Two weeks have passed and it’s now Friday. The boys are up early for their monthly meeting with the boss and they are not pleased.
I, on the other hand, am comfortably sat on my amazing grey swivel chair in the corner. I’m flicking through the music television channels as the boys all flit around the house looking for their tie or shoe or sock. Typical.
As always, I’m the only one ready. I’m wearing my black skirt and a white buttoned up blouse with puffy shoulders. My big blue coat in neatly folded over my lap and my little shiny black heels are lying on the ground by my feet.
“Cassie? Can you fix my tie?” says Harry walking through the door with his tie wrapped in a tight knot. I spin around in my chair and giggle at his failed attempt.
“Why are you wearing a tie, anyway? You guys don’t have to dress up!” I ask as I take the tie from around his neck and quickly put it together properly.
“I like it,” he replies simply, showing of his dimples with his lovely smile. “It’s the one you got me, isn’t it?” he asks and my hands freeze as I throw it over his head to tighten.
It is, actually. It was just a Christmas present for him. I didn’t know what to get any of the boys and I just picked whatever I could get. This is probably the first time he’s worn it, ever.
“Urm…I think so,” I say casually, trying to act ‘cool’, like I don’t really know. “There, done!” I say when his tie looks acceptable.
I look up at him to get my thanks and see that our noses are about an inch apart. He’s staring right at my eyes, trying to lock them together, but I only glance at him and look away again. I remember this look.
My eyes dart from side to side, up and down, looking anywhere that isn’t right at Harry, because I can feel another giggle rising in my throat.
“Cassie,” he whispers at me, and I have to tear my eyes away from the light switch to look right at his big, shiny eyes. I know what he’s trying to do, so I’m not going to stop him.
He leans in and I copy him, but we’re literally millimetres apart when the front door opens,
“It’s me!” shouts Gwen. Louis invited her to come with us today, so he can go out with her straight afterwards and I can have someone to talk to. I really must thank Louis for that part.
Right now, I don’t feel like talking to her at all. Thoughts of my dislike of Gwen from that day in the café with Olivia return now, and I have to quickly hide my scowl as her face swings towards Harry and me, still stood extremely close together.
“Hey, Gwen,” he says, blushing a little, “I’ll just go get my shoes…” he says to me with a wink, and then he’s off upstairs. The giggle from before finally appears.
“Pathetic,” I hear Gwen hiss. She has her arms folded across her chest and is leaning slightly to the right, glaring at the wall.
“Excuse me?” I ask innocently, not entirely sure if I heard her correctly.
“Oh, you heard.” She answers angrily, still not looking at me. When I don’t say anything back she stomps her foot like an impatient horse and climbs the stairs, shouting, “Louis! Hurry up and get your butt down here!”
I’m still stood frozen, not entirely sure the last couple of minutes really happened, but then Zayn runs down the stairs complaining that he’s lost his watch and demanding I help him find it.
Ten minutes later I’m squashed between Liam and Louis in the big black car on our way to the studio for the meeting with the boss.
And it is really, really difficult to not snap back at Gwen’s remarks.
I had just asked the boys something about “our boss” and Gwen had popped up just to announce, “He’s not your boss, he manages One Direction,” and I swear if the boys weren’t in the car with us I would have threw every swear word I could think of her way, but Louis stopped me,
“Yeah, but he’s still Cass’s boss. Pays her and stuff,” he said shrugging, and after Gwen had sweetly accepted she was wrong she threw me a devilish grin, which basically said, “now I have a reason to hate you.”
I shook my head, scowling, and fell back into my chair. I didn’t speak again for the rest of the journey, something that Liam notices.
“Cass, you alright?” he asks as he's helping me out of the car.
“’Course, why wouldn’t I be?” I reply trying to act like it’s true. He doesn’t look convinced, but drops the thought as we run in to the studios to greet the boss.
Gwen is told to stay outside the meeting room in the waiting area until the meeting is over. I refuse to look her way as the boys and I follow the assistant through the doors towards the conference rooms, a smirk trying to force it’s way to the surface.
The boss welcomes us and has a casual chat with the boys, firstly. He then starts with all of the real business.
“Obviously, you’ll be on the X Factor result show sometime in the next series,” he says in the middle of his rant and I see all of the boys faces light up.
I begin taking notes of his plans, but the boss tells me there’s no point and that he doesn’t know anything is for certain yet.
“You can go keep Gwen company, then!” Louis says enthusuastically.
I act like I’m thrilled to leave the meeting to go and chat with Gwen, but I’m really not. In the waiting area she is leafing through an interior design magazine that she must’ve found on the coffee table. She only looks up when I sit down on the cream sofa and ask,
“What was all that about, back at home?”
“I really don’t know what you mean.” She says casually, pretending to be deeply interested in an article about beige paint.
“…Are you sure?” I ask warily as the assistant from before wanders past with a heavy load of papers. Once she has disappeared through the doors again, Gwen erupts like a volcano.
“Of course I’m not sure!” she slaps the magazine onto the coffee table for effect, “Not when you, little miss perfect, think you can go around trying to steal my boyfriend.”
In shock I try to tell her that she’s mistaken (but not so politely), but she won’t let me.
“But, no, that isn’t good enough for you!” she continues, “You have to go find someone else so pick on. And now you’ve got Harry in your little trap, who’s next?”
“Steal your boyfriend? Trap? What are you on about!?!” I shout back.
“Don’t lie to me. I can see it. First off it was you flirting with the boys backstage on the show. I thought that’d be over after week 10, but then they asked you to move in, and you started flirting with Louis even more! You can’t deny any of it, I have eyes, and I can clearly see you’re trying to get Harry now, probably only to get Louis jealous or something pathetic like that!”
I’m not letting her get away with that. I stand up and argue.
“I haven’t been flirting with your boyfriend, I would never do anything like that to anyone!” I very nearly added ‘even a ugly toad like yourself’, but I was trying to act mature, “I don’t flirt with either of them, we’re just friends. And I would certainly never use Harry for something like that! It’s sick!” when I finish I’m breathless and fuming. Gwen looks like she’s done, so I sit back down and try to calm myself down.
Gwen refuses to back down, though, and leans across the coffee table to whisper, “You say that, but I’m not convinced. Oh, and their house isn't your home, and it never will be. When I get some proof showing what you're really like and show Louis and the others, you’ll be gone.” She slithers back into her seat.
I was about to retaliate with a clever comeback but the boys burst through the door to get us. Gwen’s foul expression has instantly morphed into her cheery grin.
Liam walks over to me and I’m sure he’s about to comment on my expression, but I smile shakily at him and walk straight for the door without looking at any of the others.
I don’t want them seeing me cry, because that means Gwen has won.
YOU ARE READING
One Direction's Assistant
Fanfiction*Harry fic* Cassie got the job of a lifetime - working with the groups on the X Factor. The ones who favoured the most hired her as their assistant following their third-place victory. One year after she got her dream job, Cassie found herself as th...
