For the last hour Harry glanced at the clock on his phone that was laying next to him on his desk every minute, not able to miss a single one being too eager for the time to jump to twelve thirty. He couldn't concentrate on anything, searching up restaurants where him and Louis could go to, calculating how much time they would have until they reached their destination and thinking of conversations he could start not to make it awkward.
Once it was twelve twenty five he jumped up from his seat and snatched his phone and wallet, hurrying towards the door. Niall just threw him a funny look and shook his head turning back to his work.
"Hey, where are you going?" Sheila stopped him and he grimaced before turning around to her with an innocent smile.
"Oh, just having lunch." He said shortly and glanced at his phone to see the time- again. "I'm starving."
"So you already have plans? I wanted to ask to go out together as long as we still can, but maybe tomorrow?" Sheila asked and bit her lip excitedly.
"As long as we still can?" Harry asked confused.
"Oh, yeah. Well, I sent Mr. Tomlinson a mail asking him if it's possible to retrain for something more commercial because I want to develop professionally and I just received a reply that I could come to his office later and discuss it in person. Isn't that exciting? I'm gonna be in his office and talking to him!" Sheila babbled with wide and glistening eyes.
"Oh, did he?" Harry faked a smile, his teeth pressed together.
"Yes! And if I get another position in the company maybe we won't see each other that often anymore." Sheila said still happily.
"What a shame." Harry sighed exaggerating. "I'm sure we'll manage. I have to go now, so see you later." He spun around and his face dropped as soon as his back was turned to her and he rushed out of the room.
He was just about to walk down the steps when he saw Zayn walking out of the kitchen and turning the corner to the hallway where his office was located. Harry stilled horrified and hurried back up the stairs.
"Fuck." He breathed out panicked.
He hadn't thought of it until now, but if Zayn saw him with Louis then hell would break lose. He hurried back to his office and opened the Teams app hastily, quickly texting Louis to meet downstairs in five minutes, then the risk to be seen with him would be minimal. When Louis replied to him with a simple 'okay' he sighed relieved and took his time leaving now.
Thankfully neither Sheila nor anyone else stopped him so once he was standing in the elevator his good mood was back. And when he stepped out and Louis was already waiting for him in the foyer with his back to him, his broad shoulders covered by his light blue button up and his entire figure perfectly shaped, the fabric of his dark blue suit pants hugging his legs and the shiny black dress shoes sparkling in the sunlight, his mood shot through the roof and he stopped for a second just taking in his appearance.
Then Louis turned around as if he noticed a gaze on him and a small smile drew on his lips when he saw Harry standing there who quickly shook his head and crossed the hall with quick steps until he stood in front of him.
"Hey." He smiled.
"Hi." Louis greeted back and stuffed his hands in his pockets not knowing what to do with them.
"I feel underdressed next to you." Harry chuckled when they walked out of the building and he pointed to his jeans and polo shirt.
"We can switch, I don't have the desire running around in a suit every day." Louis said jokingly.
Harry stopped abruptly, not believing that he was talking so casually to him when earlier he was so hesitant. Did something happen?
"Hey, what's wrong?" Louis asked cautiously when he noticed Harry had stopped and turned around to him.
"Huh?" Harry said perplexed and frowned before he got his features under control and started walking again. "Oh no, nothing. I just didn't expect you to be so...casual, you know?"
"Oh." Louis furrowed his eyebrows and glanced at him once more. "I'm sorry, I didn't-"
"No!" Harry interrupted him hastily. "No, it's fine! It was just surprising, but I like that side of you. Suits you."
"Oh, okay." Louis mumbled.
"So, why are you even wearing suits all the time? I mean, it's your company, you can do whatever you want." Harry wondered.
"Just because I'm the chief executive officer doesn't mean I own the company." Louis chuckled lightly.
"Oh." Harry mumbled, feeling dumb and he dropped his head in embarrassment.
"You can own a company and be CEO of it, but not necessarily. 'Narrative Games' is a limited company, there's four shareholders who decide over the position and who operates as the CEO, so basically they hired me if you can say it like that, though it wouldn't be easy to simply firing me." Louis chuckled again, not even noticing that he got relaxter with every word talking about his job. But Harry did and he was glued to his lips in astonishment. "I am authorized to basically do whatever I want as long as I keep the company in the plus range and with that comes that I am responsible for everything around the company's business and representing it externally, manage the sales, the deals and of course I'm the legal representative along with having to keep everything proper and legal in relation to the internal revenue service and all that."
"Wow." Harry whistled. "That's a lot of responsibility."
"It is. But I love my job and that I am responsible for so many people." Louis said truthfully.
They stopped in front of a restaurant and Harry eyed him unsurely in case Louis didn't approve of it, but he just smiled at him questioningly as if to wonder if Harry chose this one for their lunch. Harry nodded towards the entrance and sighed relieved when Louis didn't even hesitate and they went inside, getting guided to their table.
"Why? I mean, it could ruin you if anything would go wrong. Isn't that a lot of pressure?" Harry asked once a waiter served them a bottle of water and took their orders for drinks.
"Yes, but when I went to University and I saw how horrible most corporate structures were from hearsay and my own experience from doing internships- not economically, just to be clear, but humanly- I wanted to change something, you know?" Louis explained with a frown on his face deep in thought on how to express his reasons. "The further I made it during my study the more I wanted to work towards someday being in a position where I could actively do something, so I took my chance when I got offered the CEO position and that's why I value a good and healthy working evironment so the employees like going to work again. And to answer your question, this is what makes me happy and if I can accomplish that with just a little effort of being nice then being responsible and pressured, possibly harming my career then I gladly risk it if that means some people are happy."
Harry simply gawked at him over the table, unable to close his mouth nor move a muscle as he tried to get into his head what Louis just said and that he was actually- and all of a sudden he remembered what Laura said the other day in the kitchen- a saint.
"What?" Louis asked confused when he saw the look on Harry's face.
"Since I'm working here I thought everyone has to exaggerate by praising you in the highest tones, saying you're like the nicest person ever and shit, okay? And now you're sitting here dropping such things and I can't understand how a single person actually is like this? How?" Harry asked baffled and for the first time since he could remember he saw Louis smiling genuinely.
Not that hesitant smile he was scared to show, not the fake smile he always put on in his presence. No, it was an actual smile with his teeth on display when his lips twitched as if he tried to force them down but failed miserably, amusement twinkling in his eyes as well as a hint of embarrassment.
"The funny thing is you- out of all people- are one of the few I can actually tell the truth about that reason." He said still with that smile, but his eyes got overshadowed by something Harry couldn't put a finger on.
Harry waited in anticipation for his explanation, an uneasy feeling in his guts when he had a feeling where this was going and the joy of seeing his smile just a few seconds ago was washed away.
"And?" He pressed with a quiet voice.
"You know better than anyone else that I know how it is to receive nothing nice or genuine. And I don't want anyone to feel that way- or even in the slightest- like I did. That's the reason, easy as that." Louis said with a shrug that said 'it is what it is, no biggie, no need to talk it out further'.
"Louis-" Harry started with pain filled eyes, but Louis held his hand up and shook his head.
"No, don't. You wanted to know the reason, I told you. Let's close this topic, okay?" He shrugged it off as if it was nothing.
Inside he was torn between being proud of himself for addressing it without stuttering or giving anything away and focussing on the crack in his heart as usual when he was reminded of anything that happened for him to be who he was today. But he was feeling....alright...lately. And he told himself over and over again to try it, just like Harry was trying and he could see it, so he didn't want this statement to ruin that now.
He guessed Harry wouldn't let it go, but to his luck the waiter came to their table with their drinks and asked if they were ready to order their meals.
"Uh, do you already know what you want?" Harry asked, quickly skimming through the menu and Louis nodded.
"I'd like to have a Caesar salad, no dressing, please." He smiled at the waiter who returned the gesture and wrote it down.
"No. No, you can't just have a salad, Louis!" Harry complained and Louis stiffened on his seat.
"But I want to." He frowned.
"You need a proper meal and I told you it's on me so I'm saying you're not just eating a fucking salad." Harry stood his ground.
"I'm fine, okay? Let's just...what do you want?" Louis changed the attention from him to Harry who looked at him pointedly before averting his eyes and closing his menu.
"I'd like to have a Shepherd's Pie." He said and the waiter nodded before leaving them alone once more. "Okay, real talk. Are you on a fucking diet or what? And if so for what? Because you certainly don't need it." He said knowingly.
"W-what? No!" Louis said immediately, shaking his head quickly to cover up the shock and uneasiness.
"Why did I only see you eating twice then? And only salad may I add." Harry asked expectantly.
"Uh..." Louis shifted on his seat uncomfortably, feeling his palms starting to sweat. "I just, I like it. A-and..." He forced his brain to think of a quick excuse when the most obvious explanation suddenly came to his mind. "Usually I eat at home, with the family, you know?" He added quickly and Harry's face changed into a frown.
"Oh...I see." He muttered. He cleared his throat to get rid of the lump and fumbled with the table cloth to focus on something else than the ugly feeling of jealousy at the thought of him dining with people he actually wanted to spend time with. "So, you said something about not getting certain things yet. Do you want to talk about it?" He asked to change the topic.
"Yes..." Louis cleared his throat and sat up straight. "Yes we can, but... why do you suddenly want to be friends with me?" He simply dropped the first question he didn't understand that came to his mind.
Harry shifted on his spot, taking his time to take a sip of his drink. He put it back down on the table, turning the glass so it stood on the exact same spot as before.
"You know when I first saw you again-" He started, but paused to swallow and sort his thoughts that were racing through his mind. What could he admit to Louis? How far could he go? "-and remembering what I did made me feel disgusted with myself and I wanted to make it right as I told you already. But with time I remembered something else. The short time we were friends. And the need to make up for it turned into the want to have this friendship back because- and even though it wasn't for long- it was probably the best friendship I ever had. And yeah...I'm just hoping we can have that back somehow, at some point."
Louis lowered his head with a deep crease between his eyebrows, a certain question to that instantly came up in his mind and repeated in his head over and over again without him being able to get rid of it. He fought against it, not wanting to talk about it, to hear anything about it, but as much as he tried to he couldn't get it out of his head and just living with that unanswered question for barely a minute he couldn't bear it- let alone bear with it for hours, days, weeks.
"Why did you end it then?" He asked, he couldn't stop himself when he lifted his eyes and looked at Harry with a mixture of confusion, pain and curiosity.
Harry sucked in a sharp breath. He should've known, but it still caught him off guard.
"There's a lot of things you don't know of, reasons why I was who I was, but I won't tell you. Not because I don't trust you or anything, but because it wouldn't change anything. I have no reason to explain myself because nothing- with no exception- would justify my behaviour towards you. There is no excuse, therefore there's no point telling you and you said you don't want to talk about it, so let's just say I ended it because I was a coward and not worthy of your friendship." He said truthfully, a heavy lump in his throat.
"And now you are?" Louis asked genuinely curious, not getting smart of what Harry was saying.
"No." Harry chuckled with a hint of sadness in his voice and shook his head. "But I'm a selfish person and I can't- especially now that we see each other so often- not try to get what I want."
Louis was silent, letting Harry's words sink in. They simply looked at each other, even when the waiter brought them their food neither averted their eyes. The noises around them suddenly seemed painfully loud in their eardrums, every movement surrounding them was hectic and uneasy.
"I don't trust you." Louis eventually admitted quietly. He felt anxious at this statement and that he admitted that out loud, scared for what was going to come and how Harry would take it, what consequences it would have. But nothing in Harry's expression changed- he was unfazed.
"I know." He said without blinking once. "How could you anyway?"
"And what now?" Louis asked without getting into his question, knowing it was rhetorical.
"Now, if you want it, we can carry on with how it is, you share with me what you're comfortable with and I guess we'll see about the rest." Harry suggested with a shrug.
"Okay." Louis nodded after a minute of thinking about it, but he didn't have anything to lose. Harry had a point there, he could just share with him what he wanted to, he didn't have to talk about anything too personal for as long as he couldn't possibly trust Harry enough to spill anything that could harm him.
"Great." Harry said with a satisfied smile and took his cutlery to finally start eating. "So...I heard something." He said seemingly parenthetically.
"And what would that be?" Louis grabbed his fork as well and picked in his salad.
"You're about to have a conversation with Sheila later on? So she can retrain to get more into the commercial lane?" Harry pursed his lips.
"Oh, yeah." Louis said with a nod. "She asked me and I'd never keep someone from retraining or educating themselves further when the possibilities are there and I have the resources to do so."
"Mhm." Harry hummed, brushing his thumb and index finger over his chin seemingly deep in thought. "And what do you think of her? Do you think she'll be able to go through with it?"
"I don't really know." Louis chuckled confused. "I mean, I don't know her, but if she wants to do it then I'm willed to give her a chance."
"I'm not so sure if that's what she wants." Harry muttered just loud enough for Louis to hear and his eyebrows rose slightly.
"Care to elaborate?" He asked, diplomatically as so often. Something about him talking and saying certain things, the way he talked so calmly, clear and seemed to weigh specific words to give them some kind of importance, how it showed that he had a management position by the tone he was using and the professional language he automatically used as if he couldn't separate his private and professional self fascinated Harry and it might've turned him on a bit as well.
"Oh, I don't want to talk bad of her or influence you on your opinion about her." He waved it off as if it was nothing, but he didn't miss the suspicious look on Louis' face who didn't seem to believe him as he dropped his left arm- an expensive looking watch flashing from under the seam of his button up- and casually placed his forearm on the edge of the table, his hand dangling in the air.
"You won't. I'm curious, tell me." He pressed, his curiosity winning over his worry of going too far, saying the wrong thing or possibly letting his facade he was trying so hard to keep up drop.
"Rather not. Don't wanna throw her under the bus." Harry smiled innocently.
"Again, you won't. Just see it as an exchange of thoughts between good acquaintances." Louis smiled back, playing along in Harry's game who quirked a surprised eyebrow.
"Good acquaintances? We're at that stage already? I'm not complaining at all." Harry smiled satisfied.
"If that's what's needed to get the information out of you." Louis shrugged with a hint of a smirk on his face and Harry actually laughed out loud, causing a few heads to turn to them which they ignored.
"Okay, fine. If you want to know so badly." Harry shrugged casually, but internally he was grinning, now Louis just had to react to what he was about to tell him the way he wanted him to and Sheila would be out of the way. "It's just my opinion, but I think she doesn't want to retrain as much as she wants to be close to you."
Louis' expression changed in no time, genuinely not expecting that. His lips parted slightly in disbelief, needless to say his smile dropped in an instant, eyebrows rising and he couldn't prevent from automatically shifting in discomfort at this absurd statement.
"Why would you think that?" He asked when he gathered himself and put on a neutral facial expression.
"Let's just say there were a few occurences that suggest that my suspicions are correct." Harry answered.
"For example?" Louis wanted to know.
"From the first second I met her she was gushing about you and that you're basically her idol or whatever..." Harry couldn't suppress an eye roll, not noticing the amused look that slowly but surely spread on Louis' face. "...and let me tell you, that didn't change at all- on the contrary. And it's more than telling that every time she sees you she goes 'Hi, Mr. Tomlinson'." He imitated her voice high- pitched and grinned when Louis chuckled. "What? It's true!" He complained jokingly.
"I didn't even say anything!" Louis laughed.
"But you think I'm some delusional psycho, which I'm not! I'm just stating facts." Harry said quickly, completely exaggerating, but it almost took his breath away seeing Louis laughing and he wanted to see it again so badly, so he just had to overdramatise it with the required effect when Louis laughed again, covering his mouth with his hand and Harry grinned, biting his lip.
"Okay, let's assume you're right, then she'd want to impress me so she'd put an effort to her job. Why should this be a disadvantage for me?" Louis asked expectantly, not believing a single word coming from Harry. He had no idea why Harry seemed so bothered and urgent about convincing him, but he was almost sure it wasn't because he was concerned Sheila wouldn't actually want to retrain. He couldn't think of a possible explanation though.
"Wait. So you wouldn't mind her being your shadow all the time, talking your ear off and hitting on you? I'm sure you're too busy for that." Harry said with a hint of a sour expression when he realised Louis was serious about closing his eyes before her obvious attraction towards him, not understanding why he was so careless and unbothered.
"Who said anything about hitting on me?" Louis frowned. "You said I'm her idol and not her crush." He chuckled confused.
"Same thing." Harry said with an eye roll. "If you ask me she's madly in love with you." He huffed.
"Yeah, sure." Louis laughed with a shake of his head.
"Don't believe me, then. You'll see yourself." Harry muttered what caused him another unbelieving look from Louis who mumbled something about to keep him updated so he'd realise he was imagining things.
From then they made conversation mostly about work, Louis asked him if he was happy with his job and if he learned some things along with having fun and in return Harry got to know some more background information about the company and how Louis got his position and before they knew it their lunch break was over and Harry paid after a short discussion when Louis wanted to cover the bill.
The entire way back to work Harry thought of an idea to make sure no one saw them arriving together, barely listening to what Louis was saying, being too panicked to do so.
"Harry?" Harry turned around when he noticed that Louis had stopped and looked at him with a mixture of amusement and confusion.
"Sorry, what?" Harry asked sheepishly.
"I said I have to get something from my car and you can go ahead already." Louis repeated with a small smile.
"Oh." Harry's eyes widened in relief when all of his problems were washed away and he nodded quickly. "Oh, yeah okay. That was fun!" He said happily.
Louis' eyebrows rose slightly at his sudden change of mood, but couldn't help the small chuckle when Harry waved at him and disappeared inside. When he arrived in the entrance area Sheila was sitting on the couch in the waiting area and jumped up when she saw him.
"Mr. Tomlinson, hi!" She greeted with a hasty wave of her hand and Louis suppressed a cringe when he remembered how Harry had imitated her and she sounded exactly like he did.
"Hello, Sheila." He forced a smile on his face and nodded at her. "Do you need anything?"
"Uhm..." Sheila's grin dropped and her posture suddenly changed from outgoing to reserved. "Y-you told me to come to your office now."
Louis frowned and shook his arm as he lifted it to set his watch free so he could see the time. "Oh, I didn't realise it's that late already! I'm sorry, of course! Come on." He said quickly and pointed towards the hallway where his office was located.
He didn't miss the huge smile on her face and the way she couldn't seem to stand still as she waited for him to open his office, always having Harry's words in mind and he cursed him for that- and his brain for thinking about him.
When Sheila passed him eagerly he became aware of one thing. This was going to be a long afternoon.