Artifice

Lies

"Let me get this straight, so Harry is basically a character from Gossip Girl?" Lizzy was in the kitchen licking away at chocolate on a spoon.

"Basically. He showed me some of the things people were writing about him and they were just awful." There were post from him having affairs with married women to leaving nightclubs with girls surrounding him.

"Are they true?"

"Well, I don't know he didn't go through each rumor and specify if they were true or not." There was a moment of silence where I started questioning the situation.

"I still have a bad feeling about him you know?" She waved her licked clean spoon in my face.

"Why?"

"The man keeps his room locked twenty-four seven,"

"He does?" I sat up straight in my seat, giving Liz my full attention.

"Yeah, Liam told me he's just protective of his things but that sounds like bs to me." I lowered my gave to my hands. "You didn't know." She frowned.

"He snatched this journal away from me on New Years, it was so sudden. I wasn't even going to touch it but he snatched it right from under my nose." I told and Liz gave me the side eye.

"Did you ask him why?"

"No, it never came up." I sounded like a fool. "I was drunk that night and-"

"Jesus Eva." She came up to me and shook my shoulders. "For someone who's so observant, you seem so blind when it comes to him. And not in some love-y dove-y way, it sounds like he's hiding something from you and you're completely unaware of it."

I hid my face inside my hands trying to understand all of this.

"Babe, go over there and get some answers." Her arms were pushing me out the chair.

"Wha-"

"Go to his job and give him a piece of your mind!" Her arms were putting all their force in dragging me out the door.

-

"I can't do this." I spoke into the speaker. "It's probably nothing and I'm going to walk in there and embarrass myself."

"If you really think it's nothing, then it won't hurt to simply ask." Liz was on the other end of the phone.

"Are you eating again?" I asked, hearing her voice being muffled by something.

"Yes, I'm on my period and for some reason this Nutella is the only thing getting me through. But never mind my bleeding vagina, go in there!"

I ended the call as I walked into the Styles building I have only been in one other time.

People in formal attire scurried around in different directions inside, I immediately stood out with my big coat and rain boots.

I had no idea where I was going either, and I really hoped Harry wouldn't freak out over me showing up so unexpectedly. I hurried to the front desk and was instantly shushed by a lady and her pointer finger in the air. She put the phone that was previously against her hear down and paid me attention.

"I was wondering if you could tell me where someone's office was," I started and her gaze only became more stern.

"On what premises?"

"Well I'm looking for my- friend. Harry Styles." I gave her a hopeful grin.

"Do you have an appointment?"

"No but-" she stuck her finger up in the air and began talking into the phone.

"Yeah there's a teenage girl here asking for Styles." She nodded and hummed a few times in response to whatever was being said to her on the other end.

"What's your name?" She spoke to me.

"Evangeline Abate."

She repeated my name into the speaker and I waited a while longer. They soon finished talking and she looked back up at me.

"Just take the elevator to the forty second floor."

I did as she said. On my way up, I felt uneasy.

Once I reached the destination I was greeted by another lady at a desk. This one was a lot younger, her smile was vibrant and more welcoming than the other.

"Eva-ge-line?" she found it difficult to pronounce my name. She tried at least.

"Yes."

"Go on ahead, he should be finishing up a business call."

I walked down the hallway she was pointing me to and stopped once I reached the two large wooden doors to take a breath.

A man in a tux appeared and reached for the handle before I could.

"Thank you." I almost curtsied.

I allowed the man to open the door, behind it I found a room as large as my apartment. A desk and chair that looked small in proportion to size, placed straight in the middle.

This was ridiculous.

I could hear talking coming from the chair that was faced away from me, but it wasn't Harry's voice.

"Sir." The guy that opened the door cleared his throat.

The chair turned around, revealing a face I wasn't expecting.

"Evangeline, right?" George, Harry's father quickly put down his phone and stood up. "Come in, take a seat."

I stiffly made the walk towards the desk and took a seat in one of the two chairs in front of him.

"I'm afraid we haven't properly met." He extended his arm for me to shake and I took it. "George Styles." He flashed a smile.

I couldn't help but feel uncomfortable in his presence, I've seen and heard enough about him to know he wasn't someone I'd like to be around.

"Evangeline Abate."

"I know who you are." His voice held an authoritative sound to it. "I try to keep track of who my son hangs around pretty well." The comment seemed almost sinister, as if he secretly had a p.i. to keep tabs on Harry's every move. "It's nice to know my son if finally getting over his boyish games and settling with someone." The smile on his face wasn't at all comforting. "Anyways, I would really like to apologize for what you saw that night." He could tell I knew exactly what he meant.

I said nothing, my eyes involuntarily glaring at him with the flashbacks of the incident.

"I'm not the bad guy." I mentally laughed. "Harry probably filled your mind with all the mistakes I've ever made, but I truly only want the best for him." When I didn't reply he continued. "You don't seem at all convinced." His obliviousness snapped a nerve inside me.

"Where's Harry?" I disregarded everything he said.

His face scrunched up in annoyance before he calmed himself.

"I do not know." He breathed in deeply.

"What do you mean? He works here."

"My son hasn't even been in this building in years." He looked as confused as I was.

-

CAUGHT.

When I'm writing this and rereading it idk why but my opinion about the way I'm telling the story is so strained. So please if there's anything you think I'm doing wrong or that doesn't sound right (like if I'm rushing the story or it seems unrealistic) don't be afraid to tell me :)