Niall was there to meet Zayn when he first walked in the door of their shared home. "So tell me." he said dragging out the vowels. "Tell me how it was."
Zayn took off his heels and took his bag from his arm. "You really don't want to know."
"Actually I do. That's why I'm asking dude."
Zayn sighed. "It was pretty upsetting."
"What? Why?"
They turned into his bedroom. "Apparently Mr. Harry Styles likes to assume things about me and other men."
"Oh no. Don't tell me he pulled the 'I'm not gay' card out."
He plopped down on the bed and threw his hands up. "Pretty much."
Niall sat down next to him. "Wow. That asshole. I can't believe people always do that to you. He's obviously one of those guys who thinks he can say and do anything just because he's rich. Pathetic."
Zayn sighed. "I don't know Ni. That was the only thing he really said that was out of line. Besides saying he 'expected' me to do certain things for him, there was one thing that tells me there's possibly some good in him."
"Are you kidding me? Have you not heard? I'm not sure if the whole country is aware yet, but he is the biggest asshole in all of the state. Everyone knows him and they know about the way he has treated his employees in the past."
"And yet, everyone still wants to work for him."
"Yeah, duh. Who doesn't? He's rich and powerful."
Zayn gave him a bored look. "Listen, he told me why his last assistant was fired."
"Really? Why?"
"She was stealing money from his company. She stole three million dollars in a year."
"Wow."
"I know. But what's interesting is that he told me they had evidence that she had been putting the money in her bank account. Although they never actually found the money, it was enough to have her thrown in jail. But he let her go because she had two children."
"Your point?"
"There's a heart somewhere inside of him. This attitude that he has... It has to be apart of a shell. I can't fathom one human's entire makeup being the way he is presumed to be."
Niall didn't seem too convinced when Zayn stood up. "Okay. If you say so. But I'm still sticking with the thought that he is an asshole for saying that to you. He has no respect for you if he thinks you throw yourself at every guy you meet. And plus, he is the one who hired you anyway. He has no reason to complain at all."
Zayn cringed as he took off his skirt, revealing a pair of panties. Immediately Niall turned his head. "That's not necessarily true."
"He didn't hire you?"
He took off his underwear and quickly replaced them with boxers so that Niall didn't have to turn his head too long. "You can look now. No. Some woman named Carla did. She sort of told me about how she was depending on me to be a great assistant for him which only leads me to believe he threatened to fire her or something. She didn't tell me exactly. The thing is, I want to do my best because if he ends up unhappy with me, then he'll be unhappy with her. Which sucks because I really don't want her to lose her job. You know what I mean?"
He nodded. "Yeah, I know what you mean but it's his fault he let her hire you without an interview. Also, if he fires either of you because of the way you look, that's discrimination and I'm pretty sure you can sue him for that."
Zayn smiled and began to undo his blouse. "I love it when you get all protective and shove the law in my face."
"What can I say? I spend all day reading law books. Might as well pretend I have fully fulfilled the goal of having my dream profession."
He smiled a sad smile. "Oh, you'll get there Niall. I promise."
He let the blouse fall to the floor, so that there was nothing but his bare chest showing. Then he fell face forward onto his bed next to Niall. As happy and as surprised as he was to have this job, he sure hoped it didn't turn out to be a nightmare. Hopefully he could figure out a way to keep Harry satisfied. For his sake, for Harry's sake and for Carla's.
→→→→→
Harry had been sitting at his desk adding new things to his agenda when he heard a knock on his door. Usually his employees knew better than to knock on his door when it was closed. So with a confused expression on his face, he rose to his feet and went to answer the door. He was still looking that way when he saw who was standing in front of him.
"Good morning Mr. Styles."
He only stared. It was the same person from yesterday. His assistant. Only he wasn't wearing high heels and a skirt. He didn't have long curly hair either. He had on men's dress shoes, a suit and tie and his hair was about two and a half inches long. He looked like... a man.
"Uhm, is something wrong?" Zayn asked.
Harry came to his senses. "Oh, no. Sorry. It's just that you look different."
"I know."
Harry shoved his hands in his pockets. "What do I call you? Well, I mean I know to call you sir but do I refer to you as Zayn or Veronica when you look like this?"
Zayn smiled a little, not really being bothered by his question. He understood his confusion and appreciated his curtesy in that he didn't want to assume anything. "If it makes you more comfortable, you may call me Zayn today or any day I look like this. But I am Veronica on days like yesterday. As long as you remember that, I'm fine."
Harry nodded. "Will do."
"Great."
They stood there staring at each other. "The reason I'm here is because I believe you have to sign me in like you did yesterday. Do you have a little bit of time to do that?"
"Right. Sorry." he said and he took his hands from his pockets. In one of them he held his card. "Come on. Let's go."
They left his office and took the private elevator down to the ground floor. After reaching the scanner, Harry scanned the card underneath it. He tapped a few buttons and it took him to the sign in screen. "Your four digit pin number please."
Zayn was surprised when Harry automatically stepped back so he could do it himself. And not only that, he turned his head away. He must have remembered from yesterday. Despite being the egotistic person he came off as yesterday, he did show a little bit of respect for a change. It felt good. He put his pin number in and signed himself in.
Harry didn't speak again until they were walking back to the elevator. "Nice suit."
"Thank you. I wore it because it's picture day."
"Are you aware it will only capture your face and not your clothing?"
"I am well aware. I just think that if I'm going to have a card with a picture that identifies me, then it should at least match my driver's license. And I don't look like a woman on my driver's license."
Harry hummed as they got on the elevator again. "Is this something you always do?"
"What do you mean?"
"Switch up the way you look. Do you always do that?"
"I guess you can say that. I do like to wear skirts and dresses when I'm not on the job. But mostly, this is something that I do for work. I just have a thing where I think it's very sexy to come to work in a pair of pretty heels and a skirt. And the wig makes me feel pretty. Which I like."
The elevator came to a halt and the doors opened but Harry pressed the button to close them again. He folded his arms, leaned against the wall and studied Zayn.
"So what you're saying is that dressing a certain way makes you feel... pretty."
"Yes."
"But Zayn, and I mean this in the friendliest way possible, trust me. You are a good looking man. High heels and a wig is not needed for you to look attractive. To a woman, I mean."
Zayn fidgeted uncomfortably. "It's not about what I'm wearing or how I look in and out of it. It's about how I feel and I love the way I feel in it. Much like you probably love the way you feel in the clothes you're wearing now."
"Well when you're wearing a five thousand dollar suit, it's hard not to love the way you feel. So... I suppose making yourself happy is what's most important."
He forced a smile. "Yes. That is what's most important. Now if you don't mind, I'd like to know when I can have my picture taken. Do you think we can do this as soon as possible so that I can have my own card?"
Harry stopped leaning against the side of the elevator and then pressed the button so the doors could open again. "Sure. Let's go. The photo room is this way."
*
*
*
I can't believe it." Niall said as he sat across from Zayn at the dinner table that night. He was looking at the new card that had been made for his friend. "Zayn Malik, the assistant of the head of Anne incorporated. You work personally for the asshole himself. Amazing!"
Zayn reached over and snatched the card from him. "Stop calling him that. It's rude. He's my boss and although he did some pretty rude things first, that doesn't mean we have a right to call him names. Thank you very much."
Niall narrowed his eyes. "Sometimes I hate how nice you are. But that's exactly why I say what I say about Harry Styles. He does not deserve you as an assistant. It's probably only a matter of time before something else rude comes out of his mouth about you."
Zayn sat his card on the table and picked up his fork. "I promise I'll be alright. So far he hasn't done anything totally disrespectful to me, so try not to be bitter about this before I even get to know him. Let me enjoy working for a rich man for once."
"Alright, alright but I don't know if I'll be able to stand by innocently if he does what he did to you again. You know how I am, Z."
Zayn nodded. Of course he knew how he was. Niall was the type of guy who would laugh and chill with anyone. But if something negative was said about one of his friends, he didn't hesitate to speak his mind.
"Yes. I know how you are. I'm just trying not to let everyone else know how you are."
He chuckled as he picked up his cup to drink from it. He should have been slightly offended that his best friend just admitted he was embarrassed by him, but he didn't care too much. He just wanted to make sure Zayn always knew he would be there. He wasn't afraid of anyone, no matter how much money they had.
→→→→→
"Excuse me. Is there anything I can help you with sir?"
Zayn turned from the mirror where he had been holding a gray top to his chest. A female employee was coming his way. "I don't know. It depends. I really like the way this one looks and fits me. It's my size, but I was wondering if you had this size in the yellow one. I didn't see any on the rack."
She smiled. "There might be some in the back. I'll go check."
"Thank you." He put that top back on the rack and began to look through again to make sure he didn't overlook what he had been looking for. Suddenly, he heard his phone ringing from his pocket. He took it out and looked at the screen. When he saw it, he frowned. Who was this? He didn't recognize the phone number. So he ignored it. It did finally stop ringing but a few seconds later, it started ringing again. He took out the phone a second time and when he saw it was the same number, he reluctantly answered it.
"Hello?"
"Hello Veronica, or should I say Zayn."
He hesitated. "Whom am I speaking to?"
"Well, I must say that I am a bit offended that you don't recognize my voice. Most people do when they work for me."
He froze. "Mr. Styles. Oh, I'm sorry. Is there something you want me to do for you?"
"No, no. There is nothing I want you to do. I was just curious. Didn't know you shopped here."
"Yeah, I..." Here? He looked around to see if he could spot anyone that looked like Harry but he didn't see anyone. "I come here every now and then when I want to treat myself to something nice. The clothes here are very expensive but it's worth it because the quality is nice."
"I agree, though I am here for a pair of cufflinks. This is one of the places I like to come to for those."
Zayn started looking for him again. Still no sign of him. "Are you here now?"
"How else is it that I know you're here?"
He thought for a moment. This was so creepy. Right now he was in the women's department and was nowhere near the jewelry section. How was Harry seeing him? Did he spot him on the way in or something? "Sorry, that was a dumb question."
"No, it's fine. I just thought I'd call to tell you that. My apologies if I bothered you in any way."
"No sir. You didn't bother me. I'm only waiting for an employee to come back with an item of clothing that I asked for. That's all."
"Oh. Very well then. I'll let you get back to it. I guess I will see you tomorrow when you come in for work. "
"Yes sir. I'll be there."
Alright then. Goodbye."
"Goodbye." He hung up the phone and couldn't help but conscientiously look over his shoulder. Still, there was no one.
"You're in luck, sir. I found one. We only have two left." It was the employee who had just returned. She put one on the rack and held the other out to him.
He took it from her. "Thank you so much."
"No problem. Is that all I can help you with?"
"Yes, I think so. I'm ready to check out."
"Right this way then."
He followed her over to the desk and she scanned his item for him. After paying for it, she gave it back to him and he immediately went straight to the jewelry department of the store. There was no one there except the man behind the counter. Zayn discreetly went up to him.
"Excuse me?"
"Yes?"
"Was there just a man here with long brunette curly hair who bought cufflinks maybe?"
"Cufflinks? Yes. I can't tell you who he was or what he looked like since I would think that is confidential, but he left a couple minutes ago."
Zayn nodded slightly. "Okay. That's okay. You gave me all I needed to know though. Thank you."
"You're welcome."
He slowly stepped from the counter and began to walk to the exit. As he neared it, his phone buzzed once, informing him that he had a text coming in. He took it out and read it right from the front of the screen.
This is my personal number. I suggest you put it in your contacts and give me a special ringtone so that I don't go ignored again. I'm not exactly happy about being ignored the first time.
Nervously he shoved the phone in his pocket and headed outside to his car. Just when Harry was starting to slightly resemble a somewhat kindhearted person there he went showing his egotistical side again. Zayn wondered just how much longer he could live his life feeling so entitled and full of himself. How long would it be before there would come something that would bring him off his high horse and back down to earth again? Even more so, who could be the one to do that?