Black

Chapter 3

I was starved till lunch finally comes around 1 pm. Harry leads me to the cafeteria and continues to annoy me with his horrible sea jokes and puns.

"What did the mermaid wear to the math class?" He asks excitedly.

I roll my eyes and spoon some salad onto my plate.

"I don't know, Harry." I sigh.

"Live a little, Haley. Just guess." He asks.

I put a ham and cheese sandwich and a bottle of cranberry tea on my plate. Hm, I like the food here. 

"An...algae-bra." I crack a smile.

"No—Hey! No fair, you knew it all along." He pouts cutely and nudges me with his shoulder. 

I cackle evilly and he leads me to a table filled with 4 more people. I sit down uncomfortably. I am hopelessly socially awkward. Harry starts to introduce me to the strangers.

"Okay, guys. This is Haley, the new intern." He points to me.

"Oi, Harry. You picked up a good one, mate." A blonde haired boy winked at him.

Harry glares at him, "This is Niall." he rolls his eyes shortly after.

"Chloe." He gestures to a girl with brown hair, which was dip dyed into purple. She looks beautiful with her pale skin and pink lips.

She smiles warmly at me as I return the smile.

"Zayn." Harry nods his head to an attractive boy with olive skin and jet black hair. Its styled and messy as he looks at me through his hair.

"Hi." He says shyly.

"And Louis." He gestures to a cute, preppy looking boy who smiles cheekily at me.

"Nice to meet you all. I honestly thought I would embarrass myself by now but I feel comfortable around you guys." I can't believe I just said that out loud.

"I'm just glad I have a girl friend to talk to." Chloe giggles. 

Everyone just laughs lightly and smiles at my embarrassing statement and I get this great feeling in my stomach. I think I'm going to like it here. The rest of lunch goes by with the new acquaintances asking me about how and why I came here and how it must feel to be the daughter of the owner of the company. I felt shy at first, but then important, like they actually cared about me.

After finishing of my salad, sandwich and tea, I decide I need to catch up on my reading of the manuscript since Harry was annoying me throughout the morning.

"I'll see you guys later." I wave my hand and head to the office.

As I round the corner, in front of the water cooler, I feel someone grab my hand.

"Haley, wait."

"Harry." I say as I turn around and see his face.

"Uh, you forgot this." He hands me my phone.

Oh, thank god. My phone is my life.

"Thanks!" I say, smiling.

"Uh, listen..." He scratches the back of his head, "Do you want to—"

"Harry! Mr. Brown wants you in the office ASAP!" Zayn interrupts.

Harry growls in frustration, "Sorry, just...wait here. I'll be back in a minute." He puts his hands in front of me as if I'd sprint any moment like a crazy dog.

He disappears down the hallway.

I patiently wait for 5 minutes, then 10. Then 15. After a while, I get mad and almost walk away when Zayn approaches me.

"Haley. What are you doing here?" He cocks his head.

"Harry wanted to tell me something...He...I..." I look around the empty hallway.

"Who am I kidding? He probably forgot about me." I sigh.

"What are you talking about? Haley, Harry's in the office." Zayn says.

I widen my eyes.

"Oh, okay." I mumble, embarrassed.

There silence between us for a minute.

"Hey, listen, do you wanna go grab some coffee after work?" He surprises me by saying.

I just met Zayn today but he seems sweet and I don't seem to have any plans after work.

"Uh, yeah. Sure." I smile slightly.

"Great. I'll see you later." He smiles and walks to his side of the office.

My anger towards Harry boils back and I storm to my desk. He looks up at me and smiles.

"That was a long trip to the bathroom." He smirks.

"What? Harry, I was standing out there in the hallway for 15 minutes." I snap.

"But Zayn—"

"Zayn! Thankfully he came and noticed me standing there and told me you were inside!" I huff.

"I was inside, that's true but—"

"Forget it Harry. You made me waste time in the morning as it is, just let me finish this manuscript in peace." I say, frustrated.

His expression looks as if he's gobsmacked. I didn't mean to say what I said, but I was annoyed.

I take a seat and start working on my manuscript, not letting his presence faze me. I quickly get through the text and annotate it as much as I can. I take the fat book, put it in the brown envelope I got it in and get up from my seat. My butt and legs feel numb when I get up. I give the manuscript to Greg and he hands me a thin booklet to work on for the rest of the day and tonight. I feel Harry's eyes on me as I walk out of the office and hit the elevator button. I slip into the elevator and press 18th floor. It was the second top-most floor. The 19th floor was the large terrace used for parties and other occasions. My dad was over-the-top like that.

The elevator softly dings when it reaches 18th floor. I step out and navigate myself to my father's office. I knock on the door and I hear a faint, 'Come in.'

I push open the dark wood door and see my dad facing a beautiful woman.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I can come another time." I apologize profusely.

"Oh don't be silly. I can't believe I'm meeting your daughter for the first time, Frank." She gets up off the chair and hugs me.

I hug her back, surprised at her greeting. I pull back to see her beautiful smile.

"This is Ms. Kaitlyn, Ms. Kaitlyn Fowler. She's working on a business deal with me. She owns Fowler and Co. and wants to help Maebell Publishing grow as a company." Dad says.

"Wow! That's nice. Thank you, Ms. Fowler." 

"Oh, please. Call me Kaitlyn." She smiles and I already like her.

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Heyy, hope you guys liked that chapter. Summer vacations are finally here and I am so excited to just write and update for you guys :) Keep reading, commenting and voting please! It would mean the world to me.

Love,

Anonymous x