𝑭𝒂𝒄𝒂𝒅𝒆

.café..

one month later....

carter... I'm sorr-
i love y-
can we fix this?

elisabeth started typing but each time she managed to complete or almost manage to complete a sentence she deleted it simply because she didn't know what to say or how to say it.

or perhaps it was just a waste of her time and there was nothing left to do but wait.

so she sat at a diner, a diner she used to go to when life wasn't so complicated and she didn't have to deal with the media and she didn't have to smile or keep her chin up or wave.

she was just her, elisabeth.

she missed that.

"the usual, lis?" the waitress; dawn asked as she poured a hot brew of coffee in her cup.

"um, no just the coffee is good for right now, thank you."

the diner was the same

the people seemed the same

except for one.

the one with the brown loose curls and green eyes, with a giddy smile and a warm heart.

he seemed different or perhaps it was simply because he was new to town.

it didn't stop her from staring at him well until his gaze met hers and she turned away, returning back to the balance sheets she was trying to finish up.

it didn't stop her from gazing at him for a few more seconds as he finished up his espresso, throwing out the cup and taking time to throw out the things that belonged in the recycling and in the garbage.

and he noticed her, her curiosity being the first thing as he turned, giving her a small wave and she looked down at her cup immediately; cheeks flushing red.

it wasn't like her to lose composure.

she looked up once more to see that he was gone from her sight, sighing she went back to her work, mumbling a few curse words for getting distracted so easily.

but there he was again, as he walked to her with a scone in his hand and a smile on his face.

he placed the dessert on her table, making elisabeth look up.

"i just... um, i didn't really see you eat- uh anything so. yeah.. um, yeah. there you go," he stuttered as he cursed himself in his head for being an idiot

"thank you," she said smiling, looking in the bag to see the sweet treat.

"i swear i had a much smoother line prepared in my head and then it was like everything from my mind just left when i got the opportunity," he said while laughing making her laugh as well.

"i'll take your word for it. i'm elisabeth."

"harry."

and that was how the conversations started and the rendezvous happened constantly. she hid under a mask almost her whole life and little did she know she can just be her with him.

she wouldn't have to fake a smile

and keep her head up.

she could cry if she felt like it

and hang her head down in shame.

but as of right now it was just the greetings between the two with small flushed cheeks and cheesy jokes and wide smiles.

"i've never seen you before,"

"hmm.. yeah, i just moved here. about two months ago."

"how are you liking it here?"

"it's simple. i guess, kind of boring."

she smiled. "it is, don't really understand why you would move here."

"i guess when everything is chaotic... boring is good."

and she didn't have to know the full story but she knew there was more from what he said.

she knew how it felt... the chaos.

but she kept her chin up, she smiled.

"who's the lucky guy?" he asked a glint of disappointed in his eyes however keeping his smile wide as he pointed at her ring.

"not so very lucky," she replied with a sarcastic chuckle. "we.. um, we're getting a divorce," she lied.

she didn't know why she did. maybe because she felt ashamed that they were still married and slept in different beds.

or she was ashamed because she still had to kiss him in front of the cameras and pretend that everything was okay when it really isn't.

and everyone was just blind

or perhaps she was just a good liar.

"well that's his loss then," he said sitting on the seat beside her which caused her to look around.

no cameras

check.

no whispers.

check.

no lingering eyes.

check.

"i guess it depends on who's perspective you see, right?" she put her papers away in her bag. "For all you know it could've been my fault."

"but i don't," he simply replied. "so let me get to know you, elisabeth..."

"rose.... elisabeth rose."

not rose-king

just rose.

the real her.

"beautiful."

and she didn't know how she felt about showing him the real her or maybe she wasn't really trying and he would soon bring it out of her.

but she was yet to know how vulnerable she would be left for him.

"do you want to get out of here?" she asked him.

harry nodded his head immediately, grabbing her hand. "ready when you are."

"i have to warn you, i'm not much for adventures."

"well, I guess I'm going to have to give you one then."

and that day was the start of the rendezvous

the kisses and the laughs and giggles.

the affair that really didn't seem like an affair

she wouldn't have to hide.

yet.

a.n/// my favourite song right now is when the party's over by Billie Eilish it's so sad and beautiful and very inspirational I love it.