Empire of Deception (Harry Styles AU)

Chapter 5

The Brew smells of spice and coffee, and I find myself relaxing upon contact. 

As soon as I see the first face, however, I tense back up again. I scan the room looking for Mia, and when I see her in her work attire I wonder how she can deal with all of the stares. Despite being just outside the corporate district, The Brew was probably one of the most anti office-worker place out here. Zayn and I both despised coming here at first because of that, but eventually we kind of got over it. The drinks here were a lot cheaper than Starbucks, and it was nice not bumping into anyone you knew. 

I smiled and sat down, still unable to fully shrug away the feeling of being overdressed in such a casual setting filled with hipsters and every other sort of indie crowd. 

"Hey there curly-q," Mia's best friend, Brandon, grins at my arrival. "The most bitchin' squad of them all welcomes you," he continues, dipping his head in mock acknowledgment and respect. 

"Stop," Mia warns, pointing her finger at him and giving him a serious look. "Sorry about him, he doesn't know how to behave," she says turning to me before slapping him on the arm. Brendon rolls his eyes upon contact but I notice him rubbing the spot a little while later. "Zayn's ordering drinks, we got you your usual," she prompts, but I notice she's already sipping a cup of tea. 

Zayn and I hanging with Mia's "squad" was a fairly new thing, and I, at least, haven't felt completely at ease with them yet. They are so different from me, I can't help but wonder if Mia feels the same way towards us. After all, she was one of them first before she became one of us. Although I knew Mia wouldn't choose shitty friends, I still could sense the tension. Just because she likes us didn't mean her friends have to. Brendon is a nice lad but I know how anti-corporate he is, so I feel weary mentioning anything work-related around him. Carly was a pixie-haired bubble of zest, and she was a lot more open about her disapproval than Brendon. She still remained polite, but I could see her disapproving looks from across the room, and feel the stabs of her angry whispers to Mia. It makes me wonder if she had ever spit in my tea once or twice. 

As Zayn takes his seat in-between Mia and Brendon on the old leather couch across from me, my nose is suddenly tickled by the scent of sweet vanilla and something else I can't quite put my finger on. 

Upon hearing the jingle of bangles, I turn my head just in time to see Madison—the last of Mia's so called squad—wave to Carly who was standing behind the pastry counter. 

"Finally you show up," Brendon groans, giving her a look of disappointment. 

"Sorry," she apologizes, "Works been crazy. We got approached sometime last week from a major company asking for us to design some sort of... interface for them? I don't even know. I know we do websites but an entire personalized interface is totally different, and the representative of the company is really intense and scary and she makes everyone nervous as fuck." Her eyes widen at the curse word and her hands immediately go to cover her mouth. "I'm so sorry," she mumbles, her face turning pink as she looks at me.

"It's fine, he doesn't care," Mia assures, trying to steer the conversation back to what they were talking about. I could tell from her leaning posture that she was definitely interested in what Madison had to say. "What company?"