No Control ✓

#31 : Choice

"Feeling better?" Harry asked, putting a cup of warm coffee on the table in front of Taylor and another cup of warm coffee on the side of the table. Taylor smiled thinly and nodded her head. Harry pulled out a chair and sat on his original place.

"Thank you, Harry." Taylor said quickly. Harry raised an eyebrow.

"For what?" Harry asked, with a confused look on his face. Taylor smiled again, grabbing her coffee cup and started to drink slowly before putting the cup back on the table.

"You helped me again, when I didn't know what to do. You helped me so much." Harry smiled back.

"You've helped me a lot too. So, we're balanced, right?"

And then, silence fell between them. Taylor lowered her head, staring at the steam rising from the cup with a blank stare, while Harry only watched her sympathetically. Harry hates seeing Taylor like this. Harry hates seeing her being so quiet. Harry prefers to be with the Taylor who's very talkative, and who brightens up anyone's spirit when she's around. Harry took a deep breath and sighed slowly, before looking out at the window of the cafe, where he and Taylor were currently in.

"In the past, when I recently just moved to my new home in London, I had friends. All of them were men. There were four of us. We knew each other because our parents were in very good terms with each other, even though it was only a business relationship. But the four of them were the first friends I ever had. I already consider them as my own brothers. "

Taylor looked up, when Harry was starting to tell one of his stories. Taylor was always interested in hearing Harry's story. He has a life that Taylor thinks is strange and interesting at the same time. But Taylor never imagined how would she be or act if she was in the same position as Harry.

"The five of us are very close. We do everything together. All of that happened because we have the same background. We both received less parental attention. We both received less teaching about socialization. We always get what we want, without needing to know where we got it. " Harry took a breath and turned his gaze to Taylor. Harry smiled thinly.

"Until finally, a girl came into our lives. At that time, we were still around fourteen years old.  Since the girl's arrival, everything changed. The five of us competed with each other to get the girl's attention. Until finally, one by one, we began to distance ourselves from each other. " Harry bowed his head.

"One by one my friends gave up and stayed away. One went to Bradford, because wanted to develop his talent in the field of drawing, one went to Ireland who did nothing and another went to Doncaster to join one of the existing football clubs there, given his talent in that field." Taylor was still paying close attention to Harry's story.

"Then, there remained two people, namely: me and one of my friends. We competed healthily before finally, my friend experienced something he had never expected before. His parents had a car accident and passed away. His parents' company which was painstakingly built up, was taken over by someone else who they trusted deeply. My friend was experiencing depression, before finally, my parents decided to help in his life. " Harry took a breath and slowed it down.

"But, since then, things have really changed. Me and him are no longer close, like we used to be. He's being cold to me and I'm returning the same gesture to him. I don't know what's in his mind. " Harry smiled sadly and Taylor held her breath for a moment. Taylor was silent, trying to process the meaning of Harry's story and a name appeared in her mind.

"Harry, the friend you were just talking about, is it. . . Liam?" Taylor asked doubtfully. Harry raised his face quickly, staring at Taylor with his brows knitted together.