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monicaalexandraaa · 44 minutes ago

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Oh my goodness🥹🥹🥹🥹SO SWEET !!!!!!!

I feel like I’ve told you this before in another shorter work of yours but in just 2.4k you’re able to pull at my heartstrings and make me feel all the emotions so deeply. Everything you write is so vivid in my mind.

I loved every single word but had to pull these two out:

For a long, quiet moment, Ollie studied his father’s face with an expression Harry couldn’t read as his small hand rose—and god, when had his tiny fingers gotten so long?—then he touched Harry’s cheek, and the gesture was so gentle, so painstakingly tender, that Harry’s throat closed entirely as Ollie’s fingers found a strand of Harry’s long hair that had escaped from behind his ear, and with an attentive hand, he slowly and carefully tucked it back.

Ollie looked up once, through the window, and found Harry immediately—as if he had known exactly where his dad would be standing. Then he held up his purple little finger, and Harry held up his own empty ones in response.

So special😩😫🥺🥹😭

This was sooooooo lovely! You’re so amazing🩷🩷

Summary: " And it was like he was giving off some kind of desperate scent, because then a woman appeared beside them, materializing like only teachers could when they sensed a parent’s apprehension or when they were struggling, and his eyes caught on the color of her butterscotch cardigan. Then she flashed Harry that smile he swore every teacher must have practiced in the mirror..."

Based on this request:

Word count: 2.4k // Warning: NONE. Just angst/fluff

(This is my first Dadrry fic!! Hope you like it!!)

It wasn’t that Harry wasn’t ready to let go or that he hadn’t known this day was coming, but as they stood at the threshold of Summer Grove Preschool, Harry knew it would be a matter of doing, rather than saying.

He knew it wasn’t going to be easy to let go of the tiny hand wrapping around his, even if the world around them seemed to be moving faster—other parents swooping in, and depositing their small children like little UPS packages, then swooping out again with a practiced ease he couldn’t quite wrap his mind around. Because they were all making it look so easy.

With every step, Harry’s knees wanted to buckle, to bend and bring himself down to Ollie’s level, to whisper, “We could just go home, try again tomorrow, or next week, or never...” But then he felt Ollie’s fingers wiggling in his grip, not to escape but to adjust, to probably get comfortable for what might be a long wait while his father worked up the courage neither of them needed, a sense of impatience already rising as Harry watched his little gaze roam around the room.

Harry’s eyes swept to a boy with marker on his cheek who was building something out of blocks, and then to a girl in sparkly shoes who was conducting a make-believe orchestra with a group of plush toys. Yet, the noise wasn’t unpleasant, he thought, surveying the room further, the sounds around him bubbling up like carbonation, tiny voices popping around him like fizz.

Ollie tugged on his arm slightly, leaning forward, his whole body canting toward this new universe, while Harry remained anchored by the door, a paperweight made of flesh-and-bones, rooted in place, and Harry knew he wasn’t going anywhere…

At least not yet.

Four years…Four years… That was all he’d had with this tiny human of his. Four years of being Ollie’s entire world, of being the person who knew the origin story of every scraped knee, of being the translator for the toddler gibberish that only he could decipher. Four years of bath-time ruckus and bedtime stories, and that distinctive way Ollie said “umbrella” that sounded more like “brella-up.” It was these tiny linguistics that Harry couldn’t let go of, that now would belong to someone else, for seven hours a day, another human learning all of Ollie’s tells—the way he twirled his hair when he was tired or how he hummed his little songs while concentrating.

“Look at the fish tank, Daddy.” Ollie gushed, cutting through Harry’s thoughts. Inside, an aquarium gleamed against the far wall like a beckoning star as children pressed their noses to the glass like something out of a Finding Nemo movie.

“Yeah, buddy. That’s... that’s really something, isn’t it…”

And it was like he was giving off some kind of desperate scent, because then a woman appeared beside them, materializing like only teachers could when they sensed a parent’s apprehension or when they were struggling, and his eyes caught on the color of her butterscotch cardigan. Then she flashed Harry that smile he swore every teacher must have practiced in the mirror—a perfectly kind smile that they most likely used on thousands of hesitant parents, yet here it was almost working on him.

“First day?” she asked, though it wasn’t really a question as her eyes flicked to Harry’s grasp on Ollie’s hand, and he knew it must have been his death grip, or the way he kept shifting his weight from foot to foot that must have given him away. That, and the fact that Ollie was wearing his backpack on his front because Harry had put it on wrong and was just now noticing.

“Is it that obvious?” And for some reason, Harry tried to attempt a laugh, but it came out more like a raspy wheeze than anything that could sound normal.

She gave Harry a soft smile, her eyes sweeping over his face, probably pitying him, and crouched down, not to Ollie but somehow between them, creating the bridge Harry knew would soon separate them. “I’m Miss Harper. And you must be Oliver—I saw your name on my list. Are you excited to be here today? I know I’m happy to see you.”

And just as Harry was about to speak up, Ollie jumped in, surprising him as Harry bit down on his tongue, knowing he had to give him the chance to use his own voice. “Daddy calls me Ollie…” He said timidly, pulling Harry’s hand into his warm little cheek.

“Is that what you would like to be called?” Miss Harper asks with a kind smile, and Harry watches the smile spread on Ollie’s face, making his heart sink—and now, it was joy and sadness playing for the same team, and he realized in that moment that it was time to loosen his grip.

Ollie gives her a shy nod, but takes a careful step forward, “Well, Ollie, do you know what we’re doing today?” She asks, but this time the smile on her face was filled with excitement, the kind he knew would draw Ollie right to her, because that was the smile that meant fun, that meant new things, that meant adventure, and those were all of Ollie’s favorite things.

And now Oliver, who had been shy around strangers since birth, looked at her with a startling confidence that Harry only saw when they were together or with trust gained over time, and Harry watched his tiny lips move:

“Playing?” Ollie answered, almost bouncing on his toes, excitement rushing through him as he squeezed Harry’s hand, nearly letting it go, but Harry wouldn’t let go, not until Ollie did it first.

“Well, yes... But also finger painting. Have you ever painted with your fingers?”

Ollie shook his head, and Harry felt his small fingers twitch, his little mind probably racing with the thought, this new thing that Harry would never see, just the evidence of it later when he brought it home, and his throat seized at the idea, as he held his breath trying to control the emotions threatening to steal him.

He had to keep it together for Ollie’s sake, especially since Ollie was being so brave.

“The paint is purple today,” Miss Harper continued, standing but keeping her voice warm and controlled, like she was sharing a secret only she and Ollie would know. “And guess what.. it smells like grapes.”

For a second, Harry was getting caught up in all the little details, his mind already circling the possible allergens, or the list of emergency contacts he had given… and fuck, what if Ollie needed him, like really needed him, not wanted but “needed”. Because suddenly it was all too real, the letting go—the devastation of saying goodbye, even for a little while. Because suddenly none of it made sense, why we had to drop our kids off and leave them. Abandon them when they needed us most… and then Ollie took another step forward, pulling Harry’s arm slightly, and that was when the real devastation hit, a truth he had always known, but never had to put into action.

Because in that moment, Harry found himself looking at his son’s face, the tiny face that was transforming into something incandescent as Ollie’s eyes tracked a group of boys racing toy cars down a ramp, and his foot tapped the floor like he wanted to go—a sure signal for “let me go,” and Harry knew it was time. That the truth was right in front of him, that his little human that was still his in all the ways he still needed him, was his own human, his own person, ready to join the other small souls letting go for the first time, so Harry drew in a slow breath, then called out to Ollie:

“You want to go play, buddy?” Harry asked, knowing it wasn’t a question.

Ollie’s gaze swung back to him, and for a moment, Harry saw himself reflected in those tiny green eyes—not just his features, but his own fear. “But I don’t want to make you sad, Daddy.”

Oliver’s words struck through Harry’s chest like a bolt of lightning, filling him with guilt as he dropped to his knees right there on the threshold, not giving a fuck if the other parents had to step around them. “No, buddy. I promise you could never make daddy sad... you’re just getting so big…you know…”

“But, I’m still little.” Then Ollie held up four little fingers. “This many…remember, daddy?”

“I know… but right now that feels like a really big number for me… You know you’ll always be my little guy, right? like daddy always says.” Then Harry’s eyes flicked to Miss Harper, who had finally stepped back enough to give them space while still standing guard, preventing anyone from rushing them, and as the stream of arriving families continued, Harry and Ollie existed in their own temporary little bubble, where the seconds seemed to stretch and bend to fit their two beating hearts.

“Well, bub,” And Harry’s voice came out raspy, burning with the effort, and he cleared his throat, quickly pulling himself together. “I think it’s time for Dad to let you go. It looks like you’re going to have lots of fun, and Daddy doesn’t want to keep you from that. I promise…”

“Daddy, it’s time for me to go,” Ollie said patiently, like he was explaining the obvious. “I don’t wanna be late…k.”

Harry had planned for words to come out, knew exactly what he wanted to say when this moment came: “Be kind,” “I’ll be right here at pickup,” and even the not-so-easy, “Be brave and you’ll always make friends.” But instead, all he could do was press his lips to Ollie’s forehead, breathing in the smell of his strawberry shampoo, forcing the word, “Okay,” into Ollie’s delicate skin, because that was all that he could manage.

And so he let him go.

Of course, Ollie didn’t run—that would come later, Harry knew, when preschool became their daily routine instead of the adventure that was currently filling his little mind with new wonders. But for now, he seemed to walk with purpose, his backpack—now properly positioned thanks to Miss Harper’s subtle adjustment—bounced with each new step, his tiny human off to forge his own path, and just when Harry thought he wouldn’t turn back around, Ollie paused, then turned to wave Harry off. It wasn’t frantic, nor sad, just a quick flutter of fingers that said, “I’ll see you later,” and that was enough to break Harry’s heart all over again.

Then he was gone, swallowed by the free-spirited chaos of kids at play, a new world that Harry couldn’t follow him into, and as Harry stood slowly, he stepped aside for the other parents bustling past—most of them moving like veterans who didn’t linger, who trusted the system, who had already grieved the unfailing attachment that Harry would have to work through for days to come—and then he found himself drifting toward a cluster of adults near the window, all of them stealing glances at the classroom where their children were destined to become themselves without the supervision of the parents who would always hold expectations.

Big or small.

Harry turned to see a father with a baby strapped to his chest, who noticed the sorrow filling Harry’s eyes. That same man holding a similar look himself—the unshed tears fighting at the rim, an unapologetic promise of future tears to come if he could just fight a little longer. “First kid?”

And Harry gave him a silent nod, not trusting his voice to speak.

“Mine too. Well, first one in school.” Then the man adjusted the baby, who was gnawing on a Sophie Giraffe with a violent determination that meant teeth were on the way. “That’s Ella in there, the one crying by the blocks.”

Harry’s eyes searched for the little girl through the window, but instead he caught sight of Ollie, who had already found the fish tank. There he was, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with another boy, both of them pointing at something that made them laugh—Harry couldn’t hear it, but he knew Ollie’s laugh, could feel it in his bones.

“Don’t worry, man,” the other father said, following Harry’s gaze. “It gets easier… at least that’s what they say.”

That’s when Harry found himself fighting the urge to ask when. Because in that moment, he needed a specific timeline, a guaranteed date, as to when dropping off his son wouldn’t feel like willingly breaking his own heart just for fun. But the baby was fussing now, and the father was bouncing in that rhythmic way parents seemed to develop the second their babies cried—and his eyes followed Oliver, who had moved from the fish tank to the grape-scented finger paint that Miss Harper held in her hands unopened.

As Harry watched the teacher hand out painting smocks and squeeze paint onto communal plates, he tried to imagine what Ollie would paint. Would it be a dinosaur or a memory from breakfast?

Harry watched Ollie dip a hesitant finger into the puddle of paint in front of him, and it was like magic, the way his face lit up with excitement, that kind of joy that could rarely be duplicated, that first time thrill of trying something new, and before he could stroke his little finger across his blank paper, Ollie looked up once, through the window, and found Harry immediately—as if he had known exactly where his dad would be standing. Then he held up his purple little finger, and Harry held up his own empty ones in response.

And that was enough, that was exactly what Harry needed to let him go, and as Ollie got lost in his own little creative world, Harry thought, tomorrow, he would let go a little faster. Not much, of course, but enough to make progress. For now, though, he stood with the other parents, the believers and the doubters, the veterans and the rookies, all of them learning the same lesson: that love meant letting go, one tiny purple fingerprint at a time.

Taglist: 🌻 @sassamanda77🌻 @harryyloverrr 🌻 @panini 🌻 @unfuckwitablenarry 🌻 @triski73 🌻 @haleyannaw🌻 🌻 @dipmeinhoneyh 🌻 @lizsogolden 🌻 @spinninc 🌻 @iloveharrystyles04 🌻 @mema10 🌻 @avas-daniel 🌻

🌻 @starshollowgazette 🌻 @practistyles 🌻 @mads3502 🌻 @evas1ncenewyork 🌻 @indierockgirrl 🌻 @harrystyleshotwife 🌻🌻 @bethiegurl19 🌻 @fangirl509east 🌻 @makytka 🌻 @sittinginthegardern 🌻 @angeldavis777 🌻 @osorto 🌻

🌻 @vikiii07 🌻 @bluemooonsstuff-blog 🌻 @thatkochunni 🌻 @xojennyboo 🌻 @shesanangelmyonlyangel 🌻🌻 @hoolabalooba 🌻 @avensgreenvans 🌻 @stylesftcher 🌻🌻 @kiwirryy 🌻 @boredhsblog 🌻 @run-for-the-hills

One Shot Masterlist<-

Taglist For Future Stories<-

#He knew it wasn’t going to be easy to let go of the tiny hand wrapping around his even if the #world around them seemed to be moving faster #depositing their small children like little UPS packages lololol #“We could just go home try again tomorrow or next week or never...”😩#Ollie tugged on his arm slightly leaning forward his whole body canting toward this new universe while Harry remained #anchored by the door a paperweight made of flesh-and-bones rooted in place and Harry knew he wasn’t going anywhere…#Four years of being Ollie’s entire world of being the person who knew the origin story of every scraped knee of being the translator #for the toddler gibberish that only he could decipher. Four years of bath-time ruckus and bedtime stories and that distinctive #way Ollie said “umbrella” that sounded more like “brella-up.” & That and the fact that Ollie was wearing his backpack on his front #because Harry had put it on wrong and was just now noticing. So cute omg & “Daddy calls me Ollie…” He said timidly pulling #Harry’s hand into his warm little cheek. 🥹 & Harry watches the smile spread on Ollie’s face making his heart sink—and now it was #joy and sadness playing for the same team and he realized in that moment that it was time to loosen his grip.#excitement rushing through him as he squeezed Harry’s hand nearly letting it go but Harry wouldn’t let go not until Ollie did it first.#this new thing that Harry would never see just the evidence of it later when he brought it home and his throat seized at the idea as he #held his breath trying to control the emotions threatening to steal him. & He had to keep it together for Ollie’s sake especially #since Ollie was being so brave. So brave !!!!!🥺& his mind already circling the possible allergens or the list of emergency contacts he #had given… and fuck what if Ollie needed him like really needed him not wanted but “needed”. & That the truth was right in front of him #that his little human that was still his in all the ways he still needed him was his own human his own person ready to join the #other small souls letting go for the first time & “But I don’t want to make you sad Daddy.”😭😭😭 & Oliver’s words struck through #Harry’s chest like a bolt of lightning filling him with guilt as he dropped to his knees right there on the threshold not giving a fuck #if the other parents had to step around them.& “But I’m still little.” Then Ollie held up four little fingers. “This many…remember daddy?”#“I know… but right now that feels like a really big number for me… You know you’ll always be my little guy right? like daddy always says.”#Harry and Ollie existed in their own temporary little bubble where the seconds seemed to stretch and bend to fit their #two beating hearts. & But instead all he could do was press his lips to Ollie’s forehead breathing in the smell of his #strawberry shampoo forcing the word “Okay” into Ollie’s delicate skin because that was all that he could manage.#Ollie paused then turned to wave Harry off. It wasn’t frantic nor sad just a quick flutter of fingers that said “I’ll see you later”#and that was enough to break Harry’s heart all over again. & Harry couldn’t hear it but he knew Ollie’s laugh could feel it in his bones.#them learning the same lesson: that love meant letting go one tiny purple fingerprint at a time.#harry styles fic rec #harry styles fluff

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monicaalexandraaa · 1 hour ago

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President of the 1d1195 fan club !!!!!!!! A badge of honor !!!!!!! What would I do without you & Callie? My soulmates. You are so wonderful and I love you🥺🩷🩷

Hii!! Honestly, I’m super nosy haha and I’m really curious about you! I always read everything you recommend, your feedback is always on pointttt. I feel like you have such a beautiful personality, and I think you deserve more credit as the best critic on Tumblr haha. I’d love to be your friend but I’m really shy. Anyway, I don’t know if you’ve ever done like “facts about me” (not sure if you’re comfortable with that) buuut if you are, I’d love to know more about you!

Oh my goodness !!!!!!!!!!😭😭😭this is so nice🥺🥹

Thank you so much😩I love reblogging and I do think I put a lot of effort in them so it means a lot that you read them and enjoy it😌I highly encourage everyone to reblog work that they read !!!! Even if there’s no feedback added it’s SO helpful for writers !!!!!

Some facts about me hmmmmm I feel like I’m kinda boring tbh lol!

I’m 25 and from Massachusetts. I went to college (graduated in 2022) and majored in Marketing. I work in tech. I love reading (obviously). I have a wide taste in music. I’m constantly listening to artists like Harry (duh) and Ariana Grande but also Sleep Token and Bad Omens (seeing Sleep Token next month eeeeee!!!). I’m pretty into sports. If I could drop everything and travel the world I’d do it in a heartbeat. I’m Portuguese🇵🇹I have a boyfriend and have been with him for almost 7 years now. I like to think I’m an extroverted introvert. I’m trying to get more into health/fitness but it’s been a struggle😅my favorite food is rice! LOL that’s what comes to mind right now!

I’d love to be your friend!! You’re always welcome to reach out over ask or dm!! This made my day truly🥺thank you so much🥰I hope you have a great day/night !!!

🩷🩷

#no one else I’d want to BAWAC with

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monicaalexandraaa · 2 hours ago

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I LOVED THIS PART !!!!!!!!!!! SO GOOD !!!!!!!!!

I really feel for her. Not only is she tired from working 2 jobs but it’s certainly a bit frazzling to be planning for a night off to then get called in last minute to serve only the boss / his table of all people. And she’s super anxious about her performance at the club and doesn’t want to make him upset while he’s already intimidating as is. The pressure from Melanie since starting this job is also a lot. That can all easily get in someone’s head.

The way he was gearing up to be angry about the broken glass but the second he sees it’s Iris that feeling vanishes. I feel like I can almost see his face going🥺lol! He’s endeared by her for sure🤭

Mr. Styles was slightly amused as she ran off, going right back to the kitchen that she just came from. He thought her nervous behavior was rather cute and innocent. It proved that she was human, that she cared too much about the little things like impressing her boss. He admired her nature, thought she was quite precious. It wasn’t usually something he found appealing - that innocent, naive, gentle personality. He liked it on her.

He’s sooooooo into her🤭🤭🤭when he’s drunk but still pulls her aside to make sure he tips her. Staying on the phone even though he said goodbye. Even though Iris is super anxious when she’s around him, their interactions are actually really sweet.

I LOVED the scene at his office !!!!!

His goal wasn’t to frighten her.

“You wouldn’t have to run errands or arrange travel or whatever. I have people that do that.” He added, trying to relieve the pressure.

“I don’t want it to seem too scary.” He eased his voice, sighing gently as he walked back to the desk.

“It wouldn’t all be thrown at you at once. You’d be trained and shown how to do everything. And..” He took a second to take a deep breath. “..I’ll be in here if you have any questions.”

He’s being so kind and patient with her ahhhhhh😩and the way he just adores her and she can’t see that ahhhhh😫even I want to reassure her that everything’s more than fine !!!!!!

“I have seen you work. I’ve seen you run between ten tables. You don’t spill every drink you sit down and you don’t disappoint the customers.” He brought his hand up to his chin, his index finger and thumb gently taking hold of it. “You’re a great worker. Everyone makes mistakes.”

I love him praising her for her work when she’s been so in her head about it and frustrated with her self. Also being very understanding and listening to her intently even if she’s not looking directly at him. She has all his attention😌🤭Wanting to make sure she’s comfortable financially too is so GOOD !!!!!!

“Yes, it would be perfectly okay. Everyone makes mistakes.” He assured her with a slow nod, tossing the notebook back into the drawer.

He’s soooooo ahhhhhhh !!!!! I just love how quick he is to reassure her😌He just wants her to feel good about herself and I bet that’ll be a reoccurring theme in this story :))))

I really loved this part🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️I’m so excited to see where this goes and what this new job really looks like for her😏and for him too😏

Extra notes I had for tags but ran out of space lol:

A harsh cough made her struggle to get the food down. She quickly grabbed her drink and sucked up a good bit to wash everything down. Lol

THAT VOICE😵‍💫😌🤪

But what if he found out she was lying? she’s so real

There was a chance she wouldn’t give it any consideration, so he chose to keep it secretive. he’s so down bad I love it

“Goodbye.” She muttered back, not sure if he had hung up the phone yet. He hadn’t. Cute

What exactly did Mr. Styles do? can’t wait to find out

He appreciated her honesty, but it made him smile. “Because, I think you’d be a good fit.” He just wants to hold her I swear

He liked the way she rambled her thoughts out without thinking, just let her anxiety pour over her lips. Cute & “Then I’ll fix it.” 😫😫

“What would it take for you to accept the job?”

he’ll do ANYTHING & He felt a bit of relief - she was considering it. I’m SO giddy hehehhe

Her mind was contemplating every single thing about this decision. While she was doing that, she was also obsessing over the fact he had the prettiest shade of green coating his eyes that she’s ever seen. REAL

🩷🩷

woman: so we could connect

Iris gets called in for a shift, but it doesn’t go as she expected.

(part 2)

woman series

word count: 7.4k

warnings/tags: sugar daddy h, harry x fem, alcohol use

On top of working her day shifts at a doctor’s office running the receptionist desk, she had worked almost every night at the club this past week. Despite believing she had screwed her chances up last weekend, she managed to keep her job. But that nine to five followed by several hours at the club has drained her. It was a necessary thing though. She needed the extra money. The tip the boss left her that night was a huge benefit.

Iris was laid over her couch with the television playing a movie she had stopped watching not long after it started. Her arm was under her cheek, drool covering her skin as she soaked up the much needed rest. It wasn’t her intention to go to sleep this early, but she was worn out from the week. Saturday was usually a busy night for her, but Melanie gave her the night off. It allowed her to sleep in and then handle her errands throughout the day. She planned on doing absolutely nothing that evening.

Everything was going according to that plan, until her phone began blaring right next to her ear. It jolted her awake. She snatched the phone up and squinted her eyes to read the name on the bright screen.

“Hello?” She answered with a huff, not very pleased with being woken up.

Melanie’s voice began to talk on the other end. “Are you doing anything tonight?”

She rubbed her fist into her eye as her brain processed the question. She was definitely not fully awake and alert right now. She exhaled slowly, shaking her head in disbelief. Of course, the one day she gets to relax, she would get an interrupting call like this.

“I didn’t plan on it, no.”

“Well, you need to come in.”

Iris moved her legs off the couch, her feet hitting the rug. “I really don’t want to do that.”

The last thing she wanted to do was put clothes on and leave. Today was supposed to be a useless, relaxing day full of rest and laziness. She didn’t even cook herself any meals today because she refused to do any real work.

“Well, Mr. Styles is coming later and he asked specifically for you to be here.” Melanie said with a sigh.

As soon as the name was said, her heart began to race and her stomach filled with bubbles. She held her breath for a moment as she thought about what was just spoken to her. Who wanted her to do what? She pinched the bridge of her nose and fought through the worrying, confusing thoughts.

“What? Why?”

“I don’t know.”

Iris checked the time on her phone. If she were to go in tonight, they’d want her there at seven - which happened to be ten minutes ago.

“I mean.. it’s.. very last minute.”

“He said he’ll pay you double for the night.” Melanie revealed, rolling her eyes to herself.

Iris jumped up. “I’m on my way.”

Like every night she’s had to work here, the parking situation was troubling. She struggled to find a spot when she arrived, but since she was called in and not on a strict shift time, she assumed being a few extra minutes behind wouldn’t be a problem. Before she got out of her car, she pulled her visor down to check her appearance. She had to rush to put her makeup on. It wasn’t much - just a bit of concealer to cover a few blemishes and a bit of mascara to make herself look alive. She was satisfied with what she saw.

As she made her way through the back entrance into the break room, she was met with a very frazzled Melanie.

“Iris, please clock in now. Mr. Styles just got here.”

She couldn’t recall a time when she saw Melanie so stressed out. She furrowed her brows, but chose not to ask, and quickly clocked in. Maybe it was just a hectic night and things were a little crazy on the floor.

“You’re only working his table.” Melanie said just as she was wrapped her hand around the door knob.

“Why?”

“Because that’s what he said.”

It was confusing. Why on earth did he want her to be his waitress for the night? He specifically requested she be here. He didn’t want her to tend to anyone else. She couldn’t stop her mind from filling with thoughts, most of which were just jumbled up, confused strings of words. She seemed very distracted tonight, and she hadn’t even started working yet.

When she made it out on the floor, she sucked in a deep breath. The table Mr. Styles was seated at was the same one as last time, but there were more people sitting around it tonight. She adjusted her apron as she approached the table, a smile shaping to her lips.

“Hi, everyone. What can I start you off with, Mr. Styles?”

She knew to direct her attention to him first. He was in charge, after all. The moment he lifted his gaze to meet hers, her fingers started to fumble with each other. She wasn’t fully aware of the impact he had on her. The anxiety was easy to feel, but she had no clue what was really happening.

“Iris.” He spoke her name like he was fluent in only that word.

She gulped softly and smiled again. “Good evening. Would you like the usual?”

A smirk covered his lips as he heard the words leave her mouth. She must be a quick learner. It was only her second time serving him and she remembered what she was told last time.

“Yes, please.” He nodded lightly, never taking his eyes off her. “Did Melanie tell you about your pay for the night?”

Her eyes glanced around to the people seated closest to him. She wasn’t comfortable with discussing this in front of these strangers, but she knew she had no choice. She kept her forced smile and gave him a nod.

“Um, yes, sir.”

“You’ll get your full shift’s pay.. doubled.” He told her anyway.

Her eyes widened at his words as she remembered he only wanted her to wait on his table tonight. It didn’t seem like a good business decision to pay someone double for only working a few hours for one table. But who was she to judge? She had no say so in this. If anything, she was grateful for the idea. However, it seemed like her mouth wasn’t up to date on her thoughts. Before she could stop herself, the words were flowing out.

“Just.. just for working your table?”

A chuckle rolled past his lips. “That’s what I said, isn’t it?”

“Yes, sir.” She was quick to reply.

“Go get the drinks.” He gave her a gentle wave of his hand, gesturing for her to do her job.

She pushed down the confusion and worry and reminded herself to stay focused. She was here to do a job. The situation would just have to solve itself. She couldn’t waste any mental space debating and contemplating with herself on why he made the choice he did for the night. To keep herself motivated, she kept repeating the same thing in her mind: full shift’s pay.. doubled.

When she approached the bar, she kept her confidence high and asked for the boss’s usual. While waiting, she glanced around to see if Melanie was near by or watching her from a distance, but she didn’t see her. It was nerve wracking to have all of this pressure on her. If she messed up at any point tonight, it would be inexcusable. He might have let her off easy last time, but what if he was testing her? What if he wanted to make sure she could work under a high level of stress? And if she couldn’t do that, he could easily decide to fire her.

Carrying the tray of liquor bottles was straining her wrist, but she fought the pain and headed to the table. Mr. Styles always had a single glass of whiskey for himself that was different from what the tray offered. She wasn’t sure why, and she didn’t intend on asking, but she made sure to keep it in the middle of the tray so it wouldn’t splash out.

“Alright, here you go.” Iris said politely as she rested the edge of the tray on the table and began grabbing each bottle.

She could feel the eyes of her boss staring through her, watching her every move as she picked up each bottle and sat it in the middle of the table. His colleagues and guests were quickly treating themselves by snatching the bottles and opening them, filling their own glasses. Iris kept her eyes down as she carefully grabbed the whiskey glass. She sat it down in front of Mr. Styles and nervously lifted her gaze.

“Thank you.” He said with a light smile, his fingers wrapping around the glass.

“Is there anything I can get you?” She asked him directly, not really caring about anyone else.

He shook his head, then looked around the table. “You can go ahead and take the food orders. I’ll handle my own.”

She was disappointed when he stood up and excused himself from the table, leaving his whiskey behind. It was less stressful to have him gone, but she couldn't help but wonder why he left. Wasn’t he supposed to be observing her? She was sure the whole point he called her in tonight was to make sure she could handle this job. If that were the case, wouldn't he want to stay and watch her every move? She shook it off and took a deep breath, a smile covering her lips as she started with the person closest to her.

“What can I get you tonight?”

Mr. Styles lead himself to the break room. He wasn’t concerned with anything else at the moment. There was something he needed to do. It was a relief that nobody was in the room. He didn’t feel like dealing with any awkward conversations with frightened employees. He tried the handle for the office door, and when it didn’t open, he reached into his pocket to grab a set of keys. He figured the door would be locked - it was supposed to be locked at all times anyway.

Once he got in, he shut the door behind him and immediately went to the bookshelf. His eyes scanned over the spines of the binders until he found the one filled with employee information. While he could just simply ask Melanie for what he wanted, he didn’t want anyone to know he was planning on directly contacting a certain employee. It was nobody’s business, of course, since he was literally in charge, but he didn’t care to entertain anyone else’s curiosity.

He flicked through the divided sections until he found the one belonging to the girl currently rushing to the kitchen to get his table’s orders in. His interest in her quickly became a distraction, and he realized that early on in the week. There was a solution to this problem. After taking out his phone to create a contact for her, he put the binder away. Although he was the owner of the establishment, he didn’t deal with hiring or managing the employees. Having their personal information has never been a priority of his, until now.

Just as he turned the key in the door to assure himself it was locked, he heard a crashing sound just outside of the break room door. He sighed to himself and pushed the door open, ready to yell at whoever just broke the dishware. Before he could get angry, his eyes fell down to the person on the floor picking up the pieces of glass.

“I’m sorry!” Iris was apologizing to one of the bartenders, who was on her way to the bar with the cleaned glasses.

The bartender did not reply, because her eyes were glued to Mr. Styles. It was a common thing for the employees to be absolutely terrified to say anything or do anything wrong in front of him. Iris looked up, not knowing he was standing there. The second she saw him, her cheeks went red and she shot up.

“I accidentally ran into her.” She quickly said.

“We’ll clean it up right away.” The bartender nodded, dashing into the kitchen to grab whatever broom she could find first.

Iris was not happy about being left alone with the mess and Mr. Styles, but she knew there was nothing she could do now. She knelt back down and started to collect the larger pieces into her palm.

“You’re going to cut yourself.” He said as his arms crossed over his chest. “Stand up.”

There was no hesitation. She sat the pieces down on the ground and stood up, her hands shaking as anxiety flooded her veins.

“Go on. I’ll get someone to clean it up.”

“You can take it out of my pay. It was my fault.” Iris said with a gulp.

“I can afford to replace a few glasses.” He told her with a light chuckle. “Go on, now.”

Although she wanted to clean up the mess in any way possible, she knew she had to listen to him. She nodded and turned away, not sure where she was headed but she was going to get away from him while she could. He was extremely intimidating and it made her more nervous than she’s ever been.

Iris wasn’t sure what else she was supposed to be doing, since he only wanted her to work his table. So, she stayed close by and kept an eye on his guests. Mr. Styles returned to the table after a few more minutes. She watched him rest his hand on the table as he sat down, his charisma naturally glowing as his smile beamed. His presence was impactful.

She shifted her hands behind her back, holding onto her wrist as she watched from a safe distance. He was talking, that smile still wide on his face. Whatever he said caused an uproar of laughter from the people surrounding the table. Usually, she liked the fact the loud music drowned out the noise of the patrons, but right now she envied those close enough to hear him.

Maybe it was solely because he was her boss that made her so fascinated by him. He was a rich man with obvious influence and power. On top of that, he was handsome and had a way of making himself known. He was just the whole package deal. Or perhaps it was more complicated than that. A part of her brain kept cycling back to the possibility she might be infatuated by him, that she might be attracted to him. No, she couldn’t be. He was a handsome man, that’s the only reason why she thought he was attractive.. His appearance was literally appealing to her eyes.

Some time ticked by as she stood there quietly stalking the table. She thought she was being incognito, but that was quickly proven wrong when Mr. Styles turned his head in her direction. Her stomach fell as his eyes locked on hers. He lifted his hand and motioned with his fingers. She took in a deep breath and closed her eyes as it came out. Her anxiety needed to hold off for a few minutes.

He was satisfied with her attentiveness as she quickly walked over to him. There was something very intriguing about her that he just couldn’t figure out or forget about. He needed to decipher it, he needed to know her.

“Is there anything I can get you?” She asked kindly.

“Another glass of whiskey f’me.. and check on the food.” He said, sliding his empty glass across the table out of his way.

“Yes, sir.”

She hurried to the kitchen, not waiting for any more instructions. The kitchen staff were usually rude when asked about wait time, but when she mentioned that it was for the boss’s table, they didn’t give her any attitude. She asked them to hurry up before heading to the bar for the drink. The entire time, she couldn’t stop thinking about the drink she spilled on him last weekend. She wondered how much worse it could get, how much more embarrassing and humiliating.

When the bartender gave her the glass, she swallowed the lump forming in her throat and went back to the table. That same overly polite smile shaped to her lips as she sat the glass down in front of him.

“Thank you.” He said, picking it up in a swift move to bring the glass to his lips.

She looked away, towards one of the strangers. “Is everyone alright?”

“We’ve been waiting on our food.” One of them said, checking their flashy watch for the time.

“It should be coming right out.” She nodded.

“Iris.” Mr. Styles saying her name was a jump scare each time.

“Yes, sir?”

“Do you mind getting a few of these empty bottles out of the way?”

The man beside him, who’s name she didn’t know, gave him a funny look and rolled his eyes. “Does she mind? It’s her job.”

Her heart nervously fluttered as she saw the glare given by Mr. Styles. He didn’t seem very pleased by that man’s words. She chose to just listen to the command, even if it wasn't from the man she knew she had to listen to. She tried to grab two bottles with one hand, but they were bulkier than she expected. As she picked them up, one of them knocked over a glass that was half filled. The contents were now on the table. Thankfully, the liquid didn’t end up in anyone’s lap this time.

“Oh my god, no, no, no!” She practically whined, ashamed of her actions. “I’m so sorry, Mr. Styles!”

“It’s fine.” He reached for the glass, getting to it before she did.

“No, I-I didn’t mean to, I’m sorry.” She tried to take it from him but he moved it away from her reach.

“Well, I hope you didn’t mean to.” His gentle laugh made butterflies erupt in her stomach. “It’s not a problem.”

She rapidly shook her head as she collected the other empty bottle. “Yes, it is. I.. I can’t believe I-“

“Iris, I said it was fine.” His tone was more stern than just seconds ago.

“But, sir-“ Iris shot her eyes to him, they were wide and pleading for forgiveness.

“It’s fine.” He sat his whiskey glass down, his eyes falling down her height before darting back to her flustered face.

“I.. I’ll go, um, check on the food.”

“She’s got a pretty face, but there’s nothing inside her head.” Someone at the table spoke out.

“Keep your opinions to yourself.” He snarled his lip, then shot his eyes back over in the direction she walked. He didn’t see her anymore, maybe she made it to the kitchen.

She was hidden away in the break room, her hands covering her face as she groaned. She was beyond embarrassed at this point. Not only had she broken the glasses earlier, but she spilled another drink in front of him. She felt useless. Waitressing had never been this challenging for her before, never been this intense. She can’t blame the boss’s presence - this was happening before she met him. Maybe she just wasn’t cut out for this place.

“What are you doing?” Melanie appeared in the doorway, her brows furrowed.

“I’m just.. taking a break.” She huffed out.

If it were a regular shift, she would’ve come up with a lie or probably just not have been back here to begin with, but right now she doesn't care. Mr. Styles made it clear she had one task tonight, one table to work - she could spare a minute to catch her breath.

“You haven’t done anything stupid have you?”

Iris felt a pinch in her chest. She wasn’t stupid, and she certainly didn’t like being called that or anything similiar. Making a mistake does not make you stupid, no matter how bad she might feel about it.

“It’s none of your business.”

Melanie scoffed. “I’m your boss. It is my business.”

Ever since her first shift, Iris was given such a hard time. She was treated with high expectations from Melanie that sometimes seemed unreachable. Sure, a spilled drink and a wrong order are mistakes, but not everything she did was wrong. She’s gotten great feedback from customers, gotten wonderful tips, been treated nicely - she wasn’t a bad waitress. Hearing the word “boss” come from Melanie’s mouth irritated her more than she ever thought it could. Iris fixed her apron as she leaned off the wall, her eyes landing on Melanie.

“You’re the manager.. not the boss.”

Iris left the break room to go tend to her table. Mr. Styles was the only person she knew she had to impress tonight, the only person that mattered. If he thought the service he received was excellent, then she’d be alright. Her goal was to stay motivated.

For almost an hour, she would check in on the table every fifteen minutes. She didn’t want to intrude too much. They were enjoying their meals and drinking, seemingly having a good time. Mr. Styles was on his fifth glass of whiskey, and she noticed when she came up to the table how red his cheeks were.

“Iris.. I need t’talk t’you.” He slurred out, standing up before she could say anything.

“Yes, sir.”

“C’mere.” He gestured for her to follow him, and she didn’t hesitate.

He guided her to the break room away from the noise and the people. He shut the door behind them and took out his wallet. She held her breath as she watched his fingers flick through the bills.

“No bill tonight.. so I wanna make sure y’get y’tip.” He sighed, his head aching from the alcohol but he tried to ignore it.

Iris couldn’t stop her eyes from widening as he pulled four bills out of his wallet. It was more than the tip he left her last time. He extended his hand out, the money limp between his fingers.

“Mr. Styles, I-“

“Shh.” He lightly shook his head. “Take it.”

There was no point in arguing with him. She accepted the money and carefully folded it before sticking it in her apron pocket. Her eyes nervously looked up to meet his. They were red and squinty, the alcohol affecting him. He gave her a smirk, lifting just one corner of his mouth.

“You can go home now.”

“Are.. are you sure? You don’t need anything else?” She asked, lifting her brows as she fumbled with her own fingers - anything to ease the nerves.

“Not tonight.”

The night seemed like a blur once she was at home in her bed. Her eyes were glued to the dark ceiling as she thought about the money he gave her. That was a lot for a tip, and she honestly didn’t know how to process it. There was no complaining, though, she needed the money. Maybe she could keep this job. If working for Mr. Styles meant occasionally serving him, perhaps she would be able to make more money than she anticipated. Sure, the other tips are great, too, but they’re even better when you add such a big one to the pile.

- - -

That Monday, she was scheduled to be off at the club that night. Her day job didn’t end, though. She was stuck behind the receptionist desk all morning. Monday’s were a busy day for the doctor’s office. Her lunch break seemed ages away, but when it was finally time to go, she didn’t waste a single second. On Monday’s, she usually treated herself to some sort of fast food just to make up for the stress. She chose the place closest by the office and opted to eat in her car in the parking lot.

The food was actually delightful, and she was enjoying her alone time. That is, until her phone started to ring. She looked down at the screen and made a confused face. She didn’t recognize the number, so she ignored it.

Her attention returned to the fries she was popping in her mouth one by one, enjoying each one like she’d never have them again. A few minutes ticked by before the phone rang again. She huffed, rolling her eyes as she saw the same number appear. Maybe it wasn’t a spam call if they’re calling back.

With a mouth full of fries, she answered. “Hello?”

“Iris.”

A harsh cough made her struggle to get the food down. She quickly grabbed her drink and sucked up a good bit to wash everything down. She did not expect to hear her name when she picked up the phone and she certainly didn’t expect to hear it in that voice.

“Uh, Mr-Mr. Styles. Hello.” She tried to catch her breath without sounding like she was struggling.

He could tell he caught her off guard. “Are you busy right now?”

“I’m.. I’m on my lunch break, but that’s all.”

“Well, listen.. I know you aren’t supposed to work tonight.” He paused.

She squeezed her eyes shut and silently begged for him to not ask her to come in. She was grateful for the money, but she was so tired. She just wanted to go home and rot away for the night.

“But, if you have time.. after your job.. I’d like to see you in my office. My real office, not at the club.” He continued.

“Um.. okay. I can do that.”

He smiled lightly. “Perfect. What time does your shift end?”

She gulped as she quickly debated whethe to lie or not. She could give herself some time to prepare, maybe run home and freshen up. But what if he found out she was lying?

“I get off at five.” She told the truth.

“I’ll send you the address.”

He was going to just end the call, but her soft voice stopped him.

“Um, Mr. Styles.”

“Yes?”

She cleared her throat, hoping it wasn’t too loud of a sound. “May I.. ask what.. what it’s about?”

He thought for a moment, a silence grew between them. There was a chance she wouldn’t give it any consideration, so he chose to keep it secretive. Iris was hoping for an explanation, but she didn’t press any further when he spoke.

“I just need to talk to you in person. Goodbye.”

“Goodbye.” She muttered back, not sure if he had hung up the phone yet. He hadn’t.

The rest of her shift drug by slowly. The office was packed full of people, but even the constant action didn’t make things move quickly. Whenever she had a few seconds to herself, her mind slipped into a worrying spiral. What if he was finally going to fire her? She made it obvious that she was anxious and unable to do things perfectly at the club. Perhaps he was tired of her performance and wanted her out. Melanie would probably just fire her over the phone, maybe Mr. Styles wanted it to be more professional.

That was all she thought about for the rest of the day. It consumed her. She wasn’t completely aware of what the anxiety was causing. She would continuously mess up spelling when she typed, misclicking things on the computer, and saying names incorrectly. Her brain was normally jumbled, but she was always able to shut it off at work and do her job - at least, at this job.

The directions he sent her brought her to a building she had only driven by, never entered before. Her senses were heightened as she made her way to the lobby. Everything was so overwhelming. What if he ended the polite attitude he’s given her so far and completely chews into her? Her mistakes at the club can’t be inexcusable forever. He was going to get sick of it eventually, if he hadn’t already.

She was greeted by a security guard at the door. It was sort of scary to be in such a nice place. She crossed the lobby to get to the elevator, still following the instructions he sent to her. The top floor was her destination. Apparently that’s where his office was. Her curiosity grew as she took in the sights around her. What exactly did Mr. Styles do?

The ding of the elevator made her flinch. She wasn’t on the top floor just yet. When the doors opened, someone was standing on the other side with a briefcase in their hand. She stepped to the side, allowing them access to the buttons. Iris kept her gaze down on her feet as she waited to reach the top floor. Mr. Styles was close by, and knowing she was about to be face to face with him again was making her stomach churn. She feared the absolute worst. He was going to tear her to shreds and take her job away.

This time when the elevator stopped, it was on the top floor. She licked her lips and took a deep breath before stepping out. Her phone was displaying his message, his instructions on how to find him. When she looked up from the screen, her eyes grew. This lobby was bigger than she expected. There were reception desks and multiple doors and hallways, all leading to more doors. The last part of his text told her to go to the desk to check in.

“Um, hi.” She said in a kind voice as she approached one of the desks.

A man, who was probably closer to her age than Mr. Styles’, looked up at her. He furrowed his brows lightly, like he was waiting for her to continue. She wasn’t sure what she needed to say or how nice she had to be.

“I’m here to see Mr. Styles.”

“Are you his five thirty appointment?” He asked carelessly, his eyes moving to the computer screen.

“Um, yes.”

She wasn’t sure exactly if that was her title, but she knew what time it was. The man nodded, then stood up from the desk. Without saying anything, he started to walk away. Iris assumed she needed to follow him. He led her down one of the hallways, and at the end she could see a pair of big wooden doors. She tried to look around at the other doors, maybe catch a glimpse of the signs, but they were walking entirely too fast.

“Wait here.” The man said, looking over his shoulder as they approached the door.

She watched him open it just enough for him to step inside. She couldn't see anything past the door. Her arms instinctively came up to cover her chest, a sense of nervousness creeping through her body. The uncertainty of it all was very hard for her to deal with. She wanted it to be over with. Hopefully she could find another part time job within a few days to quickly recover from losing this job. She didn’t know how long she could go without the extra money.

“Alright, you can go in.” The man suddenly came out of the office, this time leaving the door open for her.

When she stepped over the threshold, she wasn’t sure what to expect but what she saw was shocking. The entire back wall was lined with large windows, showing off a nice view of the city. On the left side of the room sat a huge bookcase full of books and a few decorations. On the right was a large desk with a computer, two comfortable arm chairs placed in front of it. It was a beautiful, elegant space. Mr. Styles stood up from behind the desk, gesturing towards the chairs.

“Have a seat, Iris.”

She was taken aback by his suit. She knew he dressed nicely, but she had never seen him with the complete look. His jacket was tailored perfectly to his body, as were the rest of the items. His hair was perfectly sculpted and a watch sat comfortably on his wrist. He adjusted his unbuttoned jacket when he sat back down. She felt extremely underdressed. Her job required her to dress nice, but the simple dark blue blouse and pants didn’t seem acceptable compared to him.

“I want to talk to you about your job.” He said with a sigh, leaning back in his chair.

The flood gates inside of her burst open. Iris felt like everything was crumbling to her feet. One day, she had things figured out and life seemed to go alright, and the next she was losing a really good job that she would kill to get back.

“I’m so sorry about spilling the drinks and breaking the glasses.” She blurted out, sitting straight up in the chair, her hands squeezing her own legs.

“I didn’t ask you to come here to talk about a spilled drink.” He kept his tone calm, his expression baselined.

“I-I figured I’d lose this job. I.. I’m sorry.” She continued, almost like she didn’t comprehend what he said.

He chuckled lightly, shaking his head at her. “What are you talking about?”

She could feel the heat coating her cheeks. He had a glimmer in his eye, a sort of sparkle that made her heart flutter. Was he not going to fire her? Was he actually being nice and just wanted to discuss something else? She was more confused than ever.

“I.. I thought you.. you were going to fire me.”

He lifted a brow slightly. “Why would I fire you?”

Iris swallowed, trying to process all of this in her mind. Any sane business owner wouldn’t want an employee who messes up constantly and breaks their items. Why would he want to keep her? He’s witnessed her mistakes with his own eyes. It wasn’t just some manager complaining about her. He’s seen it first hand.

“The.. the drinks, the glasses, I.. I mess up orders and I.. I’m almost late every shift.” She felt like she was digging the hole even deeper for herself. Did he even know about her being late?

“According to your timesheet, you aren’t late. And you aren’t losing your job.. sort of.” He sat up, not wanting to appear too relaxed as if he wasn’t interested in the conversation or the topic.

Iris moved her hands to rest on top of each other, only so she could pinch the back of her hand. She did that often as a way to cope with her anxiety. Right now, she was struggling.

“Sort of?”

He gave her a nod, keeping his eyes glued to her face despite her looking around anxiously. “I have another job opportunity for you.. if you're interested.”

She wasn’t sure what to say, but she shifted her eyes to meet his permanently this time. He saw the confusion mixed with the curiosity on her face. It was rather intriguing.

“I know you have another job during the day, but.. I’m willing to offer you more pay if you’d like to take this job.” He started, not really giving her the vital information just yet. “I do a lot of things.. I run a lot of businesses. It makes everything chaotic.”

She tensed up as he stood, his arms folding over his chest as he slowly walked towards the windows. He kept his eyes lost somewhere in the city as he carried on.

“I need a personal assistant. I have multiple people who do similar things for me, but I need somewhere to work in here with me. Answer calls, reply to emails, forward things to me, manage my meeting schedule, among other things.”

Iris snapped her head down when he suddenly turned towards her. He didn’t move, though. Even in the privacy of his office, away from other people and not in the middle of the club, he could see how nervous she was. Maybe she was just afraid of him, or maybe this job offer seemed too intense. His goal wasn’t to frighten her.

“You wouldn’t have to run errands or arrange travel or whatever. I have people that do that.” He added, trying to relieve the pressure.

She started to pick at the freshly painted light pink polish on her thumbnail. There were many things to consider. Though her job was stressful, she liked the laidback days when there weren’t many clients in the office. She liked being able to sit and work quietly at the computer. What if this job he’s suggesting is too much? If she took this job then got fired from it or had to quit, that secure job at the doctor’s office would be gone.

“I don’t want it to seem too scary.” He eased his voice, sighing gently as he walked back to the desk.

But when she saw his shoes appear in front of her, she felt her heart begin to race. He was leaning on the front of the desk, his hands bracing over the edge as he looked down at her. She was too afraid to pick up her head.

“It wouldn’t all be thrown at you at once. You’d be trained and shown how to do everything. And..” He took a second to take a deep breath. “..I’ll be in here if you have any questions.”

“Mr. Styles, I.. I really.. appreciate the offer, but I.. I, um.” She squeezed her eyes shut and dug her nail into the side of her thumb.

“You what?” His persistence was intimidating.

How could someone be so confident and sure of themselves, of their power? He was her boss, she couldn’t just dart out of here without answering him or at least trying to explain herself. She pushed a piece of hair behind her ear, her head tilting back to make eye contact with him. If anything, she could at least be respectful and pay attention.

“I don’t know why you’d want me to do it.”

He appreciated her honesty, but it made him smile. “Because, I think you’d be a good fit.”

She wanted to laugh, but it seemed highly inappropriate. “Have.. have you seen me work? I mean, I.. I can’t even.. sit a glass down on a table.”

She shook her head, unable to believe any of this was real. “But.. but a spilled drink is a lot different than messing up an email or a.. a call.. or something. I.. What if I mess up something that actually matters?”

He liked the way she rambled her thoughts out without thinking, just let her anxiety pour over her lips. He pushed himself off the desk and walked around it, returning to his chair. She took the chance to look back down at her lap, not wanting to see his hard stare. It wasn’t callous or rude, it was just very tense.

“Then I’ll fix it.” He said through a breath. “You don’t have to take the job.. I just wanted to offer it to you.”

The thought of him having to fix a mistake she made was sickening. The mistake itself would be enough to drive her insane, to break her to pieces. Making a vital mistake with his business would be extremely upsetting. Sure, a spilled drink is disappointing, but it’s not that big of a deal compared to other possibilities.

“I.. I appreciate it.. but.. I don’t know.”

“What would it take for you to accept the job?” He asked, placing his clasped hands on the desk.

Iris shrugged. “I’m not sure. I get paid well where I’m at now and.. and I can’t afford a pay cut. I like working at the club, and it helps me financially. But.. but I can’t risk my other job.. the money, I mean.”

He listened closely to every word she spoke with full intention of understanding where she was coming from. He hasn’t had to worry about money in a very long time, but he still knows the reality most people face. If a pay cut is something she’s afraid of, and money is something she needs, then he would offer her more. He opened one of the drawers of the desk and pulled out a small notebook. She jumped slightly at the sound of it landing on the desk, followed by the click of a pen in his hand.

She had no idea what he was jotting down, but she watched him run the tip of the pen over the paper. He was doing a quick calculation, just an assumption that could easily be changed at a later point. When he dropped the pen and moved his eyes back to her, she bit down on her cheek.

“This is what I’ll offer you. There’s a salary and it’s broken down to per hour and per month.” He slid the notebook across the desk, leaning back in his chair to watch her.

Iris hesitated at first to move her hand, but she soon reached for the small book. When she read over the numbers he listed down, her heart threatened to beat out of her chest. That was definitely more than she was making at the doctor’s office. She read it again, trying to convince herself she read it incorrectly the first time. The numbers didn’t change.

“It can be negotiated more if needed. I can guarantee you six months of employment in case you change your mind. That gives you time to find something else.” His offer was sounding more and more reasonable and tempting as he went on.

“Would.. would you expect me to.. quit the club?”

“Not unless you want to. I don’t care what you do with your evenings.” He felt a bit of relief - she was considering it.

“And.. and are you sure.. it would be okay if.. if I ever made a mistake? I.. make a lot of mistakes.” She sat the notebook back down and shifted in the chair, her eyes still connected with his.

“Yes, it would be perfectly okay. Everyone makes mistakes.” He assured her with a slow nod, tossing the notebook back into the drawer.

Mr. Styles was observant of her behavior. She was staring at the floor, her hands slowly moving together, fingers messing around as she thought through everything. He wondered what she was thinking about. Was she scared to make such a big change? Was this something she thought she couldn’t do well? He was sure she could handle it. It wasn’t that intense, even though how he explained it might have been scary.

“Okay.” She chirped.

“Is that a yes?”

Iris took a deep breath and smiled at him. “Yes, sir. That’s a yes.”

“Perfect.” His own lips shaped to a smile as he heard her say it. “When can you start?”

“Well.. I probably need to give a notice to my boss. Is next Monday okay?” She rolled in her lips to bite down on them as she waited for his response.

“That’s fine with me.”

“Okay. Is.. is there anything I need to do? Any, um, paperwork?” Iris was more invested in this than he initially thought.

“No, not right now. I’ll get everything ready for you by Monday.” He stood up, gesturing her to follow him.

She did, without hesitation of course. He grabbed the door handle, but stopped before opening it.

“I hate to run you off, but I have an important phone call to make.”

“That’s fine. Thank you for the, um, job.” Her cheeks caught flames as she realized how tall he was - she knew, but noticing it was always a shocker.

“Thank you for accepting.”

[a/n: ahhh im so proud of this part!! hope you enjoyed it! Remember, i love to “world build” and create a story before diving into the “good” stuff.. hehehe :) the response has been so positive! I hope you love the series. see you soon! stay on the look out for teasers!!] — reblog banner #cafekitsune

taglist:

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@victoriasigaard

@ariiscringe

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#Of course the one day she gets to relax she would get an interrupting call like this. OF COURSE #Melanie girl you better watch your tone & “Well Mr. Styles is coming later and he asked specifically for you to be here.”🤭🤭#As soon as the name was said her heart began to race and her stomach filled with bubbles. Same #Who wanted her to do what? Lol love her & “He said he’ll pay you double for the night.” Say no more🏃🏻‍♀️🏃🏻‍♀️🏃🏻‍♀️& I bet there’s Melanie lo #“You’re only working his table.” GOOD🤪🤭& “Iris.” He spoke her name like he was fluent in only that word. Loveeeee #She must be a quick learner. It was only her second time serving him and she remembered what she was told last time. he’s crushinnnn #It was nerve wracking to have all of this pressure on her. 100% !#“Is there anything I can get you?” She asked him directly not really caring about anyone else. Love #Him leaving like that ahhhhhhhh what’s going onnnnn & he didn’t want anyone to know he was planning on directly contacting a #certain employee AHHHHH & It was nobody’s business (but ours) & Having their personal information has never been a #priority of his until now. !!!!! & Usually she liked the fact the loud music drowned out the noise of the patrons but right now she #envied those close enough to hear him. Hehheheh & I agree with that part of her brain🤭 & There was something very intriguing #about her that he just couldn’t figure out or forget about. He needed to decipher it he needed to know her. AHHHHHHHH #“Do you mind getting a few of these empty bottles out of the way?” 🥺#Her heart nervously fluttered as she saw the glare given by Mr. Styles. He didn’t seem very pleased by that man’s words. GOOD #“Well I hope you didn’t mean to.” His gentle laugh made butterflies erupt in her stomach. “It’s not a problem.” he’s so nice I’ll sob #“Keep your opinions to yourself.” He snarled his lip then shot his eyes back over in the direction she walked. YEAH WHAT HE SAID #He didn’t see her anymore maybe she made it to the kitchen. Worrying where she is😩#“You haven’t done anything stupid have you?” Melanien respectfully stfu #“It’s none of your business.” PERIOD EAT HER UP & “You’re the manager.. not the boss.” GAGGED !!!!#Mr. Styles was the only person she knew she had to impress tonight the only person that mattered.#If he thought the service he received was excellent then she’d be alright. Her goal was to stay motivated. I LOVE IT #“Shh.” He lightly shook his head. “Take it.” this is so cute I’m loving this moment #Her eyes nervously looked up to meet his. They were red and squinty the alcohol affecting him.#He gave her a smirk lifting just one corner of his mouth. Eeeeeeeeee !!!!!#harry styles fic rec #harry styles fic #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles fanfic #harry styles series

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monicaalexandraaa · 2 hours ago

Note

Who are your top favorite reads right now?

Ahhhh I love this question!!! Here are some series that I'm LOVING right now!!! 🤩🤩

My sweet darling @gurugirl :

She keeps us all extremely well fed, aren’t we so lucky? Everyone say thank you, Guru !!!

On tumblr we have the incredible:

It's Good to Be King

And on her Patreon we have the magic that is:

The Man Beneath (preview on tumblr)

My dear @1d1195 :

You should really check out her whole masterlist (because I truly don't think people know the magnitude of what's going on over there) but her current series which I am 100% (hehe iykyk) loving is:

Beautiful Enough

The gem that is @harrywavycurly:

These two series are phenomenal !!! Like o m g !

Fine Print

Soulmate Smells

The wonderful @narrycherries:

New series and I’m loving it!!

woman

The lovely @jarofstyles:

I am thoroughly enjoying multiple series on their Patreon right now but I’ll pick these two.

First part on tumblr:

The Heart Of The Woods

First part on tumblr:

Lush

The icon that is @harrysbabycherry:

THIS SERIES HAS ME AHHHHHH !!!!!!! You’re going to want to get up to speed because the next part is gonna be insane.

lovesick

I’ll add a couple of one shots that were so good I’m still thinking about them !!!!!!!

The talented @fkinavocado !!!! An absolute all-timer on here!

Yours. Forever.

The magnificent @maudie-duan !!!! Everything she posts HITS !

A Promise Made

The amazing @this-is-tiny-mia !!!! This one is sooooo good! She’s so great !!!

Table 11

My girl @slutstachrry !!!! This one is so special :))))))

Missed Connections

And @gurugirl once more because I just adore her and this is a perfect read for the upcoming fall season!!!

The Mushroomer

Should I start doing this more regularly? Maybe once a month?

Thank you for sending this ask🥰🥰

🩷🩷

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monicaalexandraaa · 8 hours ago

Text

im so done x

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monicaalexandraaa · 8 hours ago

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BEAUTIFUL PERSON AWARD! Once you are given this award you're supposed to paste it in the asks of 8 people who deserve it. If you break the chain nothing happens, but it's sweet to know someone thinks you're beautiful inside and out 💛

Thank youuuuu :)))

🩷🩷

#iloveyoutodeathbutimdrowning

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monicaalexandraaa · 8 hours ago

Note

Thank you🥰

🩷🩷

#silent-stories

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monicaalexandraaa · 22 hours ago

Note

Omg thanks for sharing a bit about yourself! We have a few things in common ☺️

I was surprised to hear you like Sleep Token! But that just makes you even cooler! Maybe one day I’ll pop up in your DMs if I’m brave enough 😅

I think you might be surprised to see who I am (since you’ve reblogged me before and I probably seem “normal” here on Tumblr), but I’m actually really awkward when it comes to people I think are cool 🥲😅

Ahhh !!!! I love that we have some things in common😊

Yes!! Big Sleep Token gal🙂‍↕️ST and Bad Omens are my top two right now but I’m also into Dayseeker and Sleep Theory. Slowly getting into Spiritbox and Bring Me The Horizon. I need to check out Thousand Below too, I’ve heard good things!

Ooooooo👀a little mystery hahaha! I’m sure you’re wonderful and I’d love to chat more whenever you’d like! I think YOU are cool🤩

Thank you so much again :)

🩷🩷

#anon <3

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monicaalexandraaa · 22 hours ago

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Oh my goodness !!!!!!!!!!😭😭😭this is so nice🥺🥹

Some facts about me hmmmmm I feel like I’m kinda boring tbh lol!

I’d love to be your friend!! You’re always welcome to reach out over ask or dm!! This made my day truly🥺thank you so much🥰I hope you have a great day/night !!!

🩷🩷

#thank you🥺#🥰🥰🥰#🩷🩷

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monicaalexandraaa · 23 hours ago

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Lexi darling !!!!! Thank you🥹🥹🥰

🩷🩷

#concretejunglefm

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monicaalexandraaa · 23 hours ago

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Loving this story sooooooo much🥰🥰🩷🩷

More tags because I can’t shut up😌

she was baring her whole life to an almost stranger on flashcards and not sobbing openly. So true & He offered fewer anecdotes

because when she spoke it was simply one of his favorite things and talking about himself when he could be listening to her felt like time

would be better well spent. SOBBING & he’s 100% hers & Unconvinced. She’s too perfect. Re: gif & She’s WONDERFUL. I cry & </3 Niall pls

“You can swipe,” oh we will & A warmth spread in his stomach because he wasn’t sure anyone had ever called him beautiful before. OMG THIS

IS HAPPENING🔜& while she flicked through pictures of his favorite little lady and she oohed and ahhed over them.😩& Would it

be completely insane for Harry to say he never wanted to leave? That this was the best first date ever? That learning her life through

index cards was something he never dreamed could be so romantic? PERFECTLY NORMAL AND EXACTLY WHAT I NEED & the sibling

talk so cute & “Can you text me when you get home?” She asked from the doorframe. CUTE & He glanced over his shoulder and

smiled. “Course, Beautiful. I’ll text you.” CUTER & Harry falling so hard for her as if this was really natural. It felt so obvious to him. He

wondered how she didn’t notice he was practically spewing hearts from his eyes, mouth, and ears while he spoke with her. His

thoughts are SOOOO you know !!? & All because she wrote that her favorite movie was Alice in Wonderland, but she told everyone it

was The Godfather to sound more worldly. ME & “Very few people know Alice is my favorite, Harry. I’m really trying to sell it that

we’re falling madly in love with one another.” Evil laughter & There was nothing to sell. Harry had bought in. RE: GIF & Jogging good for them😮‍💨

Which she hated so much. She wasn’t meant to jog, and it was clear that Harry was. Okay thank god I was like nooo don’t be a jogger😭🤣🤣

He slowed down when she needed a break and paid no attention to her breathlessness. I SPY A MAN™️& the red cards I’m panicking CODE RED

“M’sure, beautiful. S’nice t’know you’re ninety percent real. It’ll be fun,” he assured her. The 10% better be there you’re just in a love daze

“S’nice t’get t’know you in general. I like spending time with you,”😩& (or he asked her to do the same because it was so adorable, he practically wanted to cry) SAME

then he took. His. Shirt. Off. BAWAC in the best way & She shouldn’t be getting so overwhelmed by the way his sweat dripped along the individual ridges of his abs. I’ll take one for the team guys 🫷🫸

They needed to go grocery shopping for their next “normal” do-nothing date. Something that wouldn’t require Harry to take his shirt off. 😔

“Y’can use it if y’want,” I’ll use it to frame it is that insane? & There were unholy things to think about as she inhaled his scent while she brushed the shirt over her face. Jesus, fuck. He was good. GOOD

How was he going on and on about how she was only fifty-three percent real or whatever no truly 53%??? It’s 87 AT LEAST

when he was literally perfect? She had zero percent faith he was real—that this whole arrangement was real. I 100% GET IT

“Sorry, Beautiful, s’jus’ someone on a bike, wanted t’cross,” he gave her a squeeze. “Y’okay?” No I’m definitely not

He ran through them. “Oh, this is so much better,” he laughed. STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT & Could there be a negative percentage? 100%

This hot man was dripping with water from his hair. He looked like he could model for rain boots. He tugged her into the cold spray and shook his head at her as she gasped. It cooled her right off soaking her shirt in no time at all. “Isn’t it better, Beautiful?” MOVIEMOVIEMOVIE

She managed to splash him with some of the water and he wrapped his wet body around and held her hair against the spray soaking her further while they laughed till their stomachs hurt at an ungodly hour in the morning. MOVIEMOVIEMOVIE

Yeah. It was just... completely coincidental. Yeah totally, maybe like 2%🤪

🩷🩷

Beautiful Enough

Part II - Blue

Read Beautiful Enough here | ~5.5k words

From Me/Warnings: filler, hate this part personally. Also I hate Microsoft Word (iykyk) Need to get the plot going but there's some cute things I think. good luck 🍀

Summary: She nearly dropped the cards in her hands because she was so stunned by the pretty sound of Harry’s laughter, she didn’t think she would ever recover. Was she already in love with him?

It was ridiculous; he was lovesick, completely, as his heart skipped a beat. “What’s your favorite board game?”

Harry noted immediately that she lived in a small place. Cozy, for sure, but physically small. It was a bit different than Harry’s house and that was fine. He wasn’t judging at all. In fact, there was so much warmth in her little place Harry wanted to ask her to decorate his so a fraction of the warmth would exist. His place was missing something. Maybe it was the plants that lined her window behind the kitchen sink. The greenery made it feel more lived in. Harry’s house felt like he had just moved in despite living there for a few years. Or maybe it was her wall art. Harry knew they were prints, probably gotten at a retail store or a thrift shop, but it made it feel more like a home and less of the box that he called a house. Her bookshelf was stuffed with books, of course. But in front of the outward facing spines also had picture frames of friends, family, coworkers even, and a few other small nick-knacks. All of which made Harry think her space was better served than his. It was hard to make a larger place home when there was so much emptiness. (Which was not a metaphor he was looking to dissect at the moment.)

But she took up space. Practically demanded it—as she should, Harry thought. He’d only known her for four and a half minutes and was already enthralled with the space she took up and he wanted it to be all hers. “Do you want something to drink?”

“M’good, Beautiful, thank you, brought some tea,” he said holding a cup in his hand. “This where we’re studying?” He had an impish smile that she was sure got all the girls flustered in college. Although to be fair, it made her a bit flustered too. And she was pretty removed from college.

Niall only gave Harry a few details about her shitty ex-boyfriend. She didn’t want him spilling all her secrets to Harry. It was a surefire way for him to run for the hills before he even got to know her. It was going to take some learning to get used to her, she thought. If she could really help it, she didn’t want to have to tell him much about her ex at all.

What she hadn’t expected was how much hotter Harry was going to be in person. It made her feel guilty. She was with Spencer for a really long time and it had arguably been a short time before she was dating a new guy. That was going to be hard to explain away.

But Spencer was with Dani, right? How was it any different? But she knew it was different because Spencer was Spencer, and she was just her. It was completely different and while Spencer would be praised and looked at like he was God’s gift to women, she would be looked at with sidelong glances that made her feel like she was in the wrong. This was going to be difficult for a million reasons.

But maybe the biggest reason was she was going to fall hopelessly for his pretty face and body.

And if he called her beautiful again, she might lose it.

Harry was still inspecting the room. How small it was and the like. Embarrassment crept across her body making her feel warm all over. Harry made a lot of money. She knew that from Niall’s insider info and from her own… background check… that she performed after chatting with Niall in the privacy of her bed with a glass of wine.

It was completely unfair he was still so hot. She spoke out loud as she examined pictures, admiring the one from his college days but falling even harder for the more recent one. Saying things like Oh come, ON, when she passed a pretty photo of him holding a bouquet of flowers along with his mother and sister around Mother’s Day.

Then she felt guilty because Harry didn’t deserve to have her ogling him (even if he didn’t know) because he couldn’t reciprocate. Her social media was bare bones. The only pictures she was tagged in were group ones, or a corporate headshot that she used for all her profile pictures. She was usually just crowded into a group photo as one of many. It took her hours to put together her Tinder profile: cropping photos and coming up with quippy little chat lines to help her figure out her dilemma of Elijah’s wedding.

While she tried not to stare at Harry’s butt, he was looking at her bookshelf and the little objects that weren’t books sitting in front of the titles like they were guarding the spines. “What’s this?” He asked. He didn’t pick it up, but she wanted to say he could if he wanted. It was a little sailboat, white and blue. Netting across half the mast to look like a sail lined with seashells.

“Mia made it,” she said quietly. “My bookshelf is one of my favorite things, so I put things that people I love made or got for me on it.”

It was a display of people she loved. That was precisely what Harry’s house was missing. “S’sweet,” he mumbled and hoped that she would tell him all about the little items one day. That maybe in the time he was going to know her something of him would end up on the shelf.

Harry turned to the sofa, sitting at the opposite end of her. He settled his cup of tea on the coffee table near the top corner from where he was. Far away from the index cards that were in neat piles. “S’colorful,” he commented. There had to be at least a hundred cards.

She took a deep breath. “I tried to organize them by topic.”

“S’very thorough,” he smiled. He pulled out his own stack of cards from his jacket. They were white and not all were written on—she could see the stiffness of some of the cards still stuck together since they weren’t used yet. “Niall mentioned y’were making me flashcards. I made y’some. But I wanted t’see what y’had on your cards before I blabbed too much. I know we’re trying t’make this authentic,” he placed perhaps a third of the number of her total cards on the table at the end of her piles completing the set of red, yellow, green, blue, and pink.

She swallowed. “I’m so sorry.”

He tilted his head at her. “S’nothing t’apologize for,” he shrugged. “M’happy t’help,” he assured her.

“This is insane,” she reminded him. Like she was trying to talk him out of it. Harry wasn’t one to back down from a challenge and more importantly he wasn’t going to back out of helping out his friends. Because whether she wanted to be or not, Niall was his closest friend and ergo, he was going to be helping her too. Consider him her new best friend.

“M’not… clear on all the details…” he began. “Niall didn’t have many he could give me… But it sounds like s’not something y’would normally do. M’really not judging, Beautiful. Whatever this is and however it needs t’be done, m’happy t’help.”

There was distrust in her eyes. Like she didn’t fully believe that Harry was on board. Nor that he thought she was completely sane. “Okay…” she picked up the blue cards. “We’ll start here.”

“Blue is one of m’favorite colors,” he smiled and hoped he sounded encouraging.

“That’s good, because that’s a majority of these cards, favorites and whatnot. Blue is for basics,” she explained.

He snorted, barked out a bit of laughter that she felt her whole body fall so fucking hard for the sound. She wished she could record it. It would play all day long. It would be the perfect background noise, a sound machine to fall asleep too, and she thought that every radio station needed to hear it. It was a beautiful, delightful sound and his matching smile was so utterly devastating she didn’t know how she was going to make it out of these next few months alive without falling completely in love with him.

She nearly dropped the cards in her hands because she was so stunned by the pretty sound of Harry’s laughter, she didn’t think she would ever recover. Was she already in love with him?

She’d read enough books about fake dating that said luck to not fall in love was not on her side. But she was determined not to bother him post wedding. It would be the last big event where she would be forced to smile and pretend that she was fine with her break-up.

Cousin birthday parties, anniversary parties, even any future family vow renewals would not require the same degree of pretending that was needed for her brother’s wedding. By the time the next big family event came around, her love life wouldn’t be so prominent on everyone’s mind. She and Spencer and their unbelievably quick-ending, long-length relationship wouldn’t be a thought any longer. She and Harry would just be a memory, a few stray candid pictures from Elijah’s wedding. Oh remember when I got my best friend’s friend to take me to your wedding? Remember how I quizzed him on my entire life with index cards?

Harry took the blue cards she nearly dropped from her. Their fingers brushed which made her heart skip a beat in a way that it shouldn’t have. She was with Spencer for a long time. Even though it was now brought to her attention that he was the worst, it felt wrong to feel any flicker of… attraction for another man. She did love him. He loved her at some point. She was sure (hoped). They did things together that she loved, that were part of her and her history.

But she couldn’t help the flutter in her chest. Harry was extremely kind to look at the blank side of her index cards so thoughtfully. As if this wasn’t a completely insane ask of an almost complete stranger.

The blank side of the card was a single word written in a curvy, loopy, neat way. It wasn’t overdone like she was calligraphist, but it wasn’t messy either like she was tired from writing. It was pretty. There was no other way to describe it. Dainty almost. He liked how her ‘O’ looped into the ‘R’ in the word color. She did it with other words too, but color seemed like a good as place as any to start. “Pink is your favorite color?” He asked.

She nodded. “It’s pretty.”

“Yeah,” he agreed. “It is. Any particular shade?”

She bit the inside of her cheek. “Have you ever seen a pink cranberry?” Harry wasn’t sure he’d ever seen a cranberry ever. He shook his head. With her phone she searched for a picture. "It’s light, a little more on the red side but somehow also white. I don’t know. I didn’t know how to describe it before because it’s hard to explain clearly. I just know when I see it.”

Harry thought cranberry-pink might be his new favorite color as well.

From there, he went through other favorite cards rapidly. Favorite food, favorite shows, favorite music, etc. Those were easy basics that would be easy to remember. He liked that she let him shuffle through her life. It had to be unnerving to put her entire life on a set of three-by-five index cards so that she could fake to her family that everything was fine.

When would they get to that section of her life? What color had she meticulously sectioned family into and what would she say about them?

Each card came with a little anecdote if he made a comment and so Harry tried (although it wasn’t very difficult) to find a comment for each card because he loved hearing her talk about herself. He got the impression she didn’t get to do it often. It gushed out of her so easily and he was a little too in love with her already to hear her stop talking.

One of the blue cards stated that she snored when she was sick or having a bad fit of allergies. (Also her allergies included a range of household things like dust and pollen but also, surprisingly, pineapple.) But the snoring was worse when she was younger.

When she was in middle school, she had braces for two years. During that time, there were no pictures of her smiling with her teeth. In fact, there was a holdover that sometimes she forgot to smile with teeth.

She loved board games, card games, and voting games like Cards Against Humanity. But she hadn’t played them in ages because she didn’t really have people in her life who enjoyed them as much as she did. “I love Scrabble,” Harry murmured quietly. He wanted to play with her as ridiculous, as that sounded. If she enjoyed something, he wanted to be part of it. That was the only insane part of this, wasn’t it? That Harry was falling so quickly and all they were doing was covering the basics? Or maybe that’s exactly how it was supposed to be. Wouldn’t their first real date have been covering blue cards whether they were physically in front of them or not?

He wished he took her on a real date. Wished he offered to play any and all board games with her right then. “I’m terrible at Scrabble but I’d love to play sometime,” she offered.

It was ridiculous; he was lovesick, completely, as his heart skipped a beat. “What’s your favorite board game?”

She thought for a second. “I loved Candyland when I was younger. Maybe Clue? I don’t know. I just love games in general, I think. They’re fun. They make me feel young.”

She was hardly old, but Harry liked her thought process. He smirked and flipped to the next card without looking at her. “We should play sometime,” he suggested.

Her chest ached with want. It wasn’t fair if Niall was right. If Harry was perfect for her, she was fucked.

Harry hated that Niall was right. It was just basics. Things he would have asked on a first date. But she was perfect. So fucking perfect it hurt. Like how was knowing that her favorite food so entrancing? It was a pasta dish she self-disciplined to making herself once a month because she was afraid she would probably eat it three times a week if she could and get too big for her clothes. The thought made him swoon.

It didn’t make sense, and maybe it didn’t have to make sense, but he was trying to retain a semblance of control over his emotions. How was he supposed to tell her that she was his soulmate when she just got out of a lengthy relationship and all he knew was that she snored when she was sick?

Why did he want to know what her snoring sounded like?

“You can paint?” He asked, reading the next card.

“No, not even a little,” she shook her head. “I enjoy painting. I’m terrible at it.”

He laughed. She was quite funny, and he wondered why Niall never mentioned that. Maybe he was doing him a favor because Harry’s soft spot for humor would just make him drool if he knew ahead of time. But she had him in stitches for a better part of the afternoon. He learned so much about her. Stuff that he wouldn’t even think to ask on a first date. Like for a very long time, she wanted to be a librarian (and also a fairy princess, like Tinkerbell.)

She had one boyfriend in middle school but didn’t elaborate much. “We’ll talk about relationships another day,” she shrugged. “He didn’t break my heart though.”

That made him happy. She deserved a good first boyfriend. She was too cute and sweet to not have that. Even her high school boyfriend didn’t break her heart for which Harry was retroactively grateful for—she didn’t deserve to have her heart broken ever. The pair simply fizzled out, a mutual agreement that was actually really mature given they were still all but kids.

But it was clear her most recent boyfriend really quite devastated her.

“I told you we’ll get into it more another time. But… I couldn’t get out of bed for a week straight,” she mumbled and looked at her hands. Harry noted her voice cracked and she was upset. But Harry thought part of her was upset she was so distraught and that made him feel worse than her actual breakup.

It sounded like her most recent ex was a prick. So, if he was stupid enough to lose someone who blushed the same color as her favorite color and broke her heart because he was an idiot, then he didn’t deserve her cries. Harry was quiet while she took a stabilizing breath like she might burst into tears. Harry hadn’t been in a years-and-years-long relationship. He couldn’t imagine the toll it took on her to be in it and then suddenly not be in it. On top of that, he didn’t know how she was baring her whole life to an almost stranger on flashcards and not sobbing openly.

Despite the clock showing that hours had passed since he showed up, Harry felt like it was minutes that they had sifted through the blue cards a few times over while she gently quizzed him on details and offering more anecdotes.

How she was able to put all her heartache on hold to deal with her brother’s wedding, Harry wasn’t sure. He didn’t think he could do it and he loved his sister more than anything.

They sifted through his cards as well. He listed most of his favorites on one card. He wasn’t organized like she was. He offered fewer anecdotes because when she spoke it was simply one of his favorite things and talking about himself when he could be listening to her felt like time would be better well spent.

Eventually, she ordered pizza for them to snack on. As she went to gather a couple plates, napkins, and the like, he used the restroom and immediately texted Niall.

I hate you.

Is she 100% real?

Unconvinced. She’s too perfect.

Ha! She’ll LOVE knowing that.

Don’t you DARE. How could you not tell me?

I DID! I told BOTH of you!

You weren’t clear. This is insane, Niall James Horan. She’s WONDERFUL.

Adorable. I have tears in my eyes.

Shut. Up.

Tell me what she writes about me on her flashcards.

Hopefully nothing...

</3

“You have a niece?!” She exclaimed. Her eyes lit up like nothing he had never seen in the last few hours. He smiled around his slice of pizza and put it on the plate in front of him. While he chewed that bite, he wiped his hand on the napkin and grabbed his phone out of his pocket as quickly as he could so he could sate her need to see the baby. Not that he cared, he loved to show her off.

Her eyes had hearts in them. “Harry,” she gasped. “She’s beautiful. She looks just like you,” she grinned. “Oh my gosh, she’s so cute,” she whispered and admired the pictures.

“You can swipe,” he offered. It was almost all of Harry’s most recent photos. To his knowledge he didn’t have any incriminating photos either. Maybe just some sunsets, a bug on a leaf that he thought was cool looking. “Wow, your sister is stunning too. That’s wildly unfair. Your mom must be gorgeous too,” she grumbled. Harry laughed again. He noted that she implied he was beautiful too. A warmth spread in his stomach because he wasn’t sure anyone had ever called him beautiful before.

“What’s on the other cards?” He asked while she flicked through pictures of his favorite little lady and she oohed and ahhed over them. She cleared her throat and set his phone aside and bit into her second slice of pizza as she answered.

“Oh, I don’t want to overwhelm you today. I was actually going to say you’ve been here forever you’re probably sick of learning about me.”

Would it be completely insane for Harry to say he never wanted to leave? That this was the best first date ever? That learning her life through index cards was something he never dreamed could be so romantic?

He grinned. “Alright, another day. I guess we should pace ourselves,” he amended. The wedding was in three months. They were able to take their time a bit. Starting with the blue cards made the most sense but they would definitely need more than one afternoon together to get to know one another. Plus they would need to go on fake dates to really sell this so they didn’t look so ridiculous trying to touch or something while they were together.

Plus, he wanted more time with her anyway. Really to get all the details he needed. “Can I meet your niece?” She asked excitedly. “I can’t believe Niall didn’t tell me. He knows how much I love playing with babies. That might have cured how upset I was a lot faster.”

Harry grinned but kind of wanted to frown at the same time. “Course y’can meet her. Can’t talk about the baby at the wedding and act like she doesn’t have an Auntie and Uncle duo,” he winked.

She bit her lip. “Your sister won’t mind?”

“I believe I was told, as long as I don’t kill her or maim her, I can do whatever I want with her.”

She smiled. “That’s nice. You’re close with your sister?” He nodded.

“Very. She’s m’best friend. But don’t tell Niall.”

“My brother is my best friend. But don’t tell Niall.”

He chuckled again. “Fair enough.”

“I guess, he won’t be my best friend though soon. He has Mia now and don’t get me wrong, I love Mia, and I know it’s normal. But it’s kind of sad in a nostalgic way. Did you feel that way when your sister got married and had a baby?” She asked.

Harry hadn’t really thought about it. “I don’t know. I love Gemma and... It wasn’t really… I don’t feel like she left me. I adore her. She’s m’hero,” he shrugged. “You’re older, right?” He was confirming his knowledge from her cards. She nodded and she looked at him expectantly, like he had the answer to a riddle she didn’t know how to solve. “Your brother looks up t’you, then,” he said it confidently and he hoped she understood that. There was something about a little brother and an older sister. He knew it well. “He’ll always be your best friend,” he assured her.

There was a long pause like she was trying to work through something in her mind. Maybe it was to hold back tears because her eyes got a little glassy and she took a deep breath. Then with a deep breath she smiled. “Thank you for today, Harry. I am dreading this way less than I was before.”

“Dating me or the wedding?” He joked.

“The wedding, of course! I wasn’t dreading meeting you,” she frowned. “Jesus, is that how it sounded? I am prone to sticking my whole foot in my mouth—”

He truly couldn’t stop laughing. “No, no Beautiful, y’didn’t… no, I was jus’ kidding around,” he assured her. “I had a lot of fun too. I can’t wait for our next lesson,” he pressed a hand on her arm and headed out the door.

“Can you text me when you get home?” She asked from the doorframe.

He glanced over his shoulder and smiled. “Course, Beautiful. I’ll text you.”

Their next meeting was at the park, where she brought a literal picnic basket. It was filled with fruit and a sandwich for each of them. “I love peanut butter and jelly,” she admitted. “I know it’s kind of childish, but… I don’t know there’s something about it.”

He committed that to memory.

Harry willingly took the verbal quiz from all her blue cards when they last chatted.

They discussed a few more favorites and things they didn’t get to chat about much last time. It was a little more organic; less studying for an exam, and more of Harry falling so hard for her as if this was really natural. It felt so obvious to him. He wondered how she didn’t notice he was practically spewing hearts from his eyes, mouth, and ears while he spoke with her.

They decided that their next study date was going to be a movie night. All because she wrote that her favorite movie was Alice in Wonderland, but she told everyone it was The Godfather to sound more worldly.

“We’re getting deep now, yeah?” He joked.

“Very few people know Alice is my favorite, Harry. I’m really trying to sell it that we’re falling madly in love with one another.”

There was nothing to sell. Harry had bought in. She was lovely. He was glad he was getting to know her finally. Whether it was a bit artificial or not. It was all truth, and he was happy to learn it.

In addition to picnics, movie nights, and coffee dates, they decided part of being a couple was doing things that weren’t so date-like too. Normal dates, they called it.

“Can I know the other categories?” He asked. They were jogging first thing in the morning around his town. Which she hated so much. She wasn’t meant to jog, and it was clear that Harry was. He had a natural running build and did it so effortlessly. It was unfair. He slowed down when she needed a break and paid no attention to her breathlessness.

“What do you want to know?” She gasped.

“Well, what’s red?”

She was hoping he’d never ask. Maybe she could get away with him not knowing what was on those cards and the wedding would come and go before she needed to tell him. “Saving that for last.”

“C’mon, tell me the category, Beautiful.”

When he called her beautiful, even while she was sweating profusely and he was hardly out of breath, she didn’t have a choice but to answer him. She paused, bent forward at the hips with her hands on her knees for a moment. Harry waited patiently, not paying any attention to her out of shape nature. “It’s family stuff; red like blood,” she lifted her hands over her head and pulled her bent elbows from side to side to try and increase her airflow.

“Clever,” he smirked scanning her up and down again. He kept doing it to make sure she was okay. He did it each time they stopped. It made her feel a little awkward, but she passed it off on Harry practicing to look at her like he really did like her.

“I guess.”

“Saving it for last?” He repeated.

“Mm.”

“You don’t want t’talk about it?” He surmised.

She took a deep breath and twisted her neck around to continue her stretch while they were taking another break. “Are you sure you want to do this? It’s really extra, I know... I’m sorry about that. I just… well, when we get to the red cards, I think it will make more sense… I’ll make more sense… but—”

“M’sure, beautiful. S’nice t’know you’re ninety percent real. It’ll be fun,” he assured her. “S’nice t’get t’know you in general. I like spending time with you,” he admitted. Although to him, it should have been obvious. Every time they parted, he texted her he arrived home (or he asked her to do the same because it was so adorable, he practically wanted to cry). For God’s sake he couldn’t stop checking her out on this run and he was wearing an outfit that covered most of her pretty body and it wasn’t even that form fitting. He was obsessed with her, and it had only been a couple weeks. They wouldn’t need to sell anything. He was going to be completely fixated on her at the wedding. No one would know it was fake.

“I don’t know why... I can’t even keep up on a simple run. We must have stopped ten times now,” she grumbled as they continued walking.

He rolled his eyes. “Y’don’t run regularly, love. Of course we need t’stop,” he shook his head. “Next time you’ll stop a little less, yeah? S’progress, s’no big deal,” he shrugged. He wasn’t looking to give her workout advice but something about the way she hid her pretty body behind oversized workout clothing told him it wasn’t just the fact that she had to stop that made her uncomfortable.

Her stomach felt like hot lava, and she swallowed. “Well… I… I probably won’t run more. You can go ahead without me.”

“S’okay. I’ll walk,” he shrugged. “S’pretty hot out today too. S’not really fair t’make y’run for the first time in a while right now,” then he took. His. Shirt. Off.

Easily, effortlessly. Tattoos, muscles, tanned skin. Harry was a work of art. She looked away feeling her face heating up despite the fact she was already warmed from the run. He wiped his face off of the sweat (that looked like it belonged on his face so naturally).

Harry didn’t care that she didn’t run often. He said they could stop as much as needed and of course she knew he was being kind and gentlemanly but if this was his workout for the day, wouldn’t that slow him down and ruin his progress? Maybe he would go again later when she didn’t hold him back. Whatever, it didn’t matter. It was for show. It was just… going for a run with your fake boyfriend. A perfect normal, reasonable thing to do. She shouldn’t be getting so overwhelmed by the way his sweat dripped along the individual ridges of his abs.

They needed to go grocery shopping for their next “normal” do-nothing date. Something that wouldn’t require Harry to take his shirt off. She looked away slightly, trying not to look like he electrocuted her. After he swiped the shirt across his body he tossed it at her. “Y’can use it if y’want,” he offered and headed in front of her. This was normal. Her fake boyfriend was giving her his real T-shirt to wipe the sweat off her face.

There were unholy things to think about as she inhaled his scent while she brushed the shirt over her face. Jesus, fuck. He was good.

How was he going on and on about how she was only fifty-three percent real or whatever when he was literally perfect? She had zero percent faith he was real—that this whole arrangement was real. This was a bad dream and nothing more. She was going to wake up and she was going to just be Niall’s imaginary friend to Harry. His green eyes wouldn’t haunt her at work and his laugh wouldn’t be anything she’d heard before.

As she wiped her face again, she bumped into Harry’s back, his skin damp and warm. She stumbled back in surprise, and Harry’s arm wound around her waist before she could fall or bang against the bench and tree that was behind her. “Sorry, Beautiful, s’jus’ someone on a bike, wanted t’cross,” he gave her a squeeze. “Y’okay?”

She nodded mutely. “Yeah… just hot. Wasn’t paying attention.”

He grinned and released all but her very sweaty hand. He gave It a squeeze and took the shirt back. “C’mon,” he pulled her quickly to another slight jog and he released her once they crested the small hill and approached an apartment building complex with sprinklers going over the grass. He ran through them. “Oh, this is so much better,” he laughed.

She gaped. Could there be a negative percentage? This hot man was dripping with water from his hair. He looked like he could model for rain boots. He tugged her into the cold spray and shook his head at her as she gasped. It cooled her right off soaking her shirt in no time at all. “Isn’t it better, Beautiful?”

She smiled, feeling happy in what felt like the first time in years. “Yeah, it’s much better,” she sighed and pulled her hair from it’s ponytail to get her hair wet and cool her scalp.

But actually, those feelings of happiness kept creeping in an awful lot while she hung out with Harry these last few weeks. It was quite coincidental. She managed to splash him with some of the water and he wrapped his wet body around and held her hair against the spray soaking her further while they laughed till their stomachs hurt at an ungodly hour in the morning.

Yeah. It was just... completely coincidental.

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#Certified Microsoft Word hater™️& His place was missing her & as she should ! & “M’good Beautiful thank you brought some tea”#On my knees & He had an impish smile that she was sure got all the girls flustered in college. And on tumblr & It was a surefire way for #him to run for the hills before he even got to know her. Oh dear & I don’t want to mention him at all either because he sucks & do not #feel guilty for Stupid Spencer & she would be looked at with sidelong glances that made her feel like she was in the wrong. UGH &#And if he called her beautiful again she might lose it. I’ve lost it already & I love a background check & allow me I’ll gladly stare #at his ass & “My bookshelf is one of my favorite things so I put things that people I love made or got for me on it.”🥺& hoped that she #would tell him all about the little items one day.🥹& That maybe in the time he was going to know her something of him would end #up on the shelf. SCREAMING RUNNING AROUND BANGING ON WALLS & “I tried to organize them by topic.” Love her & Consider him her #new best friend soon to be lover & this beautiful thing is gonna wreck me & “Blue is one of m’favorite colors” he smiled and #hoped he sounded encouraging. He’s so cute GOODNIGHT😩😭& she felt her whole body fall so fucking hard for the sound. Re: gif is #a good visual here & Was she already in love with him? I give it 37% atm & it felt wrong to feel any flicker of… attraction for another #man. GIRL NOOOO let this man consume you pls #do it for US & She was sure (hoped). BAWAC & Harry thought cranberry-pink might be his new favorite color as well. Eeeeeee ! & because #he loved hearing her talk about herself. Re: gif & He got the impression she didn’t get to do it often.😩& It gushed out of her so easily #and he was a little too in love with her already to hear her stop talking. AHHHHHHHHH HES 100% IN LOVEEEEE we need to regroup and get on #his level team & But she hadn’t played them in ages because she didn’t really have people in her life who enjoyed them as much as #she did. SAM AND I ARE COMING OVER & He wanted to play with her as ridiculous as that sounded. It actually sounds like my body #hitting the floor from passing out swooning & If she enjoyed something he wanted to be part of it. SCREAMING RUNNING AROUND BANGING #That Harry was falling so quickly and all they were doing was covering the basics? Perfectly normal and exactly what I need &#Wouldn’t their first real date have been covering blue cards whether they were physically in front of them or not? Snaps for that #It was ridiculous; he was lovesick completely as his heart skipped a beat. “What’s your favorite board game?” IM GIDDY AS FUCK RN #Sam are you in my head Candyland and Clue are my OGs we will be discussing this later & “We should play sometime” he suggested. GOOD #The thought made him swoon. Same & How was he supposed to tell her that she was his soulmate when she just got out of a #lengthy relationship and all he knew was that she snored when she was sick? AHHHH YOU MUST TELL HER NOW & Why did he #want to know what her snoring sounded like? Now that is love folks & Harry’s soft spot for humor would just make him drool if he #knew ahead of time. Obsessed & She deserved a good first boyfriend. GOOD & he IS a prick & On top of that he didn’t know how #harry styles fic rec #harry styles fluff #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles fanfic

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