Roman Holiday | h.s

Fourteen

"Have a good day at work, I've got a surprise for you later. Love, H." The message read, Anna was currently in a meeting with the other designers with ideas being thrown around for the next collection. She had been allowed some time away from the office to do 'research' and 'find inspiration' and she did just that - based on one Harry Styles.

She found inspiration in the colours of him, the dark pink of his lips, the jade of his eyes, his sun-kissed skin and his chestnut brown hair. She found inspiration in his voice, smooth like velvety honey on a warm day, in his embrace and the way he made her feel warm on a chilly day.

She researched the current trends in fashion and made her own spin, incorporating parts of her inspiration - using little close up snapshots to further support her designs.

Harry was on a video call to Mallory currently, while in Anna's house.

"Harry, are we any further with album news?" Mallory pressed him to answer.

"Like I said, I've been finding inspiration." He rolled his eyes, the truth was that he hadn't just found inspiration; he had literally found his muse in Anna. He had already accidentally started writing songs about her and the music came to him naturally.

"We can see that, it wasn't very wise of you to let that girl post a photo of you on social media. So much for keeping things private." Mallory scolded, confusing Harry.

"What photo?" He asked curiously, which made Mallory stare into the screen blankly.

"What do you mean, what photo?" She asked.

"I mean, what photo Mallory? Which girl?" He asked, desperately seeking answers now. This was the last thing he needed.

"I've sent it to you." Mallory said and seconds later a screenshot of Sophie's Instagram post came up - the photo of the pair looking adoringly at each other at the orchard. Harry could see that it clearly hadn't gone unnoticed as the photo had tens of thousands of likes.

He knew that Sophie had clearly posted it innocently, but was shocked that he had been tagged in it - which meant that Sophie had obviously done her research and knew who he was. If she hadn't, his millions of followers would've taken care of that.

This meant that he had to tell Anna before her sister could.

"Cazzo." He cursed.

"I don't know what that means, but yes, exactly." Mallory huffed.

"I didn't know a photo was going to be posted, I've been very careful." He assured Mallory.

"How does the girl feel about everything?" Mallory asked.

"Um. I don't know. She doesn't know what I do." Harry admitted sheepishly.

"What?" Mallory spoke in disbelief.

"How the hell have you managed to keep that a secret?"

"With difficulty. When the first photos came out I had to hide a magazine in the supermarket." He told Mallory the anecdote of the time in the queue at the supermarket.

"Listen, Harry. I know you are resistant to my advice, but if I were you and I really cared for this girl, I would tell her about it before she finds out in another way. It's only a matter of time, the story is spreading like wildfire. We just want what's best for you." Mallory offered up some kind words - which was rare coming from her mouth.

"I know," Harry sighed, staring at the screen.

"I'll tell her tonight." He made the bold decision, which made his stomach twist in fear. All he wanted to do was cocoon himself up with Anna and shelter them both from the world and their harsh judgements. But that just wasn't feasible, or fair.

"Oh, good. It's for the best, H. I'll try and get these stories under control until then." Mallory informed him, and they ended the call after discussing the upcoming tour.

For the rest of the day, Harry went to the orchard. He had already been told my Arnold that he was welcome there anytime, so he took him up on the offer. He made his way through rows of trees and secret passages to the sunflower clearing which Anna had shown him to before.

He had his guitar slung lazily on his back and in his hands carried a journal and a bottle of water which he set down in the centre of the clearing where he was going to sit. When he was sat he opened up his phone to record anything he would sing or play but he noticed Anna had replied to his message from this morning.

Grazie, girasole. Ti amo. <3.

In a way, he knew that he was probably focusing on his music as a means to distract himself from the conversation he knew he would have to have tonight. But he also wanted to make the evening special, since he had planned a private moonlit gondola ride for them both. She had mentioned briefly a couple of weeks ago that despite living in Italy her entire life, she had never been on a gondola at night.

Harry's fingers strummed lightly on his guitar which mirrored the tapping of Anna's fingers on her iPad in the boardroom, typing notes from the meeting. While he was writing lyrics inspired by her, she was drawing sketches inspired by him.

As it turns out, a clearing filled with beautiful sunflowers proved to be a very inspiring find. He found interesting similarities between them and Anna. They were both visually stunning, smelled intoxicating, and resembled the colour yellow.

Anna was yellow person, he didn't know if it was her favourite colour but he had a suspicion that it was. She was a bright beacon radiating kindness and happiness. Upon seeing her wardrobe, he noticed the many pieces of yellow clothing and hoped she would wear them. He noted her love for sunflowers, always having a vase near. Her little knick knack decorations mostly having a golden or yellow hue.

Yellow was now his favourite colour.

She was his favourite colour.

That's how he wrote his song Sunflower. About his very own sunflower.

He returned back to his apartment after to get ready for the gondola ride, opting for a loose patterned shirt, a cap and some linen trousers for the occasion. He wanted to feel comfortable.

When he pulled up, stomach twisted in knots with nerves for the date - and for the truth he had to finally share, she opened the door with the widest smile on her face which eased his sick feeling a little.

She gestured for him to come in and left the door open while she disappeared. He parked outside and grabbed the bunch of sunflowers which he picked for her earlier to take in. As he stepped in the door, Cooper appeared at the bottom of the stairs with a loud meow to greet him.

"Hello, Coop." He cooed, petting his head.

"Hello, handsome." Anna let out a whistle at the top of the steps. She skipped down them carrying a pair of espadrilles with a lemon coloured bow on top. She immediately embraced him in a hug and then a kiss when she reached the bottom.

"You look beautiful. These are for you," he extended the flowers to her, which she took gently with adoration in her eyes.

"Thank you so much." She hugged him again, with a light squeeze.

"You're welcome." Harry told her, planting a kiss on her forehead.

Anna pulled back with a playful look on her face, adjusting her lemon yellow vest.

"So...what's the surprise?"