Frowned Upon [H.S. AU]

FIFTEEN

"Why I feel this way, I don't know, baby.

I think of her so much

It drives me crazy."

✿ ✿ ✿

HARRY STYLES

November 5th, 2021

I watch the elevator doors in front of me open, and my feet move quickly to walk toward my office before I'm stopped one more time.

The takeout bag in my hand softly swings back and forth as I see my receptionist's desk coming into view. I'm hoping she went on her lunch as well; otherwise, she'll give me a list of things I have to do or people I have to call. At this point in time, I can only keep my attention on the sweet and sour chicken I've been craving all day that's in this bag.

All I wanted to do was go down and grab lunch for Zayn and me, and I was stopped easily ten times.

A sigh of relief escapes me when I see that the chair she usually sits in is empty, and the phone is set to send any calls to voicemail until she returns.

When I reach my door, I pull my keys out of my pocket to unlock it, only to see that it's already open.

I furrow my brows in confusion and hesitantly open my door, but my eyes roll back instantly when I see Zayn comfortably sitting in the armchair across from my desk.

"Make yourself at home," I say sarcastically while walking in.

He turns his head to look at me with his phone in his hands and both his feet propped up on the chair.

"You gave me a key," he retorts.

"For emergencies," I clarify while walking over to the large chair behind my desk.

He sits up straight as I make my way around my desk, and I set the bag down in front of me, tossing my keys down next to it. It's barely resting on the wooden tabletop for one second before Zayn's greedy hands are trying to reach for his food

"Hey, it was an emergency," he attempts to defend, and I raise my brows at him. The tone in his voice tells me it most definitely wasn't, even more so when he continues, "One of your interns wouldn't leave me alone; I needed to hide."

I let out a loud laugh, and I don't even need to ask which intern he's referencing.

He mocks my laugh and rolls his eyes, but I can see a smile forming on his face as my laughter only grows in response. It doesn't take long until he chooses to ignore me as I rub the consequences of his past choices in his face, and he focuses on starting to eat his food instead.

I start to open the container of takeout just as my laughter begins to die down, but it only builds up again when I see him flick his middle finger at me while trying to chew a mouthful of chow mein.

"Oh, come on," I finally manage to start explaining my reaction through my chuckles, "I told you sleeping with anyone in the office would be a terrible idea, and what did you do?"

He sends me a blank look, and I know he won't answer my rhetorical question.

I raise my brows while poking my fork into a piece of chicken, dragging out my teasing just enough to make him shake his head softly.

"You slept with one of my interns," I point out before shoving a bite into my mouth.

"I know, I know," he says with regret written all over his face, "I didn't think that she would tell the whole fucking building. Plus, I didn't expect she'd be trying to fuck me nonstop months later."