Last {Harry Styles}

Chapter 42

Song of the Chapter: Infinity by One Direction (obviously)

"Will you hand me a mug?" I call over my shoulder as I use the french press for the coffee. I hear the wooden cabinet open and close and soon another mug is slide in front of me, and I thank him quietly. I hear him pouring himself a bowl of cereal and quickly eating it as I perfect the coffees. I spin around as I tighten the lid around his travel mug, holding it out.

"Thank you," he says quickly as he places the now empty bowl in the sink, finishing in 5 spoonfuls. I stop him as he spins around, placing my hands on his chest for him to stop. He looks at me curiously but I ignore him as I straighten his tie and collar, smoothing the creases on his shoulder before patting his peck twice.

"Dinner at 7?" I ask quietly and he frowns, leaning forward to peck the tip of my nose.

"I'll try. As long as the meetings run on time, that sounds perfect." He says and I nod understandingly. I've gotten to a point where I understand that sometimes his work takes up more time than normal. It doesn't affect me much anymore unless it happens several times in a row, at which point I let him schedule our time together around his work during that time so that I'm not disappointed with moving dates.

"Just keep me updated. I'll have a glass of wine waiting for you." I smile, and he kisses my lips sweetly in appreciation before I move away, allowing him to grab his phone and wallet and slide on his suit jacket.

"You're the bestest." He says and I laugh, responding that I already knew that. I watch as he rushes towards the elevator with his coffee in hand, already worried about being late for a meeting. "Love you!" He calls over his shoulder as he approaches the elevator doors.

"Love you too, doofus." I laugh, sipping from my mug as I watch him grin at me, blowing me a kiss just as the doors close.

God I love that idiot.

....

Upon entry into the office, my eyes land on Perrie, who sits behind the desk, with an emotion I've never seen on her.

Sadness.

"P, you alright?" I ask quietly as I approach her, putting my bag on the counter in front of her. Her big blue eyes lift to see me and I see them well up with tears, and I hurriedly move around to her side in my heels, doing an awkward shuffle as I make my way to her, wrapping my arms around her. "Babe, what happened?" I whisper, rubbing her back as she begins to sob into my shoulder. My heart breaks at the sound, wanting nothing more than to take her home and make her happy again.

"W-we...z-zayn...d-done" She tries to speak between her sobs and although she's difficult to understand, I gasp as I realize what she's trying to say.

"Oh no, Perrie. I'm so sorry." I hug her tightly, listening to her sobs increase, already feeling the wetness of her tears seeping through my dress.

"I'm sorry," I hear her muffled apology and I shake my head, rubbing circles on her back with my hand.

"Don't be, it's alright." I assure her. We stay like this for another few minutes until her hysteria settles and she sits up, wiping her tears and apologizing profusely about how unprofessional that was. "Perrie, we're friends, don't worry about it. Seriously. C'mon, come to my office. We'll chat a bit and if you need to have the day off I'll talk to Addison for you."

Over the next hour, I get the full story out of her, and my heart just shatters. I'm completely shocked by the turn of events. I knew her and Zayn had been arguing a bit here and there over the wedding details, as he wanted to put it off a bit longer and she wanted it sooner, but I never thought it would lead to him breaking off the engagement. I knew how hard she had been trying recently to make it work as he had been travelling more for business as he tried to expand his companies, moving away from his old work labels, which only makes it more heart wrenching.