The Intern

Chapter 6

Harry’s POV

Friends. Just friends. I’m pretty sure I’ve never been “just friends” with any girl in my entire life. I liked girls and, not to sound like a spoiled brat, I was usually pretty good at getting them. Grace was different though; she wouldn’t give in to me and truth be told I quite enjoyed that. Unfortunately for me she had pulled the “just friends” crap and now I was going to be content with that. I would be the best friend she ever had in her entire life. We were making our way through JFK airport when I decided that my first act as her best friend would be to take her out to lunch.  

“Grace!” I called out, jogging past a skeptical Louis to where she was walking with Anna.  

“Hey Curly!” she replied back with a smile.  

“Is that your new nickname for me?” I said with a laugh.  

“Well friends do have nicknames for each other and in case you haven’t noticed your hair resembles a fuzzy mop” she said, reaching up to mess up my hair. I grabbed her wrist and pulled her close to me which seemed to catch her slightly off guard.  

“Are you always this touchy-feely with your friends?” she asked with a smile, pulling away.

“Oh that’s just the type of friend I am. Get used to it Freckles” I said with a laugh, keeping an arm around her.  

“Freckles? I don’t think I’ve been called that since fifth grade”. She bumped her hip against mine and I bumped her back; which of course started an all-out war until we were body checking each other.  

“Knock it off you two! Grace, you’re on the job! Don’t make me come up there”. Grace just rolled her eyes at Carmen and returned to my side, elbowing me in the stomach.  

“So Curly did you come up here just to get me in trouble? You’re going to get me fired if you keep at it”.  

“No I actually wanted to ask you something” I paused and glanced quickly at Anna who raised her eyebrow.  

“Alright I can take a hint; you two need some alone time” Anna laughed at her own joke and fell back to where Niall was walking.  

“Well now that I finally got you alone I wanted to ask if you would like to have lunch with me. There’s this great little club where I go golfing and they have fantastic food. We could go after we do the radio show”. I studied her face carefully and, while I hadn’t known her that long, I knew she was conflicted; her eyebrows furrowed together and she bit her bottom lip ever so slightly.  

“As friends right?” she asked skeptically.  

“Of course” I replied back with a smile. She nodded ever so slightly before slipping on her Ray Bans and stepping outside into the swarm of fans and paps. I did a subtle fist pump as I watched her surge ahead; we both knew if we were pictured too close together the rumours would start up. I watched her push past the crowds and hop into the Range Rover completely unfazed, before she turned back and gave me a smile. Oh we were going to have a lot of fun.  

(TWO DAYS LATER)   The radio interview went extremely well; the lads and I had it down to a science. After we wrapped up I quickly ran off to find Grace, ignoring the boys catcalls and howls. After I retrieved her we went down to the club and I attempted to impress her with my witty jokes and overwhelming charm. She was amused but I wouldn’t say impressed. I did manage to get her to talk about herself a little bit and the more she talked, the more I found myself liking her. She had grown up in Washington DC, her dad had been a politician, and she had a younger brother who she didn’t really talk to. Her favorite movie was Dirty Dancing, she loved Italian food, her favorite color was purple, and she had a cat named Lola. We chatted about anything and everything, and I also discovered she was funny as hell. After I paid, I stood and offered my hand, ready to start the next part of our “non-date”.