Earned It [zarry]

Chapter 22

"What, so you're not the boss anymore?" Zayn asks with his arms crossed and his brows furrowed. "Har- I mean Mr. Styles is just gonna come in and take your position?"

"Yeah I think so....but it's going to be good for the business. He's a really smart businessman, he'll be more of a blessing than a hindrance." Theo says as he fixes his tie. "He'll be here in a few minutes actually. Are you sure you're fine being his assistant instead of mine? I could ask if he could give you another job here instead."

Zayn shakes his head and just smiles kindly. "I'm sure he's not that intimidating. Matter of fact...I think he might even have a soft side." Zayn said with a small smirk on his face.

A few minutes pass and then then they could hear footsteps echoing down the hallways. Then Harry's leaning against the doorway. "I've come to collect the paperwork and the assistant."

Zayn looks at the suit Harry's wearing and admired how good he looks in it, before quickly looking away and grabbing the papers. "Ready to go when you are sir." Zayn says professionally with a bit of a smile on his face. He watches the corner of Harry's lips twitch up bit, and a sense of pride goes through Zayn's body.

+

After they dropped the paper work off at Styles Enterprise, they head back to the writing company so that Harry could do the whole ribbon cutting ceremony. Harry has a suit for Zayn ready, and notes for him to take for when he'd have to say his speech.

So here he was. Surrounded by Glamour-zones decked in Michael Kors and Gucci and gelled hair, playing with their lanyards between manicured fingers as they eagerly awaited the appearance of Mr. Styles. This was the other reason why everyone was interested in this small branch all of a sudden. He was sure at least 86% of these girls and guys were just here to get a glimpse of the "Elusive and Sexy Mr. Styles."

From what the media knows, Harry avoided spotlight like a criminal. Only showing up at public events if he had too. And when he did, it was a massive uproar of pictures of his every angle on every social media web site in existence. So it really wasn't a shocker when the whole half of the block was packed with cameramen and other people. Harry lead Zayn around, just walking in random directions, and of course reporters and cameras came to them right away. They talked and greeted more people for about thirty minutes until Harry had to go. He took the podium and quickly gained everyone's attention.

They all stood there for a few moments waiting for Harry to start. Zayn was in the crowd standing next to Theo, who looked proud of the business and it's already growing achievements. When Harry finally gets his papers in order his eyes snapped up, and Zayn sucked in a tiny breath along with everyone else around him.

Many websites had been dedicated to Harry's eyes. Describing them as fierce green. Zayn could once again see what they meant.

His gaze was demanding. Powerful. The eyes of a man that had whatever he wanted and had people running to be stepping stones beneath his feet. Zayn knows how that feels, and he's proud to say that he's no longer that type of submissive anymore. He listens to Harry's speech and rolls his eyes a few times when the crowd claps obnoxiously loud. He'd also make silly faces when Harry's eyes would catch his. When the ribbon cutting ceremony started, Zayn was by Harry's side, and then chefs started to hand out cake. It was a great event.

"You know.." Zayn starts when they were back in Harry's car, "That speech you had an unoriginal quote in it. I thought you were one hundred percent authentic Mr. Styles?"

"Oh?" Harry said, seemingly amused as he angled his body to look at Zayn. He tilted his head, so he could watch him. "And how would you know that?"

Zayn smirks and crossed his arms over his chest in a relaxed way. "I just do. And I'm sure everyone else knew you quoted the Warren Buffett, the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. They were all just too far up your ass to care."

"You 'just do?'" Harry said, finding Zayn's sass amusing as he huffed a laugh

"Yes, Mr. Styles. And I think I might be able to tell who said any quote you come up with." Zayn said, slouching an resting his hands in his lap. He saw Harry's eyes flashed at the challenge. And Zayn just keeps the smile on his face, making Harry narrow his eyes a bit.

"No man has a good enough memory to be a successful liar." Harry said, amusement clear in his voice.

"President Abraham Lincoln." Zayn said. "Except you will find that I do."

"There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure." Harry says with a raised eyebrow.

"Statesmen, Colin Powell." Zayn says as he starts mentally keeping score on who's winning this little game.

"Success is not final; failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts."

"Winston S. Churchill."

Harry starts the car then and pulls out the parking space, before heading into the road, and back to his office. "There are two types of people who will tell you that you cannot make a difference in this world: those who are afraid to try and those who are afraid you will succeed."

"Ray Goforth," Zayn says smiling proud and mentally applauding himself.

Harry smirks and turns to glance at Zayn for a second before paying his attention back to the road. "I find ambition really attractive too. If someone's good at something they love doing. I want someone who is driven."

Zayns face twist into confusion and he thinks hard about who that quote could be by. He opens his mouth to say someone, but closes it. He honestly had no clue.

"Harry Styles, CEO." The curly haired lad says with a cheeky grin on his face.

Zayn rolls his eyes at that and huffs out a laugh. "That's cheating. You're unbelievable."

"There's no shame in my game babe," Harry says and hits on the gas a bit harder so he could make it in time to finish the rest of his work.

When thy get back to the pristine building, they were quickly greeted by the assistance, interns, and secretaries. They all offered Harry something, and Harry would always look back at zayn to see if he wanted something first. They reach the office door, and Zayn goes to sit in the chair across from Harry's desk.

"You should get a couch in here." Zayn comments as he tried to get comfortable in this chair. "As your new assistant, I feel like it's only fair I can add a few additional details to your office."

Harry looks at Zayn for a few seconds before shaking his head. "Anything but a couch."

"What? Why?!" Zayn asks offended that his idea was just shut down like that. "I think the couch would be beneficial to this working environment. Why don't you want a couch?"

Harry rolls his eyes and just shakes his head, starting his work. Zayn narrows his eyes at him a bit, but gives up and looks for something to do. It doesn't look like Harry's going to give him anything to do anytime soon, so he stands and searches the room for pencil and paper. When he finds the plain white paper and clipboard with pencil, he goes back to the seat and gets comfortable again. Biting on the end of the pencil, he looks at Harry with a distant thinking look on his face. A small smile soon spreads on his lips and he starts drawing his muse again.