A Compelling Motive (h.s.)

eleven

Drawing my lip between my teeth, I read the itinerary and lift myself out of my chair. My feet carry me down the hallway and I step into the elevator. I hit the top button, my jaw clenching at the upcoming events. The door opens and the security guard in front of the door asks my name.

"Rhiannon James. Code is 53065."

He nods and opens the door, my heels clicking as I reach the desk of my father.

"What is this?" I ask, trying everything in me not to raise my voice. He looks up at me, grabbing the documents from my hands.

"Your assignment," he says as he hands me back the papers. I feel as though I'm ready to explode.

"You want me to interview people who would just get you coffee and follow you around like puppies?! I'm not that kind of person. I'm not in HR," I say, his eyes meeting mine.

"Do as I say, or you can find a new job," he says calmly, clearly not caring if I walk out of Trace and Marx.

"Then find yourself a new communications coordinator," I say, throwing the papers on the desk. I turn around and get ready to walk out the door.

"Rhiannon, you may want to watch what you say," I hear him say, and I freeze. Everything I do is monitored, and if I reveal his big secret, I'm not sure what might happen. There are only two outside people who know: Tiana and Harry. If he found out, my head might as well be strapped under a guillotine.

"What makes you think I'd say anything? Especially now when I've been through far worse treatment from you," I spit back, and he looks up at me.

"I have to say it to you to make sure you know the consequences," he explains, and I shake my head.

"Of course I know. Like I always say, you make it so I'll never forget," I reply, moving back to exit. Once out, I take a deep breath and walk to the elevator.

It doesn't take much to pack up my things; everything fit in a single box. Making sure I leave without a trace, I make my way out. My apartment isn't far and as I climb the stairs, I notice my door is open. It closes and I know someone I know is in there. And the only one with a key is Amelia.

"Why are you here?" I ask, my suspicions answered when I see her on the couch. I had been able to avoid her since the event; clearly, the time away got too extremes where she had to 'break in' to my apartment.

"Because I need answers," she says, a sigh escaping my lips. I drop the box on the counter and move to sit next to her, relaxing on the couch.

"I quit," I say first, and she doesn't say anything. It's as if she knew it was inevitably going to happen.

"I need to know why you are talking to Harry Styles," she says, completely disregarding what I just said. She's got her mind elsewhere; it isn't the first time and it won't be the last.

"He met up with me, the night of the event prior to last weeks'," I explain, her eyes staring at me. "He found me after you slapped me."

She clenches her jaw, my shoulders shrugging. I can tell she's jealous, but I don't know what she expects me to do. He wants me, not her.

"Have you bothered to look him up?" she asks, and I look at her again. She lifts an eyebrow; almost as if she knows something I don't. I'm sure she does, but that doesn't mean anything. I've barely scratched the surface with Harry.

"You're going to realize, Rhiannon, that going around with Harry is not going to be in your best interest," she says, and I stand up.

"Why?! Just tell me," I demand, her body standing up. She just glares at me. I don't know what she's trying to get at, but I'm not about to play her game. I never will.

"Let's just say he's not what he seems to be. He's a sweet-talking, damn near animalistic man. He wants nothing more than to play with the people around him. No one has ever been able to keep him longer than a day. Scratch that, a night. He doesn't let anyone know him, and a man with secrets is not a good person to associate with."

My body stands over hers, her beady brown eyes staring into mine. "Why do I have a feeling, you are just trying to scare me? I'm not as naïve as you think, Amelia."

She lifts her arm and I grab her wrist, knowing her target before she even struck. "Rhiannon, you have no idea what you are getting yourself into with that man."

"And you have no idea how pathetic you are when you're jealous," I grit back, shoving her. "Get the fuck out of my apartment."

She just shakes her head. "Good luck. I would love to know what dad's going to do when he finds out."

Then she smirks. She walks out and I just sit down on the couch, letting my head falling onto my hands. I can't let her words get to me because she's clearly just jealous. Even though I'm still baffled and intrigued as to how he's chosen me, I know Amelia doesn't know him.

Lifting myself off the couch, I move to the bathroom. I shower and change my clothes, then make dinner. The distractions from what was said don't help and I find myself compelled to search, and I do so not shortly after.

I open my laptop and search his name, flooded by multiple images and articles pertaining to the beautiful man. There are articles of his achievements and then of those with names. Those names are of women, and they show pictures of him with them.

It's nothing that concerns me, everything seemingly normal, then one article sticks out. It catches my eye and I click it, then my heart drops to my stomach.

His mugshot shows, and I read through the article. Harry was arrested for battery and spent time in prison. It doesn't explain much of what he did, but the mugshot doesn't show any tattoos. He had long hair, however, and it shows him in a bad light.

I continue looking through the articles, nothing remotely coming close to scaring me more than his arrest. But I find myself obsessed with searching. Harry's been with many women from what it looks like, and I don't know what it really is. There are multiple sides to every story, and for all I know, these were women he is friends with.

Harry and I haven't spoken since our time at his house. I had to take a raincheck on our dinner due to an emergency with Tiana. I could not leave my friend in her time of need; Harry understanding.

I shut my laptop and I make my way to my room, laying in bed. The thoughts flood my head and I can't escape what I've read. It's not so much making me scared but rather confused. I don't know what happened or what his past was like, but I wish I did. He can't look into my past the way I can look at his, my name not even a search in the internet. He is, and he can't hide from that. I don't know what he does, or what his claim to success truly is, but I hope it's not his battery offense. Violence is a hard way to start out.

Perhaps he started in some way that no one knows. He may just be a socialite; a person who makes appearances and gets paid for it. Sponsorships, agency member, everything enters my mind. Drug cartel even registers. I have no idea what his profession is.

Unable to fall asleep, I start to apply for jobs to get my mind off of the topic. But I find myself drawn to the tabs searching his name. One more click and I look through more and more, finding more cases of violence. He seemed to have had a troubled childhood, but I possibly know why. He shared that his family really didn't want him, much like my own. Maybe this was a way to seek attention; to cope with the feeling of displacement.

Something inside me knows that there is something to Harry that no one will ever find out. He's his own story; an enigma in the flesh.