Cutter: Contemporary Romance Novel

by Joanna Mazurkiewicz

  “Earth to Sophia? We’re here,” said Harry, poking her with his thumb. She flinched, coming back to reality. He took her hand and helped her to get out of the car. Sophia focused on Barbara, who was hugging a young girl outside of the restaurant. She had to try and pull herself together. Overthinking about the future was no use.

  “What were you thinking about?” he asked, pulling her towards his chest.

  “About us, Harry. About the decisions that I’m going to have to make,” she replied quietly, trying not to cry. She wasn’t sure how much longer they could avoid talking about the future, about the end of the summer. Harry’s eyes hardened and he exhaled sharply. This was a bad sign, but Sophia didn’t want to stay away from this conversation forever.

  “We had an agreement that we don’t have to discuss anything yet,” he said, sounding uneasy. “Let’s just enjoy this evening.”

  “Come on, Harry. Everyone is waiting for you,” said the young girl, walking towards them. Harry plastered a smile on his face and embraced her with a tight hug.

  “Sophia, this is my cousin, Caroline.”

  Caroline was nearly six foot tall, with long red hair and wide, large bright green eyes. Sophia smiled and shook her hand.

  “Oh my gosh. I’m so glad to finally meet you. He is such an arse, keeping you away all this time. I have demanded to see you over and over, but he was so reluctant,” gabbled Caroline, giving Harry a stern look. Sophia could hardly make out what she was saying; her accent was really thick. “Anyway, we can’t talk now. We better get inside. I want to see her face when she sees you here!”

  Harry was just about to say something, but Caroline was already following his mother, so he took Sophia’s hand again and walked inside. Italian music was flowing around the restaurant as they walked in. They approached the table and Caroline shouted ‘surprise!’ to a woman in her mid forties, who was studying the menu intensely. She must have been Caroline’s mother because she looked exactly like her. She had the same red hair and wide green eyes. Sophia noticed that Harry had inherited his long forehead from her. Claire looked bewildered for a moment, and then smiled widely, seeing Harry’s mum.

  “Hello Claire,” said Barbara. “We thought we’d pop in to wish you a happy birthday.”

  Both women hugged each other, and then Barbara turned to face Sophia and Harry.

  “We brought Harry’s new girlfriend. I hope you don’t mind.”

  “Of course I don’t mind! What are you even talking about?” burst out Claire, while winking at Harry.

  “Happy birthday!” said Sophia as she shook Claire’s hand. Harry handed her a bottle of wine with the card that they got earlier.

  “It’s nice to meet you, dear. Let’s sit down so we can talk properly,” she instructed.

  “That’s my aunt, always bossy,” whispered Harry, smirking. Sophia sat between Harry and Caroline. “By the way, this is my other cousin, Eve.”

  Sophia nodded to his other cousin, smiling. Her hair wasn’t red but light blonde and she was hiding beautiful amber eyes behind thick glasses. The waiter came and took their drinks order. Once the waiter left, Caroline focused her gaze upon Harry.

  “So, Harry, how come you were hiding this beautiful girl away for so long?” asked Caroline.

  “We haven’t been going out long, Caroline, so stop your interrogation.”

  “Well, is it any wonder I’m interrogating? I always wondered if you would actually settle,” joked Caroline, winking at Sophia.

  “So it’s good that someone is finally going to sort him out,” barged in Eve, Harry’s other cousin.

  “Anyway, enough about him. Tell us what are you doing in Belfast, Sophia?”

  Here we go, thought Sophia as the questions began. She couldn’t tell them that she was Harry’s probation officer; it sounded terrible. She looked at Harry with panic, but he seemed relaxed, drinking his beer.

  “Sophia came for the summer to work with Probation and that’s how we met, but don’t mention this to your mum,” he said quickly, grinning. Sophia wanted to bury herself and die with embarrassment. Now they were probably going to think that she was crazy getting involved with a prison leaver.

  “Shut up!” hissed Caroline, staring from Harry to Sophia. “Probation, but why?”

  “Harry,” Sophia warned him, going completely red.

  “Relax, Sophia. My cousins aren’t judgemental – don’t worry,” chuckled Harry, seeing Sophia’s distress. “She was – well, she still is my probation officer.”

  “No way!” fumed Eve while Caroline was in a state of shock.

  “Oh my God. This is so amazing – forbidden romance. It’s like a soap opera. Sophia, you have to tell us everything,” demanded Caroline. Sophia couldn’t help but smile “Now, Harry, leave us. Go and sit with your mum. We are going to speak to Sophia alone.”

  Harry rolled his eyes, but he vanished and sat by his mother, leaving Sophia alone to deal with the awkward questions. Caroline later explained that Harry always had a good relationship with her mother and he had a lot of catching up to do. Both Caroline and Eve wanted to know all the details, so for the next half an hour, Sophia went through how she met Harry O’Donaghue. She wasn’t sure why, but her shyness had gone away and she soon told them details that she didn’t even mention to Vanessa or Ramona. She was always confident with interviewing clients at work, but the social setting wasn’t her strongest point. Tonight she felt comfortable, and for the first time she opened up to two strangers.

  “I don’t understand why this never happens to me! So what are you going to do? You guys have only a few weeks left together, right?”

  Sophia swallowed hard, playing with the fork.

  “I’d rather not talk about it here. I haven’t made my decision yet,” she sighed.

  “I know Harry; if he loves you, then he won’t let you go. It’s as simple as that. On the outside he is tough and never shows his emotions, but on the inside he is sensitive and protective. Before his mother got ill, he used to come to me for tutorials; he wanted to go to uni. He was really focused and wanted to stay away from trouble.”

  “Tutorials?” Sophia repeated, thinking about Harry’s aspirations.

  “Yeah, he wanted to go back to college to up his grades. Then he started reading all these classic books. I have quite a collection, as I’m doing English Literature, but I always thought that Harry didn’t like reading. When I asked him about it, he just said that he was bored and enjoyed reading.”

  Chapter Thirty-five

  “Harry and books? I’ve never seen any in his room.”

  “Like I said, he stopped coming when his mother got ill. I think he kind of shut away his dreams and stopped thinking about the future. Please don’t mention this because he’ll get moody.”

  “Don’t worry, I won’t.”

  “Harry has a lot of potential but he also has a lot of responsibilities,” muttered Eve.

  Sophia suddenly felt guilty that she was complaining about the way her parents had treated her; at least she could study, whereas Harry never got that chance. The waiter came over with their main courses, so Harry came back to his seat and gave her a sneaky kiss. He looked relaxed and happy. Sophia wondered how he was able to deal with all of his problems. He was much stronger than she judged him at first.

  As the dinner progressed, Sophia realised that Caroline and Eve knew a lot more about Harry than she did. Sophia instantly felt connected with the O’Donaghue family. They were all relaxed with each other. Sophia didn’t feel any pressure and there were no expectations. She remembered her own family gatherings where everyone was trying to impress one another. She hated it when her mother pointed out that her cousins were always better in everything. Her parents never praised her or made her feel good about herself. Sophia wanted to be a part of Harry’s family. Sophia also felt glad to see Barbara looking much happier being around the people that she loved. She laughed and cleaned her plate, and even ordered a dessert.

  As the evening end
ed, Caroline asked for Sophia’s number and promised to take her out for a girly night. Before Sophia left, she whispered in her ear, “He is in love with you. I can always tell; it’s the way he is looking at you. I just wanted to let you know that this sort of love comes only once in a lifetime. If you decide to throw it away, you will never be truly happy again. You will never experience it with someone else.”

  Sophia looked at Caroline, completely shocked and not sure how to react.

  “Come on, Soph. Get your beautiful ass in,” shouted Harry, pulling up in his car in front of the restaurant. Sophia wanted to ask Caroline if she had ever experience the feelings that she was talking about, but Harry was well within earshot, sticking his head out of the window and grinning.

  “What about your mum?” she asked, realising that Barbara was still talking to Claire outside.

  “Aunt Claire will give her a lift. Mum said that I should take you for a drive,” he chuckled, staring at her with those beautiful brown eyes.

  Sophia got in the car and waved at his cousins as they drove off.

  “We can go to Vanessa’s apartment; she is working and her boyfriend is probably out,” said Sophia, hoping that Timothy was indeed out.

  “And what are we going to do in her empty apartment?” asked Harry, grinning.

  “I don’t know. We can always think of something,” she joked, blushing.

  “Well, beautiful, I can certainly think of a few things.”

  That night Harry made Sophia forget that she only had two weeks left with him; she forgot that she still had to make a decision about her future. She didn’t think about how they’d broken every possible rule. Harry kissed her and carried her into the bedroom, with gleaming desire in his eyes. He undressed her and brushed every inch of her flesh with his lips. His touch comforted her, made her feel special and loved. When he stroked his fingers over the scars on her stomach and thighs, she felt healed. She closed her eyes and allowed him to take control. They made slow, tender love for a few hours. He made her come over and over until she begged him to let her sleep. Sophia’s heart was beating through her veins, locking every precious second with Harry in her memory. She fought with the demons that had been haunting her since she could remember. He took away the pain and replaced it with pure, sensual, and irresistible love.

  ***

  On Saturday morning Sophia opened her eyes, feeling that she slept well. Her entire body was sore but pleasantly happy. The morning sun was pouring into the room and the rays from the sun were dancing around on the carpet. She’d slept well and she touched the other side of the bed, finding it empty. She blinked rapidly and looked at the clock; it was half past twelve and there was a note on the side table.

  Went to check on Mum. Will be back in a few hours. Miss me already?

  Prince Charming

  Sophia smiled and stretched her arms above her head, running her fingers over her arms and remembering Harry’s touch on her skin. She could still smell him on the clean sheets. She yawned loudly and got up. Sophia thought about Caroline’s words. Was Harry truly in love with her?

  They hadn’t talked about their feelings, but Sophia didn’t have to think twice about how she felt about him. It was too late; she was in love and the ache in her heart started when she realised that he wasn’t with her this morning. Sophia went to the bathroom, brushed her teeth, and tried to put her head in order. She put some clothes on and marched to the kitchen, feeling hungry. She was surprised to see Vanessa and Timothy sitting at the table having breakfast.

  “Morning,” sang her best friend. Timothy smiled.

  “Morning guys. I can’t believe that I slept so long today,” she said. “Have you seen Harry this morning?”

  “He got up, made us breakfast, and said that he was going to be back soon,” giggled Vanessa. “Tim doesn’t do that for me.”

  “You are already spoiled, Vanessa, and breakfast in bed would just be doing too much,” muttered Timothy, but he winked at Sophia when Vanessa turned to find the juice in the fridge.

  Sophia looked at the frying pan; Harry had made scrambled eggs.

  “So what are you both of you up to today?” she asked, helping herself to the eggs.

  “I finally got a day off, so we are just going to go to the beach. Do you fancy coming along when your lover boy comes back?”

  “Yeah, that sounds good.”

  Hearing a loud knock, they all turned towards the door. Vanessa arched her eyebrows with surprise.

  “Is that Harry already?” muttered Sophia.

  “He can’t stay away from you,” joked Vanessa.

  She laughed and then went to the door, smiling and ready to greet Harry. The smile was instantly wiped off her face when she saw her father standing at the door. He wasn’t alone either; Mason was behind him.

  “Dad?” she breathed, feeling as if the air was trapped in her lungs. Blood rushed to her ears. Her father narrowed his eyes, scowling. He was dressed casually in jeans and a navy jumper. He didn’t say anything to Sophia, but instead he pushed past her and stormed into the apartment, and Mason followed him.

  “Mason, what are you doing here?” she managed to ask, feeling as if her whole body was rooted to the spot.

  “Let’s talk in the kitchen,” muttered Mason, sounding tense. His normally soft voice was now low and raspy.

  Sophia forced her numb legs to move and followed her father and Mason.

  “I need to have a private chat with my daughter,” ordered Nassa, looking at a shocked Vanessa, who was glancing from Nassa to Mason, unsure of how to react. She knew Sophia’s father well and she knew that there was no point questioning his orders.

  “Of course,” she muttered and left the kitchen with Timothy, throwing Sophia a surprised look on the way out.

  “Why are you here, Dad?” Sophia repeated once Vanessa was out. Her throat had gone completely dry and dread crept over her shoulders. He was angry; his jaw was tightened and this wasn’t a good sign. Something was wrong; otherwise he wouldn’t be here.

  “When you told us that you were going to Belfast, I started worrying. I wasn’t sure if you were going to cope with being on your own, especially after what’s happened in the past.”

  He paused and scratched his head. Sophia was staring at Mason, who deliberately wasn’t looking at her. Panic shot through her body, attacking her veins and filling her stomach like the hot, thick lava that spread through a volcano.

  “This isn’t the past, Dad. I haven’t hurt myself since I ended the therapy,” she said through pursed lips.

  “I hired Mason to follow you, just to make sure that you were all right,” he added, sounding tired. Sophia thought that her mind was going to burst into a million pieces. She looked at Mason who finally met her eyes. She saw regret before he looked away, embarrassed. The world around her spun and she felt like she was falling down; the earth opened and it was sucking her in. Her father’s voice flooded around the room and anger erupted inside her heart. She wanted to walk up to him and stab him with a knife until he couldn’t make a sound.

  “And at first everything was going good. You were going into work, staying with Vanessa and not getting into trouble. Then Mason called and mentioned that he saw you with one of your clients on the street outside probation. One thing led to another and you got involved with that criminal.”

  “Harry is not a criminal,” she whispered, calculating her next move. The fury made her dizzy and incapable of feeling the betrayal. She couldn’t believe that her father would do this to her and Mason had been lying to her and watching her every move.

  “He is dangerous, and if anyone from Probation would have seen you, then your career would have been destroyed. I called you a few weeks ago, warning you to stop this silly romance, but you didn’t want to listen.”

  This was really happening; her father hired Mason, who pretended to be her boyfriend so he could spy on her. Her pulse throbbed and her mind screamed to tell him to go and fuck himself.

  “I love
this man and I’m going to quit the job so that no one finds out.”

  Her father twitched and narrowed his dark eyes, exhaling sharply.

  “You are going back with me to London right now before anyone starts sniffing around,” barked Nassa, shoving his hands into his pockets.