The Intern

Chapter 9

Grace’s POV

There was no doubt I was going to lose my job. Which if you think about it kind of sucks, I loved this job. Not to mention the fact that I was probably going to have to move back in with my parents. 

Crap.

I was in the middle of texting Harry a reply back to the ridiculously long text message I had just received, when my phone rang. I flinched when I saw the caller ID and nervously slid my finger across the cool surface of my IPhone.

“Hello?” I whispered.

“Get to the office in ten minutes or you’re fired”. Carmen replied before hanging up.

The fact that she had implied I still had a job gave me a small hope that maybe things would be alright. Then again, when were things ever alright? I hopped in the Range Rover the company had supplied for me and sped off towards headquarters. The entire time I held the steering wheel in death grip and pondered the fact that my life had become a complete and utter mess. As I rushed into the building, I took note of the fact that it was completely dead, which meant Carmen could kill me and no one would know. I walked into her office where she sat working on her computer.

“Carmen?” I stated quietly.

“Sit” she replied back bluntly.

I ran a hand through my hair, a habit I had picked up from Harry and sat down in the terribly uncomfortable chair across from her. I suddenly had a flashback from when I was about 10 years old and some psychopath in my 3rd grade class decided it would be funny to stick her gum in my hair. Long story short; I punched that girl so hard in the face I broke her nose. I was sent to the principal’s office where I got a lecture on how hitting people isn’t nice and that I should always tell the teacher when something goes wrong. They also gave me a week’s worth of no recess and contacted my parents. She still has a permanently crooked nose and never bothered me again. 

“Grace” Carmen sighed, pulling me out of my revere,“What was my first rule?” she asked. 

“Don’t make your work relationships personal” I muttered back, my gaze shifting to the floor.

“Then why, may I ask, did you disobey me?” she questioned, giving me a death glare. I could be honest and tell her that I had gotten caught up in the whole amazingly attractive rock star thing and that it truly wasn’t my fault. 

“I don’t know” I mumbled instead. Carmen let out a sigh and turned her computer screen towards me where I could see she had twitter’s main page open. You’d think you would be able to have an idea of what it felt like to have millions of people writing nasty stuff about you, but in that moment I realized how completely unprepared I was for all of this.

“I know what you all think; Carmen’s a boring old stick in the mud who just wants to prevent us from having fun. Yet I do the things I do to protect you from things like this Grace. This is exactly what I was afraid of” she whispered as she took the laptop away.

I could form only two rational thoughts; thank God I never got a twitter, and who the hell raised those kids? I had never seen a twelve year old swear like that.

“Normally I would fire you right on the spot, but you’re damn good at this job and the boys are in love with you. Not to mention your, um, special circumstances” she muttered.

I just nodded quickly, preferring not to bring that into the mess I had to deal with at the moment.

“I think the best thing we can do at this point is just deny all claims that the press have made; make it seem like you and Harry are just friends”.

“We are just friends”. I interrupted. Carmen raised an eyebrow, like she didn’t believe any of the crap I was spewing, and continued.

“We’re also going to try and make you more ‘likable’. We want the fan base to support you; much like they do with Eleanor and Danielle. We’ll get you a twitter so that you can interact with everyone, but there will be specific things that you can say”. I nodded to let her know that I was following and she let out a long sigh.

“Now this is where things are going to get difficult Grace, and I need you to try your best to be ready. The paparazzi are going to follow you around non-stop and ask you questions regarding your relationship with Harry. Fans are going to want to take photos with you, interviewers are going to ask the boys questions about you, there will be pictures of you in various magazines, and you will be receiving all types of abuse. I did warn you about this, so I can’t say I feel bad, but if you want to back out and head home than feel free”. I have to admit it was tempting as hell, but I had made my bed and now it was time for me to lie in it. I gave Carmen a small smile and nodded my head.

“Alright then; I’ll get everything set up tomorrow. Right now we have an interview we have to get to” she said, standing up.

I had completely forgotten about the Alan Carr interview the boys had scheduled for today, and truth be told I had no interest in going. That was not up to me unfortunately, so I quickly stood up after her. We spent 20 minutes in awkward silence until we reached the studio and made our way to the seats. I was about to settle into my chair when I noticed Paul waving frantically at me from the side of the stage.

“Go” Carmen muttered, not looking up from her BlackBerry.

I quickly ran over to the Irishman, but before I could say anything he grabbed my wrist and pulled me in the direction of the dressing rooms.

“Harry wants to talk to you” he whispered when we reached one of the doors and before I could protest he pushed me in.

“Grace!” Harry shouted, enveloping me in a huge hug.

“Hi babe” I whispered, taking in the scent of his cologne; Bleu de Chanel, I think.

“Are you alright?” He said, pulling away so he could look into my eyes. I nodded slowly, trying to stay calm.

“I promise you it’s all going to be alright” he whispered, taking a stray strand of my hair and tucking it behind my ear. I nodded slowly; I had been the type of person to talk about my feelings. He pulled me back into his arms and kissed the top of my head.

I wished I could’ve stayed like that forever, but life seemed to have other plans for me and Harry. Paul barged in at that exact moment, and grabbed Harry by the ear.

“Sorry Grace, lover boy has a minor interview he needs to do” he said, shooting me an apologetic smile before they both left the room.

I took a minute to collect myself before exiting the room and returning to my seat. If I had known in advance how that interview was going to go; I would’ve left right then and there.

But my life was never that easy.