Empire of Deception (Harry Styles AU)

Chapter 6

When I'm nervous my heart doesn't beat fast, instead, it beats painfully slow and it's almost as if I'm aware of every single little movement around me. I keep the folder clutched naturally at my side, my fingers grazing the object in my pocket which seems to weigh a ton, despite being so small. 

My eyes flicker up to a nearby wall clock and I see that I have exactly 20 minutes to do this before my father is scheduled to return from his meeting over at Swann. As soon as his door comes into view, I hurry to close it shut behind me. I set down the folder into a little bin which rested on a nearby coffee table, and I get to work. 

Out from the depths of my pocket comes a thumb drive which is swiftly inserted into his computer. Annoyingly enough, his computer is password protected but with a few tricks learned from hanging with Louis, I am able to get inside. Within minutes I am downloading nearly all of my father's computer data files. A loading bar pops up, telling me that I have about ten more minutes to go until the download is complete, and as I watch the green color take up more and more of the empty bar I feel sense of satisfaction. If Des refuses to tell me what he's involving Bolton in, then I am just going to have to find out for myself. 

It's not the smartest idea coming into here, especially with the knowledge of all the security cameras, but nothing should be out of place or disturbed so my father shouldn't feel the need to look at footage. The remaining slight possibility stills puts me on edge but I know it's something I can't worry about right now. 

The minutes tick by painfully slow and I find my finger tapping angrily against the edge of my father's desk, wishing the download would go a little bit faster. As soon as the a window saying 'download complete' pops up, the thumb drive is out of the socket and I am out the door.

"If anyone asks for me, tell them I'm busy," I say rapidly as I pass April.

"Erm...." she mumbles, holding out her hand as if to get my attention, "Mrs. Clark just called in and says that there is going to be a meeting in the conference room at three o'clock."

I stopped and paused, taking a moment to process this in my mind. I have 45 minutes before I have to go. 

"Do you happen to know who else is  invited to this meeting?"

"No, sir," she concurs. 

 "Can you also make sure to send out a reminder telling everyone that I will be going around collecting the weekly report before the end of the day."

"Yes, of course, sir," April says, and I already see her bringing up the program on her computer. 

I hurry to my office and shut the door, taking one last glance at the clock. 

My laptop has already been placed on my desk and I quickly log in before inserting the thumb drive. I would normally do this on my computer but since it is linked to the company, it's better if I do this download on something more personal and harder to access by my father or anyone else. 

 I locate the financial files quickly and click on 'payments'. I hit 'command F' to load a search box and I am typing in both Jarwin and Swann to see if it yields any results. Irritatingly enough, nothing useful shows up. I sit there staring at my laptop screen wondering if that whole mission was a complete waste of fucking time. I shake my head. No. "One foot in front of the other, Harry," I repeat to myself several times and I shut my eyes trying to figure out what my next move is.