Beautiful Pain (8 page)

“
Don’t worry, babe, you won’t be a virgin long. You are on holiday and we will find you a hot guy sooner or later. Trust me, sex is great! As soon as you try it you will know what I am talking about. I will be back by midnight … or maybe in the morning,” added Vanessa, sending Sophia a playful wink.

“
All right,” muttered Sophia.

She sat back, thinking about what Vanessa had said. She wasn’t bad looking, and the other night someone was interested in her so maybe Vanessa was right. She was going to sleep with someone by September. She left London to change her life for the better. She wasn’t dependent on her parents all the time. It was her life and she could do what she wanted.

***

“
How is your situation with accommodation?”

Craig was staring at her reluctantly; he didn’t look good at all, thought Sophia. It was Friday afternoon but she still had a lot of work. Craig has been sofa surfing for about a month and he told Sophia today that he was fed up. He was twenty-eight, but looked much older than that. He was definitely underweight with large dark circles under his eyes and sallow skin. Sophia suspected that he was still taking drugs. She wanted to sort out a place in a hostel for him.

“
I don’t want to sleep on the floor, there are too many smack heads up there. I ain’t going back,” he protested.

“
Let me make some phone calls to see if there is another hostel available, but the other one might be quite a distance away from the city centre,” she explained, picking up the phone. Craig nodded and rubbed his green eyes. He looked filthy; all of his clothes were dirty, he looked like he had been working in the field. For a moment Sophia wondered if he was earning cash in hand. He probably did, but she couldn’t be sure.

Finally someone picked up the phone and she managed to speak to a lovely woman, but she wasn’t able to help. The hostel was full and there was a waiting list.

“
I am afraid that the only option for now is for you to get back to the hostel and sleep on the floor until a space becomes available,” she said.

“
I told you I ain’t going back there. My mate said that he will ask his landlord to see if there are any rooms. I will ask someone to lend me the cash,” replied Craig.

Sophia sighed and made a note on the system.

“
All right, here is your next appointment. Just make sure you won’t be late this time and please stay out of trouble,” she explained, narrowing her eyes. She wasn’t sure what else to suggest. She assumed that Craig was going to be back in prison, unless she could sort him out with decent accommodation.

He gave her a faint smile and left. She finished her report. Harry O’Donaghue didn’t turn up for his appointment today and Sophia was worried that something must have happened. He knew the rules of his probation and he knew the consequences of missing any appointments. She tried to call him, but the number seemed engaged. This afternoon she didn’t have any more reviews. She wasn’t looking forward to seeing him today, but she didn’t want him to go back to prison either.

“
Have you tried to contact Harry?” asked Susan, throwing Sophia away from her thoughts as she entered Sophia’s office.

“
No. I tried to call him, but the number doesn’t work.”

Susan pursed her lips, looking annoyed.

“
He has community service today. He should be finishing at four o’clock, do you think you would be comfortable going to see him there?”

Sophia’s heart gave a giant thump.

“
Yes ... I suppose so, but I don’t think that he will be very happy seeing me turn up unexpectedly,” she replied, feeling uneasy seeing Harry outside probation.

Susan smiled, looking satisfied.

“
I will give you the details. I know that you don’t drive, but there is a bus that goes there. Just do the quick review on the side. Tell him that we need the evidence of why he didn’t attend,” she explained.

Sophia nodded, taking the information about Harry’s community service. She couldn’t say no to Susan. She was going to meet Harry in his territory and she wasn’t sure what to expect. She packed all the forms and checked the buses that were running to that area of Belfast. The tiny voice in her head was telling her not to go.

“
Good luck,” said Susan while she was leaving. Sophia couldn’t just turn around and say that she’d changed her mind.

Twenty minutes later she left the building feeling anxious about this whole idea. Seeing Harry alone outside the probation office brought cold chills down her spine. She took a deep breath and decided to think about the relaxing bath that was waiting for her at home. This was her first adventure outside Belfast. Vanessa mentioned that some of the parts were dangerous to go to, but today Sophia had to take her chances. Somehow she was disappointed when she realised that he wasn’t going to attend.

The address that Susan gave Sophia was in North Belfast. She was told that Harry was cleaning the park with a group of a few other offenders, so it wasn’t going to be difficult to find him. She tied up her hair in a ponytail. The weather was great today and she was already boiling. The trip in the bus was pleasant as she had a chance to see different parts of the city. The driver let her know when it was her stop. She wasn’t familiar with the area when she left the bus. The street appeared busy, filled with people who were probably rushing home. She looked at her map trying to locate the park. She asked a pedestrian to point her in the right direction. It turned out that the local park wasn’t that far. Her intuition told her that this area wasn’t one of the safest, but she couldn’t back away now, she had a task to complete. She carried on walking until she reached the wide road. Finally she noticed the park nearby on the other side of the street. She bit her lip with anticipation, wondering how Harry was going to react when he saw her here.

The day was humid and when she listened to the radio earlier the temperatures were supposed to shoot higher later on in the day. She recognized Harry straight away; he was walking towards her. She couldn’t believe in her own luck, she wasn’t expecting to catch up with him so easily. He noticed her from the distance. She couldn’t read anything from his expression when she approached him.

“
I don’t believe in that kind of coincidence,” he said in his usual husky voice. Sophia knew that he had been working; he was lightly flushed and his skin looked burned where he’d caught the sun. He had on a sleeveless T-shirt that was showing off his large eagle tattoo. Sophia tried to not look at it, but she found it difficult to draw her eyes away. The tattoo was incredible, hiding part of the wing underneath his T-shirt. It was
graceful and strong, reminding her of him. She drew her eyes to
his broad muscles that were shining with sweat. A tiny jolt of electricity shot through her belly and down in between her legs. Her heart started pounding fiercely. When he was standing in front of her she forgot what she was going to say. She wanted to run her hand over his impressive tattoo. The noise of the truck that drove through brought her back to reality.

“
Susan sent me here. You missed your appointment today,” she said; her voice high and apprehensive. He folded his arms together, smiling. She wiped the sweat off her forehead, trying to pull herself together and build a distance between them, but every nerve in her body reacted while he was standing so close. She was fighting those unfamiliar feelings, telling herself that she was his probation officer and it was inappropriate to even think about him this way.

Chapter Eight

“
Do you want to talk to me here or shall we go somewhere else?” he asked, scanning her face. He sounded amused. She glanced around, unsure why she was so nervous. She was in charge here and he just had to follow her rules.

“
Are you done now with your community service?”

“
Yeah, I was heading home” he said looking at her lips. Sophia wondered why he was always focused on her mouth.

“
I am not familiar with this area, are there any coffee shops that we can go to?” she asked as a few men passed them, glancing at her with interest.

“
Susan shouldn’t have sent you here. This area, it’s dangerous. I’ve got an idea where we could talk, come on,” he said and took her hand. Sophia wanted to protest but his touch sent a warm tingle down her thighs. The sudden wave of uneasiness was gone as she was walking with him, but he pulled his hand away quickly enough. She made a mental note in her mind that she had to avoid touching him in the future.

“
Where are we going?” she asked, rushing after him.

“
To my car. I need to get you away from here before someone mugs you,” he hissed, looking annoyed. Sophia glanced around with panic, thinking that this time Harry might have been right. They walked for about five minutes to the small alley. Harry stopped in front of an old, dark blue Golf.

“
You want me to drive with you?” she asked in disbelief, staring at him like he just told her a really bad joke. He smiled.

“
Don’t worry, Sophia, I am not going to kidnap you. I am a good guy,” he smirked and got into the car. Sophia stood there for a moment. She had to speak to him and fill this stupid report out, but getting into his car wasn’t a good idea at all. “Are you getting in or not?”

She sat next to him, folding her hands together. The car wasn’t a mess as she expected, but inside was warm and she was sitting next to him, way too close. Smiling, he looked at her.

“
I am sorry if you have been used to a more comfortable model, but you know that I haven’t got a job,” he smirked and started the car.

“
Where are we going?” she asked, aware that her heart was beating much faster than it should. Did he always have this kind of effect on her or was it just today?

“
You said you wanted to talk in the coffee shop, so I am taking you to one,” he replied. Sophia decided not to ask him any more questions; it was safer that way. Besides, she had to forget about his incredible tattoo and his bare skin that was only inches away. She was concentrating on her breathing. After a long and awkward moment of silence, Harry parked the car in a busy street. The neighbourhood looked decent and the street wasn’t as busy.

“
Here we are, now let’s talk,” he said and flashed her one of his best smiles. They entered the small coffee shop. “What would you like to drink?”

“
I will get it,” she said quickly.

“
Sophia, just choose the table and I will get our drinks,” he said firmly. “What would you like to drink?”

“
A latte,” she replied and went back to the table, tensing her jaw. She didn’t like that he was ordering her around. She sat down and started taking all of her forms out of her bag. She needed a shower. It had been a long day, and now she was going to sit here with the guy that was intimidating her. After a long moment Harry returned and sat in front of Sophia, placing a large latte in front of her.

“
Thank you, how much do I owe you?” she asked him.

“
Just get on with it, this is on me,” he replied abruptly, watching her carefully. He bought a soda for himself. “I can’t believe that you are drinking coffee when it is like twenty five degrees outside.”

“
I like my coffee,” she replied. She wanted to argue about the money, but she decided that there was no point. He was obviously happy to pay for her drink. “So tell me why did you miss your appointment with me?”

He ran his thumb over his lips, leaning towards her. She wasn’t sure why he always had to look at her so intensely; it was like he was trying to read her mind, wanting to know what she was thinking.