𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝑺𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝑵𝒆𝒘 𝒀𝒐𝒓𝒌 {𝑯.𝑺}

Chapter Twenty One | Bakeries and Soft Smiles

New York traffic was never fun.

Whenever I experienced it with Alice, I always gripped my seat for dear life. She certainly had the chronic case of road rage, and was never shy of giving her two cents whenever someone wronged her.

However, all I needed was a really great playlist to be able to ignore the horrible drivers I always encountered. I tried to be patient-and calm-because you never knew if someone was trigger happy. However, it was a bit hard to be patient today because I was supposed to be spending time with Harry, and no amount of music could calm my nerves for that.

I exhaled, drumming my fingers against the steering wheel anxiously. Why was this taking so long?

After ages of waiting, I was finally able to go to the other side of town. It was quieter here and way less busy. Harry texted me the suggestion this morning and I immediately agreed-the quieter, the better.

We were going to a bakery shop that Alice had taken me to a few times before. It was quaint-an old business from a friend of Alice's. It drew in an older crowd due to the fact that it was in a neighborhood that mostly consisted of senior citizens. But it was great for someone like Harry.

Once I found a parking spot, I took a few deep breaths, slathering my lips with chapstick before deciding to grow some courage. I grabbed my purse and stepped out of the car, hit with the cold autumn air of a typical Saturday morning.

The bakery had a few customers inside, a slight hum of voices filling the atmosphere as people remained at their respective tables.

Harry stuck out like a sore thumb.

He was wearing lilac trousers, an oversized white jumper and a black fisherman cap. A tan cashmere coat was hanging off the back of his chair as he peered down at his phone, eyebrows furrowed and lips pursed in concentration.

He looked warm and inviting. As if he was the friendliest and purest human to ever exist; as if he spent his free time in bakery shops on a daily basis.

A faint smile grew on my lips as my feet led me to him. I was incredibly nervous but I tried not to think about what I was actually doing. The more I thought about it, the more nervous I became. And this was supposed to be a chill day.

My combat boots thumped against the tile floor, alerting Harry once I was close. He glanced up at me, eyes widening and lips parting.

"Hi Harry." I greeted, giving him a genial smile.

For a few milliseconds, he remained frozen. Then he cleared his throat, laughing softly with a tender expression. "Hello Mia."

I was surprised when he stood to his feet and hugged me. It was the very first time we had physical contact with each other, but it didn't take me long to hug him back. I was grateful for it. It made this seem more real.

"Do you um," He chewed on his bottom lip. "We can order something if you want? I wanted to wait until you got here."

"Sounds perfect." I nodded. "I hope you weren't waiting for long. I was stuck in traffic."

His smile widened. "No, not long."

Soon, we were in line. I could feel him staring at me-burning the side of my face as I inspected the bakery.

I grinned, glancing at him. "Pictures last longer."

He laugh. "Oh, I-" He cut himself off abruptly, glancing away with red cheeks. "Sorry."

"I'm just joking with you," I reassured, bumping my shoulder with his. "No need to be sorry, Harry."

We were at the front counter now. He didn't know what to order, so I helped him out with a few suggestions. It took a while, considering that he was oddly picky with his food. To Harry, some of the pastries seemed like their consistency would be 'too doughy'. He also muttered something along the lines of, "not liking buttermilk and cream cheese frosting." So after a while, he ordered the same as me-chocolate chip cookies.

Five minutes later, we were finally back in our seats, quietly eating our cookies while sipping on hot chocolate.

There was a long stretch of silence. A thick tension lingered in the air-so thick that it was nearly palpable. My lips felt as if they were glued shut, tongue not capable of forming any words despite my brain screaming at me to do so.

We were doing everything in our power to avoid each other's gaze-looking at our surroundings to distract us from speaking. Harry had a certain expression on his face; eager yet hesitant. He looked like he wanted to say something-anything-but there was something holding him back.

I chewed on my lip thoughtfully, trying to form a coherent sentence that would break this silence. But I couldn't.

It was shocking because I had become skilled at filling the air with empty words. Growing up in the family that I had, we all kept to ourselves, communicating when necessary and having pointless conversations just to puff up our egos. So I knew all about talking for the sake of it.

But Harry had a different effect on me in this moment. In fact, I was tongue-tied. It was pretty surprising, to say the least.

With a few soft exhales, he shifted his green eyes to me, attention acutely focused. I waited with anticipation, not able to help but pull at the hem of my shirt due to my nerves.

"I wrote a song about you," He stated hesitantly. His speech was slow, deep and wary.

That caused me to relax. "I know. I heard it."

His emerald eyes flashed with harsh curiosity.

It was odd to be having this conversation with him-after he already released the song, and after the entire world already heard it. I wasn't sure what he expected. Did he think I was completely oblivious to social media? It was a song that had been the talk of the town on all social media platforms. I was a little slow when it came to technology, but I wasn't completely lost.

"I should've talked to you first. I'm sorry, Mia. I just-it was the only way that I could fully process what happened. The only way that I could cope." He began to explain, leaning forward. He rested his weight on his elbows, eyes gazing at every inch of my face. "It was an expression of all the anger and confusion I felt at that time. But it was never directed towards you, just the situation itself. I hate public disasters like that."

I shrugged, cracking a smile. "It was pretty dark. But that's what makes it such a good song."

"You think so?"

"Of course. I was kind of upset at first but it wore off eventually."

He smiled warmly.

I soon became too distracted with admiring him to successfully continue our conversation. He didn't seem to mind, staring at me in return.

"Tell me more about you, Mia." He added, completely intrigued, which he appeared to be this entire morning.

It seemed like he loved to listen just as much as I liked to talk, and that couldn't have made me feel any more content.