"That's all for today. Thanks for the hard work!" I gave a warm grateful smile around the table as my subordinates began to stand up and pack their things. I too, began to gather my papers and documents back into their files. The project was a done deal, another milestone for the company in the making. I couldn't stop a self-satisfied grin from spreading.
"Hey Hermione, join us for dinner?"
I looked up from my stack of files to see some of my colleagues at the door, waiting for my answer. Before I could reply though, my secretary popped her head into the room with a cheeky grin. Oh great.
"She won't join us today." Jessica said playfully as she wriggled her eyebrows a little. "Harry's coming..."
The group let out a unanimous "ohhhhhhh......" and all began to wriggle their eyebrows at me. I rolled my eyes in exasperation. I was afraid of that. I'd never hear the end of it from that bunch. And that Harry should have known better then to call through Jessica instead of my cellphone. I could feel my cheeks heating up as I tried to give them my best Bossy-Hermione reproachful look. But the whole effect was probably ruined by my blush and that annoying little quirk on my lips at the thought of him.
"Don't be ridiculous," I offered earnestly on behalf of Harry and me. I knew he wouldn't mind. "We can join you for dinner."
"Oh, YOU don't be ridiculous. You don't want a third, fourth, fifth and many other wheels rolling around to spoil the mood." Jessica said, waving her hand at the group hanging around the entrance of the meeting room. "All right everyone, shoo! Let's go for dinner!" She couldn't resist wriggling her eyebrows some more. "Bye Hermione!" She sang out in midst as she walked off.
After countless of teasing and wriggling eyebrows, the meeting room was gradually but finally empty. I was left seating alone in the meeting room, packing up the last of my things. Honestly, those bunch of clowns. They were all so serious at work, the best colleagues I can ever ask for. Outside office hours though, was an entirely different matter though. They were as crazy as Luna Lovegood! I giggled a little in the empty room, before realising how ridiculous I sounded. Just as I was good friends with Luna, I got along with this bunch of crazy monkeys too.
Gathering my things in my arms, I eventually got up and walked out of the meeting room. I guess my mind was drifting a bit, I wasn't really aware of my surroundings. But to defend myself, I did not really need to be then, since I knew the office layout inside out and there were no one else left. At least, supposed to be no one else left. Apparently, I was wrong that day. Just as I stepped out of the meeting room, I collided with someone.
"Oh!" My things fell out of my hands as I started to fall, my eyes shut immediately to brace the impact.
"Hey-" a pair of arms came around to encircle my waist. That falling sensation was quickly righted and I literally felt my heart fuzz up. Because I recognised that voice, that stylish hint of cologne as he pulled me up close, that familiar arm as it arched and wrapped around my waist…
Harry.
Yes, I sound like a love-sick fool… but I couldn't really help it. That familiarity was so strong; I surprised myself with how aware I was of everything about him. I hate myself for being so impeccably obsessed with him, as I have told him a million times already to his amusement. I had tried to maintain my usual feminine independence around him and in my opinion, failed miserably. But he always told me that I was the strongest woman he had ever met, with my own opinions and my own mind, unlike the other girls.
"What am I going to do with you, Mione?" Harry chuckled in my ear, his deep voice shaking me to my core. I could feel him smiling, that was how close we were. "You can't seem to keep yourself upright every time I meet you."
"Ha Ha, real funny." I mumbled in his shoulder, a little embarrassed to correct him that my lack of balance was not limited to his presence. "You can let go of me, that's a suggestion." I didn't really want that of course, my arms going around him to hug him. Harry chuckled again, knowing that I was a conniving two-faced fool. This guy knew me practically inside out. He didn't let go of me as he pulled away slightly to look at me.
"You okay?" His green eyes gazed at me in concern, trying to assess my well-being.
I sighed at his concern. "Yes, I'm fine." I shrugged in his arms. "I was just a little distracted. Don't worry." I threw in a smile to reassure him.
"It's past office hours. You can start thinking about other things outside the office now." He shook his head at me, satisfied that I really was fine. "For example, you can help me think of what to add to the dinner table tonight."
We let go of each other, kneeling down to pick up my documents that had scattered all around the floor. I stopped midway of picking my sheets of my proposal to give him a pointed look.
"Harry, mum and dad said you didn't have to bring anything over."
"I know. I don't have to but I want to. It's rude not to." He gave me that impish grin that I loved and hated so much. "Besides, I bet Daniel and Elizabeth were expecting me to bring something already. It's rude to ask someone to add to dinner too, you know. But you bring it without them asking anyway. It's called mutual understanding. "
I raised an eyebrow at him, packing up the last of my things. We straightened up, Harry taking my pile of things instinctively. He started off in the direction of my office, slow enough to let me pass him to the front of him. Gentleman he was, one of the rare traits in men nowadays.
"Jessica and the other girls aren't here, you know. You don't have to show off." I teased him for good measure. They were so impressed with Harry when they first met him, Harry was so embarrassed by it that it became my personal joke for him, to his chagrin.
His eyes narrowed in mock threat. "Hermione….. Don't start that again please."
"What?" My eyes widened innocently, my voice tinged with humour. "They really are not around."
He scowled at me, his handsome features somewhat morphed into a boyish charm that appealed to me anyway. He sped up and overtook me, careful not to knock into me in the small aisle. I laughed in delight at his rare bout of childishness as he disappeared into my office. Before I could step in myself, he had already come out to join me with his hands empty of my files. His arm slid to the small of my back, steering me towards the lifts. I didn't cease my laughing, much to his annoyance.
"If I didn't know better, you actually want your boyfriend to be an absolute brute. Making you carry everything and letting you fall every time you slip."
I stopped laughing immediately. Harry gave me a triumphant look as he started laughing at my expression. I glowered at him and stayed stubbornly silent. My ability to fall anywhere was not a laughable subject. Harry apparently did not find it so. The small lift was filled with his laughter for a while before he finally died it down a little. He still had a ridiculous large grin on his face, I noticed with narrowing eyes.
"Mione… come on. Look, I've stopped laughing." He coaxed, laughter still evident from his voice. He wasn't getting off that easily, boyfriend or not. "Mione…" he pulled me closer to his side, his voice turning silkier if it was possible.
Ha, I wouldn't be that strong and independent he loved so much if I gave in like that. "I refuse to see how my lack of balance is funny from any angle, especially yours."
He smiled fondly at me, slinging his arm around my waist to my neck instead. Bringing my head to him, he pecked my forehead. I looked at him accusingly, feeling very much like a small child. His other arm came around my waist and brought my body against him protectively. Despite my annoyance, I enjoyed the warmth and familiarity that I found from his embrace. I shifted a little to fit my body against his the way I like best - the side of my face against his chest, on the left side so that I can hear his steady heart beat and breathing.
I angled my face upwards so that I could still scowl at him. He smiled even wider but gentler, no longer that insulting amused edge to it. His eyes turned soft.
"I wasn't laughing at that. Strange as it may sound, I actually love that part about you." He gave teasing smile, but his eyes were honest. Maybe he was more into me than I was into him, I realised, as a rush of affection for the man in front of me rose in me. I shouldn't ask for more, really. A perfect boyfriend who I loved and loved me back, a family and a home to call my own, a satisfying job with the best colleagues I could ask for… I ought to be satisfied.
I ought to be, but I wasn't.
The bell sounded, and we let go of each other. Or at least, I let go of him; Harry kept his arm around my neck, gently sliding down to my shoulders. He knew he had me appeased, otherwise he wouldn't have let me go. I was not really angry at him in the first place, just a little annoyed and part of the playful banter that we enjoyed. I didn't look at him in the eyes after we left the lift.
We headed to his black Pontiac Solstice parked at in a corner of the carpark. Sleek and flashy, it wasn't like Harry at all to get this car. It wasn't him to flaunt his wealth, or for that matter, attract a lot of attention. According to him, he fell in love with it when he first laid his eyes on it. He could not find another more inconspicuous car that he actually liked after that. Unable to resist it, he decided to splurge his money on this attention-grabbing beauty. It wasn't me either to have a car like that, but I had to admit that I really liked it. It was a very good car, not only on the exterior, but it also ran very well. Harry was a guy after all, it was typical of them to have a thing about cars or sports. And Harry was much better than the other guys I know, he had actually let me drive it once, I am proud to announce. How many guys could do that? I know Ron is incapable to that. He loves his car too much, he was lucky that Luna wasn't the type to get jealous over things like these.
"What do you think about red wine?" Harry asked me as he started the engine and turned around in his seat to start backing out of the lot. His green eyes caught on to mine and he chuckled lightly, shaking his head.
"Cheesecake and Bailey's tonight then. Your mother is going to kill me for bringing cheesecake again."
I beamed at the idea of my favourite dessert and at how he could just read my mind like that. How could he understand me so well? Ours was a pretty simple, if not plain relationship. Our relationship had been smooth-sailing, since the first day we met at the university till now, when we have all graduated and working. It had 5 years since we met and closing 3 years since we started dating and I think we were doing quite well. As a couple, I mean. We loved each other, I was sure. We were right for each other, you know... THE ONE for each other.
But individually, I wasn't that sure of our relationship. I didn't know why, honestly. I told myself countless of times that it was stupid to feel that way. I really could not ask for a better man in my life, and I couldn't, didn't, wouldn't want to spend my life with anyone else than Harry.
"We'll buy a different cheesecake today then. You get to pick. How about that?" I suggested.
He glanced over at me with a lopsided smile. "That's cheating. You know I'll pick your favourite."
Because he loves me.
But it wasn't enough for me. Not at that time. When I was young, I chanced upon a romance novel in the library. I couldn't put it down after opening it, because I was hooked to the love story, of how the couple struggled to overcome the various hurdles and barriers, how true love conquered everything. Cheesy, I know. But that one book shaped my entire belief in romance. I always imagined my romance to be dramatic, challenging and beautiful, just like in the book. This way, our love will be put to the test, and come out truer and stronger than ever. That was what I wanted. And what I had with Harry?
That wasn't it.
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