Harry Styles is spending the summer in a quiet villa on the French Riviera, hoping to find inspiration for his third album. It's not happening. When he sees a beautiful windsurfer racing across the waves, he believes lessons might be a good distract...
Everywhere they went in town, people asked her questions. She used the return of her father to explain her presence. When asked where Harry was, she simply answered 'at his house.' When they started asking more questions, she said she had to go home.
Ed called her again that night.
"Anne and Gemma will be here tomorrow. He got in the Corvette and was gone for half an hour, then he came back and took the SUV, and we didn't see him for nearly six hours. Did he come to you?"
"I didn't see him if he was in town." Lia was beginning to be less sad and more angry. "Why is he acting like this? It's not as though this isn't exactly what would have happened on the thirty first. Is he throwing a tantrum because he didn't get to keep his toy for the whole time?"
"Of course not. This isn't a tantrum. This is... despair. That's the only word for it. He's barely eating, he just stays in his room playing the guitar."
"I don't get it. He knows where I am, so if he's so bent about me leaving, why doesn't he come here? I mean, I don't want him to, but you'd think if it was that big a deal that I left early, he'd come give me shit about it."
"You told him not to. But we're at a loss, so Anne and Gemma will come and if anybody can set him straight it's those two. They're a force to be reckoned with. Please think about coming back, or calling him, even a text might cheer him up."
"I don't know. Hopefully family will help him. It's helping me."
*****
Lia spent three peaceful days with her father. He was a shoulder to cry on, an ear to vent in, and a giver of good advice. They had fallen quickly back into their loving relationship, and Lia's current situation made her forgive her father's quick departure after her mother's death completely.
There had been no more press, and no more calls from Ed.
Lia, having woken up feeling a little more sad than usual on her fourth day home, took a morning walk up to the chateau ruins. She liked to sit and think in the courtyard, on a stone bench shaded by an olive tree, near the splashing fountain. There were rarely any other visitors and she appreciated the solitude.
Deep in her own thoughts, she didn't hear the approaching footsteps, didn't see the person come into the courtyard, until they cleared their throat and spoke.
"Aeolia?"
She looked up, startled.
"Yes. Do I know you?"
"Not yet." She was English. The woman stepped out of the shadows and walked toward Lia. "May I sit with you?"
"I don't suppose I can stop you." She was in no mood for manners.
Lia hoped that this wasn't some well camouflaged reporter or paparazzi, but she really didn't look the part. She might have been near Lia's mother's age, attractive, with dark brown hair and olive skin. Something about her...
"I'd like to talk to you about Harry."
Lia stood up and walked away, straight across the courtyard and down the steps. She couldn't believe the nerve of these people.
Footsteps approached quickly behind her. She turned to give the woman a piece of her mind, but was cut off.
"Lia, I'm not press. I'm sorry, I should've thought. Even after all these years, I forget how complicated this can be." She smiled kindly.
The smile.
It was Anne Twist, Harry's mother.
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A pit opened in Lia's stomach. She thought she might be sick.
"Anne. How nice to meet you." She hoped she didn't sound as shaky as she felt. "I assume you've met my father? That he sent you?"
"He did."
"I think we should go back to the house. I've been attracting unwanted attention in town lately."
"I understand. Lead the way."
Back in the privacy of their garden, Lia brought two chairs under the shade tree and two bottles of Orangina from the kitchen.
"I'm sorry I don't have anything more sophisticated to offer. Papa and I are still settling in."
"That's fine, darling. I haven't had one of these in years. Now..."
"Harry?"
"Harry. I know Ed told you he was locked in his room. We've got him out. Gemma managed it. A big sister can accomplish things that a mother can't. But he's not ok. Lia, I'm not sure I understand what's going on. I hoped you might clear some things up so I can help him. Would you do that?"
"Of course, I'll try."
"He's told me all about you, of course. How you met, how he was enamored from the start, how you came to be his muse. I owe you a debt of gratitude for giving up your summer for him. He said you had agreed to stay at the house until he left on the thirty first."
"Yes."
"And you love him."
Lia nodded. "I didn't mean to love him. I thought I'd be able to say goodbye on the thirty first and go back to normal. You know, look back on it as the most crazy, fantastic summer of my life. When I realized that staying would just be painful, dreading the day I had to leave, I decided to cut it off cleanly."
"But it hasn't been very clean, has it?"
Lia shook her head in exasperation. "It would be a clean break if Harry would just let me go. Doesn't he understand that it's... it's mean to not leave me be? I realized I wouldn't be able to turn it off at the end and it was killing me, so I left. He's almost done his summer, he got what he wanted from me, why can't he move on like he planned?"
Anne's eyes were sad. "Lia, what do you think Harry feels for you?"
"Appreciation, I expect, and affection. I know he feels affection for me. There are other things, too, but I'm not going to discuss them with his mother."
Anne shook her head. "I understand now. You're both fools. Sweet fools. The two of you need to talk, Lia, face to face. I know my son, and I think I can see a good bit of who you are inside those bright blue eyes. Please come back with me. Give him tonight. If things haven't sorted themselves out by tomorrow, then I'll give up and you can both choose to be miserable. But give him tonight."
Lia wasn't sure what to think of this woman. Lia knew from her fangirl days that Anne was a dedicated parent, determined to support her son. She wouldn't be asking Lia to return with her if she didn't think it was the best thing for him. But to go back to the house? What if she left there even more broken than she felt now? What if she didn't? What if seeing him would make things better for her as well?
"I don't know. I need to think. Would you mind staying here with my dad? I'd like to go for a little drive around the lake, feel some wind on me and think?"
"I'd be happy to stay and visit with your father."
"Thank you." She started to walk towards the house and turned around. "Anne?"
"Yes?"
"We lost my mother at the end of last year. Breast cancer. I know you lost your husband a few years ago. Maybe you could give him some words of encouragement? I worry about him. A lot."
