The Gap Year

Part 3

The next Monday morning turns out to be a bit more calm than the past few ones I've had while working at BCL. I'm researching some things Beckett asked for when he calls me to bring some more tea to his meeting room.

I lazily groan and get up, straightening my black trousers and making sure my clothes are all neat and in order. Grabbing one of the few tea pots, I also place some biscuits on a small plate and make my way to the meeting rooms, quickly finding the one reserved for him.

Opening the door I immediately come to a halt when I see vivid green eyes fix their attention on me. I knew Liam would be here as he was the client scheduled. I, however, did not know his bud would be here again and certainly missed him when they arrived.

"Good morning Mr. Payne, Sir"  I say to Liam and my boss after clearing my throat. I courteously nod at Harry who only smiles back.

"Thanks for the tea, Ms. Castillo" Beckett says.

"And the biscuits!" Liam continues after I place them on top of the table.

"What, no orange juice?" Harry asks with a shit eating grin, to which Liam thankfully slaps his arm for.

I take a deep breathe to hold in any extremely sarcastic answer that could possibly cause me this internship. It might also be to try to control the small giggle that's threatening to escape.

"I will be right back with a pitcher, if you'd like." I say in my nicest tone.. Or at least I think that's how I said it (might've also seemed like a murderer voice, I'm not so sure).

"No, it's alright, tea will suffice this once." He lets out a low chuckle.

"Thank God you didn't get this boiling water instead of the juice though." Liam adds and lets out a small huff with a cute chuckle.

I'm about to respond when Mr. Beckett clears his throat, quite rudely interupting our nice start of a conversation.

"I'll take it that you've previously met." Mr. Beckett says.

"Yes, last week when you were late, Sir." I tell him.

He humms in acknowledgement and I take that as my queue to leave, once again nodding towards the boys in a silent good bye.

"Oh, Ms. Castillo" Beckett says before I close the door. I fucking hate the way he always mispronounces my name. I shut my eyes tightly and cringe to hold myself from screaming the proper way of saying it. 

Instead, I turn around with a bright smile on my lips, fake as ever.

"Yes, sir?" I ask almost robotically.

"How's the search going?"

"Oh, it's going alright. Up to now there are about twenty five candidates with fantastic recommendations. I've emailed the majority and am now waiting for a reply." I inform him.

"Great! As soon as you get their responses please call Kayla and let her know." He tells me, a hint of a smile showing. One might even consider that he's thinking I'm doing a good job.

"Kayla? As in THE Kayla Hunt?" Harry jumps into the conversation. Liam nudges him with his elbow, giving him a wide eyed 'shut up' stare. I don't say anything and look back at Mr. Beckett, waiting for him to reply but apparently he is doing the same, so I go ahead and respond.

"Yes, her." is the  only thing I say.

"What candidates? For what?" He nosily asks.

I fight the urge to roll my eyes at him and Mr. Beckett sighs.

"Now, Mr. Styles. We're here for your business, not to discuss my other clients, aren't we?" Mr. Beckett says.

"Indeed we are, Harry. Please focus, mate." Liam says, crossing his hands on top of the table.

"Let me know if you need anything else." I say before finally leaving the meeting room.

And the rest of the week went away, phone call after phone call, scribbling down new meetings that worked around Bekett's schedule.

It was finally Friday night and Flo could not have taken longer to get ready.

"Come on Flo! I want to go grab some dinner, not Sunday breakfast!"I loudly say, this time using both hands while knocking on her door to cause more annoyance. It does the work and she finally opens her door.

"Will you calm down? I'm not even 10 minutes late." She rolls her eyes at me.

"I know, I just wanted to annoy you." I say, giving her an exaggerated grin. She walks past me towards the door and out of our flat while huffing at my childish manners.  I follow after, checking that my keys and phone are in my bag before I shut the door behind me. We're waiting for the elevator and Flo takes out a pack of bubble gum, offering me one before putting it back in it's previous place.

"Seriously though, you take so much longer. Just in the past three weeks you've made me late twice."She finishes saying as the elevator door opens.

"You know I'm alway late for everything, it's a part of me now."I jokingly say as I step in and wave at the neighbour from the top floor. Flo only huffs out some air through her nose, letting me know that she disapproves of my ways. Her head is still bowed down and her fingers are fiddling with the zipper of her bag trying to get it to close. She follows right after and gets inside, completely ignoring the other person in the elevator.

"Hey Flo"he says. Her head shoots up and their eyes meet, his radiating a preppy attitude and hers rolling at him. I don't know what her deal is with  him.. I mean, I haven't really had that much of a conversation with the guy but he's been nothing but chirpy and nice.

"Hi Louis" she says and turns herself to face the front of the elevator. A few moments of awkward silence pass until Louis clears his throat.

"So ladies, I'm having a bit of a party later, if you want to join us."he says, elevator opening on the first floor.

"That sounds nice!"leaves my mouth at the same time as "We've got actual plans" leaves Flo's as we step out.  We all stand awkwardly in the middle of the hall and Louis scratches his neck in confusion. 

"Uh.. so perhaps an other night.. have a nice one!"Louis says and waves a goodbye. I wave back at him before he heads out the building.

"What is your issue?!"I ask Flo, smacking her on the arm once between every word.

"Ouch! Can you not? I don't have an issue, he's just a prick." she says, gliding her hand up and down where I just hit her.

"No he's not, he's really funny!"I argue back.

"Oh please, don't fall for that" she says and starts walking.

"What are you going on about?" I ask following close behind.

"Next thing you know you've been going out for a while and then he stops calling-which I mean, how much of an idiot do you have to be to do that when you both live in the same building?- and then you see him in the elevator with some girl who, by the way, had an exaggerated amount of make up on and he doesn't even try to explain things. It's just over and thats's it."She rambles angrily. I stop walking, processing her angry rant. Meanwhile, the anger and frustration fuel her and she quickens her pace.

I can't find anything smart to say after that and just stare at her back. My mind finally reacts as I start jogging towards Flo.
When I reach her I see that she's trying her best to calm down her ragged breaths.

"Right" is the only thing I can think of saying "I'm buying you a drink tonight." I say as  I accommodate my bag high on my shoulder before grabbing onto her arm and hug it while we start walking towards the underground station. 

The only response I get from her is a huff accompanied by a low grunt of how it has to be more than just one.

Hi! Thank you for continuing to read this, I hope you are enjoying the few chapters so far! I'm terribly sorry for the late updates but I just started uni and have been a bit overwhelmed with everything, haha!
I'd be so so thankful if you could vote on the chapter and of course, comments and feedback are more than welcome ❤❤.