"I wish you were here with me, 'cause right now everything is new to me."
"You're famous!" Penny's blood-curdling screech cancels out the chime of the bell above the door and I look up just in time to see my teenage colleague throwing herself over the threshold.
"Pardon?" I say with a wince. It's too early for an octave that high, especially when I was up until the early hours of the morning chatting with Eve. I hadn't known what to do with myself upon landing in Melbourne; I'd text Harry to say I'd arrived home, dropped a bag of goodies off with my mother as a thank you for watering my plants, tried not to cry when Harry had replied to say he'd also landed and was missing me, and then upon realising I'd broken my promise to Eve regarding calling her immediately - had decided to visit her instead. Cue to stumbling through my front door six hours later full of pink moscato and Caramello Koalas.
A glossy rectangle of colours flaps around in Penny's outstretched hand and I squint at it wearily. "Famous." She repeats, somewhat breathlessly. "You made the front cover of New Idea."
I blink slowly as her words register in my head; attempting to contemplate what this means, but all I can think about is the fact that I don't remember seeing her name on today's rota or in the overtime book. If I'd known, perhaps I would have pulled a sickie, because the level of hungover I'm experiencing right now will one hundred percent not tolerate any fangirl, gossipy interrogation bullshit that's bound to come out of her mouth over the duration of the next eight hours.
Penny's barely reached the other side of the counter before I've leaned over it and snatched the magazine from her grasp. Judging by the slightly grainy, zoomed-in image taking over a good chunk of the page - she's quite right. I have indeed made the front cover of New Idea. Harry's laughing with his arm draped across the shoulders of the girl beside him. She's smiling down at the ground but she's quite clearly me.
Harry Styles Spotted With Mystery Woman in Sydney
Oh, shit.
It was taken at the botanical gardens, and if I recall correctly, this was the moment I had told him about my goldfish serial killings and he had called me a dork.
Of course I'd known this was a possibility. Of course paparazzi are going to be lurking around him, waiting for any opportunity to get the snapshot that enables them to bring home the bacon. But even so, it's a shock to the system. One that sends my erratically beating heart plummeting into the floor of my stomach.
"I just knew something was going on between you two." Penny exclaims, pointing at the photograph and beaming down at me as I stand hunched over the counter. It takes all of my will power not to whack her on the head with the damn thing.
"Trust me, Penny, you haven't got a clue." I mutter under my breath as my head pounds like an incessant beating against my skull. Of all the days to make the news, it had to be this one. I regret every single time Eve topped up my wine glass. Every single damn time.
The door chimes again and over Penny's right shoulder, my boss steps into view. He wipes his maroon Birkenstocks on the doormat, despite the pavement being nothing other than bone-dry outside, and assesses the scene before him.
"Luca!" Penny trills and whirls around to face the man who looks as though he's about to read her the riot act. "Luca - your employee is famous. Juniper is famous."
Luca doesn't look nearly as excited about this newsflash as Penny. I know he's probably wondering why only one of us is wearing their apron and why the other hasn't even put their belongings in the staff room yet, given that we open for business in a mere five minutes. His eyes drift to meet mine in brief shared moment of pure bewilderment, before immediately returning to the practically bouncing redhead standing between us.
"And what exactly is it that she's famous for, Penelope?" He asks, voice cold. "Not having the store ready in time?"
I drop my gaze back to the marble counter top, not wanting to catch sight of Penny's face falling. She's a goose if she really thought he would be even slightly interested. Luca is - and always has been - a man of few words. He likes you to turn up for work and leave your personal life at home. He certainly doesn't want to hear about me walking through a garden with Harry Styles in New South Wales.
"Uh-" But Luca is already marching past us, behind the counter and into the staff room where he will no doubt remain for the duration of the day. A small whine falls from Penny's lips and I sense her twist her body towards me as if looking for some sort of back-up that I'm not willing to give. I do feel bad for her and her downcast expression, but right now I'm more concerned about the fact that my face is on a freaking gossip magazine for the whole of Australia to see and I haven't got a bloody clue what I'm supposed to do about it.
Am I supposed to do anything about it?
"Sheesh, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed." Penny mutters and storms through the staff room door, dragging her handbag across the floor by its strap. I cringe at the sound of the metal buckle scraping against the chequered linoleum but the moment she is out of sight, I wrench my phone from the front pocket of my apron and attack the keypad with shaky fingers.
I'm not entirely sure what I'm expecting Harry to help with but this is all very new and all very strange and although there's a zero percent probability of me being recognised by anybody at all whatsoever, it's a peculiar feeling to now have mystery woman in my credentials.
At some point today, Harry is flying out The Philippines. I haven't got a clue what time his flight leaves and therefore whether he will even have seen New Idea this morning, but some sort of reassurance wouldn't go amiss right now. I really wish he was still around the corner in Melbourne. Each time I remember that I'm not going to see him for months, I'm overcome with the feeling of my heart constricting in my chest.
The staff room door flies open and I almost drop my phone as it rebounds off the fridge. What the hell is wrong with that girl? Does she treat her kitchen like this at home?
"Penny!" I grit out through my teeth and slide my mobile back into my peach pocket. "Must you keep doing that, really?"
She sniffs and comes to stand beside me with her arms folded across her chest; lips set in a hard line. Just the sight of Penny having a teenage meltdown is enough to make me question whether children are on the cards for me and I'm thankful when there is a vibration in the front of my apron.
I'm caught off guard by the blush creeping up my neck and into my cheeks, and Penny - clearly more observant than I've ever given her credit for - drops her spoilt-brat posture and whirls to face me.
"Is that him?" She squeaks, now biting her lip and attempting to subtly peek over at the screen. "It is, isn't it?"
I angle the screen away from her and frown. I'm not sure what's weirder - the magazine cover or my colleague getting the complete wrong end of the stick. "I'm sorry to disappoint you, Penny, but you've got it all wrong."
Her eyes narrow. "Oh." There's a pause before she points to the magazine still sprawled out on the counter. "But that is you in Sydney with Harry Styles, right?"
Sighing - and desperately wishing for a customer to come in- I nod. "Yes. That's me."
A grin seems to take up the whole lower portion of her face. "So there is something going on between you two."
What on Earth have I gotten myself into?
"Harry and I are friends." I tell her firmly, because I'm sure as shit not going into more detail than that. Her grin grows impossibly wider.
"Who are you trying to convince - me or yourself?"
If I thought I was blushing before then I am absolutely crimson now. What exactly does she think she is playing at questioning me like this? She's only seventeen for goodness sake and we've only worked a handful of hours together. She barely knows me.
"Penny!" I all but choke out. "Enough. We're not all infatuated with Harry like you are."
It's a low blow and an atrocious attempt at shutting this conversation down, but it doesn't seem to matter because Penny merely shrugs and begins to remove the lids on some of the gelato basins.
"Whatever, Juniper. I'm just saying that I know what I saw in here last weekend and I ship it."
I open my mouth to fire back with some witty sarcastic reply, or maybe to bite her head off, but my words are lost in the chiming of the door and therefore the announcement of a customer. And as Penny takes the reins and puts the order through the til, her earlier words repeat themselves in my head.
"Who are you trying to convince - me or yourself?"
author's note: I feel like I'm always apologising for delayed updates lol. I was going to update a couple of weeks ago but then I failed my driving test (boo) and it put me in a really bad mood for a few days and then I hated the chapter I had written so deleted the lot and started from scratch. But hey - here we are, I am back. Hope you enjoy it, let me know what you think! And tell me, who do you picture as Juni? I haven't actually cast anyone as her yet. (The attached video gives me goosebumps every damn time I watch it - what an awesome fanbase we are??)