AFTER HEARING PART OF THE conversation between Jillian and Harry, I was all over the place. I jumped about in place before deciding where I had to go. I ran to the front and made my way down one of the aisles, pretending to be interested in what was sitting on the shelves. I was able to see Harry and he was looking for Jillian's purse. My eyes narrowed as I tried to get a closer look. A part of me hoped he would take what he needed out of the purse so I could see. Unfortunately, he took the entire purse with him to the back in quite a hurry. He practically ran back there. I moved away from the aisle and frowned. I was being too curious and I hated that about me. I was trying to keep my life a secret but I was too busy trying to find out about everyone else. It was time for all of this to come to an end.

But curiosity was a bitch and it left me craving for more.

I began to make sure the labels on the bottles of herbs were facing forward and I hummed along to the elevator type music playing softly in the shop. I bobbed my head and nibbled on the inside of my cheek as I made sure everything was in order. Clare checked on me every now and then to make sure I was all right and I constantly reassured her with a bright smile. She was such a sweet woman and it was so hard to believe she raised Harry. He was the complete opposite of who she was and I would have never guessed they knew each other for so long.

I placed my hands on my hips as I looked at the bottles on the shelves. All of their labels were facing the front and I was satisfied with each and every one. I had nothing better to do so I decided to entertain myself around the shop until a) I became too dizzy from spinning in circles or b) I was called to do something else. I stared down at my shoes as I walked in circles and I continued to hum. Business was extremely slow and I had no idea how Clare and Harry survived each day. I had to keep moving and right now, I did not really have a choice but to be still.

My body stopped spinning when I suddenly felt nauseous and I placed a hand on my forehead. I wobbled around a bit before completely regaining my balance. No one seemed to notice my failing attempt of trying to have fun and I was thankful. I went back to my seat behind the desk and closed my eyes, taking a deep breath.

Idiot.

I mindlessly tapped my fingers against the desk and kept my eyes closed. I listened to the sound of my fingers hitting the wood and to keep myself busy, I started counting how many times I tapped the desk. I mouthed the numbers silently to myself and smiled as they grew larger and larger. It did not seem like much to keep me busy, but it sure as hell did. My lips moved faster and faster as the numbers tripled in digits and my vision became slightly blurry. I was so focused on counting that I was no longer focusing on what was front of me.

112...

113...

114...

115...

116...

"You look high."

I glanced up to see Harry looking back down at me, smirking. I stopped tapping my fingers against the desk and tilted my head to the side. I thought he was supposed to be helping Jillian with whatever was going on with her? I leaned back on the seat so I could get a better look of the man before me. I looked around just to see if Jillian was going to join us. When I was unable to spot her with my eyes, I turned my attention back to Harry.

"High, eh?"

"Were the drugs worth it?"

"Probably," I smiled.

He laughed, his dimples deepening into his cheeks. I was slightly shocked when he made himself comfortable by sitting down on the desk. I waited for Clare to yell at him but she never did. She was too busy socializing to even notice. I placed my elbows on the desk and my chin sat on the palm of my hands. My eyebrows rose as our staring contest began. Harry raised his eyebrows, too, and I wondered if he was mocking me. I relaxed and he did the same. I rose my eyebrows and he repeated me.

"What are you doing?" I asked him.

"Entertaining myself," he simply replied.

"By copying me?"

"By copying you."

"That's weird."

"You're weird. I'm weird. This desk is weird. Who cares?"

"I actually like this desk."

"You don't have much taste, then."

"Hmm, I suppose not."

Harry rubbed his chin as he looked down at me and I just stared back at him. His green eyes looked darker in the shop than they did when we were out earlier. I somewhat enjoyed going out for lunch with him. Even though we did not talk that much, I still found a way to enjoy myself. I never forgot what Harry told me back when we were having coffee. I decided to forgive him because he made up for it by paying for my lunch. The words left a little scar but it did not matter. I had more scars than anyone knew. Some were physical as others were emotional.

I had more emotional scars, though.

"Oh, no," I exhaled when I looked at the corner of the desk. "There's a chip right here."

"It's old," Harry shrugged. "It's going to get some battle wounds."

"I think—"

"How about we go pick up a new one after work?"

I glanced up, "Huh?"

"I'm sure there's another desk just like it out there somewhere. Want to go look for one when we get off and bring it to work early tomorrow morning to put it together?"

"But what about this one?"

"We'll toss it."

"I'm attached to this one, though."

"Okay," he nodded his head, trying to think this through.

As he thought about what we were going to do with this desk, I puffed out my cheeks and tapped them gently. Why was Harry so eager to get rid of this desk? Other than the chip, there was not anything wrong with it. Sure, it looked old but that was what made it fit in with the rest of the herb shop. A new desk would stand out from everything and I had no idea how I felt about that.

"I got it!" he yelled.

"Happy, much?"

"Very," he winked at me and I frowned. "Why don't you just take the desk with you to your house?"

"I don't have room in my car for it."

"I have a truck."

"So?"

"I can drive it to your house."

"Ew, gross, no," I shook my head. "You're not going to my house."

"Why not?" he grinned. "Hiding your secret stash of pot? Is someone being a stubborn doll?"

"I was not high!" I argued. "And I don't own pot."

"Then why don't you want me to drive the desk over to your house?" he asked. "Scared I'll stalk you?"

I frowned and shook my head. I just did not want him to know where my house was. Why was he still driving this forward? I was tempted to ask but I just leaned forward, clearly intrigued by whatever else he had left to say. It was quite hilarious how he thought I was going to let him follow me to my home. I wanted to keep my address a secret and there was no way I was going to have Harry break it. I wanted some peace and as of right now, my house was the only place where I could get some peace and quiet. If Harry knew where I lived, the peace would be disturbed. I had no idea why but I felt like he would never leave me alone if he knew where my home was.

Then again, why would he bother me?

Would it be so bad if Harry knew where I lived? I had doubts that he would be over there more than once. He was just going to bring the desk over and that was all. I looked at the chip on the desk and scratched the side of my head. Where was I even going to put this? I liked it very much but did I really need it? I did not need to take up all of the space in my house. This desk was a big but not too big. Maybe it could go in my room and I would come up with a use for it later on?

"You won't stalk me?" I asked aloud.

His dimples deepened, "Not today."

"Not today?" I was slightly shocked. "I don't want you stalking me!"

"Oh, please. I'm a—"

"Who are you stalking, now?"

Harry and I both turned at the same time to see Jillian standing there with her arms crossed across her chest. One of her eyebrows rose and she was looking straight at me. I stared back, though, and instantly felt like I was one of the worst human beings on the planet. Her long, black hair was pinned on top of her head in a thick bun and I wondered if it made her head heavy. Icy, blue eyes stared down at me as if they were cursing me silently. Her lips did not smile or frown. They were just...relaxed. Her cheekbones were high and there was not an ounce of makeup on face. She was one of the most beautiful women I had ever seen. However, she looked a little pissed off. Her eyes never left me and I looked at Harry. He was examining his fingernails and was acting as if nothing was going on. His girlfriend was probably plotting my death in that pretty little head of hers.

"Harry," she repeated. "Who are you stalking?"

"No one," he said.

She laughed, "I heard the two of you talking."

"Sweetie," he smiled and turned to look at her. "Am I not allowed to talk to the people I work with? There was nothing wrong with what Sydney and I were saying. I love you but you've got to calm down. This jealous side of you is not cute."

Jillian rolled her eyes, "What were you talking about?"

"Why is that any of your—"

I tried to make things better, "We were talking about getting a new desk. This one is chipped, you see, and it won't be long before the rest of it falls apart. I was telling Harry how much I like this desk and he offered to take it to my house because he has a truck. That's all."

She raised her other eyebrow to match the already raised one, "That's all?"

"That's all," Harry repeated.

"You were going to go to her house?"

"It's not like I was going to go inside of it. I bet it's infested with bugs. Not all women are as clean and beautiful as you, Jill."

My frown deepened and I looked at Harry.

His eyes widened as he realized what he just said and his lips parted. There was no way I was going to forgive him for that. Whatever friendship that was building for the two of us was slowly crumbling. He was just hitting it with a hammer over and over again like he did not have a single care in the world about the outcome.

Jillian looked back at me and smiled. Just like Harry, she had dimples that dug into her cheeks. I swallowed hard and looked down at my lap. I was boiling on the inside and I gripped the sides of the seat to keep myself from slapping the smile right off of her face. I wanted to slap Harry for insulting me...yet again. When was I going to learn my lesson? He was messing with me and the more I gave in, the more I ached. Jillian chuckled before walking off and I did not hear Harry follow her. Was he still sitting on the desk? I was not going to look up, I refused to. If I looked at him, he was going to see how I was about to snap. I could not go off on him here. Clare was nearby and I did not want her to think poorly of me.

"You know," he started. "I sometimes sneak out of here when Clare is too busy with a customer."

I kept my head down and I closed my eyes.

"She never notices and I don't think she ever will."

God, I wanted to hit him.

"Want to go somewhere?"

I opened my eyes and blinked several times. Did he just ask me if I wanted to go somewhere with him? He insulted me repeatedly today and he thought I would go out with him? I gritted my teeth together to keep me from yelling such harsh words and I stood up from my seat. My eyes met Harry's and for a second, his were full of what seemed like hope. I rolled my eyes—making sure he saw—and stormed off. He called my name several times but I ignored him. I was not going to give him attention when he was constantly hurting my feelings. He was rude and until he was able to change, I did not want to socialize with him.

The customer Clare was talking to was gone and Clare was simply walking around the shop. I found myself joining her and she smiled when I approached, "I'm assuming you finished organizing the shelves?" I nodded. "Wonderful! Let's go have a look, shall we?" Before I could even utter out a word, Clare turned around and walked in the direction of the shelves I had organized. I followed her, keeping my eyes glued to the back of her head. We had to pass by the desk and I knew Harry was still sitting on it.

Clare approached the shelves and she looked at each bottle of herbs carefully. She moved a couple of them around and my heartbeat quickened. I knew I had done something wrong because I barely paid attention when I 'organized' them. Some of the labels on the bottles were not completely facing forward and Clare adjusted the bottles. I watched from the side and waited for her to criticize me on my horrible work. She laughed quietly and turned around to face me.

"My dear, the labels have to face the front. May I ask what you were doing when you were supposed to be organizing the shelves?"

"I was humming," I said, thinking back to what I was doing. "And dancing."

"Do you get easily distracted?" she asked.

"Sometimes," I admitted and widened my eyes when she frowned. "But...But I can handle it! I don't get as distracted as I did before. I pay attention—"

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine?" I raised my eyebrows.

"No," she shook her head. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine?" I tried to add the same amount of emphasis as she had done.

"I saw you leave with Harry earlier," she told me. "I saw how you were looking. Now, I know it's probably none of my business but I want to make sure everything is okay."

"Really, I'm fine." I laughed. "I was just on the phone with my mom and I got a little homesick. I'm seriously okay. I have a weak spot for my family."

"Don't we all?"

"Harry told me you raised him," I said.

"I did," she nodded her head, clearly proud. "He's been with me since he was five years old. I'm like a grandmother to him. I'm all he remembers and I suppose that's a good thing."

"Where are his parents?"

"Why don't you ask him?" she smiled, placing a hand on my shoulder. "It isn't my story to tell."

I smiled back at her even though I was practically dying on the inside. I was supposed to be ignoring Harry. I was not going to ask him about his parents when I barely knew him. He was going to snap on me for sure. He snapped on me when I asked about Jillian and I sure as hell did not want to see his reaction if I brought up his parents. I was not ready for that. Even though I was extremely tempted to stalk over there and ask him, I just could not do it. My curiosity was not going to get me killed. I refused to let that happen.

Clare removed her hand from my shoulder and walked away from the aisle. My eyes were on the bottles she fixed but I was not actually looking at them. I rubbed the back of my neck and tapped my foot to keep me busy. I had not been in Seattle for very long but I was ready to go back home. I missed my mother and I missed Jett. They had other family members to keep them company while I had absolutely no one. I was eager to find out if they made it to someplace safe but I knew I could not call them without getting caught. I would probably get caught if I went into the restroom again. Harry heard part of my conversation and I did not appreciate that one bit.

How could a man be so fun to be around one minute and be so rude the next? My body was boiling and it was taking everything I had in me to not lose my cool. Everything. How was Jillian able to deal with it? I thought back to when she acted jealous and laughed a dispirited laugh. I believed she was just like him...probably his twin. They both got on my last nerve and they were both driving me insane. I had more important things to worry about; yet, here I was thinking about the man who constantly insulted me and the woman who acted like a stubborn brat. I looked up at the ceiling and shook my head. They were nothing to me.

I hated them both.