Harry Styles
Once my driver pulled up outside of the café where I had a – successful – meeting, I got in and comfortable as I placed the seatbelt around my waist. My next destination was the Apple store because funnily enough, it had taken me one night out to lose my fucking phone. I didn't even bother calling up the bar or the club we were at because I didn't know where I could have lost it. There was no memory of it in my mind. It was a shitty one anyway – a 6plus. I was gonna upgrade sometime soon in the future so I guess fate really did slap my arse and told me to hurry up.
The process was easy as I just went for the basic black one, the XS Max. It was the newest so I thought I might as well go all out. They told me all that I knew already and they set it up as well which was nice and one less thing for me to worry about.
Just as I exited the shop and made my way back to the car, my driver told me he had been contacted by Charlotte to let me know I had someone waiting for me back at the office. It confused me because as far as I knew, I had no meetings until 1pm.
Throughout the journey, I just played around with my new phone as I set up my email and downloaded all the apps that were essential. Thankfully, the employee at the shop was able to deactivate my number on the old phone and get it back so I could use it for my new one. There was no way I could have texted all those contacts as I didn't have a magical memory.
However, my mind was able to remember most of the things that happened last night. Well, mainly whatever happened when Kensington was assigned to get my drunk arse home. Other than that, and how I had gotten to the club, nothing else was clear in between. I kind of hoped that I pulled Celia last night because she looked fucking hot then again, it didn't really matter because, like I said, I didn't remember anything.
The minute my feet walked me in the building, an employee was at my side, filling me in on what went wrong. I simply told them to stop the explanation because I had absolutely no idea what they were on about seeing as they attacked me with whatever was up out of nowhere. I told them to book one of those appointments through the company website for staff to come and see me but if it was important – like it needed to be done right there and then – drop me an email about it. Jamie and Charlotte were on email duty most of the time anyway and were skilled enough to deal with whatever was thrown at them. There was no doubt in my mind that they could have solved whatever the problem was.
Once I was on the floor of my office, I walked over to the top floor reception area which was more like an assistant area for Charlotte and Jamie to be at and meet clients at before they were let in to my office.
"Mr Styles," Charlotte stopped me. I walked over to her and placed my arms on the top of the counter top. "Your visitor is in your office. I hope you don't mind I let them wait for you inside."
"That's fine," I answered as my fingers drummed along the surface. "Should I be worried? Is it my mother?"
"No. It is not your mother," she chuckled. I smirked and pushed my body away from the furniture.
I swiped my card downwards which opened up my office. As soon as my eyes landed on a figure I did not expect to see, a small laughter escaped my lips. That action caught my visitor's attention therefore each one of my moves were followed closely with a burning gaze.
"To what do I owe the pleasure of seeing you on this lovely Monday afternoon?" I questioned as I sat down behind my desk. My legs were stretched out and apart as my index-finger flicked the end of the swinging sticks that were on my desk.
"I have one of those," she commented after she completely ignored my question. A smug smile tugged on my lips as I leaned on the arm of the chair with my left arm, my elbow propped up. I pressed my index and middle fingers against my lips whilst my eyes were set on her. My right arm was stretched out on the other arm rest.
"Yeah?" I asked in a low voice. "I got it because I seen it in a movie and liked it too much not to have one for my office."
"Iron Man?" she cocked her eyebrow as the two-word movie title slipped through her painted lips. The nude lip went nicely with her eye makeup, her fake lashes were so long they almost touched her filled in eyebrows.
"Maybe," I hummed as my eyes lingered on her baby blue suit paired with a white blouse. It made me laugh in my head how it kind of contrasted mine in colour. I wore a dark grey suit with blue lines in it but the same coloured shirt. "You don't strike me as someone who would enjoy Marvel."
"You are one to talk," she snapped back and I felt offended by that comment. "You seem more like someone who drinks wine and cries over romcoms."
"And what about it?"
"Wow, you do," she laughed and I rolled my eyes as my smirk widened.
"Perhaps you could come over one day and we could do it together," I said easily and she looked at me like I had just told her I killed her family. "Oh, come on. I could get you my grandparents' wine."
"As inviting as that sounds, I feel like I shouldn't be getting more involved with my competition," she sighed heavily as she leaned down and put a bag on my desk. "This is yours, I believe."
"What's this?" I asked her in confusion. "My birthday had already passed and it's a little too early for Christmas presents."
"What makes you think I would spend money on you?"
"Ouch," I chuckled as I placed my hand on my heart in fake pain.
"It's your coat. And later on, found out you had your phone in it too. Hopefully, the screen is not smashed. When I took it out of the trunk, it fell out of the pocket and it fell screen down so before I even checked it I just shoved it back in."
I laughed as I listened to her ramble. It wouldn't have mattered if the screen was smashed. It was nice of her to bring it back because my heart did love that coat a lot and so it made me sad when I thought of how I lost it.
"It's all in one piece," I said as I looked at it. It was completely dead; the battery must have run out. "Well, thank you."
"Sure," she nodded and began to stand up. "Now, please don't get drunk again because I don't really want to drive you around."
"Would you do it if I called you?" I dared to ask with a cheeky tone and smile. Her words kind of made me believe she would have done it regardless of how much she hated me.
"You don't have my phone number therefore I don't need to worry about things like that."
"I can always email you."
"I'd probably delete it and carry on with my life. Plus, I prefer driving alone."
"Please. You enjoyed having me in your car."
"You keep telling yourself that," she said as she pushed her bag up her shoulder. It was white with a golden chain. It went nice with her shirt and white heels. Even when I stepped in, I have noticed she checked out the room she was in but still, when the comment left out mouth, I didn't know if I heard it right. "Nice office, by the way."
"Was that a compliment? From Renleigh Kensington?" I asked in a shocked state. I was faking it for the most part but it did shock me that she even let that comment slip. She didn't throw compliments around at all. My two hands were enough to count how many of them she gave out. "Say that again."
"Do I look like a machine with a repeat button?" she asked cockily. God, this woman was difficult. Getting anything out of her was just so hard. Kensington was a ton of work but somehow, it made me want to do it more. I wanted to get in her head, I wanted to piss her off, I wanted to... I wanted to get to know her. It was really strange.
She was so interesting. She had so much control over everything. I wanted to know how she managed it. How was she so... I don't even know.
I just wanted to know her.
Badly.
"Get lunch with me," I spat out before she reached the door and pressed the button so it could open. I was so deep in thought, I didn't even hear if she said anything before that.
"Excuse me?" she asked back. Kensington sounded absolutely stunned and I knew I would have. My demand – which wasn't that demanding at all – came out of nowhere. There was not even enough time in my head to overthink it.
"Get lunch with me, please," I added the extra word. Suddenly, I became nervous and began to regret it. Then realised how fucking stupid that was. No woman ever intimidated me the way she did and that was how I tried to get over myself. She wasn't any different than others.
Yes, she was, Harry.
Fuck. She was. That was why all this worry hugged me so tightly whenever she was around. I blamed Italy for this. It completely changed my mind on her. The night of that afterparty, something changed in me when it came to her and it was so fucking weird. It made me do things I didn't ever even think of.
I mean, I fucking asked her to come to dinner with me in Italy.
"I have a tight schedule and I'm not one to cancel or rearrange meetings."
"Please," I scoffed. "You need time to eat."
"What is it with you constantly wanting to feed me?" she dropped the question on me. So, maybe I did have a thing with that. But, that was only because I was slightly worried. Which, again, sounded fucking ridiculous, even in my head. Kensington hated me and wanted nothing to do with me whilst I was out there, worried about her.
Caring about people sucked. Especially when they didn't want you to but you couldn't just... stop.
"Why do you need a reason for everything that you do? Why can't you just agree to get food with me?"
"Styles, I'm not looking for a relationship – any kind. Friendly or romantic. I... listen. I'm gonna be honest with you. I don't know anything other than my company. Kensington and Co. is my baby and the only place where I feel comfortable and in control. I feel good when I'm at work and get shit done," she said very seriously. The fact that she even told me that much surprised me and put my curiousness at ease for those few moments. "Even just coming here to drop off your coat, I feel anxious because I'm not doing anything worthwhile – it's like I'm running out of time. Just imagine how many documents I could have looked through that are flowing in from investors and the stores I have all across Europe."
"You overwork yourself, you know that, right?" I asked her, just as serious, if not more, as she talked to me. "It's not healthy to be this way. It's actually really bad for you."
"It might be bad for me but it keeps me sane. I would rather work than sit around all day."
"I'm not saying you have to sit around all day. But working every minute and every hour of the day is just... insane. I understand that success is important to you, it is to me too, but you need to manage your time properly."
She laughed at me quietly and it made me furrow my eyebrows. Her eyes travelled to the side as she pushed the chain handle up her shoulder a little more.
"You are aware of the fact that I will not get any further in this industry if I stop or, as you said, 'manage my time properly' right?" the rhetorical question made no sense to me. I was doing just fine success wise and I didn't work half as much as she did. "No one wants to admit it, but men are still more preferred in literally every sense than women. They get more promotion, more clients, more links, more everything. They just get treated better than women. If I was to stop now, it would cause me to lose my reputation, my clients... everything I have worked for and achieved."
"So, you would rather sacrifice your health than lose your title?" my question interrupted her ramble. She looked winded by the time that happened and her hazel eyes, that looked more brown that time around, widened. It caught her off guard and she lost her train of thought.
"You know what? Let's end this conversation here. I shouldn't have even said anything."
"Clearly, you had to," I said sternly. "I don't take you as someone who opens up to anyone about anything that happens in their life and so I'm pretty sure that just adds to your constant anxiety and stress. Fairs, don't come to lunch with me but take at least an hour out of your schedule to just walk around your building and chat to employees."
"The last person I need any advice from is you," she spat. "Frankly, I didn't ask for it either, so if you could just stop telling me what I should and need to do, I would be more than content."
"Tell me. Who looks out for you? Because, quite obviously, you don't do it for yourself."
"Fuck off judging me. I'm doing just fine," she bit back but somehow, the fact that she swore, amused me.
"So. Will you come get lunch with me?" I asked again as I put the whole conversation behind us. Kensington gave me a death glare, her nostrils fluttered as she deeply inhaled through them and her chest rose. "I will come by your office after my meeting at one."
"Do as you please. I, however, will not be accompanying you to anywhere."
"Quit being stubborn and say yes to free food."
"What makes you think free food is all it takes to get me anywhere?"
"Name me one person who said no to free food."
"Renleigh Kensington."
A loud, heavy sigh escaped my mouth and my fingers pinched the bridge of my nose. My eyes fluttered closed for a second or two as I let her answer sink in.
Did I mention how difficult this woman was?
• • •
a.n.
someone tell me to stop updating all the time cos we gonna run out of chaps and having to write them as they go up is going to stress me the fuck out alongside all this uni shit i gotta do lololol
i hope u lot who are reading the book lol are enjoying the story and all cos i'm personally loving it lmfao ok that doesn't matter no one cares i'll stfu
don't forget to vote and comment tho those things make my day so be the absolute babes u truly are do it 🤩
thanks love u bye xx
PS STREAM THERE YOU ARE AND PREORDER ICARUS FALLS CHEERS