as it is || harry styles au

twenty-five

sorry for the long wait but it's a looooooong one...wait for the end 😉😉😉😉

h a r r y

     "Hey, Harry. I haven't seen you here in a while."

     My eyes jumped up from my laptop, having not noticed Maeve walk into my office. Once I acknowledged her presence, I returned my focus. I'd been neglecting my work at the gardens while spending so much time with Ives and Jamie. Even with a couple dozen emails needing imminent responses and double that amount in calls to make, I didn't regret a second of that time.

     I could be with them right now if it wasn't for Christmas being tomorrow and the town's annual food drive happening this afternoon and a Christmas Eve drive-in showing of Home Alone happening tonight.

     "Hey," I replied shortly. I'd always suspected she had feelings for me, and with Ives back in my life, despite mine and Ivory's unlabeled status, I didn't want Maeve to get any ideas.

     "You've been out of the office a lot."

     I finished typing out the rest of an email and hit send. "Yeah, Siva's been taking over the watering and monitoring duties. The rest I can do at home."

     "What's so important at home?"

     I finally looked up.

     "What's going on, Maeve?"

     She moved from the doorway to sit across from me. "I just want to talk to my friend I haven't heard from in a while. His ex comes back to town a few months ago and now suddenly he's attached to her hip."

My eye twitched involuntarily. "What's wrong with that? How does it have anything to do with you?"

"She hurt you, Harry."

"You don't know anything about her."

She huffed in exasperation. "You have to look at it from my point of view. She—"

I shut her down. "No, Maeve. I don't."

Maeve had only ever been just a friendly coworker. There was a time when I thought that if there was ever a chance in hell I could ever move on from Ivory, it'd be her, but that was when I'd removed myself from reality, and I never once made a move to be anything other than a friend to her.

Romance doesn't come naturally with anybody other than Ives. That was just a fact of life.

"I wish you'd just talk to me. I don't mean to sound judgmental," she reprieved.

"You're being judgmental. Now, if you don't mind, I'm busy contacting vendors for the drive tonight."

She gripped the arms of the chair, her lips pursed in frustration, and started to rise.

My down mood turned right around as soon as I heard a distinct voice echoing down the hall followed by a soft hushing noise.

I shut my laptop and pushed away from my desk. Jamie's small frame appeared hesitantly in the doorway as if unsure this was where he should be. But as soon as he laid his eyes on me, the smile that took over his face released the air from my chest. A couple seconds later, his mum appeared, my heart arriving along with her.