Flat 51

“Come on, you cripple!” Daphne shouted at me as we raced through the terminal, sped through security, and rushed the scans on our bags. The next flight to Paris left in exactly three minutes. My ankle was out of the boot, but was still a bit sore as she pulled me along by my wrist. We’d packed as fast as possible, and she’d insisted on paying for both tickets. She said, and I quote, “No amount of money shall stand in the way of true love!” So here we were, literally shoving people out of the way to get to the plane.

“Move it, people! True love coming through!” she screamed, creating a path through the crowds. I turned a deep red and apologized to people as we flew by.

“Daph, you’re embarrassing me!” I snapped, hoisting my bag a little higher on my shoulder.

“Honey, I have less fucks to give than you have tattoos,” she shouted back. Ouch. I didn’t have any tattoos. We finally made it on the plane, collapsing into our seats to catch our breath. I got the window seat, and immediately put on my pink headphones and played my country playlist. The first song on was ‘Drunk on a Plane’, and thankfully my situation was not being abandoned on my wedding day and taking the honeymoon alone, like the guy in the song. I was going after my man.

Three hours later we landed, and as soon as we had our shit together, I called Louis.

“Helllllo?” he said dramatically. Well, thankfully he wasn’t having sex this time. The two of them thought I hadn’t realized, but I did. I most certainly did.

“Hey Lou, it’s Emily.”

“Oi, what’s up? Haven’t heard from you in a while.” It had been… like… four days.

“It’s only been four days, Louis.”

“Well, I lost track of time.”

“Yeah…” An awkward silence ensued, and I wasn’t sure how to say that I was at the airport in Paris with no money and now way to find him.

“So… did you want to talk to Harry or something?” he asked.

“No!” I said quickly. “N-no, I just, um…” suddenly Daph ripped the phone from my hands.

“Look here, Louis, or whoever the fuck you are, Em’s my best friend and I just flew her all the damn way out here to see this Harry guy because she fucking loves him, so get your high and mighty ass down here to pick us up before I get a fucking police escort!” About five people had turned to stare at her, as she was practically screaming into the speaker. She got ready to hit the ‘end call’ button, but paused to say, “We’re in terminal 5.” And hung up.

“Um, thanks, Daph.”

“No problem. He needed to step on it.”

“So did I,” I replied. Ten minutes later that familiar black SUV pulled up and the driver stepped out to load up our bags.

“Miss White,” he said in greeting in his deep, German voice. He was a rather large man, and I’d grown fond of him in the little time I’d spent at Lou’s house. He was not an attractive person, more like the fatherly type.

“Hi, Reginald!” I said. “This is Daphne Blake, my best friend.”

“Miss Blake.”

“Yeah yeah, we’ve got to get true love back together, so could you please move a bit faster?” She waved him on, growing irritated. I shot her a glare and apologized to Reggie. We jumped in the back and he sped off to wherever Louis and Harry were. That’s when I started to feel the ball of nervousness growing heavier in my stomach. I felt hot and cold. At the same time. I realized I was trembling a little as we pulled up in front of a large apartment complex that looked like a place where the Queen would live.

“He’s in there?” I asked in wonder.

“On the top floor, madam,” Reggie replied. What if Harry didn’t want to see me when we got there? What if this was all a big mistake? I glanced over at Daphne who was squinting at me. She grabbed my hand and pulled me to the other side of the car.

“What the fucking hell. If you’re having second thoughts, don’t. I swear I’ll stab you. He loves you. You walked out, but he didn’t realize you wanted him to come after you. I’ve seen it a thousand times. If he didn’t want you, he would never have come on this trip. If he didn’t want you, the only reason to come would be to sleep with you, and you walked out, so he came to forget you. And we’re not gonna let that happen. Ok?” I sniffed, trying to hold back the tears slipping down my face.

“O-Ok,” I nodded. She grabbed me again and handed me my carry-on bag, taking her own on her back as Reggie carried our big suitcases. We followed him into an enormous elevator, and that’s when I started worrying about my appearance. I was wearing an old pair of red sweats that hugged my bum and thighs, flip-flops, and a navy tank top. Things I would sleep in. Daph looked just as bad. We’d rushed out so fast, we hadn’t even thought about changing.

“We look like homeless people,” she giggled, dropping her bag and fixing my tangled hair. She pulled it back into a neat French braid, which seemed appropriate for our current location, and then I did hers in a high ponytail. She opened her bag and applied a small amounted of make-up, a little powder, eyeliner, and mascara. Yes, the elevator ride was that long. Finally the doors opened just as she finished putting her things away, and we followed Reggie into the apartment. They had the whole floor to themselves apparently, and Louis was there to greet us. He grinned at our appearance.

“Well, you two look like hell,” he laughed. Suddenly I burst into tears, over thinking the whole situation. I did look like hell. I felt like hell. And I wanted Harry like hell, but he probably hated me now.

“Woah, E-Em, I didn’t mean…”

“Look what you did, fucking asshole.” Daph stalked up to him and slapped him, hard, across the face. His head turned on impact and he cradled his reddened cheek in shock. “Come on, baby girl,” she said, leading me to where Reggie went. I looked at Louis apologetically to which he only smiled and winked, then proceeded to check Daphne out with absolutely no shame.

We ended up sharing a bedroom, as the place only had three, and a spa bath on each. We had two large windows on one wall, displaying the city view perfectly. We unpacked and chose our sides of the bed. I couldn’t help but wonder where he was. Was he drunk again? Was he even here?

“I’m gonna find some food,” I said to Daph. She nodded and went back to whatever she was drawing. She loved to draw. I’ll bet it was the view that she was penciling into her notebook.

I wandered around until I ended up in a kitchen, and opened the fridge. It was stocked with every kind of junk food imaginable, so I settled with a pack of chocolate poptarts that I found in a cupboard. I turned and found myself facing a living room space with a large brown sectional and two chairs facing an enormous flatscreen television. I walked through, admiring the splendor of the place I was to be living for the next three days, and then I was facing a large black door. Then I realized that I was looking for him. That’s why I was wandering through the loft, I wanted to find him. So I willingly gave in to my curiosity. Inside I heard a TV going. The door was cracked, so I pushed it open enough for me to see inside.

Harry. He was passed out on the floor, an empty bottle near his hand.

Notes

I really enjoyed writing this chapter. Btw, go check out 'The Journal'. I love it! I've probably said it before, but whatever. Also WMYB is amazeballs. and... Oh, Midnight City. Love Love Love!

DO YOU SHIP DAPH AND LOU OR IS IT JUST ME

BECAUSE I FREAKIN SHIP THEM

Hey, I've noticed that 5 of my subscribers haven't voted yet. You don't have to, but it would mean a lot to me if you did, since the trolls shot down my rating. Thanks bunches! Love you all!

Em XO