Buses & Bunk Beds (Zarry)

Chapter 51

We left for the meeting with management as soon as Jade left, and my feelings of happiness were all replaced with ones of dread on the ride over. Harry's good mood seemed to diminish as well, and by the time we reached our destination he was downright grumpy. Matters weren't improved when we met Nancy's new assistant, a very pretty girl named Olivia, who Harry felt was a bit too friendly to me.

"Come sit next to me, babe," he said pointedly while she was introducing herself to me. I rolled my eyes but went to join him on the sofa anyway, not wanting to make a tense situation worse. I smiled when I noticed that he'd worn a shirt that didn't hide the love bite I'd given him, and I leaned into his neck so that I could nudge the mark with my nose. He grinned at me as I pulled away, reaching his hand up to pull my collar down a bit so that he could see the one he'd given me.

A minute later we were walking into Nancy's office, and she did not look happy to see us. Her eyes immediately darted to our hands, which were intertwined, exactly as they should be. My hand fit perfectly in his, which I took as another sign that we were meant to be together. From the look on Nancy's face, she didn't feel the same way.

"Do you boys enjoy making my job difficult? Do you sit around and think up ways to ruin your careers, or does it just come naturally to you?" she asked. Harry and I both just looked at her, waiting for her to get to the point. "Did you really think that word about you two being all over each other wouldn't get back to me? I know that everyone in the crew has signed confidentiality agreements, but you could still easily be spotted by someone else, and that cannot happen."

"Hard as it may be to believe, we're not thinking about you at all when we're together. We're thinking about each other," Harry began, sounding incredibly pissed off. I could see this conversation becoming contentious quickly, so I spoke up before things got out of hand.

"We're not trying to make your life difficult Nancy, but we're together and it would be impossible for us to hide that all the time. But we do take precautions, and we've made sure that we aren't too obvious about our feelings when we're out in public."

"Be that as it may, we all need to be overly cautious over the next few months. This needs to stay under wraps until the end of the tour, and if you two are still together then-"

"We will be," Harry and I said simultaneously, making my stomach flutter as I took a second to look over at his handsome face and smile. He smiled back at me, making the flutter turn into full on butterflies. I didn't care if it was innappropriate behavior for a business meeting, I couldn't help but pull his hand up to my lips, placing a gentle kiss on the back of it.

"Well, at that point we can discuss the best way for you to come out. We already have people working on a statement, and we'll line up a series of interviews, during which we can make sure that the story is presented in the best possible light."

"This isn't some 'story' we're talking about; it's our lives. You've been controlling us for four years now and we've put up with it, but you're taking it too far," Harry said.

Nancy ignored him completely, and I squeezed his hand, seeing that he was getting angrier by the minute.

"The focus right now needs to be on keeping everything quiet. I've been told that Perrie's going to be announcing your breakup later this week. If you're asked about it you need to say that distance and not enough time together was the culprit. And make sure that you only say nice things about her. We don't need you looking like the bad guy, and we certainly don't want her to change her mind about staying quiet. Got it?"

I nodded as I tried to think of the best way to bring up the baby, but Nancy interrupted my thought process when she handed Harry and I packets of paper. "What's this?"