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I walked into the pub and sat in a booth waiting for Dean. As usual, he was late. I flipped through my book while I waited. Every once in a while I glanced around to see if he had arrived yet.
Every time the waitress would come over and ask me if I was ready, I'd ask for another minute, hoping that Dean would walk through that door. I kept getting looks of sympathy from other people in the pub.
Suddenly, someone slid into the booth across from me. I look up, hoping to see Dean, but instead, I see a man I've never seen before.
"Hey babe sorry I'm late, traffic is crazy right now," the man explains loudly to the people staring at me and the adds quietly, "I'm Harry. Just go with it, yeah?"
I nod agree because he's being sweet and helping me and because he's cute. His black hair was messy and his green eyes were framed by circular glasses.
The waitress came over and asked for our orders.
"Can I get a cheeseburger and a Coke?" I said. The waitress nodded.
"And for you sir?" She asked Harry.
"Same thing and a large order of fries, please," he said and handed her our menus.
"I'm Ginny by the way," I say once the waitress is gone. "Thanks for helping me."
"It's no problem. So why did you need help anyway?"
"Oh. Well, my boyfriend stood me up," I reply.
"I'm sure he has a good reason," he said, obviously trying to make me feel better. And as if on cue, my phone buzzed.
"Gin, we're done" Dean had sent me.
"Why?" I texted back.
"Because I'm cheating on you..." he explained.
"What? With who?!" I reply, while my eyes well up with tears.
"Um... Seamus Finnigan" Dean sent.
I stop texting and just focus on trying not to cry. Harry must have noticed because he slid into my side of the booth and put an arm around me.
"What is it, Ginny?" He asked, his voice full of concern and care.
"H-he cheated on me! With a guy!" I say. Then I just lose it. I start crying into his shoulder. He strokes my hair softly to make me feel better.
Our food comes and by then I'm calmer, but still a bit shaky. We eat side by side in silence.
"You want to go see a movie? Anything you want, on me," Harry says once we're done.
"No, I couldn't..." I start.
"No, Ginny, I insist," He says.
"You know what? Yeah, let's do it!" I say. Maybe I'll see Dean there and rub it in.
I pay the bill, after much resistance from Harry, and we walk out and to our local theatre.
"So what do you want to see?" Harry asked.
I look at the sign above the theatre. "How about '10 Things I Hate About You'?"
"Ok sounds good," he says, a bit reluctantly. Yeah, now I'm starting to think I won't see Dean in this theatre.
***
After the movie, Harry walked me home.
"That was really great. Thank you," I say.
"It was my pleasure Ginny," he said, smiling wide. I smile back.
Harry leans in and I lean in too. We meet in the middle and I feel sparks.
He puts one hand on my cheek and the other on my waist, pulling me close. I put both of my arms around his neck. We pull away from the kiss but keep our arms around each other.
"Wow..." Harry says.
"Yeah..." I say. We both laugh. "Do you want to come inside for a bit?" I ask after we laugh for a minute.
"Yeah sure. I'd like that," he said and smiled. He kept his arm around my shoulders as we walked inside together.