Facade [h.s]

thirty-five

The night of the following day, I found myself ringing Harry's doorbell after my shift at the restaurant.

When he came to open the door he was on his phone, and shushed me even before I could even open my mouth. He moved to the side, allowing me to walk in, and closed the door as soon as I got inside his apartment, his gaze moving from an unspecified void to me as I put the pizza box I'd brought with me on his desk.

I turned around, smiling to myself in the second I saw him, and I had to press my lips together to keep myself from smiling even more. He was standing just a couple of steps away from me, his phone still close to his ear, looking at me as he listened to whatever the person on the other end of the line was saying.

"Hi" I mouthed, moving closer to him and putting a hand on his chest, that was only covered by the thin dark red fabric of the long sleeved v neck tee he was wearing.

His lips parted at my silent greeting but he didn't say a word, opting for grazing my cheek with his hand instead, letting his thumb travel over the curve of my lips as a little frown took over his face. "Really?" He said into the phone, sounding a bit confused, but also surprised. "But why?"

I kissed his thumb and he gave me a little smile, moving closer to me and brushing his lips against my cheek, unintentionally trapping me between him and the wall as he did that.

"Okay" he murmured into my ear as he replied to the person on the other end, sending a shiver down my spine. "Good."

He closed the call and put his phone on the desk next to us before closing the distance between us and pressing his lips against mine.

I immediately hooked my fingers behind his neck and pulled him down towards me the tiniest bit, and he wrapped his arms around my waist from inside the open coat I was still wearing, pushing my back against the door.

"The money isn't a problem anymore" he said as soon as we broke apart, leaving a few kisses on my jawline. "God, I missed you."

"What do you mean, it isn't a problem?" I asked him turning my head towards him, feeling my heart beat faster in my chest. Had my plan actually worked?

Harry shrugged, taking a step away from me and finally letting me out of the little makeshift prison he'd created. "Ryan called, he said I don't owe him anything anymore" he replied, sounding a bit confused. "Odd."

"Yeah, that is weird" I said, clearing my throat and turning around to take my coat off to hide the smile that appeared on my face at the news, hanging it and turning around just to discover Harry was looking at me suspiciously.

"Do you know anything about it?" He asked, and before I could even really think of what I was doing, I shook my head.

"I don't" I said, deciding that he didn't really need to know after all. I was pretty sure he wouldn't have approved, but it had worked perfectly, so what was the point in letting him know? "It's good to know he let you off the hook though."

He nodded, playing with a strand of my hair for some seconds. "It is."

"Anyway" I said, eager to change topic, not wanting him to ask me if I had anything to do with it again, "I brought pizza! I figured it was too late to actually make dinner."

He let out a hum. "That was a good call on your side."

I sent him a little smile. "Of course. I happen to have a lot of good ideas, you know." I took the pizza box and walked towards the couch, moving the empty cup that he'd forgotten on the coffee table to the side to make some room for it.

"If that's what you want to think, who am I to stop you?"

I turned around quickly at his words, sending him a little glare, but shaking his words away, perfectly knowing that he'd only said that to get some kind of reaction from me. "Come here, hunger makes you impudent" I said, sitting down on the couch and patting the spot next to me.