"No I wasn't!" I bickered. He wasn't exactly wrong per se, but to say I was embarrassed was an understatement. I didn't think he'd buy me underwear anytime soon, especially black lacey underwear!
"Whatever brings you peace of mind," He replied, "Anyways, I need to go work. You don't have to put my clothes away, just leave them here and I'll tidy them later."
With a cheeky kiss on my cheek, Harry took off his warm jacket and walked over to his office at the end of the hall, leaving me with a bag of undergarments and thousands of pounds in clothes.
-----
The following morning, I wasn't that excited to get out of bed. The wonderful weekend I had was unfortunately over and it was Monday again and that meant work. Granted, I felt more optimistic about it since me and Harry were in really good terms right now, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't worried about him slipping back into old habits.
I yawned as I slumped out of bed, snoozing the alarm I had on my Blackberry and stretching my limbs. I'd give anything to have a couple more minutes in bed, but I knew work was unavoidable and it was better to get on with my day.
I pushed open the curtain and quickly squinted my eyes with how bright it was outside. Grey clouds covered the sun, and still I felt like I was being blinded. After grabbing a fresh pair of underwear (that weren't black nor lacy) and the rest of my new work clothes and laying the on top of the bed, I got out of my room and into the bathroom, where I took a quick ten minute shower to wake me up. When I was done, I dried my body with a white fluffy towel and wrapped it around my body before walking to my room to get dressed.
When my clothes were on and my hair was acceptable and fluffy, I got out and was met with the delicious smell of breakfast food Harry was making for us, which earned me a rumble of my stomach.
"Good morning," I said as I sat on the breakfast bar, ready to eat. Harry had his back turned to me as he cooked over the stove. He was shirtless and with his suit pants hugging his legs perfectly. He looked incredibly attractive and I found myself wanting to run my fingers all over his back to feel his muscles.
"Morning, love," He smiled when he placed a plate in front of me, filled to the brim, "Sleep well?"
"I did," I spoke through a mouth muffled with food, "Wha' abou' you?"
"Don't speak with your mouth full, Lou," He lectured half-heartedly, by the smile on his face, "I slept alright, thanks."
Content with his answer, I focused my attention into filling my hungry stomach with food. Harry sat next to me with a bowl of cereal and a carton of rice milk and silently poured some in his bowl. He stirred his spoon around before catching some corn flakes with his spoon and bringing it to his mouth. It was a nice breakfast that was over too soon since we had to finish getting ready. Personally, I wouldn't mind a shirtless Harry all day, but I could only imagine the reaction of everyone who worked at his company the second they'd take a peek at his tattoo clad chest. Tattoos weren't my favorite thing in the world but I was quick to change my opinion about then since they looked so perfect on his torso.
When we were both coat-clad and inside Harry's tall car, I turned the radio on lowly and sat back against the seat while enjoying the heat on my bum and back. The damn heated seats almost made me not want to get out of his car and peacefully fall asleep. They were really that good.
Ten minutes later, after chatting over the low radio and driving to work, Harry halted the car in the car park area and made no move to get out, which sparked curiosity from me.
"Are we not getting out?" I asked, with a raised eyebrow.
"We are," Harry said while turning to me, "I just wanted to talk about a couple of things with you before we go in."
"Am I in trouble?" I shot him a worried glance, which earned me a shake of his head and a soft smile.
"Not at all, love," He assured, "I just wanted to let you know that I want to be discreet about us, in the office at least. It's nothing personal, I just don't want any rumours around the office that might harm you in any sort of way. Plus, I don't like to flaunt my personal life with my staff and I'd prefer to keep things between us, for now, of course."
"I can work with that," I nodded after a short pondering. What Harry was asking was quite reasonable and even if I had anyone to gossip with, I wouldn't say a word. It goes without saying that I haven't heard from Cassie in quite some time, so at least I knew I wasn't going to accidentally blab, "Can I remind you of one little thing?"
"Anything," He said.
"I understand that you might get stressed and all that, but can you try not to yell at me?" I politely asked, "I know you don't mean it when you yell at me, but I just don't like it."
"I promise I won't yell at you," He genuinely said. I leaned over and pressed a lingering kiss on his cheek before pulling away, as much as I didn't want to.
"Let's go in?" I suggested.
"After you get me my coffee," Harry cheekily said. I rolled my eyes and sighed before feeling a pair of lips on my temple, "I'm kidding, love. I've already had my coffee this morning."
"Good, 'cause I wouldn't of gone to get it," I sassed. Harry laughed and unlocked the doors of his car. We both got out at the same time, some with more difficulty than others, and walked into the office as if I was just his assistant and he was just my boss.
----
So far, work had been peaceful. I've hardly seen Harry all day since I was off doing little errands around the office. I've only caught him during the morning and I had to try my hardest not to show anything remotely affectionate towards him. So I'd say that not seeing him much was a blessing in disguise.
After a lonely lunch, I hopped back into the office and sat down at my desk before turning on my computer. I had some reports to work on and I was actually glad I got to sit down as I've been on my feet all morning. I was in the middle of clicking away on the desktop when Rachel, one of Harry's assistants and someone who I hardly talked to, walked up to me with a genuine worried look on her face.
"Louis?" She asked to get my attention. I glanced at her and waited for her to reply, "Mr. Styles wants to see you, and I don't think he's happy."
I let out a sigh and thanked her as I got up. I turned my computer off and walked over to Harry's office. A part of me felt disappointed at the thought that Harry might be upset at me, but that can't really be helped. He's more than allowed to be upset at me but I was crossing my fingers that he would at least remember what we talked about this morning and refrain from yelling at me.
I pushed the glass door open and walked inside without even knocking. I honestly forgot, but since he was already expecting me to come, I doubt he'd be as annoyed.
"You wanted to see me?" I spoke as professionally as I could. A couple of people were walking outside of his office and since the door was still open, I was extra careful about how I acted. I shut the door behind me and I wished Harry didn't have foggy glass for walls, because all I wanted to do was cuddle and be affectionate towards him. To be honest, sneaking around made me feel all giggly inside and I liked the secretiveness of it all more than I thought I would. No one in the office knew we were dancing around our feelings for each other and it was a huge rush.
"I did, actually," Harry spoke, a little more aggressive than I wanted, "Why haven't you sent me Steven's reports yet? I've sent you an email about it this morning and I still don't have it!"
Taken aback, I immediately stuttered, "I-I...I'm sorry, I hardly was on my computer this morning. I was out running errands for you, I didn't mean to not see your email..."
"That's why you have a phone, Louis," He stated as if it was the most obvious thing on earth, "To check your emails and run things by me. Not to check what time it is and play games."
Right after he finished, I was quick to frown. Insulted by his attitude and the promise he forgot to not yell at me, which also implied not being rude, I didn't want to spare him another second. Noticing how upset I looked, Harry's demeanor softened and so did his expression. It was just as if something clicked in his brain and he was quick to shut up and let out a breathy sigh.
"Lou..." He started. My eyes were locked on the floor, avoiding his gaze, "Please, look at me."
Against my will, I weakly picked my head up and glanced at his guilt ridden green eyes. I was hurt that he was close to yelling at me, despite what we talked about this morning, but just by taking one glance at him, I wondered if he knew he almost broke his promise.
"I'm sorry," He spoke softly, "I'm really sorry, Louis. I didn't mean to raise my voice at you, I promise. I'm just really stressed, I'm so sorry."
Shaking my head, I let out a sigh as I decided to walk over to him, yet still kept a reasonable distance between us. I was still bothered by the short lived outburst, even if he had an excuse. Even so, I wasn't going to let him get away with it so easily.
"That's no excuse, Harry," I spoke, "You promised you wouldn't raise your voice at me and that's exactly what you did."
"I know, love," He succumbed, "You have all the reason to be upset at me, but I really didn't mean it."
"What're you so stressed out about anyways?" I asked, mildly ignoring his previous statement.
"My mother called me," Harry spoke bitterly, not even bothering to try disguise his the displeasure and frustration. It was no secret to me that they didn't have the best relationship and just by looking at the man sitting in front of me, I could just tell how tense he was.
"What'd she say?" I offered in concern.
"Says she wants to have lunch tomorrow with me," He explained with a roll of his eyes, "Which means she wants to bust my balls in a public place where I can't raise my voice at her without getting people staring at us. She usually does this when she's up to something she knows I won't be happy about."
"I thought she only came by your office," I said, vaguely trying to remember exactly what he had told me before.
"Most of the times it's like that," He clarified, "But as I said, it's only when she knows she's going to really piss me off about something. Last time it was about how I wasn't profiting enough, which was and still is completely delusional since I've brought this company to rankings it's never been to before."
"Calm down, Harry," I held out my hand to softly grab his and rubbed my thumb against his palm, "I know this company is doing great, everyone knows it! She's just trying to get under your skin, you can't let her bother you that much."
"I just can't help it," He practically spat, "She drives me crazy!"
Harry let out a frustrated groan and muttered a couple of curse words as I tried my best to comfort him. His hard features looked even more sharp and intimidating and I was fairly certain his eyes would shoot daggers at whoever would piss him off next. I was starting to worry my efforts to calm him down were nothing but pointless, since all he offered were reasons to despise his mother even more, but after a long sigh and a squeeze on my hand, Harry leant against the back of his chair looking seemingly more relaxed than before.
"Feeling better?" I tried.
To my surprise, Harry nodded and laced our fingers together, "Thanks for listening, I know it must've been a handful to hear."
"Yeah, well it's better to hear that than let you bottle up how you feel and get stressed out," I shrugged, "It's really not good to keep it all in."
"I'm glad I have you around to hear me let it all out," He smiled through the raspy voice I was quickly growing more fond of, "And again, I'm really sorry for making you upset earlier."
"I understand," I said, "But if you reaaally want me to forgive you then you're gonna have to make me dinner."
"I always make you dinner, love," He smiled softly.
"Then make something special," I shrugged, starting to step away from the short curled hair man, "Do you want me to pick up Steven's reports?"
"If you don't mind," He spoke.
"Not as long as you make me that dinner," I sang as I walked over to the blurred glass door and started to push on the handle before turning my head around and trying not to blush as he had his eyes fixed on my body, "And make it a bloody good one."
----
A/N: SHorter chapter aaaa, i promise i try to make them as long as I can without stuffing too much into a chapter. Anyways, this little filler (if you may) was just to show you guys how important communication in a relationship is. no matter what, it's important to let your partner know what's on your mind when you're upset because chances are youll definitely feel better and your problem may have a solution! it takes two to tango and so if youre in a relationship and you and youre partner arent on the same page, it's good to talk things out! of course harry isn't completely let off the hook, but realizing he was in the wrong was already a step towards changing himself into his better version!