Sugar and Spice

Chapter 3

TW: foul language

HARRY'S POV
​Simon Cowell, the man who forced Louis in the closet, has invited me to a meeting, at his office. To say I'm a little scared would be an understatement. My management had recently quit, for a reason unbeknownst to me, but I had suspicions this meeting with Simon was related.

​My thoughts continued to wander as I stepped into the shiny elevator. I reached out my hand as the door began to close to the panel of buttons each with a number inscribed upon them. As my finger trailed along the numbers, I realized I didn't know what floor I was supposed to go to.

​In the midst of my internal freak out, the elevator door had opened once again to reveal that it was still resting on the lobby floor. This time, however, Louis stood in the doorway. He rolled his eyes and stepped in next to me, pushing my hand out of the way to press a button.

Shit! I must have looked like a complete idiot standing there with my hand like that!

​"Mr. Styles," Louis greeted, nodding his head formally.

​He thinks I'm a freak.

​"Morning, Louis," I paused, not knowing how to ask, but my mouth got ahead of my mind, "Where is Simon's office? I'm supposed to have a meeting with him." The words tumbled out my mouth so quickly I wasn't sure it was even remotely possible to understand, but somehow, Louis knew what I had said.

​"We are going to the same floor, Harry. You're not the only one Simon decided to summon this morning." Louis replied, sighing slightly at the end. 

​Confused, I asked, "We are?"

​"Yes."

​I opened my mouth, but decided against replying, leaving myself to my own thoughts instead.

LOUIS' POV
​I hadn't any idea what this meeting with Simon and Harry was going to be about, but I was prepared to sign my name on another sheet of paper. Simon had only hinted to me about a PR stunt, though I had no idea why Harry was here.

​The elevator dinged, signifying we had made it to the right floor. I stepped out of the elevator and made my way down the hallway as I had done several times before. I thought back to my younger self, just starting out at the company, walking through here for the first time.

My dad had just passed, and I was hopeful as I passed the glass windows and wooden doors lining the hallway. Each time I made my way into that elevator after that, I saw my reflection, looking more tired than before. Years of working as Simon's sock puppet had worn the old me down into an emotionless man my family could barely recognize. This time, however, as I walked, I had Harry next to me, following me like a lost puppy. I couldn't help but feel guilty as I knew the same thing could happen to him.   

We got closer to the end of the hallway, where a large, daunting glass door stood watching us approach. I took a long, deep breath as I reached for the handle. I wrapped my fingers around the cold silver as I had done so many times before. I held the door for Harry, who I had to make sure was still behind me, as he was so quiet.

"Thank you, Lou," he shook his head, "Louis."

I furrowed my brows; flashbacks of my past came rushing at me from just one simple nickname. My heart ached as I thought back to my family, remembering my mum calling me by those same three letters. I missed them, I knew I did, but still I pushed those feelings back down just like I always did.

"No problem, Harold." I said, putting emphasis on his name so he would know he didn't get by calling me that without notice.

HARRY'S POV
I ducked my head, ashamed. There was no way that was real, no way I called Louis by his nickname. The one he reserved for the people he liked, for which I am not a part of. I followed closely behind him, watching the way his suit fit him as he walked. The jacket closed properly along his torso, the sleeves showed just the perfect amount of his shirt underneath, and the back of his trousers fit snug onto his bum. Not that I was looking.

We had finally reached the door labelled Simon Cowell, of which was hidden behind layers and layers of doors and turns and hallways, similar to a maze. The deep breath Louis took before opening the door didn't go unnoticed, but I decided to leave it. The office was spacious and surround by floor-to-ceiling windows, and the man it belonged to was sat the head of a large oak table.

"Harry!" He greeted, waving to me with a grin that soon faltered at the sight of Louis. "Louis, how are you?" He asked formally.

"Good." Louis replied, seemingly emotionless.

Simon motioned for the two of us to sit down, "Harry, as you know, I bought out your management."

Wait. What?

"I'm sorry, you bought my management. I thought they just left. Shouldn't I have a say in who will be my new management?" I interrogated further.

I looked over to Louis who had his brows furrowed, looking deep in thought about God knows what, probably happy that this is happening to me.

"Well, Harry, as you will learn, this industry isn't fair, and I am your new manager. I don't want to hear any more of your silly questions." Simon declared.

I ducked my head just as Louis's snapped up. "He's allowed to ask questions, Simon. This is entirely new for him, give him a break, will you?" Louis spat out ferociously, catching me entirely by surprise. He may hate me, but it seems he hated Simon more.

Simon rolled his eyes at Louis's comment, but nodded, nonetheless. He then pulled out a piece of white cardstock and slid it across the table to me. It was a contract.

"Harry, this is a contract stating that you will make a statement to the press that you are not actually a queer, just confused." Simon said, a look of disgust portrayed upon his face.

"Then you will start dating Olivia Wilde, beautiful woman she is." He began, ending the sentence dreamily. It seemed like he was better off dating her than me.

"I will send you the calendar for the dates and pap walks. If there are no further questions, you can just sign right there, and we will be done here." Simon smiled as he pointed at the bottom right corner of the page where a blank line taunted me.

I sat there stunned, having no idea what to say. So instead, I picked up the pen with shaky hands. Just as my I finished signing my name, not sure if I was signing myself into regret, Louis cleared his throat. I looked up to seem him glaring at Simon.

"You can't fucking do that to him you bastard! No one will believe that shit anyways, he's been out for a while. Why can't you just leave him be? You've already done this sick shit to me, there is no need to do it again." Louis tried.

Simon laughed, "That wouldn't be as fun though, would it Louis?"