

I hummed at his words. "I know the city from here is quite pretty, but don't you think you're exaggerating a little bit?" I whispered to him, watching him as the corner of his lips turned upwards a little bit.

"I wasn't talking about the landscape" he replied as softly, not wanting to disrupt the moment.

I looked down for a second before glancing at him again as I felt him shuffle a little closer when a cold wind blew through us.

"Why are you here?" I asked him, changing topic, as I leant against the railing just as he was doing, looking at the myriads of light beneath us.

"I figured you would've enjoyed having some company for the walk back home" he said, turning his head towards me.

"You figured right" I replied, "I'll be done in thirty minutes. Do you want to come inside and warm up? I could get you a hot tea or coffee if you want."

"Thank you, but I think I'll just wait here, I don't want to be a bother to you. Besides, the view from here is indeed quite lovely."

"You know you wouldn't bother me, Harry. But okay, I'll come here again when I'm done" I told him, and went back in.

As soon as I got in, I noticed that most of the customers had already left and that the waiters had started cleaning the tables.