The Encounter |H.S|

44

I look at Zayn as he walks ahead of us towards the elevator. Lunch had gone by too fast and Zayn insisted to have his next photoshoot somewhere outside the building and after a lot of fighting between him and Harry, Harry finally gave up.

So now, after getting back to the office to let Megan know about our plan and Harry let the crew know it as well, we are making our way out since Zayn said he had a place in mind.

Harry had also informed me that the photographer would be someone else, and not Carter, due to our situation which reassured me a lot more than it should.

Harry was next to me on the phone, something about needing a limousine for the crew and space for their stuff, so I keep myself entertained by looking at the numbers on the doors of the various offices.

However, my attention is drawn back to Harry when he decides to wrap his free arm around my waist and pulls me closer to him, still angrily talking on the phone with furrowed eyebrows.

We reach the elevator and Zayn presses the button quickly, making us all stop walking while waiting for the doors to open. He turns to look at me, wiggling his eyebrows up and down playfully while staring at Harry's hand on my waist and I playfully slap his arm.

"Hello Zayn, heading for a photoshoot?" Someone asks and we all turn our heads to see Carter, who shifts when he notices that Zayn isn't the only one here.

Silence fills the air, Harry had stopped talking and is now staring at Carter with furrowed eyebrows before hanging up the call without any other word. I ignore him, keeping my gaze on the metal doors in front of us silently while crossing my arms over my chest.

"Yeah, I thought you were coming along?" Zayn says and Harry's head snaps in his direction with widened eyes while shaking his head quickly as the doors of the lift open.

We all step inside, Harry and I a little bit far away from where Carter stood while Zayn stays in the middle, looking at me with a frown before I signal him to simply ignore my actions.

Even though Zayn was confused, Carter does not speak any further and in a way, I feel quite relieved that he's not talking. It's not that I don't want Zayn to know, I just don't want to tell him what has happened with Carter listening.

Zayn presses the button to the first floor and the doors close almost immediately as we all stay quiet, not a word being shared amongst any of us. Zayn doesn't speak out of pure confusion, looking between all of us before furrowing his eyebrows as if to demonstrate that we are overreacting before shrugging.

The doors open and I feel like throwing myself on the ground and thank everything alive for making this exchange much less complicated than it could have been.

We all step out, Carter going into the printing room and we make our way outside quickly, Zayn turning his head to look at me while setting his hands on his hips while waiting for me to explain.

"What the fuck was that?"

I clear my throat out of awkwardness, getting ready to explain this whole situation as shortly and after doing so, being interrupted by Harry once or twice, Zayn widens his eyes.

"It's fine though, I don't think he's going to do anything else," I assure him as I sense he's about to freak out, eyes widened and eyebrows raised while staring at us with bewilderment shown across his face.

"Why didn't you fire him?" Zayn questions Harry, who furrows his eyebrows before adjusting his tie. I believe he's made that a habit, whenever he's nervous or doesn't know what to say he does something of the kind.

"It wouldn't be fair, it probably would have been seen as favouring Evelyn, and this isn't a proper reason to fire someone." Harry attempts to explain, merely fueling Zayn's commotion.