Speed ➢ harry styles

Ch. 5 ~ Brooklyn, Baby!

I rested my head on the little window of the jet plane. I was eminently tired given that I'd woken up at 4 am to get ready for my flight which was set to take off at 5 am. I was flying private since I didn't have the bodyguards that management provided us when we'd travel from place to place for the Take Me Home World tour. It never occurred to me how boring sitting on a private jet by yourself can be. I had no crew members, hairstylists, or fellow band members to tell my knock knock jokes to. I sighed. I could sleep though, and that's what I did until I landed.

"Sir?" The pilot called out.

"Yes?" I muttered sleepily.

"We've landed. Thank you for flying with us Mr. Styles, we hope you've enjoyed your flight." He said as I exited the jet. I'd never been to Brooklyn but it was just another borough in New York, right? I'd been to New York many a time so it couldn't have been too different. I checked my phone for the time. It was 2:30 pm here, while it was 7:30 pm in London. The Atlantic time zone wasn't too bad, because there was only a five hour time difference from UK time, whereas Pacific time zone was a whopping eight hour time difference.

After obtaining my suitcase I took a cab to the Sheraton Brooklyn New York hotel. I checked in and the receptionist gave me my hotel key card, as I stared around cautiously hoping no one would recognize me, because one blurry photo posted on twitter is all it takes for the internet to know of my whereabouts. Who was I kidding, I'd be discovered sooner or later. It was okay as long as I didn't get mobbed.

My hotel room was on the eleventh floor and the view was incredible. The best part was that the Long Island University campus was only half a mile away. To think that Anella might not be that far from me was quite unreal. I didn't know her schedule or whether or not she had classes at this time but maybe she was closer than I thought. The mystery of this fact excited me but also frightened me too. I'm just a boyband member with some time off and a promise to fulfill. Would I really be able to hunt someone down? What if I couldn't? And most importantly why me? Why would Mr. Delaney just let me go try and find Anella? I'm no private investigator with years of prior experience and he's perfectly aware of that.

Maybe it was fate. I was supposed to end up here. I was the one that could save her, because a private investigator could find her but he wouldn't be able to fix her. I never really believed in fate but when it occurred to me how miraculous it was that when I was put together with four complete strangers as a group act on the X Factor how exceptionally well everything worked out. If that wasn't a great example of fate at work, then I don't know what is.

My phone notified me of a text, disrupting my thoughts. It was my friend Leo who was born and raised in New York. He lived in Manhattan which is not too far from Brooklyn. I'd told him that I was coming to Brooklyn just to 'chill', as he put it. I hadn't told him about Anella yet. I opened the text message which read: Hey Harry dude let's go get a few drinks, yeah? Meet me at the Downtown Bar & Grill at 4 pm.

Sooner or later I had to tell Leo what I was really here for but I'm not sure if he'd understand. I glanced at the clock. It was 3:14 pm. I had time to kill so I called my mum to tell her I'd landed safely. I then texted my sister Gemma that I'd landed to which she responded with: don't forget where you belong (: x, an obvious reference to a track off of Midnight Memories. I laughed and responded: Don't worry, I won't.

It was almost 4 pm so I took a cab to the Downtown Bar & Grill. Leo was sitting at a booth with a glass of beer in front of him. "Hey little man! How have you been?" He said standing up to give me hug.

"Been fine, mate." I sat beside him. I ordered a sandwich, given that I hadn't ate since landing.

"How long are you thinking of staying? Is this a two day kind of thing? Are the other lads with you?" Leo asked, running a hand through his brown hair.

"No this is just me time. The lads aren't with me and I'm thinking of staying till February 2nd," I tell him and he brightens up. We never really got to spend much time together when I was last here because I was on tour.

"Oh. Dude, that sounds like fun. We can go clubbing and I can introduce you to some of Manhattan's babes. They'd love that accent of yours," he suggested.

"Oh well, I'm not only here for fun. I'm kind of on a mission..." I was trying to tell him about Anella, but I wasn't sure if he'd understand what this meant to me.

"A mission? Like a New Year's resolution?" He rested his gaze on me, silently waiting for an explanation. I watched as he fidgeted a little in his stool. Occasionally twisting the ring on his forefinger.

"Well no it's not quite like that either. I'm looking for someone," I stated vaguely.

"A girl?" Leo said smiling. His blue eyes glistened despite the dim lighting of the bar. "Let's hear a little about her then."

So I told him and I'm not sure why but I expected him to laugh. Fortunately, he didn't. Leo was the kind of guy that wasn't exactly a player but couldn't stay committed too long because he claimed he hadn't found 'the one' yet. "Goddamn, that's fucking beautiful. Young love! I bet you didn't know that I had a girl like Anella in my life too. Her name was Penny and she was everything to me. While my friends would be out with their one night stands and short lived romances, Penny had moved in to live with me and we were starting a new chapter in our lives. My friends teased me and asked me what I would do if she wanted kids or if she wanted to get married, would I be able to stay committed then? I didn't give a shit about what they thought because they didn't understand what it felt like to be with someone that actually loved and cared for you. I almost felt bad for them."

"Was?" I ask him, studying his changing expression.

"Yeah, was. I wake up one morning and feel the bed and she's not there. I called her parents, her friends, even her boss and no one had any idea where she went. I waited for weeks. She'd just disappeared. Then about two months later I get a call late at night from Penny's mother who tells me Penny's body was found in the Hudson River. She had drowned herself. And the question that still haunts me after six years, is simply why? Why'd she do it? I loved her." Leo quickly blinked away the tears forming in his eyes.

"I'm so sorry, Leo. I didn't mean to remind you of this. I'm so very sorr-"

Leo shook his head, "It's okay, you didn't remind me. She's always on my mind no matter what. No reminding needed." He smiled. "Hey dude turn that frown upside down. It's okay no need to be sad, I'm fine. I've moved on. I may not see what I saw in her in any other woman but that's all right. How about you tell me a joke, lighten the mood, yeah?"

I smiled, Leo was always a fan of my humor, "Um..."

"Oh I got it! Tell me the one with the gravedigger," He suggested out of nowhere.

"Oh um okay, so what did the gravedigger say to the two zombies who were gettin' it on in the cemetery?" I paused for effect. "Get a tomb, you too!"

"That one get's me every time," he said chuckling. "You're hilarious," he told me and I grinned because I knew he meant it.