Page 40 of House of Bass

Her mind went back to the girl standing not two feet away from her, Scarlett’s hair was being held together by two blue no-crease hair clips while flowing down her back, as the rare British ray of sunlight had it looking more ginger today. It was a different shade of red every time she saw her. She was in flared low rise jeans and a tight top that matched the colour of her eyes, brown. Whenever she reached up to put something on a higher shelf you could see the tattoo on her lower back, the design was gorgeous; a heart that spiraled into angel wings of sorts. It wasn’t the only tattoo that was on her. She had a few on her arms and stars on her belly that disappeared under her shirt. There was also the one on her ribcage of a spider with the letter C outlined around it, Harley had seen it once when she walked in on Scarlett changing. The tattoo was a little creepy but secretly her favourite.

Harley had always wanted tattoos but could never find the time nor could she ever decide on what she actually wanted.

The noon rush had come and gone and only a couple customers were scattered around the room.

Her and Bloss were talking in low tones and Harley could only catch certain words ‘alcohol’, ‘race’, ‘balloons’, none of which separately made any sense.

She caught the tail end of their conversation and heard Bloss say to Scarlett “I’ll have him confirm it tonight,” to which the latter nodded, so Harley decided to take this moment to slide into the conversation.

“What’s tonight?” Harley asked, trying to not make it obvious that she was itching to be in the know.

Scarlett and Bloss looked at one another, they spoke telepathically deciding whether or not they were going to spill.

“Just a party. Do you want to come?” Bloss spoke, and Harley peeked at Scarlett trying to gauge how she felt about Harley infiltrating her space. It wasn’t something she wanted before and that had Harley hesitant to say yes.

So, she shrugged her shoulders, in faux-nonchalance. “Not doing anything else, so yeah,” Harley drawled out the last word, then she turned to Scarlett. “If that is okay with you.”

“Why wouldn't it be?” Scarlett questioned with a raise of her eyebrow, and they stared at each other for a moment without saying a word. Her brown eyes were so piercing it was as if they were seeing through you and not just at you. If Harley was a different woman she would've crumbled under her gaze but she held her own.

A snap of a finger brought them out of the trance, Bloss had been looking back and forth between them with her eyes narrowed. “I’ll text you the details.”

Scarlett merely went back to dealing with the muffins and Harley turned around to get the order of a customer who had just walked in.

✧✧✧

After the fifth outfit change of the night, Harley decided to stick with a black top, black jeans and the red leather jacket that Annabel had recently snuck back into her wardrobe.

Annabel had given it to Harley during a recent round of shopping because of some unknown thing that was bothering her, and apparently it eased her mind to do some charity. The charity, in question, being Harley.

When Harley had tried to give some of it back, she said, “Stop being silly. You can never have too many clothes.”

So Harley chucked it all onto Annabel’s floor. Then Annabel went around yelling that she had no respect for priceless clothing. “This is vintage Tom Ford, Harleen! Show some care!”

Either way, she figured she might as well accept it, it was a nice touch to the total of her outfit.

Her boho braids that she had completed two nights ago hung down her back. She had considered doing half up half down but decided against it. The dark eyeliner and false lashes she was wearing brought out the green in her eyes and complimented her brown skin. She wasn’t vain but was willing to admit that she looked good. The whole ensemble came together really well.

Her clock on the bedside table showed it to be 10:50 and that had her on alert, she rushed to get all her things together. Bloss said they would get here to pick her up at eleven on the dot. Harley was a little nervous about tonight but she was willing to let her fear sit aside and attempt enjoying herself for once.

She left her room to see Annabel sprawled on the living room floor with textbooks and a notepad opened in front of her, scribbling, another pen stuck in between her messy bun. So immersed in the work in front of her, dressed in her ballet clothes that signified she would be practising once she was done, she didn't hear Harley walk down the steps until she was standing right in front of her, “Hey.”

She looked up from her notes and her jaw hung wide open, “Oh my, where are you off to looking like that?”

“Shut up. It’s just a thing,” Harley said, her cheeks heating up a little from the compliment. “What thing? Can I come?” Excited, she meerkats upwards in curiosity.

“No. I’d like to do something without you hovering in all your annabel-ness.” She pouted with a mock frown that Harley leaned down to pinch her cheeks, which caused her to giggle. Annabel rubbed her face as she asked, “Seriously, do you need me to drive you or are you going with people? Anyone I know?”

“Friends from work. Lily, Bloss…and Scarlett.”

“Scarlett Argent?” Annabel’s eyebrows raised so high it wouldn't come down, her entire demeanour shifted. She tried to be subtle about it but subtlety wasn’t exactly her strong suit.

“Yeah, but it’s a group thing.”

“Where exactly is this happening?”

“Somewhere by Rotherhithe Tunnel, I think…why, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing. The area is just a little dodgy is all,” she replied but hesitant, like she was holding something back. As she was about to speak, Harley's phone rang and she raised a hand to stop her. Bloss was on the other line telling her to come outside, they spoke briefly and she cut the call.