The Intern

Chapter 5

Grace’s POV

I learned new things about myself all the time. This week I learned I was amazing at avoiding people, Harry Styles in particular. Anytime I saw him coming in my direction I turned around and headed in the opposite way or hid behind someone who was close; people were really starting to get annoyed with me. Sure, it wasn’t exactly subtle and it killed me every time I saw that look of disappointment in his face, but it was necessary at this point. For one thing I really needed to keep this job, but the main reason, and I was scared to admit it; I really liked Harry. I liked the way he smiled at me when I walked into the room, I liked the way his hair fell in a messy mop on his head, I liked the way his hands were ridiculously large, I liked the way he wasn’t as confident as most people thought, I liked that he ate like a pig and stumbled around when he was drunk, I liked that he made an effort to become friends with everyone he met, and I certainly liked how that kiss had felt. It was that very kiss I was thinking about when Carmen came up behind me.

“Grace!” she shouted, despite the fact that I was two feet apart from me.

I jumped a bit and dropped the folder I was holding. I reached down to grab it but someone beat me to it. I straightened up to find myself face to face with a pretty blonde girl with strikingly green eyes.

“Hi, I’m Anna! You must be Grace, Carmen has told me so much about you” she said enthusiastically, sticking out her hand.

I took it in mine and turned to Carmen for an explanation.

“This is Anna, she’s the other intern. She’s new here so I expect you to show her the ropes. You’ll be dividing up responsibilities and you’ll each have certain boys you’ll be focused on. Anna you get Liam and Niall, and Grace you get Zayn, Louis, and Harry”.

Awesome.

“Now I want you to introduce her to the boys and then prep her for tomorrow when we fly to New York” Carmen said, turning on her heel and leaving before I could get a word in.

Anna looked at me expectantly and I had to smile at her enthusiasm. I gestured for her to follow me and we headed off to where the boys were being given some more media training, not that they really needed any at this point. I knocked on the door and entered the large room, trying not to look at the boy I needed to forget. Of course he was sitting right in front of the door so that made things difficult, it was also frustrating to watch his face light up when he saw me but I did my best to ignore it.

“Boys, this is Anna. She’s here to help me keep you boys in line” I said.

“Oh Gracie are we too much work for you?” Louis asked with a smirk.

“You alone are too much for me Lou” I said back, causing him to laugh.

“Anna is here for Liam and Niall, so if you two need anything you go to her. Unfortunately I’m stuck with you three” I said, gesturing to Zayn, Louis, and Harry.

 “Oh don’t worry Grace, we’ll have lots of fun together” Zayn said, throwing his arm around me.

I rolled my eyes and went to leave before a voice interrupted.

“Hey Grace, can I talk to you in private for a second” Harry said, gesturing outside.

Now I was trapped; I couldn’t say no to him with everyone else around so I just nodded. I followed him outside and took a minute to steady myself before facing him. 

“Yes, Harry?” I asked, trying to sound casual.

“Well I just wanted to talk about, that, erm, kiss” he said, nervously running a hand through his hair. I let out a long sigh and tried to put on my most professional face.

“Listen Harry, I think it would be best if we just forgot about that.  I was really drunk and it was completely unprofessional and I’m really sorry about that. It was never my intention to lead you on or anything but, I think you and I together would just be a mess. I hope we can still be friends though, because I really like you and I think you’re a great person and we have a lot of fun together. I’m just not in a position to be in a relationship” I decided it was best to stop talking because I could have gone on and on. Truth be told I was suppressing the urge to kiss him right now.

Harry looked absolutely devastated, which crushed me, and nodded slowly.

“I understand and thanks for being honest with me, I’m sick of people keeping the truth from me. Being friends sounds fantastic, maybe I could take you out to lunch sometime” he said with a smile.

“I’d like that Styles”. I gestured for us to head back in and he followed.

I said my goodbyes to the boys and Anna and I headed out. I invited her to grab coffee with me and she agreed eagerly, so we headed out to the café around the corner. After we got our drinks we sat at a table by the window and chatted about our lives. She was from Oxford and had chosen to do this over going to University. She had been a huge fan of the band before she got this job and was beyond excited to be working with them, Niall in particular. She was the oldest of four girls and came from a big Irish family. I could tell we would get along great, and it would be nice to finally have a friend in this town.

“So, if you don’t mind me asking, what’s the deal with you and Harry?” I let out a sigh and gave a small smile.

“Honestly I have no idea, I mean I like him and we get along great but Carmen has her no dating rule-“

“Oh yeah, I got that lecture this morning. She’s pretty strict about that, huh?” she said with a cheeky smirk.

“Oh yeah, you don’t want to cross Carmen. Also, everyone knows Harry’s a womanizer and I don’t want to be another notch on his bedpost. My sister also did the celebrity route and it crushed her; all the criticism, the press, and then he dumped her when she got old. I will not follow that same path, not after what happened to her” I said, staring out the window.

“Wow. If you don’t mind my asking, who’d she date?” she asked.

“I’d rather not talk about that, it’s still a sore spot” I said back politely. Anna nodded and tried to change the subject. We talked for another half hour before we decided it was best to part ways.

“So be at the airport by eight tomorrow, I’ll wait for you at check-in to help you find your way” I said to her before we hugged and split.

I showered and changed into my old sweatpants and Beatles t-shirt before laying down in my bed. I was almost asleep when an old picture caught my eye; it was me and my sister on the beach, before she had been diagnosed with leukemia. I picked up the picture and studied it, it had been taken about a week before her break-up and all I could remember was how upset she was. She wasn’t herself; that light that always occupied her eyes wasn’t there anymore. I set the picture down and let memories of her flood my mind. Right before I succumbed to sleep, I promised myself I would not let myself do what she did. I would not fall for Harry Styles.