"Knock knock." Sutton hears a familiar voice behind her, and she looks over her shoulder to find her boss, a shorter guy with dark hair and thick black glasses, which he only wears when working.
She immediately pulls her legs off of the check-out desk when James' crisp blue eyes meet hers, and he lets out a throaty laugh while shaking his head, indicating he didn't care that her scruffy boots had been resting on his desk. She smiles, not exactly used to having a considerate boss.
"So how was your first night shift the other night? I forgot to tell you to just take the key with you, but I see you already did." He asks quietly, careful not to disturb the people reading around them. Sutton packed her things into her bag and smiled, handing him the keys.
"It was good, pretty slow, but good. Oh, um, some guy did stop by though, he said he knew you?" She tells him, remembering her encounter with the drunk man.
"Some guy?" He asks.
"Ya, well I stayed a little while after my shift ended, I was completely caught up in an amazing book, but anyway that's not the point," she says, coaxing that she stayed way later than she was supposed too. "Your friend came in. I think he was really drunk, and he said he had a spare key." She tells him, and the moment the word 'drunk' rolls off her lips, his features seem to show recognition and he nods his head slightly.
"Oh," He says, holding the word out for a couple of seconds. "Yeah, that's Harry. How late were you here? No one usually catches him until the morning." He says, and chuckles.
"Not that late, actually." She says. Eh, maybe a little late, she thinks.
"Hm, well that's funny," he says, then pauses before continuing. "This is for some reason his favorite place to come when he is drunk and lonely in the middle of the night. Funny guy, he is." James says. He seems to be thinking, then shakes his head and begins laughing again. "I don't think he comes very often, it shouldn't be anything to worry about." He says, and turns to sit in the seat Sutton had previously occupied. "Did you recognize him?" He asks, looking at her curiously.
"Who, your friend?" She replies, and he nods. "Oh, it's actually weird that you say that, I thought he looked kind of familiar." She says, maybe she did know him from somewhere.
"Yeah, that doesn't surprise me." He rambled in a lower tone, glancing down at his rather expensive looking watch.
"What?" She asked, not understanding him. "It was actually kind of dark, and I couldn't really see his face in the first place." Sutton explains, and James nods.
"Oh, I see. Well, do you know who Harry Styles is?" He asks, looking amused as she shakes her head slowly. "Okay, um, do you remember that super popular boy band named One Direction? You were probably eighteen or nineteen when they were all over." He explains. Sutton recognized the name, and James watches as the gears turn in her head.
"Oh wait, the lead guy in that band? No fucking way." She says, and covers her mouth as soon as the words leave her lips. James laughs quietly, and shakes his head.
"Sutton, I couldn't give a shit if you have your feet up on my desk or if you cuss around me. To be honest, I prefer it. I prefer personality," He says, and she nods while smiling, thanking him. "But yeah, that's him. Harry Styles of One Direction" He returns back to the topic at hand, laughing at how the conversation switched so quickly.
"That's insane. I completely remember them, some girls at my university loved them." She says. "How did you meet him?" Sutton asks curiously.
"I was at this private pub a couple years ago, and I saw him just on the ground. Literally, face down on the cement. I helped him up and the guy couldn't even stand. I went out of my way to help him, I mean he couldn't even talk, I felt like I had to help the lad. I just brought him back to my flat, and threw him on the couch. The next morning he was a little creeped out, but once I explained what had happened he was super appreciative. After that I kept seeing him whenever I went out, and we just started hanging out, I guess. He's one of my best mates now." James tells her.
"That's crazy. Did you know who he was at the time?" She asks.
"No, I didn't have a clue. It was just under a year that the band had broken up too, so they were still kind of big." He says. "Poor guy still gets loads of bad press though, you would think after all these years he would be out of the limelight, but he still has to watch what he does and stuff." He tells her, and Sutton nods, holding that thought in her mind for a while. "Sorry to keep you, you're welcome to go." James says and chuckles slightly. Sutton didn't even realize that much time passed.
"Okay, bye James, see you Tuesday." Sutton says, and James gives her a small wave in appreciation, and she walks to the exit door, pulling her coat on for the short walk home. It was late-afternoon in London, and Sutton begins to move her feet quicker, thinking that maybe it could get her home sooner.
Sutton pondered about James during her walk, she's noticed that James has a different group of friends than she would have ever imagined. She would never expect him to own a library as a living, he seemed to be very wealthy, always talking about how he was in a VIP part of a night-club, or how he goes out golfing all the time, stories that made her wonder what lead him to do this of all things.
The thoughts of James' friends lead her to think about Harry Styles, ex member of the once biggest boy band in the world. She wondered how different it their meeting would have been if she had recognized him.
...
"Mads, you ready?" Sutton calls from the living room, walking down the hall to her roommate Maddy's room.
"Yeah, let's go. You want to drive?" She asks, holding her keys in her hands, and giving a questioning look to Sutton.
"Um, I don't care." She says. Maddy grabs her car keys off the kitchen counter, and Sutton throws hers back in her room before leaving their flat, taking the elevator down four floors, and walking to Maddy's car.
"Oh, oh my god, so guess what I found out today?" She tells Maddy, remembering what James had told her.
"What?" She asks, looking at Sutton.
"One of his best friends is Harry Styles. Remember him? From On-" Sutton begins to explain, but Maddy cuts her off.
"One Direction! Of course I fucking know who that his. That's so cool! Is he single?" She asks, and winks with a hint of humor behind her voice, but Sutton knows she is somewhat serious.
"Oh don't even." Sutton says laughing, and Maddy chuckles along with her. She decides not to tell Maddy that she has in fact already met him.
"So today at work, Sidney was telling me about this event next Saturday. You remember that club called Funky Buddha?" She asks, looking at me as we enter her car.
"Um, no I don't know what that is." Sutton says honestly, trying to pick her brain for a memory of that odd yet familiar sounding name.
"Okay, well anyways, it used to be super popular a while back, but it's had poor business for years now. They are having this huge 're-opening' type of thing next Saturday, and it's supposed to be really cool. Like a full circus and everything." She explains, and Sutton nods as she speaks, already knowing how this conversation will go.
"It's probably going to be crazy Mads, there will be way to many people there it won't even be fun." Sutton says, and lightly bites her bottom lip.
"Come on Sut, you never go out anymore. Literally all of London is going, that's the whole point. You have to come with me, I'm not giving you an option." She says sternly. Sutton and Maddy have had this conversation about once a week, and it ends in the same way every time.
"We'll see." Sutton says, and Maddy rolls her eyes.
Maddy is a very free-living type of girl, she loves parties and meeting new people and being spontaneous. She has been single for as long as Sutton has known her, and Sutton loves her to death but just isn't the same type of person in that way anymore. Sutton was fun, and wasn't too shy, but going out and drinking with random strangers at a place where you can't even hear your own thoughts because the music is so loud, was something she wasn't a fan of anymore. Yes she enjoyed partying in her college years, and even for a while in London, but Sutton felt she had enough memories to last her a while.
They decide to get dinner at Cafe Pacifico, their favorite Mexican restaurant (Sutton never seems to get over they're cheese enchiladas). They finish their dinner earlier than expected and with nothing else to do they go home, despite their boredom.
When they get back to the flat, it doesn't surprise Sutton when Maddy decides that she wants to go out. She has considered Maddy her best friend in the past, but Sutton knows that Maddy didn't think of her in the same way, and most likely still doesn't. Maybe a best friend, but not her only best friend.
She actually confused Sutton sometimes, Maddy had such a wide variety of friends, she wasn't exactly sure how she saw them all in the same month.
Three episodes of Friends later, the front door opens as Sutton sat in the living room.
"Sut, could you give me a hand?" She hears Sarah ask, and immediately jumps up and heads to the door to help with whatever she needed.
She see's her roommate Sarah with four bags full of what looks like fabrics and other clothing items, two set on the floor.
"Jesus Sarah, did you carry this all the way up here?" Sutton asks, grabbing two of the bags and huffing in disapproval when she realizes how heavy they are.
"Yes, I don't even know how." She laughs, and Sutton smiles despite the fact her arms were straining from the weight of these bags. "Just set them in my office for now." Sarah says behind her, and she obliges.
"Sorry, I'm too lazy to make two trips." Sarah laughs again, and Sutton joins.
"I needed the arm work out anyway." Sutton says, and sighs when she finally reached the office, and she hears Sarah chuckle behind her.
Sarah was hard working and independent, she was only a couple years older than Sutton, but was very serious about her job. She was some type of executive fashion associate to a major designer label, but Sutton could never remember the name of it.
The flat these three girls lived in was only provided with one office, and seeing that Sarah had the most over-bearing job, they decided that she needed it. Plus, Sutton nor Maddy ever had to bring work home, so it all worked out fine when Sarah inhabited the small working space.
Well, let's be realistic, Maddy working for her fathers company isn't even considered a job, her parents still provide her with everything she has ever needed.
Sutton likes Sarah, she wasn't as close to her as she was to Maddy, but she liked her nonetheless. Maddy on the other hand, didn't particularly enjoy her company. The two would always fight about god knows what, and at this point Sutton thinks they have learned to just completely ignore each other.
"How was your day?" Sarah asks, pulling her tight, high ponytail out, looking relieved when her brown hair is released from it's tight hold.
"Nothing too exciting. I had work earlier today, and I just went to an early dinner with Maddy." Sutton responds.
"Oh yeah, hows your new job going?" She asks, completely ignoring the second half of her day.
"It's great, I mean the job itself is kind of boring, but I have a really cool boss and I get paid a bit more than I did at the coffee shop." Sutton says, a genuine smile appearing on her face.
"That's great! And you like everyone that works with you?" Sarah asks.
"Yes! I think there is only one ore two more employees, their older and I don't really see them a lot," Sutton says.
"That's so good to hear," Sarah says. "I'm glad you were a barista though, I don't think I could live without your morning coffee." She says, and Sutton laughs. "Well, I have to sort all those fabrics you brought in and I have like 4 look-books to go through, so I will see you tomorrow." She says with a smile.
Sutton briefly wonders if Sarah ever gets tired of her job. She never seems to complain about her work load, but Sutton couldn't imagine herself working that hard for that long, there weren't enough hours in the day. But at the same time she envied Sarah's determination, she has never had that much passion towards anything in her life. Sutton wished she had some type of goal, or thought out plan with her life, but she never has and she doesn't even know what she wants to do with it.
Late that night when Sutton can't sleep, she finds herself visiting the library again, like she has every night this week. For some reason it was kind of like sleep therapy for her, and because she knew she had the morning shift tomorrow, Sutton didn't hesitate to drift into a dreamless sleep, sitting on a chair and leaning her torso over the table she always occupied, using her arm as her pillow.
A/N:
Okay here is the 2nd chapter! I promise it will get more interesting soon, so please please stick with it, and vote & comment! if you like it! Hopefully you like it so far.
Thanks for reading xxx