2019, September 5th - thursday | 6:30 am
Aster's P.O.V.
This week has been, hands down, the less productive days of my entire career. Ever since my father and Desmond announced Harry's arrival, I've been constantly catching myself wandering about how is it gonna be to have him around again, instead of focusing on what I should be doing.
If I didn't know myself better, I would say I was actually eager for his arrival. But I'm not, I'm just curious, that's all. Last time I saw him was almost ten years ago, and he was so nice to me that afternoon, so understanding. I hold these memories with so much care, I wonder if he even remembers it, if that day was as special to him as it was to me.
Today I woke up even earlier than I usually do, and after swimming in my condo's pool, as I like to do every morning, I showered and came straight to the office, thinking that maybe this early, when no one else is around, I'll be able to concentrate enough to do what I have been postponing all week.
I mean, we are a pharmaceutical industry, we have a huge staff of chemists working 24/7, but the offices usually are completely empty till 8 am, and today it wasn't different.
After almost two hours of complete dedication and a surprising new found focus, I manage to finish reviewing everything that I was supposed to ever since Monday. My door is closed but can hear all the good mornings and how are yous coming from outside, which means people are arriving to start the day. Darting my eyes to the clock in my macbook, I realize it's almost 8:30 in the morning.
Is he late? Or he is just getting to know his staff before coming to his office?
It's probably the second option - I mean, who the hell is late for their first day at a "new" job? If the situation was reverse and I was the one being transferred to London, I would certainly arrive at least an hour early, just so I could take it all in without the interruption of the others.
I'm sure he is not late. He is probably getting to know the company's structure before coming to his temporary office.
***
I kept the entire morning at the edge of my seat, my heart going nuts every time there was a knock on my door or some kind of unusual commotion outside the office, but it was all for nothing. Harry haven't arrived yet, and by now I'm sure something happened. Maybe I understood it wrong and he is supposed to start next Thursday? I don't usually do this kind of mistakes but I'm dealing with something out of my comfort zone.
That must be it.
I have been so anxious that I decided to go out for Lunch, something I rarely do. Dismissing Ms. Jones daily invitation, I went straight to the parking floor and took my car, driving to a mall nearby the office.
I don't usually like to eat the mall's food court, but I do l to shop for new clothes, so after having a quinoa salad that was actually surprisingly good, I spent the remainder of my lunch getting two new black dresses and a beautiful black blouse to use at work.
Leaving the bags in the trunk of my car, I fix my hair and lips with a new layer of red lipstick before taking the elevator and pressing the 8th floor, going straight to my office. However, as soon as I grab the door knot, Mrs. Davis calls me, excitement written all over her face. I raise my eyebrows, waiting for whatever she wants to say.
"Mr. Styles arrived a few minutes ago" She says excitedly "He is in your office right now."
"Oh, thank you for letting me know" I give her a faltering smile, trying to ignore that my heart just skipped a beat. I wish I could just take a deep breath and prepare myself before entering the room, but I can feel Dennis and Stephanie's eyes glued to my back, as well as Mrs. Davis, and the last thing I want is to show some kind of self-doubt or anxiety. So I just straighten my posture before turning the doorknob and entering the room with decided steps that are way more confident than I'm actually feeling.
At first, seems like the office is completely empty. Closing the door behind me, I take decided steps towards my desk, the heels of my scarpin echoing through the walls and just as I'm starting to think Mrs. Davis made a mistake, I hear the bathroom door opening.
My personal bathroom, that is.
"Aster?" A raspy voice calls, as deep as I remember from all those years ago, and my heart skips a beat again. Why am I so fucking nervous?
I can't fight the large smile plastered on my face as I turn on my heels so I can look at him, and the moment our eyes meet, it's like the clocks stops ticking. His gaze is so intense that I have to look away almost immediately, and then, I notice.
Oh, God.
What the fuck is he wearing?
I mean, it's a suit. That much I can tell - it's a very well tailored suit, and by the way it fits his lean body perfectly, it's obvious it costed a small fortune. And don't get me wrong, if it was black or maybe blue it would be gorgeous, but this one is ludicrous. Who the fuck buys a white and red plaid suit?
Forcing myself to look up from his dress shoes - which I'm pretty sure are Gucci - I look back to his face and once again it's like someone has punched my stomach.
He is so tall. Taller than I remember. Last time I saw him his hair was kinda long, a mop of chocolate curls that gave him a wild look, and even though I'd never liked guys with long hair, somehow I used to think it was perfect for him. But now his hair is shorter, still curly and styled back with an elegant quiff, looking a bit lighter than I remember. His eyes are so green, I can see them sparkling even from the distance, and his face looks way more mature than 9 years ago - well, of course it does, Aster, don't be ridiculous.
"Harry." I smile, completely unable to take my eyes away from his. "It's been a while."
He gifts me with a bright smile, dimples sinking in his cheeks, green eyes squinting slightly as he takes a few steps forwards, until he is right in front of me, so close I can smell his cologne, which hits me like a truck of memories. It's the same scent I used to love so many years ago.
"Long time no see, Honeycup." His smile goes wider and he opens his arms, silently inviting me for a hug. Even though I want to cringe for how he called me, and even though I hate to hug people and have them so close to my personal space, I oblige, giving him a quick, awkward hug that is kinda clumsy as I take a step back as fast as I can.
"Please, don't call me that. It's just Aster."
"What, why? I always liked you middle name!" He raises his eyebrows, and the way his cheekbones are so prominent almost makes me forget what I've just said. Jesus, he is even prettier than I remember. And his accent got way thicker ever since the last time I talked to him, he just sounds amazing.
"Well, I always hated it" I shrug "So I changed it a few years ago. Now I'm just Aster De Loutherbergh."
My baptism name is Aster Honeycup De Loutherbergh. It's like ever since I was born my parents had already picked their favorite - considering my old sister's name was Madeline De Loutherbergh -, only that could explain why the hell give me not one, but two flower names. Who the hell does that to a child? I understand the concept of giving your baby girl the name of a flower, it's delicate and beautiful, but my mother wanted to go further and my dad apparently was OK with it.
"It's a shame, I really liked your middle name. Without it, it just sounds so average" Harry points out.
"More average than a British guy called Harry?" I raise my eyebrows, crossing my arms in front of my chest.
"Whoa, relax." Harry chuckles, shaking his head "You're just like I remember... No chill at all." I can't read the inflection in his voice, so I have no idea if he is being playful or if it's actually a criticism.
I force myself to be optimistic, even though it's not how I usually am, in order to try to maintain a friendly conversation and know more about him - after all, we grow up together and haven't seen each other for almost 10 years. We used to get along amazingly well when we were younger, so I really hope we can be like that again.
"So how are you liking New York so far?" I ask him instead of commenting on the no chill subject. "I mean, I know you used to live here before, but it's been almost 10 years since you moved out."
Harry studies my face before answering. I can feel my cheeks blushing as his green eyes travel from my eyes to my nose, then my lips and his gaze seems to stop there for half a second before he looks down, giving me a slow once over from head to toe. I resist the urge to squirm and hide myself, even though I'm not wearing anything revealing - I have my usual black clothes, high waist dress pants, black dress shirt that is buttoned all the way up and high heels. My clothes aren't even tight, nor they are baggy - they are actually the perfect fit.
When his eyes meet mine again, he smirks and run his fingers thought the perfect quiff of his hair and I notice, for the first time, that he has a little cross tattooed on the flesh between his thumb and index finger, and there's another tattoo - that I think it is an anchor - peeking from under the fabric of his sleeve.
"Sorry, didn't catch that. What did you ask?" He asks, and the mocking inflection in his voice doesn't go unnoticed by me, but I decide to ignore it.
"I asked if you're liking New York so far, considering it's been like 10 years ever since you--"
"It's not been 10 years, I come here two or three times a year, to visit my father." He informs me, that damn smug smile still on his lips as he turns on his heels and walks towards his improvised desk, taking off the blazer and revealing a white dress shirt under it, the buttons open till the middle of his chest, two swirls inked to his skin peeking under the thin fabric, a chain with a pendant cross between his pecks.
I wonder how many tattoos does he have.
"Oh." It's the only thing I manage to answer, mimicking his actions and going to sit behind my desk. "You've never visited us, so I thought you didn't come back here after the divorce."
"No, I kept coming, I just didn't visited you." He says matter of factly, and somehow it hurts. Hurts to know that he was around and never cared to pay me and my family a visit, especially considering how good was the last time we saw each other, at my 15th birthday.
"Why?" The question rolls out of my mouth before I could stop myself.
"Never felt like it" Harry shrugs, then throws me another smug look "Why? You missed me?"
Ugh, I hate how cocky he sounds. "No." I break eye contact, gluing my gaze to the screen of my laptop. "Was just wondering."
"Well, I didn't think you'd miss me, after all, your father offered me an amazing welcome dinner last night and you weren't there." Harry points out, and I would say he sound kind of accusing, but that playful, arrogant smug is still hiding in the undertones of his voice.
"I had a thing." Now I'm the one shrugging. "Couldn't be there, sorry."
"Should've been a hell of a compromise if you was busy enough to be rude to your future partner". He says it rudely, and sounds so serious I can't help but take my eyes off from the laptop and look at him again.
He is half frowning, mouth firmly closed, the jawline that was already sharp all those years ago still looking like it could cut through glass. Now there's a curl of his hair poking out of the perfect quiff and falling over his forehead. Damn, why is he so beautiful? It's not fair.
"Well, it was" I lie through my teeth "I'll be there in the next one... Even though I could say the same for you, don't you think it was rude to keep coming to New York and never visit your future partner?" I mock his accent, surprising him with my cold tone.
He looks at me intently for a few seconds, his green gaze so intense I feel a shiver running down my spine. However, as soon as that pretentious smirk cracks on his lips again, I regret teasing him - now I'm sure I started something I don't want to happen.
"So you did missed me. How cute." He winks arrogantly.
"Already told you that I didn't. I was just using your own thinking against you."
"Whatever floats your boat, dear." Now he sounds indifferent, and I feel the need to answer, but before I can even think of something to say, he takes the phone over his desk and brings it to his ear for a few seconds, dialing something. "Hey, dad. Yeah, I'm here now... I would like to go meet my crew... Sure, I'm going."
He turns the phone down and gets up again, circling his desk and putting his hideous blazer back on. I can't help but notice how well built his body is, he is tall and lean but looks muscular under the fabric of his clothes, the dress pants hanging nicely over his behind and thighs, broad shoulders and narrow hips. He is gorgeous, but nobody is perfect, and seems like he compensates all his handsomeness with arrogance and rudeness.
"I'm going to meet my crew now." He announces, not looking back at me.
"What? Where were you the entire morning?" Once again, I seem to be completely unable to shut my damn mouth.
"At my hotel room, asleep." Harry turns on his heels to look at me with a puzzled look "Where were you?"
"Working, of course. You know that we start the day here around 8am, right?" I raise my eyebrows, trying to give him the benefit of doubt. Maybe Des didn't give him our full schedule.
"Dear, we're the owner's kids. The normal rules don't apply to us, and besides, I'm not a morning person at all" He throws me a condescending smile "Do yourself a favor and enjoy the privilege, huh?"
"I don't think it's the right thing to do. This is our work, and we should give our best to it." I argue, shaking my head. "It doesn't matter if my father owns the place, I'll always do my best."
"M'Not saying I'm not giving my best, dear, m'just saying I work way better during the night." He winks, sinking his white teeth on his bottom lip before looking at me with hooded eyes "You should try it sometimes, I could do wonders to loosen your uptight arse, could even make you forget your name while screaming mine."
And with that, he steps out of the room, closing the door behind him and leaving me with my mouth slack open and a racing heart. He said what???
***
I spent the remainder of the day thinking of each and every one of the comebacks I could've said to Harry, growing more indignant about his dirty innuendo as the hours passed. Who the hell he think he is to say that to me?
When the clocks mark 7 pm, I decide to go home. Harry hasn't come back to the office the entire day, and I don't know why this is infuriating me. I mean, I should be glad he didn't come back, anyway. Harry is definitely not how I remember him to be - of course, he is still unbelievably good looking, but he is not the sweet boy from my memories anymore. He grow up to be an arrogant, smug, irritating man, someone who thinks he can say whatever he wants, whenever he feels like it. He barely got here and it's already testing my limits and lacking with respect with me.
But if he thinks I'm going to be quiet about it, he is mistaken. Today I was too overwhelmed with his presence to act like my normal self, but tomorrow is a new day and Harry will taste just how much I've grown as well. I'm not that naïve, innocent teenager, who was amazed by each and every word that left his mouth, anymore. I have evolved, I'm way more mature, and if he thinks he can make me squirm under his gaze, as he did before, he will have a hell of a surprise from now on.
Was I under the impression that Harry coming back to my life would be a nice thing? Yes. For a moment there I thought we could be friends, just like we were before, for a moment I believed having him around would be a good thing. But now I know better.
He is irresponsible, cheeky, arrogant, way too self assured to his own good. He needs to learn a lesson, and if he thinks I'm going to overlook the disregard he seems to have about work just because he is one of the owner's son, he is vastly mistaken.
I hate people who takes advantage of the others because of their last names. I always tried not to act different of who I am just because my father is a billionaire. And Harry shouldn't act like he owns the world just because of that. He should be a better person. I hate irresponsible people, I hate people who doesn't act like they're supposed to.
Maybe this whole sharing an office thing won't work as well as I predicted. Or maybe it will - after all, looks like Harry won't be around as much as he should anyway.