After I'd called a cab for Emily that night, neither of us said a lot to the other in wait. When the taxi finally arrived, she gave me a shy hug and told me thank you for the dinner, etc etc, before leaving me alone in my empty house. Seeing her behave shyly was unusual — she's normally confident and bold, not afraid to speak her mind and be assertive, but after the kiss she went crawling back into her shell and then disappeared.
I was dying to know what this meant. I was praying I hadn't overstepped any boundaries or made her think differently of me. She had kissed me back with no hesitation, that had to mean something, right?
I was on the sofa with a cup of tea when I decided to check Twitter to see if anyone had picked up on our date, mostly to take my mind off my self-doubt. I scrolled down my timeline, noticing that something to do with Niall falling over at the Masters was all over Twitter, and I chuckled to myself as I delved deeper and found myself watching a vine of the slip. Classic Niall. I bet he was mortified — he was caddying for Rory McIlroy and had totally embarrassed himself on Sky Sports.
There wasn't any obvious signs of uproar, so I decided to check People Magazine's Twitter, since they were the ones who'd started the story. Sure enough, there was a bloody article circulating already.
"Has he found her? Possible sighting of Harry Styles and his 'Girl Almighty'!
A week ago now, One Direction's Harry Styles got himself into a bit of sticky situation. The star met a pretty blonde in trendy London bar 'The Alibi' on Thursday night, and it caused a bit of a speculation. Harry told us a few days later that he didn't know of his new lady friend's whereabouts, as she'd had to rush off leaving him full of unanswered questions, and in an earlier article we suggested that the fans may well be able to aid Styles in finding his mystery girl. Boy, were we right!
Shortly after the article was published, One Direction fans — known as Directioners — started an entire campaign to track down the girl Harry had admitted he was longing to see again. A hashtag on Twitter, #FindHarrysGirlAlmighty, with a clever reference to a song from the band's album FOUR, was created by the passionate fans, and there was suspicions as to who this 'Emily' could be.
It appears the support really did spur Mr Styles on, because it was only the next day when fans reckon they caught sight of the two together in Primrose Hill. On Tuesday night, Harry's beloved black Range Rover sparked some attention as it was left parked outside a family-run Greek restaurant called Lemonia, situated in Primrose Hill, London. A small group of 1D fans waited outside the restaurant in hopes of catching a glimpse of their favourite boy band member, but were surprised when he emerged after his meal with a blonde by his side.
Our sources say that whilst Harry stopped to interact with his loving fans, his companion slipped away quietly into the shadows to wait for him in the car. Styles is known for both his lockdown on privacy, and his devotion to One Direction supporters, so we're not at all surprised by the outcome of the evening. Apparently he's quite the gentleman, and the fans have spoken out saying he was "very kind and very polite", making sure that each and every young lady got even a second of his attention. However, when asked who he was with, he told them that she was "just a friend of his", and he didn't respond when someone inquired as to whether or not she was, in fact, Emily.
Since we didn't know what this 'Emily' looked like to begin with, the photos snapped on a fan's iPhone (pictured above) aren't really much help in identifying if it really is her, but we're going to go ahead and put two and two together in saying we're pretty certain it's the same girl. In which case, a Twitter hashtag really did help a celebrity track down someone they were looking for — well done, Directioners!
We're wondering if any official statement will be made by either the members of 1D or the band's representatives, or whether we'll be treated to further clues, but for now one can only assume. What are your thoughts on the 'Girl Almighty' situ? Let us know by tweeting..."
I zoned back in to the real world when they started shamelessly promoting their social medias.
Bollocks.
Firstly, a lot of that was overly exaggerated, and that's what I hated about gossip magazines. Although I definitely was, I had never 'admitted I was longing to see her again'. That was made up. Secondly, I hated how they had to turn everything into a story. Honestly, I could wear purple socks and these institutions would act like it was the most ravishing thing in the entire world. A thirty second glimpse at someone who'd accompanied me to dinner was apparently very important to the media.
I hated that I'd failed at keeping a low profile that night after I was determined to show Emily that I could go out without being bothered. It made me feel weak and only added to the worry I was feeling in my chest, the doubts that were clouding my head. I just hoped she didn't mind. I suppose the story wasn't that bad, and there was nothing there that was a god-awful invasion of our privacy, but then again it was a shame that everyone had just assumed certain things and put words into my mouth.
I continued to flick through social media for a bit, finding nothing of interest, before I remembered that I had to get my personal assistant to change my flights. I was supposed to be flying out to LA this weekend to spend the majority of our tour break there, but I'd changed my mind. I was still going to LA, but I wanted to leave as late as possible.
I tapped on my contacts and pulled up my PA's number, pressing call. Only a few rings later, an answer came. "Hi, Harry!"
"Morning, Kelly. How are you?"
"I'm wonderful thanks, love. How are you?"
"I'm good, thank you. How's the little one?" I asked, referring to her baby. Not too long ago had the world gone insane over photos of me helping her with him outside the studio.
"He's good, being a handful as always," she laughed, making me smile. "So, out with it then, to what do I owe the pleasure?"
"Hey, just because I call you doesn't mean I'm here to reek havoc," I joked, and I heard her laugh heftily on the other end of the line.
"Yeah, yeah. I'll be the judge of that..."
"I was wondering if you could change my flight to LA for me?"
"Okay..." she said, suspicion and maybe a hint of confusion laced the word.
"No need to say it like that," I chuckled back.
"Right, sorry. When for?"
"I was supposed to be flying out on Saturday, but I'd like you to change it for as late as possible, please."
I heard shuffling and then the sound of paper, indicating to me she was probably checking my diary. "How late is as late as possible, H? The very latest it could be would be the seventh of May, because you're meeting with James Cordon on the eighth. Is that going to be too late, hun?"
"No, no. That's good."
"You sure? That's a month later than you were going to go..." she sounded hesitant.
"I'm sure," I reassured her firmly. I was thankful she wasn't asking why, because I didn't really have a solid answer.
"Okay, I'll get it changed for you and text you the details. Alright?"
"That's good, thank you," I say gratefully.
"Alright, no problem. Stay out of trouble!"
"I will," I chuckled again, "Talk to you later, bye."
"Bye, Harry."
Once I'd hung up I was clueless as to what to do next. I had nothing planned for the rest of the day, and I thought turning up at Emily's office again would make me look way too clingy and keen (or even more so than I already did), so I was stuck, alone and bored in my house.
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~Emily~
"Is her majesty free to pop to Tesco to get a sandwich?" Louisa popped her head around the door, sarcastic as ever. Of course, she didn't knock and addressed me with a slight insult as usual.
I rolled my eyes. Luckily I hadn't been doing anything important. "She is."
"Marvellous. I'll even splash out and pay, if in return I get the low down on you know who. Only the finest three pound meal deal for her royal highness!" She pretended to curtsey, her ongoing joke that I was like a queen and she was the servant surfacing again — she knew it ticked me off.
"'You know who'," I repeated under my breath, amusement pulling my lips into a small smile as I shook my head and collected my jacket and clutch.
I locked up my office and we headed for the elevator, chatting away. When the doors slid open, revealing the lobby, Sally's head snapped round urgently as if she'd been waiting for us.
"Miss Elsworth, there's a man waiting for you outside. He says he's from Heat magazine and wants to talk to you, I've tried sending him away but there's nothing we can do if he's not actually trespassing on our property," she informed me, her voice rushed and panicked.
I huffed. "What does he want? Heat isn't exactly the place for a business story."
"He... wanted to hear from you about your... situation with Harry Styles," she said sheepishly, as if she didn't want to bring up my private life. Rightly so.
I turned to Louisa with a displeased expression. "Really? I've seen him once and I already have reporters turning up at my work?" This is exactly what I didn't want happening.
"I've read about this somewhere, you can't say anything. You just have to be a bítch and walk straight by," she said, nodding confidently and grabbing my shoulders like she had been waiting to be attacked by the press her whole life.
"There's only one?" I asked Sally, and she bobbed her head in a nod. "Right, okay. We can handle him."
I took Louisa's hand and dragged her with me out through the glass doors. Instantly, a bald man with a camera around his neck was at my side, jogging along to keep up with us as I attempted to storm past.
"Emily Elsworth?" he spoke frantically.
"That's me," I replied, my tone clipped as I kept marching on, making sure to not even acknowledge him with eye contact. I didn't need to hide who I was, just not let him interfere with my private life and get under my skin.
"My name's Dave, I'm a representative from Heat Magazine! Do you have a minute to talk?"
"No, she doesn't," Lou spoke up for me, both of our heels clicking against the pavement as we strode down the busy London street in our heels.
"Just a few questions?"
We ignored him.
"Are you the Emily that Harry Styles has been seeing? We'll pay you for an exclusive!"
I wanted to snap and tell him I definitely did not need their money, but I kept calm and just scoffed with a smirk at the thought. I didn't even know what the man looked like as I hadn't given him the time of day to examine his face, but he had already irritated me. When I didn't cooperate, he stepped back and started trying to snap pictures of me, his pathetic attempts making me laugh.
Eventually, we reached the shop and went straight inside without even a glance back at the reporter. It was likely he'd still be there when we came out again.
"These idiots make out they're the nicest people in the world until you don't play their stupid games, and then it's like they forget you're a human being!" Louisa ranted as though she was totally familiar with the celebrity lifestyle.
We grabbed our food and Lou paid, as promised, before taking a chance and stepping back out onto the street. We ignored more questions from the annoying little man who continued to take pictures as we walked back to the building, luckily it only took a few minutes to get there so we didn't have to put up with him for long.
"Well that was the most eventful Tesco trip I think we've ever been on," I sighed, falling back into my spinny, leather chair when we made it back to my office. My friend made herself at home as well whilst we unwrapped our sandwiches.
"So, come on then, I want details!" she finally demanded, and I groaned.
"There are no details to tell."
"You went out for dinner with a world famous celebrity, I think there are definitely a few details to spill."
"Nothing juicy. We went out for dinner, it was nice. He was nice. That's it, really," I shrugged.
"You still haven't bedded him? What is this, year seven at secondary school?"
"Will you stop!"
"There's something you're not telling me, I can feel it," she narrowed her eyes suspiciously at me, "Did he not even attempt to get you back to his place?"
She was onto me, damn. "Okay..."
"See, I knew it! Don't you dare think you can lie to me!"
"Calm down, would you? I did go back to his house and we finished the wine, that was all," I said, quietly adding, "And he kissed me," in a mumble, diverting my gaze from her.
"Oh my god. Harry Styles kissed you!" she squealed.
"Why are you acting like you're the biggest One Direction fan on the planet? You've never even mentioned them up until last week."
"I don't care! It's not just that he's famous, it's that it's you!"
"Thanks," I mumbled sarcastically.
"What type of kiss was it?"
"Erm... the type where your lips touch?" She scowled. "What, was that not the correct answer?"
"I mean, was it hot? Was it a peck?"
"It was... a kiss? I don't know?"
"For God's sake," she muttered, holding her forehead with one hand in exasperation. "How are we even friends when you're not excited enough to tell me things that happen in your life? How did you react, anyway?"
"I was surprised, but I kissed him back. And then for some reason I was really nervous afterwards and there was a bit of tension while we waited for the cab to turn up," I explained, biting into my sandwich.
"Why?" she inquired, tucking into her own food.
"I don't really know."
"You like him." An evil grin spread across her face in seconds after her accusation.
"I've known him a week," I tried to reason with her.
"Yeah, whatever you say, Mrs Styles."
"Seriously...?"
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Please remember to vote and comment :)
It's been ages, sorry!
The only thing I have to say in this author's note is that I'm going back to sixth form on Friday so updates may be a bit all over the place, especially seeing as Illicit is my main priority, but I'll make sure to keep Elusive going even if it is very slowly.
I'd love to know what you think of the story, the characters, what might happen etc! Let me know in the comments :)
Love,
E x