BLACKHOUSE [H.S.]

Nine

"Me, you, Harry and the rest of the boys," he states, almost like it should have been obvious in the first place. "You should text Cassandra and see if she wants to come too."

Fuck.

"Oh," I whisper, biting my lip. "Okay, sure."

Going out with Harry is the last thing I want to do, but I would like to get to know the other guys.

"Sick!" He holds up his hand for me to give him a high five, which I do. "We can all go right after work."

At least he likes me.

"Cool," I giggle. "It'll be f-"

"Katie," Harry interrupts me with a stern voice, my face dropping. "Why did I just get a message from my client saying you never called her back to reschedule?"

Oh no.

Niall, who's sitting between us, looks back and forth at the both of us with a confused expression on his face.

"Oh, I don't know," I mutter, feeling my cheeks get hot. "Wh-"

"Stop with the stuttering and excuses, princess," Harry scoffs, glaring at me. "Why did you not call my client to reschedule? Now she has to wait more than a month before she can get in."

I have no idea what he's talking about. I don't remember a conversation with him or any of his clients where we talked about rescheduling.

"Harry," I sigh in frustration, looking down at my hands to avoid his angry gaze. His eyes are always so intense. "I don't know who you're even talking about."

"Don't play stupid," he raises his voice, setting his pencil down and turning his whole body to face me. My hands start to sweat from my building anxiety. "You know damn well who I mean."

"Calm down, mate," Niall interjects, holding his hand up towards Harry. "She hasn't even been here a week. Give her a break."

I feel grateful that Niall's here to defend me, but it still doesn't calm me down in the slightest. Harry scares me, his anger turns on like a switch, and over the littlest things too.

"If she's going to be here she needs to do her job," Harry argues, keeping his angry eyes on me.

"I am doing my job, Harry," I groan, my eyes flicking upwards to briefly make eye contact with him before looking back down. "If you would just tell me who you're talking about I can call them and work it out."

"It's too late, princess," he mocks me again with, apparently, my new nickname. "I already took care of it. Jesus, Louis needs to stop hiring girls like you."

I look back up at him, furrowing my brows.

What does that even mean? Girls like me? He must be talking about the girl that had this job before me. I bet he's the reason she quit out of the blue.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I ask him, now I'm getting angry.

I'm so sick of men thinking they can treat me like this.

"I mean, girls that have no business working in a tattoo shop." He rolls his eyes, like the question I just asked is the dumbest he's ever heard. "Girls that have clearly had everything handed to them so they don't need to give a shit about their job."

My jaw drops, completely shocked. How dare he act like he knows anything about me or my life? The nerve of this guy.

"Excuse me?" I question, raising my voice and pointing my index finger in his direction. "You don't know shit about me, Harry."

His eyes go wide and a dark scowl forms on his face. I instantly regret my words when I see his facial expression shift.

"You better put that finger down, and watch your fucking mouth," he threatens, my hand dropping to my lap. I feel a lump in my throat as if I'm about to start crying. "You haven't got a clue who you're talking to."

"Hey, what's going on back here?" Louis interrupts, I didn't even hear him come in.

He looks at Harry suspiciously.

"Nothing," Harry mumbles, turning his body towards the desk again, going back to drawing.

I am completely frozen in my seat, my eyes still glued to Harry sitting across from me. Louis places his hand on my shoulder while Niall continues to stay silent.

"Are you okay?" Louis whispers, making me turn around.

His face is full of concern. All I can do is nod, completely at a loss for words.

He holds his hand out towards the door of the back room. "Come on."

I stand up and follow him to the front, staring at my feet while I walk. When Harry is out of earshot, Louis stops and looks at me softly.

"He's really not as scary as he acts," he tries to reassure me. It doesn't work. "Why don't you step outside and take a quick break?"

"Okay," I mutter, taking a deep breath and walking out the front door.

I go around to the back of the white building and sit on the ground against the wall, my head falling into my arms that are propped on my knees.

These last few days have been so fucking draining. Harry has now snapped at me two days in a row for no reason. I probably shouldn't have spoken up, he just made me so angry. I don't want him to think he can push me around but, who am I kidding, he can and he will.

I squeeze my eyes shut in an attempt to hold back my tears. I don't want to walk back in there and look like I've been crying, then he'll think he won, and I don't want him to have that kind of power over me.

I lift my head up and lean against the wall, keeping my eyes closed and feeling the warm October breeze blow through my hair. I suddenly remember what Niall said about tonight. After that interaction, the thought of spending any more time with Harry today makes me feel nauseous, but I know I can't get out of it.

I reach into my back pocket and pull out my phone, swiping up to open it and going to dial Cass's number.

If I have to go, she's going to have to come with me.

"Hey girl," she picks up, sounding as cheery as ever. Must be nice. "What's up?"

"What are you doing tonight?" I cut to the chase.

I can hear loud music and talking coming from the other line. She must be at work.

"I'm not sure yet," she answers. "Why?"

"You're coming out with me and the guys."

~~~~~

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