What Goes Around... || H.S. Harry Styles

14.

Tash looks briefly over the work she had done for the new SM Textiles on her MacBook and clicks print. 

Her designs for a new logo, business cards and website spit out of the printer and she quickly collates them and delicately places it into a presentation folder for her meeting.

She was good at what she did, great in fact, and although it had really scared her to go out on her own as a freelancer, job security and the fear of no steady income stopping her for so long,  it was starting to slowly make her some money as more and more clients came onboard.

Despite being the clumsiest person she knew and probably, as her mother would attest, also the messiest, she was always over-prepared when it came to her work.

She glances at the time and purses her lips, she has hours before her meeting and although she has work to do, nothing else was urgent.  Her mind is swimming with thoughts of Harry and the excitement and promise of their date was bubbling up in her stomach.

She scrolls through her phone and hits Alice's name, squeezing her eyes shut as she hears her friends voice booming through the speaker.

"Oh, so NOW you decide to return my five million calls!  You have a shit ton of explaining to do, you little minx!"  Alice's voice is serious but her words are entirely in jest.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I was trying to explain my fucked up life to myself before I had to admit it to anyone else!" Tash laughs down the receiver causing Alice to cackle back.

"Seriously, can NOT believe you know Harry... and you are his NAT! Do you know how many bloody times I've heard that name!" Alice exclaims and Tash's cheeks burn at the confession.  He's spoken to them about her? And often? How much do they know and why would he be talking about her?

"Well, trust me I was not expecting it either, but life has a weird way of smacking you upside the head sometimes I guess!  So... I was wondering..."  Tash starts, baring her teeth in a pleading grin even though her friend can't actually see it.

"What? Setting you up with your long lost high school heartbreaker wasn't enough? What more could you want from me?" Alice jokes causing a nervous giggle from Tash.

"Well, said heartbreaker is taking me out on Wednesday and since my wardrobe consists of vintage jeans and oversized fluffy sweaters I thought maaaaaaybe you can come shopping with me to find a cute dress?"

"Honey, I thought you'd never ask!"

-

Tash sips her latte while Alice bites into a piece of banana bread, their shopping bags are strewn around their feet and their girly giggles are infectious.

"Fuck me slowly? Oh my god, you didn't!"  Alice squeals as Tash's tries to hush her and looks around, prematurely embarrassed by anyone who may have heard her confession.

"I know, I know, I'm a hussy! After all this time though Al, he just.... he does something to me, I can't explain it," she confesses and Alice shakes her head.

"I'm happy for you, I am," Alice's tone deliberately lowers an octave as she drops the good humour for a moment to speak seriously.  "And you know how fond of Harry I am, he's one of my best friends, but...aren't you scared?  He's hurt you so badly before." 

Tasha looked down into her coffee and bite the side of her cheek before contemplating the question she had been avoiding asking herself.

"Mm'terrified actually.  He was everything to me back then, and maybe it was naive to think we would never be with another person or that we would get married and have kids and live this perfect happy life, but I really truely believed he was it for me."  She glance up at Alice's sympathetic smile.