Honest Illusions [niall horan]

Chapter 11

"Mr.Horan, how can I help you?" She asked following the clearing of her throat. I raised an eyebrow at her overly formally use of my name. It was only every so often that I was referred to as Mr.Horan. I more preferred being called by my first name.

"I'm here t' see Aubrey," I simply responded, taking my hands out of my coat pockets. She turned over to her computer before she began clicking a few things. A minute later, her focus was back on me. From the look she had on her face, I knew she as going to give me a rough time just like last time.

"You don't have an appointment," she plainly responded.

"I made one with Aubrey, exclusively," I lied.

She snorted, "Exclusively my ass. Her entire agenda is handled by me and if she wanted to see you, you would be on the calendar." What the hell. I swore she was a shy and innocent girl, but obviously that assumption seemed to take a huge turn.

"Look, can ya jus' call her an' let 'er know I'm here. It's extremely important," I pleaded. Frustration and anger swarmed my mind. I desperately needed to talk Aubrey, and I knew she felt the same way. Last time I was with her in person, I could tell she had so much to say to me, but the words were just trapped in the confines of her mind.

"You're lucky I'm not calling security and reporting you as an intruder," she grumbled under her breath. I eyed her every movement as she picked up the dark grey phone before pressing a button.

"Aubrey, I have a Mr.Horan here to see you, and he's very insistent on seeing you this very second. Would you like me to let him in?" She spoke while giving me a dirty look. In response I sent her a wink, which earned me a roll of her eyes. A small part of me sensed that I made her a bit nervous. Maybe it was because I had such a high level of status here now, I don't know.

"You can go see her, but next time you better have an appointment," she warned me. Waving her off, I walked around her desk, pulling open one of the giant wooden doors that led me inside to Aubrey's office. Aubrey's back faced me as soon as I entered her office. Waves of her chestnut colored her fell loosely against her back. It seemed to have gotten a lot longer than I remember; now it reached to the middle of her back. She seemed so focussed on the skyline of the city that my entrance must not have been acknowledged.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" I spoke up, walking closer the center of the room. My hands firmly gripped the top edge of one of the two leather covered chairs she had placed in front of her desk. In an instant, Aubrey's head whipped back around to face me. As always, her eyes were glowing that wonderful and radiant shade of emerald green. She seemed at a loss of words following my comment. Although, we both knew exactly why.

"You remembered?" She stuttered out, pulling her own chair out in order to take a seat.

"How could I not? T'at was one 'f the first things ya ever said t' me t'at wasn't an insult," I replied. The way my memory worked amazed me. Sometimes I could barely remember what I ate the day before, but then other times I could clearly recall a specific instance. Anything connected to Aubrey was a crystallized part of my memory; they never faded away.

A quiet silence formed between the two of us, each of us staring everywhere but at the other. Only the sound of the loud honks and sirens of the city could be heard. The rising tension between us was slowly suffocating me, and I'm sure it was doing the same to Aubrey. Her lips were pressed in a firm line, eyes glued to the scattered papers across on her desk, and her peach colored manicured nails seemed to be gripping the edge of her desk rather tightly.

"So you read the entire piece then?" Her fragile, yet familiar voice spoke out.

"Yeah, all 'f it," I confirmed, nodding my head. For once our eyes finally locked, sending all sorts of weird sensations throughout my body. "It was beautiful, Aubrey," I quickly added. 'Just like you' my subconscious nagged at me, infiltrating my mind with thoughts I tried to veer away from.