Yes, Sir.

Chapter 35: Afraid

"You really shouldn't have said that to me," Hank whispers.

"I apologize," I say shortly.

"It's a little too late for that."

"What do you mean?" I sigh exasperatedly and turn around, freezing when I see what Hank is holding in his hands. He's beaming like a kid on Christmas morning and my stomach flips over itself when I figure out why.

He's holding a voice recorder. And my guess is that he just recorded our entire conversation.

"What are you going to do with that?" I ask weakly.

"Let's see," he pretends to think. "I'm not going to give it to Harry, because it's obvious you two are sleeping together and he would probably take your side. I'm thinking maybe a board supervisor... or wait! Even better, I could take it to Mr. Malik."

"Mr. Malik?" I repeat. Malik is quite literally the boss of everything Styles Enterprises ever does. Although he likes me alright as of now, once he heard that recording he would most likely fire me right then and there.

"Yeah, it's about time everyone knows what a stuck up little bitch you are," Hank smiles. "Have a great rest of the day!"

I watch him leave in horror. The shiny voice recorder in his hand is a bomb that will end my career for sure. My heart sinks down low in my chest.

Not sure what else to do, I numbly turn back to my email and begin typing again. This time my hands are trembling worse than ever.

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The setting sun casts a rosy glow on Harry's face as he scribbles out his signature on all the order forms for the conference. I stand across from him, my hand pressing slightly on his desk. It's been way too long of a day and I think if anything else is laid on me I might collapse.

"It's late," Harry says suddenly, and I look down at him.

"It is late," I agree. The other employees left hours ago but Harry and I have been working furiously on planning the conference all day.

"You must be starving," Harry notes as he finishes signing the last of the order forms. I actually wasn't hungry at all. Stress makes me lose my appetite and after today's episode I'm under a lot of it.

"A little," I say anyways.

"Perfect," he whispers, standing up suddenly from his chair. He grabs my hands and brings it to his mouth, pressing light kisses against my knuckles. "Stay and have dinner with me."

I yank my hand back. "Harry, I really-"

"Please," he cut me off, wrapping his strong arms around me. I try to squirm out of his embrace but being this close to Harry is almost intoxicating and I soon find myself melting against his chest. Grinning a little, he tips my chin up and begins dotting my face with tender kisses that make my heart ache.

Finally, his lips cover mine in a searing kiss, and as if my body has a mind of its own as I bring my arms up and around his neck, tugging him in closer. His tongue lightly traces the outline of my bottom lip and I knead my fingers into his curls. I can feel him smiling into the kiss.

Harry pulls back and moves his hand lower so that he's cupping my breasts. "It's so good between us. How can you want to end this?"

"I-"

But Harry doesn't let me answer because his mouth crashes down on mine again before I can utter another word. He lifts me up so that my legs are wrapped around his torso and trails his hand down lower, skillfully making his way up my skirt.

I freeze in his arms and screw my eyes shut, finally mustering the strength to push him away. "Stop it! I can't do this anymore."

I turn away from him and my stomach clenches when I realize he hadn't even thought to close his door.

"I don't want to be your dirty little mistress, Harry."

"Leah, stop it. You know that's not what you are to me."

I whip around and glare at him with my arms crossed over my chest. "Then what am I, exactly? I'm sure as hell not your girlfriend, and you and I both know that we're more than just friends."

Harry opens his mouth to protest but I raise my hand to stop him. "And before you try to pull the Liam card, I'll have you know that we broke up."

"Look..." Harry finally whispers. "I'm just...I'm not a relationship type of guy, Leah. I'll eventually screw things up and you'll end up leaving me."

"This is exactly why I can't do this," I shake my head and start to leave but Harry grabs my arm, stopping me.

"Look, it's like this. A relationship with me might last only a short time, but it'll probably be the most exciting ride you've ever been on."

"Maybe so," I say, "But it's not worth how much it'll hurt when the ride is over."

Harry sighs and brushes a lock of my hair behind my ear. "You have to understand how I feel. I can't invest myself in something permanent while knowing the agony that lies ahead."

"And I can't invest myself in something temporary while knowing the agony that's afterwards," I explain, and Harry places his hands on either side of my face, cupping my cheeks.

"Please," he whispers, his face so close that his lips brush gently against mine.

I push him away, again, and head for the door. "I'll see you tomorrow. Have a nice evening."

As I rush out of his office, Harry calls after me. "Leah, wait! We still need to talk about this. Please, stay for dinner."

I stop short where I am and angrily turn to face him. "Why? So you can seduce me again? So you can have sex with me right on your office desk?"

His silence and the slight pink tinge the creeps up his neck answers my questions.

"You know, Harry, for being the CEO of one of the top ranked companies in the country, you have really low self-esteem," I scoff.

"You think I have poor self-esteem?" he scowls. "That's bullshit."

"Is it? And yet you won't have a relationship with me because you're scared you'll screw something up."

Harry flushes angrily. "That's not what I-"

"Stop," I interrupt him. "You and I both know that it's the truth. Us sleeping together didn't accomplish a thing, except for ruining any chance of us working together- just like we were afraid it would."

"What are you talking about? We're great working partners!" Harry throws his hands up in the air in frustration.

I laugh humorlessly. "No, we're not. But it doesn't matter. As soon as the conference is over, I'm leaving. You can consider this my one week notice."

Harry looks at me, aghast. "What? Why?!"

"It's a lot of things," I sigh. I have been thinking about resigning ever since Ryan emailed me. I think the incident today with Hank was the last straw. And then, of course, my feelings for Harry, which I'm afraid will never go away.

I clear my throat. "But mostly...mostly because I think I'm in love with you."

He stays silent for once and I let out a breath, turning to leave the office. This time Harry doesn't try to stop me.

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A/N: woah that escalated quickly

ok guys I have swim camp for until school starts so im probs only going to update on sunday from now on yay for weekly updates though amirite

also this story is almost over like what the heck

dedication: suckmeharold

question of the day: do you think harry should cut his hair? ((my answer is pls god yes))

vote/comment please ily :-)