Public Sphere | H.S. | #Wattys2016

Chapter XV

Author's note: Hello! This chapter is pretty short, but it's very fluffy and positive, which this story really hasn't been. This is chapter 15, so I believe that I am just about half way through this book, which is crazy. Thank you to everyone that has been reading, you guys are the best! Enjoy, x!

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Anne offered me another cup of tea while I was divulging into the technical aspects of the contract.

When I ended up at Anne's house at 9 in the morning, she greeted me with a smile and hug.

"So Harry was a minor when he signed the contract?" I asked double-checking.

"He was. Does that make a difference?" she asked as her eyes widened.

Anne watched me deliriously flip page after page trying to nail down the exact cause for contract violation on Simon's part. It was Seth who realized that Harry was underage when he signed the contract, and that it was probable that Anne wasn't part of the contract negotiation.

"It does depending on what your answer is to the next question. Were you present in the room while the contract was being negotiated?" I asked her hoping that her answer would be a 'no.'

She shook her head to tell me that Seth's suspicions were correct.

"So you signed the contract; when?" I asked when I saw her signature on the last page.

"Someone faxed the contract over and I signed," she admitted.

"Did you sign anything that allowed the lawyer, who represented Harry in the contract proceedings, to represent your interests?" I questioned her once again once I saw that there was a lawyer at the meetings.

Again, she shook her head 'no.'

That was it. That was our loophole. Harry Styles was a minor when he signed his contract. A mere signature from Anne, his guardian, wasn't enough to submit him into work. She had to physically be at the contract negotiations, but she wasn't, which made the contract invalid. The contract that had ruled over his life had been invalid all this time.

"It's invalid," I shouted out in happiness.

"What's invalid?" Anne looked at me with curious eyes.

"The contract, all of it, it's invalid," I didn't need to explain why it was invalid. Anne didn't care why it was invalid, only that it was invalid.

"So he's free?" she looked at me with hopeful eyes.

"Probably. I'm going to have my people set up a meeting with Simon's people tomorrow to go over it," I said as I sent an email to my team.

"Does that mean Niall, Liam and Louis' contracts are invalid, too?" she asked.

I shook my head 'no,' "Unfortunately, I have to read through their contracts to make sure that the clauses are the same. And I have to make sure they were underage and didn't have parental representation during the proceedings. Plus, I'm not sure if they want to be released from that contract."

Anne just nodded her head and took a sip of her tea. She seemed a bit distressed at first, but then looked at me with a big smile.

"Let's go out into town, let's get some sweets to celebrate. I told Gem that you were here, so she's coming up from London," she said with a big smile on her face.

Anne drove the both of us into town. The weather was beautiful out, so there were a ton of people bustling around town. Some people recognized her and greeted her sweetly. There were some people that recognized me, too; it was weird.

By the time we were back at Anne's, Gemma had arrived. She gave me a big hug and wanted to catch up right away.

We talked for hours before we heard Anne calling us for dinner.

"Jess, it's great to have you over for dinner again," Robin smiled sweetly at me.

All throughout dinner, we talked about Gemma's posh life as a Londoner and my dull life as a lawyer in Chicago. Needless to say, I didn't have any anecdotes that made them laugh like Gemma did.

"So Mum told me that Harry might be released from his contract?" Gemma looked at me as she nervously took a sip of her wine.

I nodded slowly, "I can't guarantee anything at this point, but I have probable cause of contract invalidity."

Gemma let out a big sigh and gave me a warm hug.

"You don't know how wonderful it is to hear that, even if it's not guaranteed," Gemma smiled so widely at me. "H hasn't been himself in quite awhile, it's sad to see my younger brother so unhappy."

"Now Gemma, he likes what he does," Anne added softly.

"I know, Mum. But still, he hasn't been our Harry for a bit. He's always stressed or unhappy," she choked out.

"Well hopefully I can help him out of this," I tried to smiling at them but I couldn't help but feel awful knowing that I aided in his unhappiness.

"Gemma," Anne looked at her daughter in a disapproving look. "Jess, we can't thank you enough for pouring hours of work into helping H. I know you two don't get along the best, but it's so great of you to do this."

"I'm not trying to blame you, I swear," Gemma said as she rubbed my arm gently. "I just want you to know how happy I am that there's a chance that he may be happier."

"I know. It's hard for me too," I didn't want to actually admit anything, but it came out like word vomit. "I started in this field because I thought I would make somewhat of a difference. I don't know what I was thinking. All this time, I've been making people's lives incredibly miserable, including mine. I've distanced myself from everyone and everything because of my job. Sometimes I feel so lonely and I can't do anything about it."

Both Gemma and Anne took me into their arms and warmly embraced me.

"I'm so sorry," I finally broke down.

After years of bottling all of my emotions up, I finally broke down in front of them. I didn't want to be disliked anymore. I wanted someone to love me, and I wanted someone to care.

"It's ok, love," Anne gently cooed.

"I don't know how I ended up here. I don't know how I became this way," I choked out.

Gemma just held on, straying a few tears of her own.

I cried for a long time while Anne and Gemma just consoled me. They felt like family and I loved them, and I knew that they loved me, too.