21.

                                    

                                          
Suzanna missed him. She'd rather be chewing iron nails than admit it to anyone, but she missed him with every single cell of her body. 
                          
It had been three weeks since she'd last seen him, and it was just too long. Of course, she had gone longer without seeing him. She'd spent a month actively trying to avoid him. But now he was in a different continent, he was time-zones away from her. It felt silly, but Suzy felt like she could physically feel the distance between them, like she could feel the oceans separating them.
                          
After he'd come to see her that one day, demanding her to tell her if she'd been ignoring him, he would come there every night, sat himself down on the same barstool and waited for her to finish her shift so that they could drink and hangout for the rest of the night. And the thing is, she loved every single day of it.
                          
Even when he would nag her about the guy she shared most of her shifts with. 
                          
"I don't like the way he looks at you." He'd say, "or how you've gotten so fond of him in such a short time."
                          
He would literally pout and sulk on his seat, making her coo. "Jealousy isn't a pretty colour on you Styles." She'd pinch his cheek, or ruffle her hair to mock him, which would only annoy him more.
                          
"Fine, how does he look at me?" She'd finally ask.
                          
"Like he wants you." Her heart would pick up every time he'd say something like that, reminded her of how much she wanted him. She'd even avoid meeting his eyes, hoping he couldn't see the longing in her eyes.
                          
"Have you seen the other customers who look at me?" She'd asked one day, "Half of them know who I used to be and that is the only reason they come to the bar. The drinks I mix are horrible. So apparently, the manager is ecstatic about me joining." She chuckled, sipping from her drink, "They even ask if I can just be a whore for one more night for them. And when I don't agree to comply, they seem so surprised. Like I had the audacity to deny their magical appendage!"
                          
Harry loved seeing her laugh, even more at the expense of creepy men who bothered her. "I trust that you gave them hell."
                          
"Oh, I'd have loved to do so, but violence with customers seems to be frowned upon in a place like this." She bit her lip, suppressing the conniving smirk building, "politely declining them over and over again is no fun, but necessary if I need to keep my job."
                          
He frowned, obviously concerned about her safety after hearing everything. Suzy could see the worry casting a shadow over his eyes before he blinked and plastered a smile. 
                          
"It bothers me that you have to work among these jerks," he said, "But you're you. Spray them with your mace if they ever try to do anything."
                          
She smiled and nodded, having no words to say. 
                          
"So are you friends now?" he asked, trying to hide the bitterness in his tone "You and that guy."
                          
"Derek? Wouldn't go that far. I just don't hate him."
                          
He'd smile at her answer, somehow feeling happy about it. "Stupid Derek." He'd mutter.
                          
For the past three weeks, she would keep glancing at the place where Harry used to sit every night. It was futile for her to deny her feelings any longer. She knew that she liked him, that she wanted him as badly and he did, if not more. But the difference was that she was Suzanna; she had more demons, more skeletons in her closet than an average person. And she knew that once they come out and see the sun, he would leave her side in an eye-blink.
                          
"You're doing it again." She jumped when Derek whispered into her ear. She had been cleaning glasses as he smirked at her, but now she was staring at her like she was murdering him in her head. "You should just call your boyfriend if you miss him so much."