Song of the chapter:  Fix You by Coldplay

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Though I am already quite certain that it is indeed him who sits before me, I ask the question to seek confirmation.

"Theo?"

When he first hears my voice his head seems to pick up slightly from its low hung position. He turns ever so slowly to look towards where he had heard my voice from, his eyes widening faintly as the recognition goes through his mind.

And when those soft lips of his, that he appears to have been gnawing at, open, his voice is void of any emotion at all to my presence.

"Ella." he says with a curt nod in greeting accompanied by his blank expression.

I don't know what to say to him. He clearly couldn't care less if I was here or not and just needs to be left alone right now. I'm tempted to just retreat away slowly, lest I say something to push him further into this sour mood he seems to be in at this moment.

"I didn't know you were going to be here," he says, saving me from having to come up with something to say but also worrying me with the tone he uses when he says you, "I take it you're here with Damon." he guesses.

I nod in response, not wanting to take the risk of using any words at this moment.

He just stares back at me with that empty expression, a sense of fatigue appearing from behind his eyes; not to mention the dark bags which are clearly forming beneath them. I can't bear to maintain the eye contact, the extended contact with his domineering gaze intimidating me slightly, so I quickly flash my gaze away.

However, this does nothing to deter his gaze from me, catching them as they rake my figure up and down to observe my appearance, once I gather the courage to look him in the eyes again. His instinctual response after this is to take a long sip of the glass of scotch which nows awaits him on the bar, confusing me more as to what was going on in that head of his.

"Son, what are you doing over here?" a voice suddenly interrupts from behind Theo, "I need you to come and speak with Mr. Vidlovski over there. He wants to talk about the hotel venture."

The man has now completely stopped to stand right beside Theo. The way he had been approaching this spot I had just assumed he was coming for a drink.

Theo barely responds to the words, his look only slightly moving from where they had returned to look at me. He looks up at the polished man who stands before him with that same look of dissatisfaction from earlier as the man looks between the two of us, seemingly noticing that he might have interrupted something.

Before he can reply to the man, Theo takes one last chug of drink, finishing it off completely before he turns back to him.

"Ella, this is my father Charles Harrington. Father, this is a friend of mine, Ella Adams." he says, introducing us and utilising the word friend which at least reassures me of my position to him.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Miss Adams," he responds in the charming British tone his son's is usually like as he outstretches his hand for me to shake, "I assume he has brought you along as his plus one then?"

I take his hand in mine in greeting as I deny his assumption by saying "no, I'm actually here with Damon Morales."

As he acknowledges this information, I take this moment to observe the appearance of Theo's father and compare it to his own. Now that I'm aware of their link I can pick up on the features which they share such as the stature and their steely blue eyes.

Whilst Theo's hair is a rich chocolate tone, Charles Harrington's has turned grey with age yet it is a look he pulls off. Theo's sharp jawline has also been inherited from his older counterpart, the way they have turned on their sides to seemingly glare at one another putting the feature on display. Looking at them side by side you could see how despite not being identical Theo would definitely resemble a young Charles.

"A fine choice." he remarks, making me question to what degree this may be a dig at his son. Was he suggesting that Theo wasn't a fine choice or was I simply overthinking things due to the tension that surrounded me at this moment?

"Ah, here's the young lad now." he announces, myself turning to find Damon walking to us.

Damon's reception of Mr. Harrington seems to be significantly more hospitable, a kind smile stretching across his face as he rushes to outstretch his hand to him in greeting.

"Mr. Harrington, it's good to see you," he says with a wide and eager grin which is returned by his boss, "I see you've met my date Ella."

Out of the corner of my eye I can see Theo ordering another drink and just feel him rolling his eyes at the enthusiasm which is currently being exchanged between his father and co-worker.

"Yes, I have. And while I would love to stay and chat with the two of you, unfortunately, I must drag my reluctant son here and myself off to converse with some business partners. I am glad to see you made it tonight though. Hopefully we can catch up later?" he suggests, patting Damon on the shoulder and walking off without waiting for a reply or to see if his son is following behind him.

I look to Theo to see if he will make any movements following his father's departure only to find him taking his time with his drink, staring aimlessly at the wall behind the bar. I notice that Damon is also observing Theo but I sense that his looks are coming with a bit more judgement than mine.

Clearly noticing our continuous stares, Theo picks up the glass of scotch and downs this one quickly too. He almost slams the glass back down onto the bar's surface and pushes past Damon to follow in the direction of his father, his slight collision into Damon's shoulder presumably an intentional action.

Damon doesn't seem to irked by the contact, an almost smug expression coming across his features like he's satisfied with Theo's disgruntled state. He goes to order a drink from the bartender while my eyes don't leave Theo, following his figure as he walks to where his father is conversing with a man who is presumably this Mr. Vidlovski.

Upon noticing his arrival, Mr. Harrington now greets Theo with that same enthusiasm he had treated Damon with moments ago. He puts on this proud father act which doesn't seem too sincere to me, putting his hand on Theo's shoulder for a moment before Theo subtly shakes it off.

Theo remains civil though, despite maintaining his relatively emotionless state, conversing politely with this business contact and maintaining enough distance between his father and himself. It is becoming increasingly clear to me that Charles Harrington is a major source of this sour mood Theo is currently in, making me wonder what the relationship between the father and son was really like behind closed doors.

Damon asking me if I wanted another glass of wine interrupts from me from my thoughts, returning me to my present company who seems a lot more enthusiastic about my presence at this moment. I accept his offer and, once we both have our drinks, we make our way to a table where he introduces me to some of his co-workers. We begin to make polite small talk between the group of us, myself and the partners of his co-workers resorting to our own conversations once talk of work begins to feature within the discussion.

Times goes past as each drink and hors d'oeuvre is consumed between light conversation. At some point Mr. Harrington has appeared within our small gathering and is wanting to drag Damon off with him to go speak with some other co-workers.

"I'm so sorry to be doing this to you again. If you don't want me to go then I'll stay." he tells me, his genuine guilt yet excitement at the prospect of socialising with his boss apparent.

"No, that's okay. Go ahead." I encourage him, not wanting to be left alone to converse by myself with these people I don't know, but also not wanting to hold him back from the opportunity.

"Are you sure?" he checks as Mr. Harrington waits to the side.

"Yeah, I'm sure." I reassure him, giving him a smile in response which him and Mr. Harrington return to me. As long as they remain near I maintain this polite facade but my face and mind is itching with the desire to ask that man what he has done to make his son be in such a vexed state.

With my ability to socialise with these people increasingly diminishing, especially after having a strenuous day at work doing the same thing, I look for an escape and spot an empty balcony off to the side. It appears to have stopped raining sometime throughout the time that I've been socialising so I politely excuse myself from the conversation and make my way to the set of doors which lead to my retreat.

I open the double doors and am met with the cool rush of air which hits my face and makes me wrap myself within the warmth of my coat. While at first the cold air may feel a bit harsh, it is a refreshing sensation after being enclosed with the stuffy confines of that room for so long.

I begin to walk around the corner of the balcony to where I thought I saw some bench seats through the windows inside when I spot a figure leaning against the railing with a glass in his hands. I stop once I recognise the person to be Theo himself. I begin to turn back around when I decide that he had probably heard my entrance anyways and maybe I should try to check in on him.

I make my way closer to him, maintaining my distance but remaining close enough that he can notice it is me. He lifts his head the slightest bit once I come within a metres distance from him, subtly looking in my direction out of the corner of his eyes to see that it is me before he returns his gaze to the rough waves. They push against each with force and mayhem beyond the glass barrier and rocks, almost how I imagine the thoughts running through Theo's mind are behaving too right now.

"You alright?" I ask him as he takes yet another sip of his drink, the thought of what number of drink this particular one was worrying me.

"Oh, just peachy Ella." he responds with a touch of spite to his tone and expression as he looks at me, making me raise my eyebrows with dismay, "Why don't you just go back to your perfect date Damon?

I had made my attempt to check in on him and support him but I sure as hell wasn't going to put up with his insolence, no matter how different to his usual self he seemed at this moment.

"Whatever Theo. Let me know when you want to stop being a dick to someone who just wanted to check if you were okay." I tell him, quickly turning to make my way off this balcony and away from Theo. I didn't have the energy or lack of self worth to deal with his current demeanour.

As I take my third step away from him, my head high with confidence in my decision and my dignity, I hear him call out to me.

"Ella, wait!" he shouts, making me stop but not yet turn around till he truly earned it. "I'm sorry, you don't deserve my attitude. I've been a dick all night and you deserve it least of all."

The sincerity in his tone and the way his voice almost sounds as though it is about to crumble is what makes me finally turn around to look at him. When I do look at his face I find it in the most hopeless state that I have seen it in all the time that I've known, a look which is worrying on the usually charismatic face of Theo.

I hesitantly begin to make my way back to where he stands leaning against the glass barrier, moving to lean against it too. He offers me the drink in his hand and I take it after some consideration, sipping on it only to find the vanilla-like, smoky taste and buttery feel of the drink. As I allow it to linger within my mouth and mix with the touch of saliva which had already pooled there for a moment, the taste almost reminds me of Theo with its sophisticated and smooth nature.

I return the drink to Theo while he continues to stare out at the water with a sense of being lost behind those eyes.

"Do you ever feel like whatever you do sometimes it's just never enough?" he asks as though he is asking both me and the vast openness before us the question.

"Do I ever?" I retort, shifting to stare out at the hauntingly beautiful sight which had entranced Theo and joining in on the discussion he seemed to be having with it. "I'm a receptionist in one of the most competitive industries, with a nineteen year old knocked up sister, broken family and disastrous social life. What do you think?"

"Try being the son who, no matter how hard they work or how independent they try to be, will always just be the son who got everything easy and who will only succeed with anything because of father dearest," he replies, "Ask your date, the only reason I have anything is because my father has picked up the pieces behind me. That's what everyone thinks. No matter how hard I worked at university, no matter which country I fled to, how many internships I had or which other companies I have experience with— I'm just Charles Harrington's son and the only reason I'll achieve anything is because of him."

"Now I can recognise that he has helped me out and provided me with some priceless opportunities. I appreciate that all. I really do. But when I have to stand there and listen as person after person is told that he just had to jump in once I made the hotel deal so that I don't damage things for myself or the company, there's only so much that I can tolerate it. There's only so much that I cope with us pretending like I'm the hopeless and dependent son who has such a close relationship with his father every time we're in public."

As the last words spill out from his short rant, he lets out a sigh and lays his hands flat against the railing before he begins to squeeze it with frustration. 

"Theo, I don't see you that way." I genuinely tell him, making his doe-like eyes flash to my own as though they are checking for a sense of sincerity or trustworthiness. 

Before I can think about what I'm doing, I unconsciously find myself moving my own hand forward to cover his and stop him from how he is currently pressing his nails harshly into his own skin.

He looks up at me upon feeling the touch of my skin on his. I give a soft smile as though to say that I understand and that I'm here for him as our silence allows for the calming sounds of the water to envelope us. For the first time tonight I see the corner of his mouth lift in the slightest way, his tense nature relax, and the softness return to his features by a little.

And as the breath that I didn't know I was holding in is released and the relief of having Theo slowly returning to his normal state settles in, the slightest sense of gratification and serenity creeps in as I realise that I can impact the incredibly complex yet fascinating mind and emotions of Theo Harrington.

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Let me know what you guys thought about this different side to Theo this chapter. I absolutely love Fix You by Coldplay so I hope you liked how it went with this chapter. It'd be amazing if somehow the last moments of the song played during the last few paragraphs of this chapter. Let me know if it did somehow!

Hope you enjoyed it and thanks for reading!

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TheFictionDreamer

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