He arrives in the kitchen breathing heavily, rests his hands on his knees and sighs deeply, trying to calm his racing heart.
"Hello, you must be Harry." He raises his head to meet a woman who looks to be in her fifties. She smiles kindly at him and Harry makes an effort to smile back.
"H-hello." He answers breathlessly. She notices how tired he is and doesn't hesitate to pour him a glass of cold water.
"I see you're having trouble on your first day. Can I help you with anything?" She asks, approaching him with the glass in her hands.
"Louis... Room... Housekeeping." He babbles and the woman laughs.
"Of course, Louis. Here, drink some water." His hands shake as he takes the glass she offers him, and drinks the liquid.
"Thank you very much." He says when he finishes drinking the water and feels calmer.
"How old are you?" She asks, taking the glass that Harry hands back to her.
"Seventeen." She is surprised, opening her mouth.
"What's a boy like you doing working as a houseboy in a house like this?" Harry bites his lip.
"I need the money to cover my expenses." He answers sheepishly. She seems to understand, and gives him a smile.
"Then welcome, I look forward to serving you." He smiles gratefully.
"Thank you." The woman nods.
"What do you need now? You look lost." Harry looks around.
"Uhmm, yes, I need a broom, a mop, a bucket full of water, air fresheners, and cleaning gloves." She looks at him dumbfounded.
"Are you going to clean Louis' room?" He nods, the woman grimaces. "He hates air fresheners, you'd better know that. If you use any product that leaves a pleasant scent in his room, he won't hesitate to throw you out."
"Oh... So what can I do? What can I clean his room with? What does he like?" He asks worriedly. Jimena folds her arms, sighing in defeat.
"Nothing. He doesn't like anything, any cleaning product. He's very sensitive to strong smells. Just clean with the broom and picks up his dirty clothes to clear the way." He stores the information in his memory.
"Yeah. Then I just need the broom... And gloves."
Harry waits for the woman to fetch the broom and gloves, then thanks her with a smile.
"Good luck." He hears her voice before he walks through the door, and turns to look at her.
"Uh?" She laughs, shaking her head. Harry doesn't understand why she's laughing.
"With Louis." He frowns, even more confused.
"With Louis?" He repeats. Jimena takes long strides until she reaches him.
"You should know that all the previous maids have quit because of him." Harry bites his lip, trying to keep his questions on the edge and not look too interested.
"What does he do to them?" He asks nervously.
"Just chases them away, in a.... Peculiar way. But you're a man, he'll probably try to chase you away, but not in that way."
"What way?" He asks curiously.
"He harassed the poor girls, it's normal, he has raging hormones at his age. But they were too old for him, none of them reciprocated, that's why they quit. They couldn't stand him. Tell me, who in their right mind would want to put up with a romantic-seducer-stalker teenager with a reputation as a womanizer? I guess nobody, that's why they hired you. Maids don't last long in this house." He blinks, holding back the information.
"Oh. Oh, right. I see. I shouldn't worry. I'm a man. He likes girls." He seems calm, but deep down he's disappointed. And Harry only makes that kind of pause when he's trying to convince himself about something.
"Apparently." Jimena's voice brings him out of his thoughts.
"What?"
"He likes girls apparently." She shrugs, and Harry fails to understand the meaning of the word.
"Why do u say that?"
"He has a very pretty girlfriend, whom he can't stand." Harry smiles inconsistently. Jimena doesn't see it, and keeps talking. "He's been dating her for more than three years, but their relationship is unstable, he seems forced to be with her. It's complicated."
"Yes, I imagine so." He mumbles, and struggles not to grin like a fool.
"Houseboy!" Louis shouts from upstairs, and they both startle.
"Go." Jimena says, encouraging Harry, who grabs the broom and runs out of the kitchen.
He's afraid to go into the room after having that talk with the cook-nanny. But after taking a deep breath, he opens the door and enters, tripping over the broom, but avoiding falling to the floor. He curses under his breath, not daring to look at Louis who remains lying on his bed.
"What's the matter with you? Are you lost in the kitchen?" Harry shakes his head.
"No, I just..." Louis interrupts him before he can say another word.
"Well, then start cleaning up, it's too dirty in here, no time to waste on gossip."
"Yes sir."
"Louis." Corrects him.
"Louis. I'm sorry." He cringes at Louis's gaze on him.
Harry starts by picking up all the clothes from the floor, folding the clean clothes, and throwing the dirty clothes in the hamper and then putting them in the washing machine. The TV is on the sports channel, but Louis isn't watching it, he's too distracted watching Harry's every move around the room. He doesn't watch him for any reason other than amazement, it's almost surprising to see a boy cleaning, and much more surprising to see him do it well, leaving everything sparkling clean. His not-at-all masculine movements don't go unnoticed either.
"I'm done." He says turning in his direction, catching Louis' gaze on his back. His eyes meet his instantly.
"Yes, I can see that. You're fast. Where'd you learn to clean that well? At houseboy's school?" Harry frowns.
"No. I learned it at home by watching my mother. I just know what's necessary, I'm not an expert."
"But you are fast." Harry doesn't know why he feels so nervous. They're just having a conversation.
"Yes. What should I clean now?" He changes the subject quickly to get away from there.
"The toilets. They're very dirty, no one's cleaned them since the previous maid left." He explains calmly. Harry nods, taking the laundry basket and the broom to leave. "Wait!"
Harry turns to face him. Louis tears a sheet of paper out of a notebook and begins to write something on it.
"It's a list of my allergies, if you're going to work in my house you should memorize them." He explains without stopping writing.
"Okay." He watches the way he writes and how his slender little fingers grip the pencil tightly as he traces letters quickly. He gawks as Louis finishes writing and holds the sheet out to him.
Harry blinks twice, and sets the laundry basket on the floor before taking the sheet in his hands and observing the letters scrawled on it. His penmanship is nice, though. He doesn't even care that much about reading what he wrote, he just looks at the letters and how pretty they are.
"Read it." Louis seems to realize that the curly one isn't reading the list, rather he seems to be idle with something else he wouldn't want to hear about. Harry immediately starts reading.
I am allergic to grapes, strawberries, almonds, walnuts, my girlfriend's perfume, and you.
Is that a joke? They're not even listed. Harry frowns, looking up to meet Louis' mocking eyes. He looks very pleased at the annoyance Harry gives off.
Suddenly his handwriting doesn't look so pretty to him anymore.
"Make sure you memorize the whole list. I can die if my body ingests any of the foods mentioned there." He explains seriously.
"Is the last one a joke?" He asks, still frowning. Louis shakes his head in denial.
"No. I don't want you coming near me or my room, unless it's to clean up. I don't want you to seek me out, unless it's for something of utmost importance that requires my full attention." Harry wasn't even thinking about being his friend. What does this kid think he is?
"Does your girlfriend's perfume give you allergies?" He can't help but ask. Curiosity consumes him. Louis sighs noisily and then lets all the air out of his mouth.
"Yes. I start to feel a strange itching and burning all over my body when I'm next to her. Her perfume disgusts me, sometimes I just remember it and feel nauseous." He doesn't seem angry when answering the very personal question, Harry is relieved by that, he thought he would come out with rudeness.
"Are you sure that's all because of the perfume she wears?" He asks as if he's talking to his best friend, or someone he's very close to, but Louis doesn't mind.
"Yes, it is. It smells disgusting, you have to smell it." He answers honestly. Harry doesn't think it's just the perfume though.
"Why don't you ask her to change it for another one?" He asks cautiously so as not to offend Louis. He lets out a sudden snort.
"Because she already has, she's changed her perfume several times, but they all disgust me more than the last one." And with that answer Harry is sure that the perfume his girlfriend wears is not the problem, he doesn't want to be near her no matter what perfume she wears. It's impossible for all perfumes to make him itch and burn. There is no way in the world that is possible.
That's one hope, now he can understand what the cook was talking about.
"Oh... Then you could go to the store and buy her one yourself, that way you can pick one you like, and you can check that the perfume won't cause an allergy when she wears it around you." He decides to play along, hiding the conclusion he has drawn. Louis watches him carefully, and nods.
"Yes, that sounds like a good idea. I'll do that, thank you." For the first time he smiles in a warm pleasant way.
Harry doesn't cross paths with Louis again. He's been busy cleaning the five bathrooms upstairs, and putting Louis' dirty clothes in the washing machine. Jimena offered him cookies when he came into the kitchen, and they talked a little about the jobs Harry has had during his life. She is very nice.
When it's 9:00 pm, Harry goes up to his room and gets his things to go home. Johannah, Louis' mother, interjects as he is leaving the room.
"Are you leaving? I thought you said you were going to sleep over." Harry plays with his hands, looking for an excuse to escape, remembering Louis' words.
"Yeah, but my mom texted me, she wants me to go to dinner with her tonight." A big lie.
Perfect, Harry. He mentally claps his hands together.
"Oh, well, will I see you tomorrow?" She looks worried, perhaps because all her maids have left and haven't returned. But that's not the case with Harry, he would like to stay, but doesn't want to argue with Louis. He nods smiling in her direction, and says goodbye to Johannah gently.
×××
He arrives home tired, but Jennifer greets him with dinner ready. Fried eggs with baked chicken. It smells great. All the tension leaves his body as he enters the apartment.
"Tell me all about it. How was your first day?" She asks, pouring coffee for both of them. She sits in front of Harry and hears him sigh deeply.
"It went very well, the house is perfect, everything is beautiful... The only problem is my boss." Jennifer frowns.
"You always have problems with all your bosses." She rolls her eyes.
"Yes, but this one is unbearable. I'd like to bake him a strawberry cake and take it to him right now." Jennifer doesn't understand.
"It's a big deal to you, but you want to bring him a cake?" Harry chews and swallows before answering.
"He's allergic to strawberries, almonds, walnuts, and grapes. Any will help." She looks at him dumbfounded, and Harry doesn't realize he's memorized the entire list of Louis' allergies.
"How do you remember that he's allergic to all of those? Harry Styles, you're hiding something from me." He shrugs, apologetically.
"He's very handsome. He's beautiful. But he's mean." Jennifer smiles at the first thing, but turns serious when she hears the latter.
"Mean? What do you mean?" He sighs before answering.
"It's cruel. Mean cruel." His friend clenches her fists, and leans over him.
"What did he do to you? Fuck, if he did something bad to you I'm going to go to his house and castrate him with the shears you use to prune his garden." Harry chokes on his food and starts coughing.
"No! He wasn't that bad, it's just.... He's... He's just straight." He finally answers.
"Oh. That's it?"
"He also judged me on my looks. He doesn't want me to take the place a girl should take, and he got angry because his mother hired me. Because I'm a boy. He got mad because I'm a boy. He seems to resent my lack of a vagina." He lowers his head, dodging his friend's gaze.
"Harry, don't let him get to you. Don't let a fucking comment get to you. You're not wrong, he's wrong. It's not wrong that you're a boy. You know what, you mustn't listen to him. You shouldn't even look at him. Ignore him, just do your job in that house, he can't make you feel bad. You're worth a lot, don't let anyone make you think otherwise. We've already talked about this." He nods.
"I know. I won't let it get to me." He answers without looking up.
"It can't affect you if you don't want it to. It's all in you."
"But he..." She interrupts him.
"I know. I also find it hard to ignore a guy when he's fucking hot, and sexy, but you can do it. For God's sake, don't tell Niall I said that. I always try to ignore hot guys when I'm with him, and it's really complicated because you know how possessive Niall is, if he catches me looking at a guy he stops talking to me for a month." Her comment makes Harry laugh.
"I know."
"Harry. What have I told you about falling in love with straight guys?" He plays with his fork.
"That I'm not supposed to. It's forbidden." He responds like a child who's broken the rules.
"Exactly, but you're a fucking hormonal teenager who'd rather ignore me completely and suffer for love than listen to advice. Are you a masochist?" Harry looks up with a frown.
"I'm not in love. I just said he's beautiful. I can't fall in love in a day." Jenn looks at him accusingly, her serious expression. "Well yes, it only happened once, but I swear I'm not in love this time. I learned my lesson that time."
"Then you won't let his indifference get to you, will you?"
"It won't affect me anymore." He says finally, vowing never to fall in love with someone at first sight again.
But you already did, you fool. He reproaches himself.
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