Aquarelle [h.s]

twenty-two

I woke up to the loud honking of a car in the streets, and I sat up quickly, not remembering having gone to sleep.

To my surprise, I discovered that I was sitting on the white couch of my studio, my back aching a bit because of the uncomfortable position I'd slept in. I glanced around, and it didn't take me long to notice that someone else was occupying the other end of the couch, cuddled up against the armrest in a position that couldn't have been comfortable.

I sighed, contemplating what I should've done. I really didn't feel like standing up, my bones sore after having spent the rest of my night cuddled up on the couch. I wondered when I'd even fallen asleep, I didn't remember doing it. I remembered that we'd washed our hands and gone to sit on the couch, deciding to talk a bit, since Harry hadn't seemed to have any intention of going back to his apartment just yet - and I too hadn't been looking forward to him leaving. The next step was almost logical, considering the premises.

I sighed, turning my head to the side and tiredly grabbing my phone, that had fallen to the ground at some point during the night. I unlocked the screen, immediately discovering that I had fifteen missed calls from Nicholas, but I chose to ignore them, preferring to just check the time instead.

My eyes widened as soon as I noticed what time it was, and I stood up so fast that the couch moved. "Harry" I said quickly, not even stopping to observe him as he slept, and I put my hand on his shoulder, shaking it gently in an attempt to wake him up.

He murmured something incoherent, a frown on his face, his lips pouting slightly for a few seconds as he slowly seemed to wake up. "Yeah?" He asked, his voice heavy from his sleep, and I would've probably found it cute, if it wasn't so late.

"It's nine in the morning" I said, and that alone was enough to wake him up for good.

"What?" He said, sounding a bit shocked, sitting up and blinking a few times as he tried to get used to the yellow light that was enveloping the studio.

"Trust me, I know" I told him, finally turning away from him as I considered the task of waking him up done and taking in the messy room in front of me. "I don't know about you, but I'm really late."

He let out a low hum. "I'll just work from home" he said, taking a deep breath before standing up. "I wouldn't be able to make it to the office on time anyway."

"I wish I had that option too" I replied. "I can drive you back home if you want? Just let me fix this mess first though, we left everything on the floor."

Harry nodded, brushing his dark hair back and giving a look around as well. "I'll help you" he stated, and I couldn't help but be glad about it.

"Alright so, just put all the dirty dishes together and the brushes on top, I'll clean them later. Leave them on my desk" I instructed as I got down to my knees and I took all the bottles of paint and started putting them back into my dresser where they belonged.

We worked for a few minutes in silence, and it thankfully didn't take long to partially fix that mess. After that, we carefully lifted and rolled up our artwork, that we'd left on the floor to dry during the night, and put it back in a corner of the room where it belonged.

I stood up and grabbed my phone, quickly searching for a number and clicking on it, ready to do some damage control, under Harry's curious gaze.

It rang for a couple of times, but then the person on the other side finally picked up. "Sierra?" I heard a feminine voice say, and I sighed.

"Hi Beatrice" I replied, sending Harry a quick glance, hoping that he'd get the hint and be quiet while I spoke. "I'm afraid I'm running a bit late today. Has the Saertren collection arrived already?"