sugar baby [h.s]

twenty one

"Elena honey, where have you been, you haven't been answering the phone!" My mum immediately jumps onto my case as soon as I answer the phone.

"I'm sorry mum, things have just gotten a little busy. How are you?" It's been a few days since I promised to call her and I feel really bad, but things have been a little crazy for me. Dealing with all of this stuff with Harry has been really taking over a lot of my spare time and a lot of my headspace. It's been two days since we last talked and I'm scared to be the first one to reach out, I'm scared that maybe I did something wrong and he doesn't want to talk to me.

"Oh I'm okay, I miss you sweetheart. How are things going?" She replies with a soft sigh, she sounds tired.

"I'm okay, work and school has been keeping me busy" I lie. "Are you getting enough sleep mum? You sound a little tired?"

"Oh I'm fine don't worry about me. I saw the paper the other day, and what a shock I got when I saw my little angels face in the society pages!" Her tone immediately changes into one that is light and airy. I know it doesn't sound like a question, but I know I have to respond like it is one. If I had known I was going to be in the paper I would have warned her, or maybe I would have forgotten like the terrible daughter I am.

"Yeah uh I'm sure it was a shock, yeah it was a charity event, quite classy, I stuck out like a sore thumb" I mumbled my way through the statement. I hadn't even told mum that I was dating anyone, and this is the way I have to tell her? I should have talked to her on the phone more recently, I need to prioritise her a lot more than I do. I'm scared that I'm all she has, and I need to start taking that more seriously.

"Don't you start with that you looked absolutely stunning, and who was that handsome boy you were with?" She asks. I'm not sure how much research she's already done on Harry. I hope not as much as I have over the last few weeks of knowing him. The articles about his hotels and charity work are inspired, he talks so passionately about the various causes he supports. But the slimier tabloid issues describe him as an arrogant playboy who has flings with models and young members of royalty. I'm scared the articles baring my name and photo will soon begin, and I'll be added to a long list of names detailing his conquests.

"That's um, that's Harry. We've been sort of...dating" I stutter out finally. She doesn't say anything for a few moments and it makes me quite nervous. I know she always wanted to have these sorts of conversations with me as I was growing up, but I was less than interested. She would always ask me if I had any 'little crushes' and she even tried to have the sex talk with me, which went about as well as you can imagine between two very awkward humans having to have such an awkward conversation.

"Darling that's wonderful! How long has that been happening for?" She asks after around 20 seconds of complete silence, though from her tone I think it's a happy shocked silence not a 'dear god what have you done' kind of silence.

"It's pretty new, nearly a month I think" To think of all the crap we've gone through in not even a month. I've read enough books and seen enough movies to know that couples that have this many issues this early don't last. Even the two people from rival gang members who secretly fall in love have a little bit of fun and peace before things start getting dramatic.

"Well tell me about him!" I can practically hear her curling up in that big arm chair in her room, waiting to hear me drone on and on about him. But I can't, because despite all the time we've spent together I still know very little about who he is as a person. And I don't even know what I'm allowed to tell her because of both the contract and the non-disclosure agreement. Maybe if I talk slow I can make it seem like I've told her more than I have? God I'm pathetic.

"Uh, we met at a bar! It was uh, my friends birthday and he came over to us and we got to talking and uh that was it I guess! He runs hotels, you know those fancy 'Arcadia' ones? Yeah those are his. What else, uh he travels a lot for work which makes things tricky for us but we make it work. I mean we haven't been seeing each other long so we aren't putting too much pressure on it. He's really nice, I like him" I remove the phone from my ear for a moment after I finish talking to take in a deep breath. I was talking rather slowly but my heart was pounding as I lied to her. I was lying, but only partly, and only because I had to. Harry and I did technically meet at a bar or restaurant if you want to get technical.