Where Your Heart Is (A Harry Styles Fanfiction) #pfcc2k16 #Wattys2016

Chapter Thirty-Two: Ride With The Tide.

I know that it won't actually make much of a difference, but it is a rather comforting feeling anyway.

"Let me get some things done here and I'll be with you in a second." Veronica says to me, going back to her phone. "Olivia, go get ready for your shift."

If I didn't already knew what this is all about, I wouldn't be able to guess it from the way she behaves. Yes, her words sound sharp and demanding but then again, that is how she always sounds.

I give Liv a faint smile and a nod and returning the gesture to me, she goes off to do what she was told.

As for me, I close the door behind me and decide to accept my fate. Because now that I am here, alone and in silence, I have this moment of pure clarity and I realize that I don't regret a single thing.

And the fact that I'm not as angry at him for hiding this from me is the most tangible proof of that.

It was nice knowing you. Bye.

As soon as the message is sent and received, my phone vibrates in my hands and his name flashes through the screen.

Two times he calls me; two times I turn him down. The last thing I need is to have my boss walking in while having this conversation with Harry.

What are you talking about? What happened? Pick up the damn phone!

I smirk at the sight of his message, practically hearing his trembling voice and his thick accent while he says those words. And I type back.

Can't talk right now. Too busy getting my ass fired.

I don't get the chance to read his response because the door finally opens and Veronica walks in.

With a move of her hand she invites me to take a seat and she goes to do the same on her chair. Once faced with each other, an awkward silence follows. And with her elbows propped on the desk, and her chin resting on her intertwined hands, she sighs.

"I have a friend who's a lawyer..." She begins to say, and all that piece of mind I had managed to procure for myself goes shooting right out the window.

Why are we even talking about lawyers?

"... Well, she's not a lawyer per se, but she might as well be one." She continues, never minding if I had something to say about anything. "And I was talking to her this morning about this situation I have found myself in..."

I couldn't be more confused about this. And the fact that my phone keeps buzzing between my clenched fingers isn't really helping.

"Okay..." I just say that to make sure I can actually speak, but I don't have anything else.

"Are you familiar with the presumption of innocence principle?"

What? What is this? I am not too good with legal terms but I have seen my fair share of TV shows to know the basics. So having her talking to me about criminal law definitely gets me even more confused and back on edge.

"I do. Something about reasonable doubt, right?" I respond, not really knowing where she's going but acknowledging that the only way to get out of it is going right through it.

"Exactly." Her spine snaps to a straighter position, and with both hands gripping the edge of the desk she pulls herself closer to it. "Now, about that situation of mine..."

Her fingers glide across the keyboard as she quickly types something on her computer. And when she finds what she was looking for, she takes in a deep breath and turns the screen towards me.