My Boss' Son

Chapter 20

Ella POV:

"You may take the rest of the day off Ella, I'll see you later tonight" Mr.Styles finishes as I get out of the car to the hotel we are staying at.

"See you then" I smile before shutting the door, then take the elevator all the way up to the 8th floor.

It's 2pm and we just finished our last meeting of the business trip. The entire 3 days we'd already been here have been so busy I hadn't gotten a chance to catch up with Jodi yet. Hopefully she's free today since we're going back to London tomorrow morning.

She picks up after the third ring with a lifeless voice but it soon changes when she hears it's me.

"Ella!"

"Hey" I smile at her sudden shift in moods.

"Oh please tell me you're free, the boys are driving me crazy" she whispers and I can just picture her rolling her eyes.

"Yeah I've got the rest of the afternoon off. Want to meet up?" I say taking off my work blazer and shirt, replacing it with a plain white tee, all the meanwhile trying to keep the phone connected to my ear.

"Yeah sure. How about at Cafès Verlet?" she asks pronouncing the name, of what I am assuming is a cafe, in perfect french.

"Er.." I ponder the thought as I look out the window onto the foreign streets of Paris, having no clue where I am or where she wants me to be.

"Or how about I just come to your hotel first?" she laughs, obviously realizing I would probably get lost.

"Yes please" I sigh, grateful she caught onto my uncertainty about roaming the streets of paris alone.

"Where are you staying?"

"Le.. Roal Monceau ....something something" I wave my hand around in the air and laugh along with Jodi at my failed attempt to pronounce the name of the hotel.

"I know what one you're talking about, I'll come get you." she giggles and I'm glad and I don't have to go find someone to try and explain where we are.

"Thank you" I praise her.

"It's OK. I'll meet you in the lobby in 15"

"Alright. See you soon" I say and we both hang up.

I change from my stockings and pencil skirt into some light blue jeans and put on my black coat. Even though it's sunny today, the air is cold and crisp so I wrap my purple scarf around my neck just in case the wind picks up later on.

By the time I get down to the main desk Jodi is already waiting for me. Her blonde hair is pulled back into a pony tail and she is wearing all black aside from her bright red scarf which is of similar pattern to mine.

"Finally a female!" she jokes as she gives me a welcoming hug.

"Too much boy time?" I ask as we both let go of each other.

"You have no idea" she says linking her arm with mine, then we both walk back out onto the street.

"The cafe is just a few blocks down. We can walk and have a chat" she smiles, and we both pull each other closer as a big gust of wind brushes past us.

"God it's cold!" I say quickly shoving my other hand into my jacket pocket.

"It makes me want to go back to America" Jodi shivers.

"Me too" I agree, thinking of the perfect hot chocolates my mum makes on days like these.

"Are you missing home?" she asks as we turn down a different street that has buildings just as grand as the hotel we exited.

"Yeah" I say honestly, "but not so much that I want to go home. I'm quite busy at the moment so I haven't had that much time to think about it too much"

"So you're liking England so far?" she says while putting on the sunglasses that were previously on top of her head.

"It's different and I don't think I'll ever be as comfortable as I was back home but I like it. It's something new. I haven't gotten the chance to have a proper look around yet but from what I've seen so far it's beautiful"

"Pfft if by that you mean the 24/7 grey pollution you generally see" she scoffs.

"No" I smile, shaking my head, "I mean the culture. It's different from what I'm use to.I thought New York was full of busy bees..."

"Yeah I suppose" she agrees, "How about the house? What's it like living with Mr.Styles?"

"Ew I'm not living with him, I'm living near him" I laugh, "but it' fine. I don't see him much until I get to work but the house I'm staying in is beyond anything I could have imagined. Harry pretty much designed the whole thing for me and it's perfect"

"Harry?" she says turning her head slightly to look at me.

"Yeah I know" I say in just as much disbelief a I felt when Mr.Styles told me, "Mr.Styles said he planned the whole interior design to suit me so I would feel a bit more comfortable or something I guess"

"Hmm..." Jodie looks down at her feet as we continue walking along the smooth brick pathway.

"What?" I ask, not being able to tell what she's thinking a her eyes are covered by her dark glasses.

"It just seems like a lot of effort to do something like that for someone he claims he doesn't-" she stops mid sentence.

"Doesn't what?" I ask curiously.

"For someone he claims he doesn't care for" she says quietly, obviously not wanting to finish the sentence.

"Oh" I say, pain coursing through me at the thought of him saying such things about me.

"But then why would he do that?" she questions though I think she's more talking to herself so I remain quiet by her side as she thinks through her thoughts.

"Unless he's just trying to hide the fact that he does feel something. That would explain a lot" she says a little louder and my heart instantly begins to flutter at the thought.

"You think he feels something for me?" I ask, unable to hide the hope in my voice.

"I don't know. One minute he's saying he doesn't feel anything, the next he's designing a whole house for you so you feel more comfortable. He's a confusing boy" she sighs.

"You can say that again" I say looking down at my feet, wondering why he was so adamant that I deserved much better than him.

"What are you thinking?" she says stopping and turning to me.

I look away as I try to think of an answer other than Harry.

"Do you feel something for Harry?" she asks out front and I avert my eyes to the other side of the street as I try to avoid her gaze.

"Ella?" she pushes again and I let out a sigh.

"Yes" I mutter, screwing my face up a little as I am admitting it out loud to someone for the first time.

"Why? He's an asshole" she says screwing up her face just as much as I am.

"I don't know. He makes me laugh" I say thinking of the first thing that comes to my mind though it's only one of the many reasons I can think of.

"Because he makes you laugh?" she repeats, obviously not impressed, "You like him because he makes you laugh?"

"No and other things. He's kind and sweet and always cheers me up when I'm having a bad day even though he's the one that usually puts me there. I don't know, it's stupid I guess..." I say trailing of as I realize I am unable to fully get her to understand how I feel for him. It's hard for me to say when I'm still trying to figure it out myself.

"Well fuck" she says a little exasperated.

"I know" I say looking at her as she lets out a heavy sigh.

"Has anything else happened between you two thats I don't know about, apart from what happened at the club?" she asks and I immediately feel all the blood rush to my cheeks.

"Jesus. What else?" she asks after noticing my flushed cheeks.

"Umm we just sort of hooked up a couple of times..."

"When?"

"The morning after we went out"

"So that's why he was acting so weird at dinner." she says, piecing it a together in her mind.

"And he came over to stay at my house that night" I admit and her mouth drops open at my words.

"Oh my god did you sleep with him?!" she half shouts.

"No!" I try to whisper and hope she follows suit as there's plenty of people walking by, "Well yes actually, but we didn't do anything. He just slept in my bed".

"Oh my god" Jodi says covering her face with her hands as if she's stressing out about the whole situation.

"It's not that bad" I tell her though I'm pretty sure I'm more so trying to convince myself.

"I know. I just don't want you to get messed up in all of Harry's shit" she sighs.

"Harry's shit?"

"Yeah like his past and stuff. He's not as innocent as you think he is"

"What like his continuous stream of women he goes through every week?" I say raising his eyebrows, "I know what he's like Jodi. I see it almost everyday but it doesn't hide the fact that he's still a really good guy...and sometimes an asshole" I add making her smile.

"Jeez you really do like him don't you?" she asks shaking her head.

"Yeah" I sigh looking back down at my blue Chuck Taylor's.

"Are you going to the dinner tonight?" she asks and I look back up at her, her face seemingly more relaxed.

"Yes"

"Harry's going too" she says making small butterflies already erupt in my stomach.

I give her a small smile, not wanting to seem too desperate at the thought of seeing him.

"C'mon then. Let's skip the cafe and go dress shopping" she sighs, linking her arm back through mine.

"Huh?" I say confused by her sudden mood change.

"What? You're not going to go and try impress Harry wearing jeans are you?"

"Uh no I guess not" I say looking down at my attire and thinking of the lack of evening wear I have in my small suitcase.

"That's what I thought. Now c'mon", she says pulling me into a small alley way, "let's go find you the hottest dress in Paris, that way Harry won't be able to keep his eyes of you.. and other things" she teases.

I scrunch up my nose at her with a small smile making her laugh.

I can't believe Jodi is helping me do this...