Ugly Duckling [ Harry Styles/One Direction Fanfiction ]

Chapter 18 : Rejection Is Bitter

Chapter 18 : Rejection Is Bitter

Zayn woke up from a dream. The dream had turned into a nightmare. He had dreamt that he was chasing Flora through a vineyard. The smell of freshly brewed wine and fresh blossom lingered in the air. Flora was in a white summer dress and she had worn a large straw hat. The wind blew the hat off her head, and Zayn tried to catch but the wind was too strong. Flora ran. She zigzagged her way through the rows of grape vines, trying to lose sight of Zayn. Zayn tried desperately to catch up with her. But it seemed impossible. In his dream, the wind became incredibly too strong and then he woke up. His room was brightly lit as winter's sunlight burst through his blinds. He climbed out of bed and slipped into his bottoms and checked his phone. There was no new message from Flora. There was one from his mum, and a couple from his old friends. He quickly read them and then headed downstairs. Breakfast was being served by Joy and Niall. Louis was wearing the apron with a semi-naked lady, who was only wearing a bikini. Liam and Harry were reading the morning papers. The boys ate their breakfast in peace. Radio One was playing in the background. Joy said grace before she tucked into her breakfast.  The boys had another busy day of promoting and going off to studios finishing up their album and documentary.

Harry still hadn’t received any texts from her. He couldn’t stop thinking about what Lauren was telling her parents. Louis noticed that Harry’s door was slight ajar and came into his room.             

               “What’s with the face, Harold?” Louis asked him. “Is it that girl, Lauren?” Harry nodded. He stared at his phone.                                                   

                “Yeah, i don’t know if i should text her or just wait. What do i do Louis?” Harry looked up from his phone and into Louis’ eyes.                                   

                “Well, you can’t expect her to text you, can you mate? You’re gonna have to man up and text her. Or better still, call her.” Louis gave his brotherly advice and patted Harry on the back. Harry nodded and indicated to Louis to leave him as he made his first move. Harry was nervous. This was not his usual confident self but he was treading on eggshells here. Lauren was his first love and he still deeply cared for her.

“Hello Lauren, it’s Harry here. How are you? :) I was wondering if you were free sometime this week. Xx”

Harry sent his text and fidgeted on his bed as he waited for Lauren’s reply.

*

Julia took William to their weekly ‘Mothers and babies’ meeting but this week was the Christmas special. John left for work early in the morning as there was a mix-up with the orders at the restaurant. The wind rushed passed Lauren’s face as she hopped off the bus. She was meaning to go for a walk this morning but it was too windy and it was rather drizzly. Lauren wore a nautical and cream oversized knitted sweater, skinny black jeans and some navy Oxfords. She took out her scarf and wrapped it around her, before placing on her beanie. It was truly cold, and her hands felt like it was getting frostbite.

Lauren walked into the BBC Centre, carrying a large black studded leather bag. She made her way to the editing room and saw that Kyle and a few of the other members were already there.       

              “Oh, hi guys. Urm.. Sorry I’m late. I had to take the bus this morning and a big traffic jam.” Lauren apologised to her new team. Kyle approached and handed her a hot StarBucks. She smiled and thanked him as she took of her scarf with one hand and the other holding the coffee. At couple of moments later, they began working on the documentary.                                                               

              “Lauren?” said Paul as he beckoned her to take a look at a preview of a footage of Lauren and her team helping a community build a working water pump. The seven of them sat and stood in awe as they watching the footage on a projected screen. Lauren was still moved by it. She couldn’t wait to get back out there again, and help more communities get out of poverty.

The footage ended, and it was about lunch break. Lauren felt a buzz in her jean’s pocket. There was a text from her phone company, congratulating her for reactivating her account, and one from an unknown number. It was from Harry. She pondered and fought off any negative feelings towards him. She quickly replied him.

“Hey, I’m great. I’m a bit busy now, how about after 5? :)”

Within in seconds, Harry replied her back.

“Sounds great and i can’t wait. How about an early dinner at Posh Nosh? It’s the best place in town :)”

“Oh.. Isn’t that place sort of expensive? Why don’t you just meet on the corner of Wood Lane around 5.30ish? Then we can just look for a place nearby?”

“Sure, that sounds better :) see you then xxx”

Lauren tucked her phone back into her jeans as Kyle pulled up next to her.                                   

                   “So do you wanna go for lunch now then?” he asked with a smile.                               

                   “Sorry, i’m sort of meeting someone after this for a dinner.” Lauren said with a saddened smile. She took a sip of her coffee.                                                                               

                   “Okay, some other time then.” Kyle read her body language and backed off.                  

                    “So, has anyone taken you on the tour bus yet?” Kyle averted his eyes to the ground, he looked a bit awkward. Lauren sense the tone, he was asking her out again.                                  

                     “No, not yet. But I’m not really bothered about it.” she said casually with a sorry look on her face.                                                                                                                                   

                     “Oh, well someone should anyways. It’s fun. You’ll actually enjoy yourself, Lauren.” Kyle said with a faint smile upon his face and he moved away from her as Paul and Michael re-entered the room with bacon bagels and smoothies. Hardly a healthy option, Lauren pondered to herself. But she felt a pang of guilty in the pit of her stomach when Kyle returned his attention back to his work. Or was it her hunger pangs.