Mandolin Rain

Elliot's POV

I woke up the next day with a smile on my face. Who would have thought this time last month I would have stayed spent all day with Harry Styles after a car accident, let alone have him bring me flowers and go to a baseball game. How interesting.

I get ready for my day exceptionally fast considering I showered last night and my hair dried while I slept, I skip the make up as usual, it's not attractive to sweat it off in your first session. I sit down for breakfast, my usual smoothie with oatmeal.

“Hey Lettie. I see you made the news this morning.” Joe tells me as he turns on the coffee machine.

“Made the news? What are you talking about Josepher?” I ask confused.

“You and Harry. At the game yesterday.” He tells me like I should already know I was going to be in the tabloids. To be honest, I hadn’t even thought of it.

“Awesome.” It's all I can say.

“Yeah. I'm pretty sure his girlfriend will be pissed.” Joe starts pulling out sugar and creamer for his coffee cup.

Girlfriend? Harry didn't mention a girlfriend. Not that I wanted to be his girlfriend but it would have been nice to know that he had a girlfriend. I quickly scan my brain to see if he ever mentioned it but I can't think of any time that he said anything about it.

“He didn't tell you he had a girlfriend did he?” Joe asks obviously reading my face.

“Nope. Didn't say a thing.” I say still a little confused with the situation.

“Sorry cuz.” Joe sits down at the table across from me.

“All good. I don't need him to be my boyfriend, we can still be friends.” I finish up my smoothie and the last bite of my oatmeal before I put my empty dishes in the sink.

“Yeah, we'll see about that.” Joe says under his breath like I can't hear him. I ignore his accusations.

“See you later Joe, I have some personal training client to deal with today. Be back around noon.” I shout over my shoulder as I throw my shoes on, grab my keys and head out.

I arrive at the studio, my client today is new to yoga and just needs to learn the basics to get started. The weekend teacher has yet to arrive, but it's still early, the first class doesn't start until nine and it's only eight. My client is set to arrive at 8:30, usually the first session we start off slow and it only takes about a half an hour just to do some assessments.

I flip the lights on to my studio and quick sweep the floors and re roll some yoga mats that were left a mess. I swear that's all I do anymore.

“Good Morning!” I nearly drop the mat I'm rolling up.

“Shit Harry! You scared the crap out of me. How are you so quiet? Like a ninja.” I mutter that last part under my breath. “What are you doing here? I have a client coming in soon.” I tell him. I'm trying not to be irritated but I don't like being scared.

“Surprise! I'm your client.” His face beams.

I can't contain my laughter. “What do you mean you're my client?”

“I signed up for private lessons. I need to get my strength back and the doctor said this would be perfect way to start.” He explains.

“How come you didn't say anything yesterday?” I ask pulling out two mats for us.

“I wanted to surprise you.” He explains.

“So I saw the tabloids this morning.” I state, changing the subject.

“Ah, I was wondering if that would come up. Sorry about that.” He takes his shoe and socks off and places them by the door. I can't help but notice him fumbling with his hair and not making eye contact.

“It's fine. Just a bit of a shock. Apparently I'm a mystery girl.” I smile, still finding this whole situation amusing.

“Well, I broke up with Zoe anyway, I just don't put my personal life on blast like some people do. Don't listen to them when they call you a home wrecker.”

Wait, what? “They called me a home wrecker?” I ask, I'm sure my eyes bulging out of my head. I am far from a home wrecker.

“Oh, I uh-guess you didn't see that one.” Harry responds looking a little shocked. “Sorry.”

“It's fine. I don't have any sort of social media so what I can't see doesn't hurt me and they won't get to me.” I flip my mat over to straighten it out and climb on top. “Ready?” Trying to mask my true feelings, I'd rather not be in this situation at all but Harry is my friend.

So Harry tested terrible with balance and flexibility. I figured he wouldn't do that great considering his recent injuries, but damn.

“I'm not that bad.” Harry tries to explain himself as he pulls his socks on.

“You're terrible Harry.” I remind him as I spray the mats down.

“I've never done yoga before! That's my excuse.” All I can do is laugh.

“You are something else Harold.” I roll my eyes at him and put our mats away.

“Rain! You're here!” My mom enters my studio. Awesome. She would be here on a Saturday morning.

“Hey mom. Mom this is Harry, Harry this is my mom, Stormy.” They exchange pleasantries as I slip my shoes back on.

“Rain, I was wondering if you could take my early class on Monday? I have an appointment to fill some paperwork out.” She asks me.

“Yeah, that's fine, just call me to remind me.”

“Okay, it's at seven so don't be late! Nice to meet you Harry!” She literally skips out of the room.

I'm just waiting for it.

“Don't say anything.” I say over my shoulder.

“Rain?” Here it comes. I turn to Harry and see a larger smile plastered on his face.

“Yes, my name is Rain, my middle name is Elliot. My parents are the only ones that call me Rain and sometimes my brothers and cousins call me it too.” I explain hoping he doesn't make a big deal out of it. Not like I don't like my name I'm just not a huge fan of it.

“Rain, rain, rain. Why Rain?” He asks me, still smiling apparently at my fantastic name.
“My parents are hippies. Can't you tell? Rain is a nature name, I don't know.” I say annoyed hoping for him to finish the conversation.

“Can I call you Rain?” He snorts.

“Call me whatever you want, Rain doesn't bother me, I went by rain the first ten years of my life, just went by Elliot when I went to school because it wasn't as out there.” I explain, even though some people still gave my crap because apparently Elliot was a boys name. But having three older brothers helped out.

“Well I'll still call you Elliot.” He says as he holds the door open for me to walk out.

“Thank you.” Responding to both what he said and his kind gesture of holding the door.

“You're welcome. Want to grab a coffee?”

Notes

Thanks to everyone who has read! Let me know what you think! :)