Being Harrison Bloom’s Girl

There was nothing he could do about it.

So Harrison decided to stay home, which wasn’t home anymore because Leigh wasn’t there anymore, and got stinking drunk.

And it still couldn’t stop the pain.

Leigh stared at the phone.

So, Harrison didn’t want to be friends.

She hadn’t expected him to cut her out of her life. Maybe she’d been an idiot not to expect it, considering that she had demanded a break and run away from him like a maniac.

But she’d hoped that what they’d had – before they’d become more – would be worth more to him.

“Why the long face?”

Leigh looked up to see Hana, a very concerned look on her animated face.

Leigh tried to smile, but she couldn’t quite make it work.

“I called Harrison. He doesn’t want to talk to me anymore.”

“Oh. Oh, I’m so sorry, Leigh. It’s all fu*ked up, isn’t it? I’m very sorry.”

Leigh shrugged.

“It’s fine. Sometimes, things just aren’t meant to be. You were right about the pressures, and just cutting your losses before it’s too late. I didn’t and now Harrison doesn’t even want to talk to me. I don’t know why I thought we’d be friends, but…”

Hana sat down next to Leigh and slipped an arm around her shoulder.

“I know why. He’s important to you. He will always be important to you. He’s family, so he has to be.”

Leigh sighed again.

“I didn’t think this through. I didn’t think of what it would do to our family.”

Hana smiled.

“I’m sure you’ll figure it out, but for now, you have to stop brooding.”

Leigh took a deep breath – different, she told herself, from a sigh.

“You’re right. I told him I needed a break. I guess I should try to actually take a break, instead of trying to hold on to him a little bit. I should.”

Hana nodded approvingly.

“And I know that that’s easier said than done, but it’s a good start to say it out loud.”

Leigh smiled again, and tried to go on with her day. After all, she’d been doing that well so far. But until that day, it had felt like her choice – that she could have him back when she wanted him. Now the idea of really losing him was becoming real, and as went through the motions, going to class, going to the library, none of it seemed real to her.

“Leigh!”

She turned around and saw Roger.

Then she noticed that he had her paper in his hand.

Oh, sh*t. She braced herself for criticism.

“Leigh, there you are.”

Leigh smiled nervously.

“Here I am,” she agreed.

“I read your paper.”

Leigh waited.

“I’m changing your grade. To an A-minus, because I think you can do better.”

The breath she’d been holding came out in a whoosh.

“Oh. Oh, thank you. I think I was overdue for some good news.”

“Bad news from home? Is everything fine?”

Leigh shook her head quickly, and then tried to nod, giving herself a little crick in the neck.

“Everything’s fine. I’m just having boyfriend troubles, that’s all.”

“Ah, Prince Charming,” said Roger, and Leigh wished she could sink right through the ground.

“Yes,” she muttered.

Roger looked a little contrite.

“I am sorry, Leigh. I didn’t mean to tease you, I’m sure it’s troubling you. Tell you what, come over for dinner. I’ll put your life in grave peril by cooking for you.”

Leigh was about to say no when she wondered why the hell she should say no. But she opened her mouth and ‘no’ wasn’t the word that she heard coming out from it.

“I’d like that. Thank you, Roger.”

Before Leigh could change her mind, she turned around and walked away, telling herself that she had absolutely nothing to feel guilty about – absolutely nothing. She had every right to have dinner with somebody else.

And it wasn’t even like it was a date. He was a guest lecturer, and she was a student. But they were closer in age than most lecturers and students, and he wasn’t a permanent member of the faculty, rationalized Leigh. Besides, it didn’t matter. It wasn’t anything romantic. He had just seen that she was upset, and offered something that might cheer her up a little.

But it lifted her mood a little. That evening, when she was dressing – she was glad Hana was out, she’d told Hana that she would be studying, as if she were ashamed of the truth – she found herself wondering if she should dress up.

Maybe the old Leigh’s style would be more suitable – the sheaths, the dresses, the trim skirts.

But she didn’t feel like the old Leigh.

The old Leigh still felt like Harrison’s Leigh.

Leigh deliberately chose a soft, silk blouse in a vivid pink, which made her dark skin glow, and a pair of jeans that hugged her legs and showed off their toned length. She did her makeup carefully, highlighting her eyes, and styled her hair – she needed a trip to the salon, really, but where did she have the time – efficiently.

Finally, she looked at her reflection in the mirror and nodded.

She didn’t look like the old Leigh, the up-and-coming paralegal with the bright future at a reputed and rather stuffy law firm, where she would go back and become a name partner within a decade.

That had been the plan, anyway.

Now she wasn’t sure of anything.

She didn’t look like a student, either. She looked like something in the middle.

Caught in the middle – that’s how Leigh felt, even if she had apparently burnt a bridge.

Determined to have a good time, Leigh set off. The short walk in the bracing air helped a little. She was glad of the bulky coat she’d chosen.

Roger opened the door before she could knock, and Leigh glanced down at his feet.

“I’m not wearing odd socks,” he informed her, and Leigh grinned, feeling the tension lift.

It would be fine.

She would manage just fine.

“Wow, something sure smells good,” said Leigh, and she meant it.

“I can cook, you know. I just think it’s usually much easier to pay somebody else, like at the takeout place, to do the cooking for you.”

Leigh grinned.

“Must be nice if you can afford it. And make a few salads and chop up a few fruits.”

Roger made a face.

“It’s a hard thing for a grown man to admit, but I still hate vegetables. I can manage a few fruits, but vegetables…”

Leigh laughed.

“So, are we having meat with a side of fish and fowl to finish?”

Roger grinned. Leigh sighed a little on the inside. He did have a lovely smile. It looked just a little absent-minded, and he was still wearing his reading glasses.

Smiling, she reached for them, taking them off him.

“They’re splattered with whatever you’re cooking. I’ll clean them for you.”

Roger looked surprised.

“I didn’t even notice I was wearing them,” he admitted, and Leigh grinned again, letting herself relax, slowly. There was something about Roger that just put you at ease. There were no affectations about him.