Asleep {h.s}

viii - 1984

So sorry that I didn't post this earlier and that it's not fully edited since I'm on my phone. Hope you like it anyway <3

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// past //

It was a normal day at work for Azalea. She had opened the store at nine a.m., the sun was shining and people were walking in the streets enjoying a warm day in London. Most people would've been upset to be stuck at work on such a beautiful day, but not Azalea. She loved her job more than anything, even if her tasks were simply to place books, to make sure that everything was clean and to answer the customers' questions. She had been working there for a little bit over a year now and she still woke up motivated to go to work. Her favourite part about the job was that when all of her tasks were completed, she was allowed to sit at the counter and read.

It was Saturday, which meant that there were no books to be placed since they never received new books during the weekends. She had cleaned everything up in less than thirty minutes and there weren't any customers. So Azalea grabbed a random book and sat at the counter. Another good thing was that the counter was right next to a big window, which allowed Azalea to look in the streets and enjoy the warm feeling of the sun from where she sat.

She put down the book on the counter and rested her chin on her hand. She didn't feel like reading right now.

It had been two weeks she came back from Ireland with her friends. It had truly been the trip of a lifetime. Niall and Harry had ended up joining them a second time after they visited Mullingar. They had all met up to go and see the Cliffs of Moher. That time again, Azalea ended up spending most of the day with Harry, although they didn't talk much. The beauty of the place had blown Azalea away and they simply sat in the grass and enjoyed the view.
The silence between them had been comfortable. Even if part of them would've liked to get to know the other better, it was still a perfect moment.

But they hadn't been in contact since then. It had been two weeks and Azalea hadn't heard from Harry. She still held on to the hope that Harry would come by the bookshop like he had promised.
However she had hoped it would've been sooner. After all this time, part of her started to think that he had forgotten about her. That feeling was amplified once she learned that Harry was supposed to be in London because he was having a concert here in a couple of days.

After they met, she couldn't help but look him up a little more. She knew about One Direction, but again who didn't know about them in the UK. She had learned that Harry was going on a world tour, starting with their first show in London. Although she was glad for Harry, knowing all this saddened her and only made her realize how she was probably not meant to be in Harry's life. After all, he was part of a famous band and she was a simple student working in a book shop. They were from two completely different worlds and he had much better things to do but to read a book to please some girl he saw a couple of times.
Of course she was disappointed, she had had an amazing time in Harry's company and she thought he had too, but maybe she was wrong.

But she wasn't wrong, because that day at 11:30, the bell at the entrance of the shop rang and a curly haired boy walked through the door. Azalea lifted her eyes from her book to greet the customer and her smile immediately widen once she saw who it was. He returned her smile, relieved that she was happy to see him.

Harry had been sitting in his car, in front of the store, for more then thirty minutes, rehearsing what he would say to her. Again, he had been struck with insecurities that held him back.

Will she remember me? Will she be happy to see me? Should I have come sooner?

He didn't want to seem desperate to see her, although that's what he was. Two weeks was too long to him but he didn't want to come across as annoying. He had given her some time, hoping that she would eventually miss him too.
Once he saw her face again he regretted not seeing her sooner. Her smile struck him like lightning. He had forgotten how her eyes lit up when she smiled. He had forgotten how beautiful her smile was. He knew that he had missed her, but just now, he realized just how much he did.