Hands

Four.

We reached the door near the parking lot and stepped outside. The sun was high in the sky, beaming down and warming the air around the black asphalt we walked on. I reached my car and opened the door, cursing myself for forgetting to lock it the night before, though, there was nothing valuable inside anyways. I set both bags and my purse in the front seat before opening the back door to put Clio inside.

"Alright Princess, it's time for you and your mama to get going," Harry said gently, letting go of Clio's hand and patting her back lightly. I raised my eyebrow at the nickname he called her, but decided it didn't matter.

Clio hesitantly walked towards me and I helped her climb into the backseat. She sat in her car seat and I fastened the straps, locking her in. She frowned and kicked her feet lightly, staring at Harry who was awkwardly standing near the front of the car, his hands clasped behind his back. I shut the door and walked over to him.

"Oh, I better give you that room key back," I started, reaching into my purse and pulling out the little white card. I turned around and handed it to him. He took it and quickly stuffed it into his back pocket.

"Umm well," I started.

"Elora, I," Harry and I spoke at the same time. There was an awkward silence for a moment before I spoke up finally.

"We better get going. We've got a lot of ground to cover today," I smiled awkwardly, wanting to escape this uncomfortable 'goodbye' situation with every fiber of my being.

"Yeah, so I guess this is goodbye," Harry smiled, though, this was not his usual obnoxious smirk that I'd come to know in the past twelve hours. This smile was forced. Harry scratched the back of his neck and glanced down at his feet, avoiding eye contact with me.

"I guess it is," I started. "Listen, Harry, thank you so much for everything. If there's any way I can repay you, don't hesitate to reach out," I expressed. I quickly wrote down my number on a strip of paper with an old pen in my purse, and handed it to him. Harry's eyes widened but he tried to hide it quickly.

"No need to repay me," Harry insisted as he shuffled his feet. "It was my pleasure. Drive safely okay? I'll see you soon," Harry smiled, this time, his usual smirk was back. I couldn't help but smile back at him as I climbed in the driver's seat. I closed the door and buckled my seatbelt.

I realized that Harry probably thought I was flirting by giving him my number. But it didn't matter since I was about to leave and most likely wouldn't ever see him again.

I dug my keys out of my purse and stuck the key in the ignition. I turned it. Nothing. Frowning, I turned the key again and was still met with nothing. Harry stood back, watching me. Fuck, this is embarrassing. Why now? I continued to try to start the engine, each key turn being met with silence. I finally gave up. Leaning forward in defeat, I accidentally touched the middle of the steering wheel which caused a loud beep to pierce the air.

I didn't even have to look in the mirror to see that I was beet red. Clio giggled in the backseat at the sound of the horn. I didn't even dare to look at Harry, knowing that he would have that goddamn smirk on his face again. I tried a few more times to get the engine to start but still no luck. The battery must have been dead.

"Shit," I muttered to myself.

"Shit," Clio shrieked from the backseat.

"Clio, we don't use that word. That word is for grown ups only, do you understand me," knowing that I had messed up by swearing in front of her. With my current luck, she'd be working that into her regular vocabulary often from now on.

"Okay mama," Clio complied. I was thankful that she didn't try to argue this time. I risked taking a glance at Harry. I was right about the smirk, but he was looking at his phone instead of at me.