Eve's POV
"Harry's expecting you in his office, so go right on through" Paige, the receptionist, gestured to me. I gave her a quick nod, offering her a smile in which she didn't return. Alice led the way, pulling me along with her as we walked down the hallway towards Harry's office, humming excitedly over the fact that we were about to see her father.
I was kind of dreading seeing Harry. I mean, of course I wanted to see him, but I didn't want to see him for the reason being the news that Geena had just told me. I didn't want to have to tell him, the look I knew would be on his face already plastered through my mind. I wasn't too sure on how he would react either, he could go either way, angry, sad, hurt, or he might not even show it at all.
Alice pushed her way through the doors, squealing at the sight of Harry at his desk, his glasses sitting on the ridge of his nose and his fingers tapping away at his computer keyboard. He stopped to look up, his iridescent eyes burning into mine, a small smile forming crookedly as he stared up at me. His tongue darted out, wetting his cherry lips and he straightened himself up, his eyes raking down my body.
Shivers ran down my spine, the way his eyes were scorching into my skin which was surely doing a good job in getting me flustered. His teeth sunk softly into his bottom lip, before his eyes left me and dropped down the to the bundle of nerves bounding at my feet.
"Well what are you still doing over there Alice? Come give me a hug" Harry exclaimed and Alice ripped her hand from mine and bounded across the room to Harry, practically throwing herself at him, his long arms enveloping her in a fatherly hug.
I couldn't help but grin at the sight in front of me, Harry's arms wound tightly around a squealing Alice, her face buried in the crook of his neck and his chin resting on the top of her head. He would occasionally drop his head down, his plush lips whispering something into her ear in which she'd burst out in a fit of giggles, her shrieks echoing off of every surface in the office.
I liked Dad Harry, Dad Harry was probably one of my favourite Harry's. He was so sweet and carefree and gentle and funny whenever Alice was around, which was such a stark contrast to Work Harry, who was determined and demanding and challenging and resolute.
Alice eventually climbed off of Harry's lap, standing attentively in front of him as he spoke in a hushed whisper. Her head nodded, before she bolted around Harry's desk and straight to my feet, throwing her arms around my legs and pushing her cheek against my knees.
"Thank you for picking me up after school today Evie, and for taking me out for food, you are so wonderful" she beamed, turning her face to rest her chin on my knee bone, staring up at me through her thick lashes. My hand lifted to ruffle up her hair, causing her to squeal and shake her head furiously to try and swat my hand away. I only laughed at her futile attempts, my ears pricking when I heard a distant, deep chuckle erupting from Harry.
"Al, baby, why don't you run across the hall and go see Louis? I know he's been dying to see you" Harry suggested, getting up from his chair and sliding his glasses off his nose, folding them up delicately and placing them on his desk.
Alice groaned in response, hitting her forehead against my knee in frustration. "But I don't like Louis, he always laughs at me"
Harry only laughed in response, moving around his desk to stand in front of me, his eyes cast down at the girl wrapped around my legs.
"Go on Alice, be polite now" he urged, a tone of authority flowing through his voice. Alice huffed in annoyance, letting go of me and sauntering out of the office on route to go see Louis. His eyes followed Alice down the hall until she was out of sight, and when I turned my head back around, Harry's eyes were searing into mine.
I knew it was now or never, to reveal the clenching news of Geena's engagement to a unsuspecting Harry standing idly in front of me. He wore a crooked smile, that dimple that I loved so much softly dipping into his cheek. He parted his lips to speak, before I gulped down my nerves and bet him to it.
"Harry, we need to talk"
His expression turned to that of concern, the corners of his mouth tugging down in a slight frown at my abrupt request. Nevertheless, he shrugged his shoulders and ushered me wordlessly to the empty chair in front of his desk, himself retreating to the other side to settle into his worn out leather chair. My mind wandered back to the day I turned up here, the way he held me while he worked when I was in a state of shock and my eyes were red.
"What's up?" He rasped, pulling me from my thoughts and back into the dreaded conversation I was about to start with him. My eyes cast down to my lap, my fingers nervously twiddling together in an attempt to stall. But there was no use, I could either tell him now and get it over and done with, or wait until he found out some other way and face the consequences once he figured I already knew.
"Eve?" He pressed, sliding his chair further into his desk to rest his elbows on the wood. His brows were pulled down in an effort to decipher the look on my face, soft lines creasing in his forehead. I let out a long sigh, my last attempt to psych myself up before I started talking.
"It's Geena" I started, eyes snapping to his face to read his reaction. The frown on his face deepened, the air in the room growing thick with tension as it wafted around us. Harry's breathes got deeper, trying to calm himself down for whatever I was about to spring on him next.
"What about her?" He asked, teeth gritting impatiently as I thought of the best possible way to try and tell him that his ex wife was getting engaged.
"She's... Uh, she's engaged"
His whole face fell, the colour draining from his features instantly as he processed the words that just left my mouth. It was pure shock, I knew it, the way his eyes widened and his mouth drooped and his chest heaved a deep breathe once I had spoken the dreaded words.
"Engaged? To the guy she left me for?" He asked, his voice completely monotone and his expression stony once he had managed to compose himself after I broke the news. He was trying to be strong, he was trying not to show that it had any effect on him. I'd seen this before, when the divorce happened and he had to be resilient to everything for the sake of Alice, he couldn't let anything get to him, he had to stay strong for her, and that was exactly what he was doing now.
I nodded in confirmation, and he cursed softly, raking his hands through his hair. He stopped midway, his head supported by his hands which were tangled through his knotted locks, elbows resting on the table. His face was hidden from me, no doubt he was trying to conceal the look on his face that he clearly didn't want me to see.
I was unsure of what to do, since I had absolutely no idea what he was feeling. I felt odd sitting here, emotionally so faraway from him as he hid in front of me. I wanted to be there for him, in every possible way that I could, like he was there for me when my parents were fighting. But I didn't know how, he wasn't making any attempt to tell me, and I didn't want to push him.
He eventually looked up, his fingers intertwining with each other and his mouth pressed against them whilst we sat there in silence. His eyes darted everywhere but my own, Harry probably too scared to look into mine for too long incase I would be able to see how he was feeling.
"What are you thinking?" I said, my voice projecting smaller then it usually would. My heart leapt forward in my chest when his eyes locked on mine, he looked terrified, his bottom lip pale and slightly quivering.
"Do you think she'll try and take Alice?" He asked hesitantly, his usually deep voice now barely a whisper.
"What?"
"Alice, do you think she'll try and take Alice away from me? She'll have a new husband, a more stable household than I do, she might try and get her back" he blabbered, his thoughts tumbling aimlessly from his lips.
I scrambled around his desk, kneeling in front of him and taking his hands into my own in an attempt to try and calm him down. His breathing had quickened, jagged breathes wracking his chest, his hot breathe washing over my face as I tried my utter best to calm him down.
"Hey, she can't take Al away from you, ok Harry? Geena let her go back during the divorce, and she's not going to get Al back again. Alice is yours, she's not going anywhere" Harry nodded slowly, although he didn't seem quite so convinced.
I had absolutely no clue what was going on his head, but I could imagine that the ground underneath him was starting to slowly crumble away. Alice was all he had really, and for her to be taken away from him would leave him broken, shattered into a million pieces and left unfixable. My thumbs traced the backs of his hands softly, my tender movements helping to bring him back to his normal state. He managed to get his breathing under control, ending off with a long exhale, just as the door to his office burst open and I clambered off my knees and back to my feet.
Louis and Alice burst through the door, a mad and unsettling expression settled on Louis' face as his hand encased Alice's smaller one. Louis' shirt was unbuttoned halfway down his chest, tattoos doodling over his newly exposed skin. His hair was disheveled carelessly, his fringe side swept across his forehead and layer of sheen sweat reflected from his skin. His cheeks were a deep red, nearing the same colour as Harry's lips, tinged with embarrassment that we had yet to figure out.
"Your daughter has no manners at all Styles, you should really teach her how to knock" Louis grumbled, letting go of Alice's hand to comb through his hair roughly, moving his fringe over onto the top of his head, his fingers tugging at the roots slightly in annoyance.
My eyes travelled down his body, his clothes crinkled and messy, landing on the zip of his trousers that were undone. I glanced over to Harry, a smirk set widely on his face when he noticed the same thing, his head shaking in amusement at Louis' misfortune.
"Uh, Louis? You're um...." I trailed off, nudging my head to the zip in his slacks that was wide open. Louis looked down himself, his eyes bulging once he found the source of laughter that everyone had started giggling at, including Alice.
He was quick to zip it up, growling and muttering a "Christ" under his breathe as he checked over himself once again just incase of any other mishaps.
"There's a fine line between business and pleasure, isn't there Louis? Maybe you and Ms. Calder should think a little more carefully next time" Harry chided, his eyebrow raising challengingly to his colleague. I wasn't entirely sure what was going on, but from what Harry was insinuating, Alice had just interrupting some hot make out session between Louis and a 'Ms. Calder.'
"Shut up Harry, you and Eve are going to have to learn to be a lot more careful now with your little secret" Louis snickered, sending a wink my way. I scowled, my brows furrowing and my mouth dragging into a frown. What was he talking about?
"What do you mean by that?" I asked, genuinely confused.
"Oh don't worry Eve, Harry already told me about you and him and your little –" He stopped midsentence, his eyes widening and moving from me to stare behind me. I whipped my head around to find Harry glaring straight at Louis, his lips set in a straight line and his eyes narrowing.
I gulped in realization, the full force of the blow finally settling straight in my stomach as I came to terms with what must have happened.
Harry told Louis about us.
"Get out Louis" Harry snarled, "Take Al with you"
"Shi- Shoot, Eve" he corrected himself once he realized that Alice was standing right next to him. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to-"
"Louis" Harry growled. "Out."
Louis quickly nodded, grabbing Alice's hand and tugging her along with him out of the office. I felt sick to my stomach, knowing that Louis knew about Harry and I. A range of emotions were flowing through me, anger, confusion, betrayal, but I was in too much shock to let them process. I couldn't believe Harry would do something like, that he would tell someone who he wasn't even that close to a secret about himself, and not even take into consideration the way I could possibly feel about it.
"Eve I-" he started, before I cut him off.
"You told him?" My voice barely a whisper, threatening to break if I wasn't careful.
"It's not what you think" he trailed off.
"Please, tell me what I'm thinking, Harry"
He dropped back into his chair, his palms pressing hard against his face to try and relieve some of the pressure that Louis had just put him under.
"Eve, I'm sorry. Louis and I were just talking and he asked me if I was seeing anyone and he just wouldn't let up and I'm so sorry. But he doesn't care, he doesn't care about us and he isn't going to tell anyone and he won't bother us about it again. I promise Eve, I'm so sorry" he whimpered, standing back up and taking my hands into his, in some sort of effort to comfort me.
I let out a shaky breathe, but I couldn't bear to look at him. I didn't want him to see how much this was effecting me. All other events that had happened today slipped through the widening cracks in my mind, the fact that Harry could still be coping with the news of Geena pushed to the back in order for me to try and cope with this.
To be honest, I didn't actually care that Louis knew, I cared that Harry thought it was okay to go behind my back and tell someone what was going on between us. We hadn't actually talked about keeping this a secret, but I just figured it was implied, and it hurt that Harry didn't seem to care at all.
"It's fine Harry" I muttered, trying my best to hide the deceit in my voice. "I have to go" I lied, wanting to get out of his office and out of his presence as soon as possible.
"No, it's not fine. I did a stupid thing and you're angry at me and I'm sorry" he pleaded, his eyes searching mine for any type of forgiveness that he thought I might be willing to give him.
"I have to go" I murmured softly, and once he had realized that I wasn't going to fight him on this anymore, he nodded and dropped my hands, my arms swinging limp by my sides.
"I'll see you tomorrow then?" he questioned hesitantly, to which I nodded and a wave of relief washed over his features.
He ducked his head down to level with mine, his lips closing in on my own when the sudden realization that he was about to kiss me hit me hard in the chest. But I couldn't do it. I couldn't let him kiss me after what he just did. As soon as I felt his warm breathe tickle against my lips, I turned my cheek away from him, his plump lips pressing unexpectedly into my cheek.
Harry shot his head back, sheer confusion written all over his features when his lips had pressed to my cheek instead of to my lips like he had expected. My nose started to burn, a warning sign that my eyes would start to water any second now, and I grabbed my bag and left without a single word, leaving Harry standing there at his desk, feeling puzzled, terrified, guilty and bewildered.
*****
sorry if there are any mistakes in this chapter - its 12:30am and im super tired and practically falling asleep so i will edit it later on!
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