The Model [Zarry]

Chapter 24.

The following Monday, Liam called an official staff meeting. Everybody was gathered in the office, the seats filled with the small number of employees, and Liam stood before them all with his assistant by his side. Niall had a clipboard in hand, and was beaming as he eyed the curious workers around them. They were all exhausted, just like anybody would be on a Monday morning, but were interested to hear what their boss had to say.

"Hello everyone," Liam said once Louis finally walked through the door, taking the last seat next to Harry. Liam adjusted his purple tie, grinning at Louis. "Glad you're on time," he teased his friend, winking when Louis gave him the finger. Sure, he was his boss, but they were still all good mates. They had more freedom than typical employees and they sometimes took advantage of that.

"Alright so I called you in here today to go over numbers. It's been a week since our magazine came out, and I'd just like to say... wow. You guys wouldn't even believe all the positive reviews we've been getting. Jesus, I can't believe it." Liam flipped a boxboard that was on display to reveal a graph. It was unclear what it meant from so far away, therefore all Zayn could clearly decipher was a line going up.

"This graph shows the difference in sales from last month to this month," Liam explained, pointing at the board. "See, this was before. Last month, with the issue where Louis was on the cover, we sold around fifty thousand copies, which is the equivalent to Bliss magazine. This month, we sold around one hundred and seventy-five thousand copies, which is the equivalent to Elle. We are predicted to reach sales of about three hundred thousand within the next three months if we continue peaking like this. That's the equivalent to Cosmopolitan. Cosmofuckingpolitan. We could be the next Cosmo!"

The room erupted with cheers, the staff clearly excited about all of this. They did it. Their issue was a success and even Zayn was smiling like an idiot. He reached for Harry's cheeks and pulled the curly haired boy towards him, kissing him in congratulations. "We did it," Zayn whispered, their foreheads pressed together, and Harry's hand moved up to cup Zayn's on his cheek. They shared a private moment, getting lost into each other's eyes. Not much had changed since that night Zayn admitted he loved Harry, but Harry was less afraid that this was just a phase for Zayn. An experiment. Just a temporary thing until he got over his past. He knew it was love and it was permanent and just oh, so wonderful.

"I'd like to get a big round of applause for our cover boys, Zayn and Harry!" Niall shouted, raising a fist in the air as the trifling crowd cheered again, and the boys pulled away from each other, cheeks flushed. Their hands found each other's, locking together tightly as they listened to Liam's plan for next month's issue.

"Like I said, the reviews were incredible. A lot of people were fascinated with, in their words, 'our courage to display something so uncommon in today's social media.' They loved the article as well, although half of it was bullshitted by Niall. Good on ya mate," Liam snickered, clapping for Niall. "Another thing, or person, everybody loved was the newest addition to our family."

Liam turned to Zayn, all eyes following his, and Zayn slumped in his seat. He still wasn't fond of loads of attention on him. It made him nervous and he always felt judged with so many eyes observing him. "Me?" he murmured, comforted by Harry clasping his hand a little tighter. He turned to his right to see Harry's eyes were beaming with adoration. He couldn't help it. He was so proud of his boy.

"Yes Zayn. You." Liam moved to stand next to Zayn, squeezing his shoulder and crouching over him so that Zayn looked up into his eyes. "What would you think of being our cover boy next month? You've worked hard, and you very well deserve the spotlight."

"Umm, well..." Zayn's eyes moved to Harry, seeking for support. He was hardly comfortable with Harry next to him in front of the camera, and even less for his solo shots. Did he actually want an entire front page just for him? He was the first thing anybody would see when they picked up the magazine. What if they just put it back down? What if-