Farfalla

6.

8:15 PM

The car comes to a stop and I awake to the lack of motion taking in a deep breath and blinking my eyes a few times. Stretching out I saw Harry had pulled up to a hotel that looked of pure luxury. The white brick and lighting pure and bright, unlike the dingy street lights.

Getting up out of the car I followed Harry into the front entry where the lighting became brighter against the dark night sky. My heels clicked against the immaculate white tiled flooring echoing throughout the enormous lobby. The setting was beautiful and looked as though it came straight out of a billionaires dream. Very few people were roaming the lobby due to the darkness outside and ticking of night time. I could infer that anyone staying here was important and had things to do in the early morning to attend to.

"Bonjour! Accueillir au diamant noir!" The lobbyist greeted Harry and I. Then going on to ask what she can do for us.

"I besoin d'une chambre pour deux s'il vous plaît." It genuinely surprised me that Harry would ever say the word please and use polite manners. Although, he may have used proper manners his facial expressions did not match that of kindness. The same frown was still etched on his face, I was almost convinced that that was the only expression he knew.

I also was enchanted by the way his tongue spoke the language of love. The way he pronounced the accents in the words he spoke was hypnotic, I could listen to him speak all day. There were parts of Harry I found to be incredibly beautiful and magnetic like the way he spoke French or the color of his mysterious eyes. Then you had the other side of the spectrum, parts of him that I despised. The parts that were cruel and uncaring.

Grabbing the room key after exchanging information that was most likely all false Harry gestured for me to follow him. I turned my head back to the lobbyist making sure to get in one last word that Harry hadn't.

"Merci!" I called to her before catching up fully with Harry who always was in a hurry of some kind. Everything was so fast paced with him and yes I understood why but it was still exhausting trying to keep up with it all.

The elevator ride up to the penthouse suit felt like forever and a day while I burned in the silence Harry basked in. I wanted to talk to him, ask him questions about why he was the way he was but that would only earn me unwanted negative attention from him. He had told me that one of his rules was not speak until spoken to and that was going to be the hardest of all. I couldn't just talk to myself in my head, I needed someone to talk about everything that has happened.

Coming to our room Harry slipped the key card into the designated slot; waiting for the green light signal. His hand wrapped around the door and opened it up to an oversized room that looked more like a room fit for a princess. The bed was huge stretching wide to fit at least three people comfortably, although this alarmed me seeing that there was only one bed. Where was Harry going to sleep? Surely we weren't going to share a bed were we?

The rest of the room was immaculate, beautiful curtains grazed the floor against the window while the landscapes of Paris twinkled outside. Lights glittered across the city bringing a spark of happiness to develop in my chest. It was all so beautiful and just with one glance outside brought me such wonder and amazement to what this city held.

"It's so beautiful!" I commented out loud turning my head from the window to try and find Harry. Searching for him I found him making sure the locks on the door were secure, something I should have guessed.

Walking over to him I say, "I'm going to get in the shower."

"You need to be quick about it, we have things to do tomorrow and I don't need you complaining about being tired." He answered turning back around to face me. My eyes caught his but I turn around quickly afraid to hold the contact, pacing to the bathroom where I closed the door behind me.

I stripped off my clothing feeling liberated that I was no longer in the sweaty clothing I had been trapped in. Clad in my bra and panties I looked at myself and noticed all the makeup that had washed off and my hair that fell flat and was laced with sweat. I was in short terms a mess.

Turning the facet on I listened to the water run before completely undressing. Stepping into the shower the water hit my body washing away all the dirt and grime my skin had accumulated. I let the water trickle off my body for a long while before deciding to wash my hair and body, I was in no rush to leave the calming effects of the water.

Closing my eyes I massaged the shampoo into my hair. I took my time doing this since this was most likely the only time I would have to myself without Harry. He always had his watchful eyes on me and being in here eliminated that completely. I enjoyed the sound of the water pouring from the head of the shower, it let me forget about everything for a couple of minutes. My thoughts washed down the drain with all the soap suds that pooled by my feet.

Finally deciding to get out I twisted the handle to shut off the water. Grabbing a robe that was hung up a few inches away I wrapped up in it feeling clean and comfortable in the plush white bathrobe. Drying my hair in one of the many towels I walked out of the bathroom to see Harry sitting in a chair concentrated deeply on his phone.

"What are we going to do about the clothing situation?" I asked Harry sitting on the edge of the bed running my fingers through my wet hair. Droplets of water dripping from the blonde ends of my hair I smoothe over and tangles with my fingers.

"Wear what you had on the plane and tomorrow I will figure it out." He told me and even though I wasn't excited about this idea I knew if I protested it would only anger Harry. Deciding against an argument with him I made my way back to the bathroom where I found my bra and panties scattered over the bathroom floor. Putting them back on I covered myself with the robe to avoid Harry seeing me in only my intimates.

Sliding into bed and taking off the robe under the covers I tossed the puffy bathrobe onto the floor. Finding comfort in the white silky sheets I nuzzled my face into the pillow with my eyes only half open. I moved my eyes to Harry who was still typing away on his phone, was he going to sleep? Was I going to wake up next to him? I prayed to god that that didn't happen!

+

4:15 AM

"Stop!" I screamed vocally out into the darkness. The sound of a gunshot pangs in my ears making them ring. "Stop!" I cried out feeling tears roll down my face.

"Mia!" Another voice interrupted the imagery in my head. I shot my eyes open to be met with Harry whos3 face was etched with a mixture of annoyance and worry.

My vision was blurry and made it harder to see from the darkness in the room. Realizing that I wasn't in my own bedroom and that Harry was not Louis I wiped away my tears. Stopping them from continuing to fall I sniffled looking into Harry's eyes, his eyebrows were furrowed and curiosity painted over his eyes.

"What the hell was that?" Harry asked me, his position was to my left side with his hand wrapped around my arm.

"It's nothing... I'm fine." I shaded away from the real reason I had screamed out afraid. I knew that if I told Harry the real reasons behind my sudden freak out he would only mock me more then he already did.

"You're not a very good liar princess." He waited for me to answer him with something other than "it was nothing".

"It was nothing." I breathed in a heavy sigh soothing myself. Harry stood up from the bed moving back to the couch just to the side of the bed.

Sitting up against the headboard of the bed I stare towards the wall with paintings hung from it. I followed each brush stroke in the abstract art piece noticing how the lines intercepted with each other. The piece was busy and with clashing lines caused me to relate the lines to my own life, no direction.

My life has no direction in it since I was four years old. I had been tossed to multiple locations throughout the world with nothing to sustain me. I didn't have a purpose in my life because I didn't have a life. If I were to map out my life it would look much like this painting I couldn't take my eyes off.

"Go back to sleep," Harry ordered pulling me away from the thoughts that reeled in my mind by staring at this abstract art.

"I can't sleep," I confessed giving him the line I usually gave to Louis when this reoccurring nightmare haunted me from night to night. If only I had Louis next to me. If only I had that night light in the corner of the room I could stare into for comfort.

"I will not tolerate any complaining tomorrow from your lack of sleep so be smart." His eyes darted to me when his groggy tone sharpened. I felt embarrassed under his eyes, a common emotion when he looked at me the way he did. I already knew I put myself in the outfield by waking him from a much-needed sleep. Even though I put effort into not ticking Harry off it turned out to be an impossible task so far. It didn't matter what I said or did, Harry would find a way to be utterly annoyed by my presence.

Sinking down back into the bed I felt my eyes droop from needing more rest. My body craved for the sleep my bones needed but the only thing standing in the way of this was my mind. My mind would not let me rest or let me forget about the night that still haunts me.

8:34 AM

Startled by the gush of a breeze and a fabric landing on my exposed torso I rubbed my eyes. Yawning and focusing my vision I saw Harry at the foot of the bed.

"Get up and get dressed." He ordered waiting for me to stand up to his command. Looking down at what he had thrown at me I noticed fresh clothes with tags still attached.

"Thank you." I nodded to Harry rethinking my strategy on getting Harry to even tolerate me. Even though I didn't consider my behavior to be intolerable maybe Harry's point of view of me was different from my own.

"We don't have time to mess around. We have things to do, so get up and get dressed." Harry demanded causing me to cover up with the clothes after I noticed his eyes wondering to my legs. The blanket must have fallen from my night's sleep and exposed me in my bra and panties.

Getting up I covered myself with the folded clothes I clung to running to the bathroom that was a couple feet away. Shutting the door behind me I unfolded the clothing to be very pleased with what Harry had picked out for me. His own personal style was already tasteful but for some reason, it surprised me that he could put together a nice classy outfit for me.

Dropping the black sweater I had the option of topping the high neck lined dress with I held out the strapless soft fabric dress before slipping it on. The dress length hit my high thigh causing the cut of the dress to compliment my toned legs.

Slipping on a pair of socks Harry had also thought of I twirled a little looking at the back of the dress. Smiling to myself that Harry had actually picked out a perfect outfit. Opening up the door I smile wide at Harry unable to contain the little happiness I possessed.

"Thank you for the outfit." I thanked hoping that by him noticing my gratitude he would think differently of me. I hoped that he wouldn't call me princess any longer, the nickname he "cleverly" labeled me with.

"Put some shoes on, you need to be ready to leave at any time." Harry threw a pair of navy converse towards me. Catching them I sat down in a chair and began to lace them.

"Harry?" I asked him keeping my tone open and sweet. If I did ask a question; something he didn't like at all, I wanted to make sure it came off kind.

"What?" Harry snapped already seeing what was coming and already annoyed.

"Can I order some room service? I'm starving." I tied a bow on the last shoe and stood up to look back at Harry.

He scoffed at my request answering with an eye roll, "Starving is hardly a word you should be using in your vocabulary."

Setting myself on fire from the inside at his comment I restrained myself from saying something I shouldn't. I knew reacting to his little comments would only get me in unwanted trouble.

"Please?" I said instead hoping he would comply with my request.

Pinching the bridge of his nose he says, "Fine."

"Thanks," I told him picking up the phone and expressing my ordered the woman on the other line most likely taking note on what I wanted.

It didn't take long for the food delivery. A soft knock was heard against the door within ten minutes of the initial order. Harry was taking care of his own business in the bathroom when I went to open up the door to the server serving me.

"Bonjour!" The man I was met with in front of me carried a silver tin tray with a metallic grey covering over the hot food.

The man's jawline was nicely chiseled and black hair slicked back neatly. His tanned skin tone made his blue eyes pop in a vibrate way that I found attractive. He was dressed in the uniform of a kitchen staff worker which made sense since he was a server.

"Bonjour! Thank you so much." I thanked him, letting him come inside to set up what I had ordered over the phone.

"Your welcome mademoiselle!" He set the tray down on the table and began to lift up the cover. Heart rising up into my throat when I saw that under the cover was not food my eyes dilated. Picking up the gun he came towards me heightening my frightened state. The palms of my hands turned white when I realized I was now in fight or flight mode.

"What are you doing?" My voice was unsteady from fear and on the verge of screaming for Harry. My nerves pricked at my skin from him coming closer to me causing me to back up.

"Shhh.." He pressed his index finger to his lips before grabbing me swiftly. One arm hooked around me while the gun was pointed up towards my jaw.

Letting out a scream for Harry to hear I fought to liberate myself. Kicking and thrashing against his hold I suddenly stopped when I heard the click of the gun he held to me. Becoming frozen my blood ran cold hearing what he had to say next.

"It's such a waste of a pretty face you know. What I would give for a nice piece of p***y like you." The man with a now visible five o'clock shadow pressed his cheek against mine provoking tears that fell instantly upon hearing the words.

"Drop your weapon!" A thundering voice broke the quiet one of the man that held me captive in his arms. Snapping my eyes up I saw Harry with his gun positioned towards the man that tighten his grip on me.

"Or what?" The man holding me challenged almost laughing. In his mind he had the upper hand, he had me at gunpoint.

"Or I'll shoot you between your f*****g eyes." Harry threatened with his arms raised to pull the trigger at any second now.

The man only laughed darkly brushing his tongue against my cheek causing me to close my eyes and whimper from the wet sensation of my captor's tongue. I knew that this was all to irritate Harry further watching his sick actions. More tears poured down my cheeks like a waterfall, I hated that my body was pressed against a stranger.

The man that was still nameless and driven by s****l gestures moved the gun to gaze my hair that he pushed away. Sweat formed making my hair stick to my forehead to which he put effort into tucking it away. Feeling him trail the gun down my thigh and graze my exposed skin it began to trail up my dress I gulped down the fear that was raining over me. An idea came to mind but it needed to be executed quickly with what little opportunity I had to execute it.

"I don't like to repeat myself, drop your weapon and let her go." Harry glared with fire in his eyes watching the man's cruel intentions. You could see the steam coming from Harry after watching the blacked haired man lick my cheek slowly just moments before.

Seeing the opportunity window and taking it I bent my straightened arm and with force elbowed his groin area. Knowing I had inflicted pain on the man he bent over temporality releasing his hold me. Breaking free while he continued to fall to the ground dropping the gun to the side of him I made a dash to Harry. Hair falling behind me when I ran into Harry's arms he took hold of my torso pulling me into him while I hid away my face from what I knew was going to happen.

Like clockwork, a bang echoed on the walls of the hotel room. Crying into his chest for a few moments he pulled me away taking his hands away from where he was holding me. I wished that he would stay close to me a little longer for comfort reasons but I already knew this was all fast-paced therefore there was no time to cry over this.

"We need to get out of here immediately!" Harry instructed pulling the dead body into the bathroom and placing a rug over the pool of blood that had excreted from the bullet wound. "Go!" he fired pressuring me to get out of the room as soon as I could before security and staff filled every inch of this place.

Turning away from Harry who was tying up loose ends I opened up the door and began to press the button for the elevator. Anxiety still present in my bones while I waited for Harry to rush behind me. I wiped my tears feeling the puffiness my eyes. It wasn't long before Harry was walking into the open elevator with me.

"We need to get out of here unseen so act normal. Stop crying and pull yourself together." He instructed me but his words only tuned the facet in my eyes more. Wiping at my red eyes furiously I nodded when we came down to the lobby.

Like I had imagined staff was running in pandemonium, guests of the hotel being asked to stay calm. Others questioning where the shot I had come from, Harry took my hand and quickly slipped out the front entryway to the hotel. Not even bothering to take out the stolen car with us Harry easily blended into the streets of Paris. Walking at a faster pace I wondered if the murder of that man would trail back to us. If I was being intelligent however I knew that Harry would have never used his real name or any other real source of information. There was no way that the hotel staff could find us based on our phony information period.

Hailing for a cab Harry hauled me into the seat to the far right before he sat to the left and demanded to the cab driver to drive. We didn't say a word the entire time we were in the cab, there was nothing I could say in the company of him. Breathing in and out doing my best to calm my nerves and not think back to what had unfolded back at the Black Diamond I looked over at Harry. His jaw was locked and eyes focused on the road in front of us, making sure the driver took every instruction Harry gave him.

We drove for some time, I already knew that we needed to get as far away from that side of town as possible. We seemed to have traveled to the opposite side of Paris for safety reasons until another plan was set in place. I was guessing that Harry was improvising for the moment since none of that was to be expected. However, Harry was prepared for the unexpected he was trained to know what to do if something went wrong. From much conditioning and training, he was able to think on his feet and at the moment execute a plan.

+

6:13 PM

"What are we going to do now?" I asked him sitting on the bed of the new hotel room. This room didn't compare to that of the Black Diamond hotel but it was definitely high class.

Harry ignored me emptying his jeans of guns, putting them on the side table next to the couch. His expression was blank and emotionless when I peered at him waiting for him to answer me.

"Harry?" I questioned my voice lowering to an even softer tone than before.

"Don't worry about it." Was all he said in reply.

Heaving in a deep sigh I laid my head on the pillow of the bed. My shoes and dress still clothed me but the strength to take them off was minimal. Everything about me was tired and I hoped that tonight would be different when it came to my sleeping patterns. I hoped deeply and prayed even that I wouldn't wake up in a nervous mess over my nightmares. This possibility was minimal but I still held onto the thought that it could maybe happen.

Settling my thoughts I watched Harry sit in a chair adjacent to the bed. My eyes drooping lower and lower from the heavy wave of fatigue blanketing me. I felt safe with Harry awake. Today I knew despite my fears that I was going to be okay. Even though Harry was brash and harsh towards me and anything I said I felt safe with him. I knew that he wasn't going to let anything bad happen to me. He had the control in every situation even if it wasn't favorable for him.

-April 25, 2016