Public Sphere | H.S. | #Wattys2016

Chapter IX

Author's note: I've been incredibly busy these days but here you go, an extra long chapter! Enjoy and thanks for reading, x!

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"What do you mean he won't listen to you? Do your job, Jess," Simon angrily yelled at me through the phone.

I was woken up by my phone incessantly ringing at 5 in the morning. After a brief conversation with Simon and about how Harry Styles wouldn't cooperate, I was told off by the devil himself.

Due to the time difference, I decided not to call my team for help and decided to tackle this one on my own. I sank in the couch to think about what I could do to have Harry cooperate. I thought about negotiating with him about the length of his contract; however, I knew that Simon wouldn't go for that. Then I also thought about letting him actually go off the grid for a few months; however, that idea would also be vetoed by Simon. So there wasn't much for me to do, all I really could do is convince him to do his job, which was harder than it seemed.

It was third time ringing the same doorbell in the matter of two days. Anne once again greeted me with a small smile.

"Harry won't be home for a bit," she said as she let me in.

I hesitated to take another step once I realized that he wasn't home.

"Have you had lunch?" Anne warmly asked. "Gemma, Harry's sister, is coming over for lunch. I'd love for you to join."

I politely told her that I didn't want to interrupt her lunch plans to have her insist that I join them for lunch. So I was sitting in Harry Styles' mom's dining room while she was cooking.

"Hi, I'm Gemma," she offered me her hand.

I took it and introduced myself to her.

We sat at the table not talking until she asked me about how my day was going.

"It's going," I awkwardly responded to her.

"H is being a handful, isn't he?" Gemma said half-jokingly.

"Well I guess, it's not really his fault," I said.

"I'm going to be really honest with you because I think I like you," Gemma started off. "You're a lot different than I thought you would be. The boys have complained quite a bit about you and I've always thought that you'd be this horrendous b**ch, but you don't seem like that."

"Gemma Anne Styles," Anne warned her daughter as she emerged from the kitchen with several plates in hand.

"What? I'm not being rude, I just wanted to let her on that I think we'll be quite chummy," Gemma said as she smiled at me; a genuine smile.

"It's really ok, I've heard a lot worse," I returned a smile.

The three of us chatted a bit about London and England during our lunch. Personal topics seemed to be off the table at that time.

"You know H had a massive crush on you at point?" Gemma said as she laughed.

I looked at her confused.

"Well actually I'm not quite sure because I've only heard the other boys make fun of him; you know how boys get. But it was probably like 3 to 4 years ago when H wouldn't stop talking about you. Maybe not a crush but definitely thought you were fit," Gemma said as she got stern looks from her mom.

"I had no idea," I said awkwardly.

"Oh Gem," Anne said as she shook her head. "You live in Chicago, right?"