Chapter 13

Never in my wildest dreams had I imagined that I would be going on a spontaneous date with a guy in Spain, let alone an extremely attractive guy whom I call my boyfriend. Not only did I not have any flattering clothes to wear on that date, but my makeup was ruined by the heat. Obviously I was never going to buy THAT brand again.

Seeing as how mum had actually packed my suitcase, I just took the most appealing thing I could find. I ended up slipping on denim short shorts, sandals and this black, lacy singlet I had bought from TopShop a few days before we left. I decided to leave my hair out because there was no time to style it.

I examined myself in the mirror. My arms were too big and flabby; every time I moved them they would jiggle a bit. I lifted them up and to my horror, stubble was beginning to grow underneath my arms but they looked too short to shave them off. Sometimes I hated being hairy, but at least a lot of other girls had to suffer what I did so it made me feel a little less self-conscious. I had so many dots on my body there were too many to count. Juls and Chynn would always poke them and tease me by calling them ‘moles’ but id always complain that they’re actually ‘beauty spots’. Moles just sound disgusting.

I took the key card off the dresser and walked towards the door before turning back to see if I had forgotten anything. I noticed my phone on the bedside table and I contemplated on taking it but then I though Harry wouldn’t let anything happen to me, I’ll be fine. Switching off every remaining light, I shut the door and it locked with a click. I had 5 minutes left until I had to meet Harry so I rushed off the elevator and as soon as the doors opened I jumped inside.

I quite enjoyed how the lift was very fast so it didn’t cause me too much drama. The memories that I had conjured off lifts from the years of my life were not very pleasant. I prayed that no one on any other levels called for the lift because I wanted to get down there as quick as I could. I glanced at the buttons of the lift and realized that there were 18 levels to the building itself. I wondered what level Harry was on. I wondered whether id ever get to see Harry’s room… The thought excited me. Maybe I would ask harry after we went out. Or maybe that was a bit rude, I would just have to wait for him to invite me.

The doors of the lift ‘pinged’ open and I walked out into the car park. The black van was still parked in the exact same spot as where I last saw it. There were fliers and rubbish everywhere around it and dents in the metal. Obviously the girls tried to get in it. Crazy! I wondered where all the girls had come from?

I walked to the edge of the car park, peering sideways and looking for Harry. No sign of him. I shrugged my shoulders and sighed back against a concrete pillar. I crossed my arms and waited. Not that I was annoyed, I didn’t mind waiting for him and I suppose I deserved it because I almost made him wait half an hour.

I reached into my back pocket, only to remember that I had left my phone back in my room. I wondered how everyone was going back at home. They were probably all freezing their arses off in the rain and cold of the Australian winter. Australian winters were not THAT cold but for us, anything below 20 degrees was considered freezing.  I chuckled to myself, remembering that I had missed the semester math’s test. Maths was my least favourite subject. My teacher, even worse.

My thoughts were interrupted by a thunderous rumbling coming from around the corner. I flicked my head up to the direction of the sound. With a screech, a dark blue Aston Martin Vanquish rode around the pillars, narrowly missing several other cars. It rode down the car park towards me with a purr, flashing its front lights into my eyes. My mouth was probably gaped open, probably resembling a goldfish. Aston Martins were my favourite type of car. You could say I had a bit of an obsession with them.

The car rolled up next to me, the tinted windows mutilating my reflection. I was frozen on the spot. What had I done? Did the Spanish police use Aston Martins? The windows slowly slid down, my heart pounded as my reflection disappeared and I could no longer hide behind it. Of course, Harry’s face popped up as soon as the windows were fully open.

“Hello.” He said confidently. His hands gripped the wheel of the car and he looked up at me with a smile.

I was still frozen. “Hi…” I barely managed to whisper, still in awe and shock at the car. It was like someone had thrown a brick at me and then I quickly ascended to heaven only to find that God had placed me with the likes of the rich and famous. That car was a mixture of everything.

I moved slowly around the car, taking in its every curve and dimension but careful not the touch it as I wouldn’t want to taint it with my fingerprints. Harry’s eyes were watching me, I could feel it. How had he known that I adored Astons? Was it just a coincidence or had he found out absolutely everything with his internet stalk?

The car was beautiful, beyond anything I had ever seen. I had sure seen my fair share of Aston Martins but that car was unimaginable. I had the sleek, sophisticated look and it still seemed to sound like a big cat tackling its prey.

Realizing that Harry was still there, I stopped admiring the car and went to the passenger’s side of the car and jumped in. I couldn’t even comprehend where to start with the interior design of the car but I knew that Harry was watching me so I tried not to freak out as much as I could.

“So I’m guessing you like Astons?” Harry had an amused tone which made it obvious to me that he had done his research. His smile was so cheeky, he really sometimes reminded me of a 5 year old boy.

My mouth opened to a massive grin. “Like? Harry this is like my Christmas present! And it’s only July!” My hand wiped across the professional wooden finish in front of me. It was definitely a moving mansion.

He seemed pleased with himself and revved up the engine which made my blood rush throughout my whole body. I could feel the vibrations in the arm of my leather racing seat. Harry looked sideways to me as he continued to rev up the car. “Ready?”

“Yes but where are we going?” I put on my seat belt and sat patiently, ready to go.

Harry laughed and tapped the steering wheel. “You’ll see.”

He pushed his foot down on the accelerator and the car pushed off through the car park like it was the Millennium Falcon turned into hyper drive (Star Wars reference sorry). As it raced around the corners and up the ramp to the exit I gripped the chair, scarred that we were going so fast that my body may have gotten left behind if I didn’t hold on. Harry drove like a psycho but the adrenalin was so amazing.

The Aston flew out of the garage and onto the main street (literally). He changed the gears and we were driving smoothly again like nothing had ever happened and we were on a normal drive to the supermarket. He turned to me, expecting me to be shocked, but I was smiling like a huge idiot.  “That was nothing Tilly, just watch this.” His hand gripped the gear changer again, moving it to ‘Sports’ mode, looking back at me before flashing his eyes. And then we raced off through the streets.

***

Whether it was the wind pushing through the open sunroof or the fact that I was racing through the streets of Valencia in an Aston Martin, my blood was rushing from head to toe. I had never been more scared/excited in my whole life. It was the best feeling. We broke the speed limit a few hundred times but the police never seemed to be around and Harry’s driving was far from reckless. The way he controlled the car, it was like it was connected to his mind.

Heads definitely turned, the car could probably heard from a couple of kilometres away. We blasted music as loud as possible, singing along to ‘Yellow Submarine” like there was literally no tomorrow. I felt completely safe inside the car, although I wanted to take the wheel a couple of times and just go absolutely crazy but nope, I still hadn’t gotten my license. Just one more year…

The setting soon changed. Harry slowed down and turned into a wide alleyway. I didn’t ask questions because I assumed that he was taking me somewhere really special and I did trust him after all. The car bumped around as it slipped over rubbish and other inanimate objects left in the alley. We drove down very slowly, Harry peering over the wheel and looking around as if trying to remember where he was going.

We passed a smaller alley, completely missing it until Harry realized that that was the way, so he reversed and ended up backing up into a dumpster. “S**t.” He swore as he looked into the review mirror. “That’s gonna leave a scratch.” He swore again before turning back to his driving and accelerating the car up the little hill which lasted about 2 seconds. That particular alleyway was so small; it was a wonder how the car actually fit through.

I looked up through the sunroof. The buildings were at least 4 stories high and they seemed all either abandoned or just used for industrial purposes. Warehouses were really creepy at night time and the sky was getting darker, the pinkness slowly fading into the distance.  I really didn’t have any idea what Harry was planning to do but I was beginning to get nervous. I was a bit claustrophobic and the alley seemed to be getting smaller and smaller.

A little clearing opened up between the alley and the houses, the size of around 10 meters by 10 meters. There were 5 grey garages around the clearing, each looking identical. The car came to a halt in front of one directly opposite the alley. Harry leaned over and opened the leather glove box in front of me, his hand searched around the various papers until he pulled out a set of keys. One of the keys was electronic with several buttons on it. Harry held his arm out towards the front window and pressed one of them. Slowly, the garage door began to roll open and Harry through the keys back in the glove box with satisfaction.

The car rolled inside the blackness of the warehouse, its headlights automatically kicking in, lighting up everything directly in front of it. We parked right in the middle of the warehouse which was apparently empty. Harry jumped out of the car without a word, leaving the keys in the car which left the lights still shinning onto the back wall. I was suddenly scared of being in there alone. Who knows what kind of crazy people were hiding in there? The only sounds you could hear were the purr of the car and Harry’s footsteps in the distance, which abruptly stopped. What had happened now?

Lights flicked on and I could suddenly see all my surroundings which was extremely relieving. I leaned over and took the keys out of the car before stepping out of the car myself. Harry was standing on the furthest edge of the warehouse, next to the lights, texting something on his phone. The ceiling was so high up I felt the opposite of vertigo just looking at it. The room was completely bare apart from us, the car and a flight of stairs going up to a room which over looked the whole place. Every single noise that was made would echo through the whole building, I could just hear Harry breathing.

“So why are we here?” I said aloud. I didn’t have to shout since the sound travelled easily.

Harry looked up from his phone and slipped it in his back pocket. He smiled and started walking towards me. I threw the keys towards him and he caught them in his left hand. “You’ll see. Just be patient.”

I made a really unattractive grunt of displeasure which I straight away regretted but tried not to show any signs of embarrassment. I moved around the back of the car, kneeling down on one knee to examine the damage that the dumpster had caused. Amazingly, there was just a small, almost unnoticeable scratch on the edge of the boot. “Well… You got off easy. How did you even get this car? It’s beautiful.” I turned to look upwards and Harry was standing right next to me. He bent down next to me, putting his fingers over the scratch. “I borrowed it from a friend of mine. I am so screwed. But YOLO.”

My head snapped towards him, my pupils were probably dilating. “Do not say YOLO. Ever.”

He made a whimpering sort of face and apologized jokingly. He held out his hand and pulled me up. As we held hands, he gently led me towards to stairs which did not look inviting at all. As he began to step up I spoke out. “Don’t you think these steps look a bit… dodgy?” He examined them for a second time. “Nope!” And with his cheeky grin he led me up the stairs.

I was reluctant as possible and it probably took us 5 minutes just for us to get up. The stairs were so rickety and wobbly I swore that every single one was going to snap underneath me. Harry was laughing the whole way, I could imagine that I went as red as a tomato. As soon as we reached the top platform I flew myself at Harry, I was so afraid to look down, I was completely scared of heights. “Whoa calm down Tilly… You’ll just wobble the platform so much that it’ll eventually collapse.” He made a crashing gesture. “Poof.” Immediately I let go and stood up straight, I definitely was acting like an idiot.

He just laughed it off and took out the garage keys from earlier. Picking the right one, he slipped it into the lock and turned on it. As the door opened, he went with it. I followed and once again we were in total darkness again. I had no idea where I was going. I walked forward until my foot bashed into something soft and I fell forward onto something that felt like a bean bag. My body sunk into it, it was very comfortable actually.

I felt Harry’s breath on my neck and he spoke. “You know, this is kind of romantic. You on the bean bag, us in total darkness.” I didn’t speak. I didn’t know what to say. What was he implying? Before I could say anything he laughed and clapped twice and the lights turned on automatically. The room was nothing like I had expected. It was totally ‘decked out’. There was a large lcd TV on the wall with every imaginable gaming console available lying right next to it. Different kinds of sports balls lay in the corner. There was a pool table, foosball table, fridge, couch and everything under the sun. It was literally the world’s most smallest yet most comfortable bachelor pad.

“Wow… this place is amazing! Are you rich?!” I turned to Harry.

He laughed and shook his head. “Well I don’t think I would consider myself rich. This is just some of the stuff I’ve collected over the years. I come here with my friends every time we go to Spain.”

“It’s just so cool!” I really did feel like a kid in a candy store, even though I actually hated candy. I dreamt of my whole house being like this, let alone just one room.

Harry nodded his head and stood up. “Well I’d love to stay and get dirty,” He winked “but I’ve got some stuff to sort out before tonight. I promise I won’t be long. Just need to make a few phone calls.” He whipped out his phone from his back pocket. “Just make sure you don’t come out and especially do not open those blinds.” He pointed to the window where the blinds were drawn shut. I nodded in agreement. “You can do whatever you want in here. Please, I just want everything to be perfect tonight. It’s going to be so much fun. You’ll see.”

“I can’t wait Harry.” I smiled up at him but he was already dialing a number onto his phone.

He held it up to his ear and started walking towards the door. Waiting for a while, beside the door frame, the person on the other line picked up and I could hear a faint guys voice going “Hello?”

“Hello? Zayn? Yeah mate I’m gonna need you to come down soon.” He winked over at me, phone pressed against his ear. “Call everyone you know. It’s gonna get big.”