Henry

​Henry massaged his legs thoughtfully at his desk. The computer stopped buzzing in numbers, so he decided to take the opportunity to stretch and sketch. He reached into his bag and pulled out the pad, flipping through the pages till he rested on a fresh, blank page.

​His mind layed out the picture for him. It was of and elderly man, his hair greying, his beard starting to grow. Even age had lightened his normally dark skin, freckles fully revealed. The eyes were the most important part, it showed the years that the man had gone through. The eyes showed the emotion and love that the man held.

Time passed, Henry flicking his eyes towards the screen every now and then to see if any work had buzzed in. After a long moment Henry realized he was drawing himself. The eyes had the same shape, the same kindness in them. Even the smile, which seemed so sincere still held back some pain. The man on the page had so much strength and in that moment Henry felt so weak.

How could he be so happy in his circumstance? He worked a job he barely understood and certainly didn’t want. It felt the right fit for him, but he knew he would rather spend his days in front of a canvas...standing in front of a canvas. Henry eyed his legs sadly and eventually forced himself to smile once more.

“I don’t need these...these…” Henry told himself. “I have more than most, more than I need. I never needed them to create art...never needed them to smile...I didn’t need to walk into the building on the first day, I didn’t need them to take her for that walk...only she needed them to feel right with herself and that is her loss, not yours.”

Henry’s voice held strong, but it was still filled with emotion. He had recalled his time with a ex-lover bitterly before, but this time he held it a lot better. There are many things that Henry has come to accept and he was reaching that point when it came to this as well. Once that was pushed from his mind, the computer seemed to react accordingly. It buzzed in response and the numbers began to move across the screen.

Henry smiled and began typing away. The office he worked in was larger than that of Cat’s or Michael’s. Unlike them he had a large window that covered the wall behind him. It gave him a somewhat great view, as great a view as you can get on the ground floor. He made sure to keep the blinds drawn throughout his working day. The last thing he wanted was to feel that he was being watched by someone.

Soon the screen froze signalling the end of the day. It returned back to normal if he felt like working overtime. For a moment, Henry did consider staying behind, but hsi growling stomach said otherwise. He collected his things and rolled out of the office. The Company had by far the largest building Henry had ever seen and he was willing to bet it was the largest building in the world as well.

He never measured it or was given any measurements, but he knew well enough that any building that was too tall to see the top or was several blocks wide, had to have been truly massive. Still, despite the colossal size, there seemed to be less than thirty employees in the ground floor, but who knows how many on the other floors.

Taking this into account, Henry was curious what was higher up, but no so much as to request a second or greater floor pass. Instead, he focused on getting to the cafe that he said he would meet Michael and Cat at. It wasn’t too far, so he soon entered the cafe, but was the only one their save the woman behind the counter.

“Hello, welcome to the Lost Poet, how can I help?” she asked.

Henry looked up at her and his jaw dropped. Cat and Michael entered and immediately got Henry’s attention. Henry talked with them, while Cat and Michael made their orders. Once the three were seated, the woman walked into the back of the cafe to prepare their coffees.

“I think I met the most beautiful woman in this world,” Henry murmured to his friends.

Michael and Cat looked at each other and smiled. It had been on their minds that Henry should find someone he is interested in and that seemed to be exactly what happened.

“The waitress, huh? I think I know what you’re going to order next...” Michael murmured with a sly smile.

“You know that isn’t one of the services they provide, right?” Cat replied with him.

“You two can tease all you want, but at the end of the day she is drop-dead gorgeous,” Henry reasoned.

“Well, ask her out, pal,” Michael told him with a slight amount of cocky attitude. It was his turn to make things seem easier than they were and Henry caught onto it.

Eventually Henry calmed down from his initial infatuation and laughed with them. Even now he so grateful to have friends, as useless as they were when it came to this situation. Henry still had inside thoughts on the both of them, but his will was too strong to use them against them in retaliation. He took it for what it was, good humour among friends and the three enjoyed the coffee they were served before returning home.

Once Michael and Henry were home the two eased on the joking.

“Thanks for not ratting me out to Cat,” Michael told him. “Pun not intended.”
“No problem, I know when to keep quiet and I am glad you guys did as well,” Henry nodded. “Now, if you will excuse me, I have some drawing to do.”

Henry retired to his seat in the living room and did his absolute best to picture the woman he was crushing on before drawing her carefully and closely.