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Chapter 28: Power Couple

I live for you, I long for you, Olivia
I've been idolizing the light in your eyes, Olivia
I live for you, I long for you, Olivia
Don't let me go

Olivia - One Direction

"WHAT WERE THEIR names again?" I yelled raising my head from the sink, a mouthful of toothpaste muffling my voice.

Harry poked his head around the bathroom door and smiled at the sight of me still only wearing his Rolling Stone's t-shirt and sporting my reading glasses while white toothpaste dribbled from the corners of my mouth, "Richard and Henry; and you should start thinking of getting dressed because we are leaving in twenty minutes, baby," he said as he pulled a plain white t-shirt down his inked torso and disappeared back into his bedroom. He always looked good so effortlessly, it was hard not to feel jealous sometimes.

It was our third day at his London house and it wasn't just a regular trip. I was meeting Harry's family for the first time and spending Christmas with them, I was touring with him through the entire UK/Irish and final leg of the tour, Niall and J were getting married and that morning we were heading to a meeting his management team had scheduled to meet me. To say I was nervous is an understatement.

The American part of the tour went faster than I expected, and by the final dates of it, I decided to give in to Harry's request of me stringing along the last portion of their tour. It would mean almost 3 months of us practically glued together day and night and, even when missing him seemed like the worst scenario, I wasn't sure if, after a few months of being a proper couple, we were ready to spend that amount of time together. I made arrangements for Jill to stay at my house with George. I had planned brief trips back to the States but I knew missing my dog was going to be the toughest part of being far away.

Amy and Kit decided to move to London together, so she was arriving soon to house-hunt and I was luckily selected to keep her company. With the wedding around the corner J, with whom I was spending more time than ever before, was going to be traveling from the different tour locations to Ireland taking care of the details for the celebration. Somehow the stars were conspiring in our favor to keep us, or at least most of us, close.

"Richard and Henry," I repeated after rinsing my mouth and dragging my feet into the closet to find something suitable for the occasion.

I needed to find an 'I'm a respected professional actress, you can't tell me what to do but I'm also polite' outfit. I don't really know how that looks like but a pair of jeans, black stilettos, a white shirt, and a black blazer seemed to work just fine.

Harry didn't seem nervous about the meeting, but I learned that he managed to control his emotions so you well could easily mistake him for a yogi. I was silently looking through the window as we made our way to downtown London, it still made me feel weird to be sitting on the other side of the car when in the passenger seat. I loved every single bit of London, the cosmopolitan vibe, the architecture, the never-ending artistic and cultural life, the fact that a stroll down the street may end in the discovery of some new and exciting site you never saw before even when you walked past it a zillion times, the orderliness despite the hectic rhythm and people's kindness. I was falling in love with the city and how at home it made me feel. I wondered if it could be my second New York.

Harry gripped my thigh, "Are you Ok?" he asked.

"Mmhm," I hummed nodding as he caressed my cheek.

"You don't have to worry, baby," he said smoothly manipulating the stick as soon as the traffic light went green, "they are really easygoing and this is just a formality to let them know our decision."