Love is War (L.S.)

16

Louis knocks on the large oval-shaped doors that have become so familiar to him. He waits all of three seconds before he hears the faint voice of someone saying 'come in.' Louis pulls open the door and pauses for a moment because the entire room is empty. Except for one man. The conference table that is usually littered with documents and coffee cups is wiped clean and holding nothing. All the chairs are empty - no jackets hung on the backs and no purses strung on the arms. There's just one singular man sat with his back facing Louis. 

That makes Louis pause again because he's not seated in his usual head chair. He's sat in one of the swivel chairs on one side of the table, near the center of it. His hair is in a bun today and Louis tries not to stare at the effortless elegance the hairstyle portrays. Instead, he rounds the conference table and stops next to a chair directly opposite the other man's. He's not looking at him, but rather writing furiously on a piece of paper. His eyes are hooded and his bottom lip is trapped between his teeth. Louis doesn't say anything, just stands and waits there for him to finish whatever he's doing. 

"You can sit Louis," Styles tells him without tearing his eyes away from the paper on the table. 

Louis gives him a curt nod and sits down directly opposite him. He folds his hands on the table. "I thought we were having a meeting." He had received that anonymous text yet again earlier this evening right after he hopped out of the shower. 

"We are," Styles responds. He flips over the page he's writing on and slips it into a black folder. 

"There's no one else here," Louis states. "Am I early, then?"

"There's no one else coming. It's just you and me." He raises his head to look at Louis properly then and Louis tries not to squirm in his seat. It's that gaze again - the one that always makes him feel a tad uncomfortable to be the focal subject of attention. 

"Alright," Louis says finally. He leans back a little in his chair and crosses his legs at the ankles. 

"I'm meeting with each person individually."

"To decide if you should fire us?" Louis prompts. 

"Contrary to your beliefs Louis, I do more than just fire people."

"I've yet to see that," Louis mutters under his breath. 

Styles' jaw clenches. "I'm meeting with each person to talk about the vault job," he explains, ignoring Louis' comment. 

Louis raises his eyebrows at that. "And you want to talk to me about staying back here and doing all the paperwork while you lot handle the big boy parts of the heist correct?"

Styles shakes his head. "I want you to do the job with me."

Oh.

Without waiting for a response, Styles slides a few folders over the table toward Louis, who tries not to appear too eager as he flips them open. One folder has a map (naturally) of the layout of the building that houses the vault, and the vault itself. The other folder includes the dimensions of the diamonds and other jewels that they're aiming at "rescuing" from the strategically locked box. 

"You did not write that you plan on rescuing diamonds from a vault," Louis deadpans. 

Styles simply shrugs. "It sounds nicer."

"It sounds like you think you're doing a good thing."

Styles narrows his eyes at him. "Are you not a part of this team Louis?"

Louis bites his cheek. "Of course I am."

"Then why are you bringing up your precious morals? I picked you so I don't expect you to-"