Hummingbird | Sequel to Butterfly [A Harry Styles Fanfiction] {Book 2}

Chapter 19: Worth It

Harry's POV:  

The sweaty air and loud sound reminded me of the night I had first spotted Cami in Bandit. I remember exactly how pissed off she was that I had bumped into her and then later when I kicked her and Charli out. Little did I know that the girl I assumed was only trouble after sneaking into my bar multiple times would be the same girl I was trying to escape by coming to work. Days were okay to get through as long as I kept busy, but nights were proving to be difficult when all I could do was sit around in my empty house and wish that Cami was next to me. Those feelings led to my decision to go back to working as hands-on as I use to.  It had been a long while since I had been so involved in the actual running of the club. Ever since Caleb and I had become serious with our respective girlfriends, we often pawned our responsibilities off on Colt and only took care of the major aspects of owning Bandit. During that time, work seemed unimportant to me and not worth missing out on spending time with the girl I loved. Caleb and I both seemed to lose the interest of putting our everything into our work when we found Charli and Cami, who were both more worthwhile. Luckily, in that time business didn't seem to suffer in the slightest and in fact only grew as time went on. I almost felt out of place the first few nights I had come back to run the floor, but eventually I eased back into it and found comfort in the distraction of practically working until the sun came up. It made me a lot more tired, but a lot less likely to drift back to Cami and how much I still wanted her.  Even Caleb had taken a hint from my actions and had since started coming to work at least once a week as well. Just a short time away from Charli and the twins seemed like exactly what they both needed to get over the struggles of new parenthood. Now they were back to being their usual goofy selves and he and I were back to work together.

It was strange seeing each other walking around Bandit, making sure there were no fights, checking everyone was of age and just taking care of business as usual. It almost felt like a lifetime ago that this was just another day at the office for both of us. Things had changed so much since those days and although some of those changes were for the better, I couldn't help but wonder if I should have let Cami be, instead of pursuing her like I had. Things would have been a lot easier for the both of us, but then again, I wouldn't have experienced the kind of feelings I still had for her.

I took a deep breath, trying to remember that the whole reason I had even been coming into work at night was to not think about Cami and went to the bar to check in with Colt. He had basically been promoted to manager when Caleb and I were not around, but was still officially a bartender and probably the highest da.mn payed one for taking on the extra responsibilities.

He did his bottle tricks for the girls he was currently serving and winked at them both as they left him a nice tip. I shook my head, but ducked behind the hatch of the bar with my clipboard in hand.  

"How's the vodka supply?" I asked, since Caleb had forgotten to make an additional order.

He hadn't always been the most reliable partner and coming back after being away with the twins for so long had only made that worse.

"Serving mostly beer tonight. I think we're good, boss," Colt yelled over the loud music.

"Caleb's lucky this won't affect tonight's bottom line," I said under my breath.

Colt chuckled and patted me on the shoulder. "You know, these kinds of things never happened while I was in charge," he said with a bragging smirk.

I scoffed. "Maybe not, but I did hear that a bachelorette party convinced you to get up on the bar and strip a few weeks back." Colt's face went from amused to embarrassed in seconds and even in the poor lighting I could see his cheeks grow red. "Stick to mixing drinks and trying to impress the girls," I teased, now taking the opportunity to pat him on the shoulder as I walked back onto the dance floor.