BEAUTIFULLY UNFINISHED novel Chapter 32

THIRTY-ONE

M I R A N D A

It's been two weeks since I have seen or talked to Harry.

I think I just confessed to him that I fell for him. I did fall for him and I blame him for unknowingly doing it. I hate myself for falling for him, for expecting something from him, and for thinking that he was actually into me but he wasn't. He used me and those words still run through my head until now.

"You okay?" Vivian catches my attention.

"Yeah."

"You look like you need to talk it out. Is it about Harry again?"

I sigh. "Aside from the fact that I told him to stay away from me, now I keep on thinking about that day when he was still here in New York and I can't get it out of my head."

Vivian holds my hand, "You did fall for him, huh?"

I bite my lower lip, "Is it bad?"

"Of course. He's going to get married soon. Yet I can't blame you if you felt that there was a chance between the two of you cos he was doing the things that led you to it."

"Exactly." I sigh as I sat back down on the couch.

"And Ben has been asking me about his uncle Harry. I don't know what to tell Ben. He's been begging me to text Harry. He wants to see Harry so much." I muttered.

"That's called a connection. Of course they'd connect, they're father and son. Even in a short time, they got along pretty well right away and Ben is so comfortable with Harry."

Vivian sits next to me and I rest my head over her shoulder. "So what are you trying to tell me?" I ask her.

"I'n trying to tell you that I really think you need to see someone new. You've been thinking about Harry these past few weeks and I think you need to unwind." She answers.

I snort. "Someone new? As if there's that someone."

"Did you forget about Mr. Tomlinson, huh?" She grins.

"Stop Vivian." I hide my smile.

She giggles. "He's been sending you flowers." She nudges me. "He's been playing with Ben, he visits you all the time and I think Ben enjoys Louis' company too. He's always asking you out. Why not give it a try?"

My brows creasing. "With Louis? Are you even serious? Did you see his previous exes? They're all beautiful."

"And so are you." She tells me.

Vivian pushes my hair behind my ear and smiled, "You're gorgeous dear. You just don't appreciate what you have cos you always compare yourself to other women. And that's wrong. Love you yourself. Live a little."

I smile. "I'm living."

"Yeah a life that's full of jealousy."

"I'm not!"

She laughs. "But seriously, open your eyes and see what Louis has been doing for you. You're too bummed about Harry, he's a tied man and you won't have him no matter how you try. Or else you wanna be mistress that could work too."

"I don't ever wished to be a mistress." I say.

"Exactly but you don't see the nice sweet things Louis has been doing."

Vivian is right.

I've been seeing Louis a couple of times for the past weeks. I can't call it dating cos we're just casually hanging out and I really enjoy being with him. He makes me laugh. He's so laid back. He's so cool and he tells me jokes that makes my stomach hurt from laughing. He loves Ben and he treats him like a son too. He gives him presents time to time. He plays with Ben when he's at home. He doesn't make me feel that he's a really famous guy, the boybander who I used to fangirl with so many years ago.

But I think I still fangirl with until now.

One time he took me and Ben to his studio in New York and I must admit, it was one hell of a recording studio. Ben was even giddy when we got there. He got inside the booth and sang a few songs. Louis is very relaxed and very nice. I appreciate the things he does for Ben and for me too. He's been here for me when no one was there.

My phone vibrates.

"Speaking of the lover boy from Doncaster." Vivian teases as she stands from the couch.

"Shut up Caleb." I teased.

She gaped. "I hate you. Caleb died when Vivian was born."

I laughed.

Louis: Done at the studio. Wanna have dinner? I hope Ben loves Mediterranean foods :)

I smile.

Why didn't I even notice it these past few days? Vivian was right again. I didn't notice Louis cos I was so focused on what happened to me Harry. Maybe I should give it a try with Louis, but I wouldn't jump into conclusions right away when he's beginning to get sweeter but the heck he's been sending me flowers with no special occasions. That's the sweetest thing I guy had ever done to me and I just realized it now.

"Oh and look at you, he's even making you smile with just a text. Now give the sassy lover boy from Doncaster a chance Randy." Vivian starts teasing me again.

I stare at her, "What do you mean a chance? He's not even asking me out on an official date."

"He's been asking you out every day but you're just too naive to think that you two aren't dating but to him you have been. Two people of the opposite sec don't just hang out and have dinner casually for two straight weeks Miranda. Men, his age, don't or rarely give out flowers to a woman if they're not special to him." She states.

I rolled my eyes at her though I know that she had a definite point.

Me: Ben's up for anything! He's still playing some video games with Arthur right now but I'm sure he'll be excited to try something new.

Louis: Alright. Great. Then I'll pick you up about ten minutes.

I smiled again but I quickly hide it by biting my lip cos Vivian will tease me again. Didn't even notice that she was standing right next to me.

"Alright. Great Then I'll pick you up about ten minutes." Vivian teases me by stating the entire message and then she laughs.

"You're annoying as hell." I smack her shoulder but she just laughed it off.

•••••

About another three weeks that passed, I've been seriously dating Louis and I had totally moved on about what happened to me and Harry. He helped me push out all those feelings I felt for the wrong guy. I've expected too much from Harry but it meant nothing to him. Almost two months of not seeing Harry Styles or his shadow and I'm fine. I'm still living. That's right Miranda, you don't need Harry.

I've eventually learned to like Louis too. He loves Ben and that's the most important thing for me from a suitor.

I stare at Louis as he carries the sleeping Ben on his arms and slowly placed him down on top of his bed. He pulled his blanket up to his shoulders and pushed his hair off his face.

"Thank you." I whispered.

He smiles.

Both of us marched our way out of Ben's bedroom and headed down the stairs.

"Ben must have been tired playing at the field a while ago." Louis says.

I chuckle, "Im sure he did. He's asleep like a log."

Louis laughs softly.

"Can I offer you anything to drink before you leave?" I asked.

He shakes his head sideways, "I don't wanna bother you. Plus you need to rest, you still have to work early tomorrow."

I smile, "It's fine."

"No. Really. I'm all good."

I nodded. "Alright. If you say so."

We stared at each other and why have I been ignoring you all this time Louis?

"Thank you." He says out of the blue.

"What are you thanking me for?" I asked while chuckling.

"For everything."

My brows started creasing.

"For coming into my life again." He adds.

"For letting me realize that..." He trails.

"That?" I asked.

The three of us headed out of the car and some male staff quickly welcomed us and carried our bags for us. Goodness, I didn't bring much clothes with me. Louis leads the way as we enter the grand lobby of Villa Roma Resort, it's such a marvelous place to take a quick vacation far from the stressful city of New York.

"Thanks." Louis says to the front desk staff. He turned to us, "Looks like we've got ourselves a room."

Ben exclaims happily. We began looking for our room and I wouldn't deny it, I was so excited to take a swim. Good thing I brought with me Vivian's present when she came back from Hawaii, a skimpy red bikini and if I didn't bring this one, I think I'd embarrass myself in front of all these people here in this resort.

Louis opens our room and we marched inside. Ben quickly exclaimed and the room was amazingly perfect for the three of us. There were two beds, me and Ben could share it while Louis takes the other one. We placed all of our stuff down.

"Who's up for some great breakfast meal?" Louis asked.

"Me!" Ben quickly answered.

After putting everything inside our room, we headed to grab something to eat. Ben didn't even finish his foods cos he was too excited to take a swim.

"Mom! I'll just be there along with the other kids." Ben says while pointing.

"Don't go far wandering off Ben." I say.

"I won't mom!" Ben yells back as he starts to run away from me.

I folded his shirt and I noticed that Louis has been looking at me eagerly.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" I asked him.

He smiles as he takes a sip from his orange juice while he's looking good with a black sleeveless shirt pairing with his white board shorts.

"Nothing. You just look insanely gorgeous when you worry like that about Ben." He smirks.

I laugh softly. "Is that a compliment?"

"Yes. Even when you're stressed, you still look very beautiful." He answered.

I smiled shyly. "Uh, thank you?"

He smiles.

Both of us begins to watch Ben as he easily made friends with a red head boy. Some women caught my attention when they were trying to get Louis' and they were busy taking photos of us. I gaze at Louis but he was busy watching at Ben and when he noticed that I was busy watching someone else, he looks at me.

"Who are you looking at?" He asked.

"Those women keeps on trying to get your attention." I say as I sip on my juice. "Photos." I chirped.

Louis moves his head to them. They waved and he waved back.

"You wanna transfer?" He asked me over his shoulder.

"Huh?" I asked.

"Well they will be coming over our table for sure." Louis looks back at me.

"Don't you want it?" I asked.

"They'll probably be throwing questions at you too. I don't want them invading your privacy. C'mon love." He answered.

Louis stands and grabbed his drink, most especially our keycard. I followed him and I stared at his hand that he extended to me. I held his and we begin to walk together towards Ben. I guess people who knew Louis were taking photos of us.

"They're taking photos of us." I say.

"Don't worry. We're just taking a vacation. Nothing is wrong with that love." He looks down at me. "And besides, we're both single." He adds.

I smiled sheepishly.

"But then people will say things about you being on a vacation with a single mom like me." I say.

"Fuck what all of them thinks. I don't really care about what people say about us anyways as long as I'm happy being with you and Ben."

I feel my cheeks burning by what Louis said. Damn Louis Tomlinson.

He placed his arm over me and takes a grip on my right shoulder. "Let's just enjoy our vacation, okay?" He asked.

I nod.