All Too Well

Chapter 20

I entered into the large glass office, a long oak desk filled the room with twelve or so chairs surrounding the mantel, I recognised Karen the red-haired lady from reception and placed my laptop and notepad at the chair next to her. The room slowly began to fill, each individual looking more important then the last, until finally a long-legged brunette entered, captivating the attention of every associate in the small space. The hushed chatter drew to an immediate stop as she sat down at the head of the table, eyes on everyone. 

"Morning all, as you all probably are away or at least should be our magazine came in ranked at number one for this week again on the Forbes Gossip calendar for the twelth week in a row, everybody give yourself a round of applause." Her voice loud and infectious. Her eyes remained down as she shuffled through the drafts of this weeks magazine, her glasses sitting just below the bridge of her nose, waiting for the applause to subside before she started talking again. 

"Theres going to be a couple of changes to this weeks layout however, Dana i'm sorry but your last few columns have been less then impressive and the reviews surrounding the content have been not to the standard I am looking for, you're dismissed, i'll have somebody contact you later on in the week about collecting your things from the office." Everybody watched as the short blonde-headed girl, shuffled her chair back and quickly exited the room. That was all it took. 

"Bryan, great work on the 'Black is Back' piece, I felt like that really captured the essence of what trends are about these days, every young person is pairing black with black and the market has been going crazy over the new style, I want you to write it again, only this time, stripes!" The intimidating brunette shooting a placid smile in Bryan's direction. 

"Now to the star of the show, wheres Luca?" She questioned, scanning her eyes around the room until they met mine, she pulled her glasses off her nose and placed them down on the table. "This Harry Styles piece I truely believe is to thank this week, unbelievable." All attention in the room was now on me and I slightly shifted in my seat under their uncomfortable gaze, I was happy about the feedback I just would've much preffered it to have been on a story not regarding my personal life. I returned a thankful smile and took a small sip of the complimentary water placed in front of me.

"This week we have major competition, Regal have a fantastic spread on the Kimye wedding with insiders scoop so we need a story that's going to captivate the readers attention in a vaster area. I want you to all email me a detail layout of your ideas by four tomorrow afternoon and the most impressive will be given a four page spread in next weeks issue. Any questions?" I knew that this was a fantastic oppourtunity to show what I was made of and I began brainstorming ideas in my head. 

"Okay good, you can go, except Luca, i'd like to have a chat with you." My heart pounded loudly in my chest as I contemplated what this could be about, the fact that I was yet to even know this women's name made me nervous, I could only imagine what she was going to say. I collected my laptop and notepad and briskly walked around the length of the table until I was standing next to the brunettes chair. I tucked a strand of loose hair behind my ears and attempted to swallow down the vomit that was threatening to arise in my anxious state. 

"Luca, I don't think we have officially met, I am Vivien Lancaster the CEO of Confession." I felt my body tighten under the attention of this women, I had heard so much about Vivien she could make or break you in this industry and it was so important to stay on her good side. I watched as she took in my appearance, her eyes glancing me up and down before standing from her seat.

"It's so lovely to finally meet you, I've heard so many wonderful things," I nervously replied, forcing a faint smile above my apprehension. 

"I was incredibly impressed with the Styles story you wrote last week, I'm just somewhat concerned that you might get a little in over your head with this character?" Her tone somewhat condescending as she addressed the topic. 

"I don't really understand what you mean by that exactly?" I knew exactly what Vivien was referring too but I refused to believe that she would think my personal life would get in the way of my career. 

"Well we all have seen the pictures for god sakes, we're a gossip magazine, I mean whether whatever is going on between you and Harry Styles might all get a bit much and play a heavy toll on your future here at Confession, i've seen it happen sweetheart, people getting too caught up in all of it and crumbling as quick as they rose, I just feel like someone with as much potential as you could really use this situation to their advantage" a smug smirk plastered across her face. I couldn't tell whether this was a polite way of telling me to not see him again or to dig deeper into whatever was happening between Harry and I, either way the conversation made me uneasy. 

"In no way will my personal life get in the way of my work, I can one hundred percent assure you of that Vivien." I professionally stated.

"We will see about that my love, you can go now." She suggested before placing her glasses back on the bridge of her nose and pulling out her iPhone. I quickly exited the conference room and returned to my office, I should've expected that everybody around here was after one motive and that was success and it seemed like some people would stop at nothing to reach it. Gia was waiting in my office when I returned and suggested we go and grab a bite to eat, I grabbed my coat and purse and we headed for the doors. 

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"Luca!" A familiar voice called from outside the closing elevator doors. I pressed the hold button and waited for Matt to step through, his usual black on black outfit had been spiced up with a white and green striped shirt with white trainers. Something about the colours contrasted so well with this pale skin causing him to look far more intriguing then usual. 

"Hey you, I was actually just going to stop by your place and ask the details for your gig tonight, if it's still okay that I come?" I stated, causing him to laugh at my childish ask for permission.

"We're playing at a pub Luca, it's an open event of course it's okay if you still come, plus I did invite you remember?" 

"I know, I was just double checking," for some reason I found myself nervous around this guy, not worried, uneasy nerves but more like 'I hope he doesn't think i'm a weirdo' nerves, I seemed to care a lot  about what he thought of me and I wasn't really sure why.

"We're playing at Dogs and Ducks down in Soho at seven-thirty, hopefully you can make it yeah?" Matty notified before stepping out of the elevator. "See you then."

I pushed the keys into my apartment and chucked my bag up on the kitchen bench, to my surprise the reminence of the smashed tequila bottle were no longer there indicating that Harry must've cleaned it up before he left, I made a mental note to thank him and headed for the bedroom. I picked out a mid-length tight tartan skirt along with a cropped black tshirt that showed a small amount of stomach, I touched up my make-up, adding a small amount of eye shadow and lipgloss before pulling my hair out of the tight pony tail. Over all I was quite impressed with how I looked considering only hours ago I was a drunken mess with make-up smeared half way down my face.

I still had half an hour before Harry was due to arrive so I decided to rummage through the unopen boxes in my cupboard for my notebook. I've had this obsession with keeping track of everything that happens in my life in the form of a 'journal', I had kept one since I was at least thirteen years old and I sort of found comfort in the idea of being able to write everything down. I pulled out the black leather binded book and a pen and began flicking through, I had written a brief entry from the nights before I left for London, and then again the first night I met Harry, I decided to fill in the space between those events while I was waiting and constructed a logical recount from the time I got my apartment to were we are now, without thought I found Harry consuming most of the paper, things he said, things he did, the kiss, it all seemed to be about him. 

Downstairs x 

Thought i'd update again because i'm currently sitting on my computer waiting for 5sos tickets to come on sale, praying that i'll get them haha! Hope you enjoyed the previous chapter and this one and don't forget to vote and also check out the trailer I made ( I probably sound like a broken record but it took agest to make + I feel like it really helps make the story feel more realistic ) Anyways, hope you guys all enjoy the rest of your day and follow me on twittter madisonhigs xxxxxxxxx