Meet Up on Another Page {narry} **discontinued**

Chapter 10

This chapter contains a little smut - just skip over that part if it does bother you.

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Harry’s POV

I wake up in the middle of the night reaching out beside me, reaching out for Niall, only to find Charlie sprawled out beside me. I groggily scratch his head, avoiding the cone he has around his neck from being at the vet, as I roll onto my side.

“Tell me again why I chose to sleep alone tonight.”

I pull Charlie closer to me as I attempt to fall back asleep, completely exhausted from the past week.

Niall and I have been working late, trying to both line up interviews for more employees and to figure out how to cut Derek out of the contract. All we have left is to meet with a lawyer and the tougher part, meet with Derek, and hopefully get it finalized.

I take a deep breath, attempting to draw the stress out of my body and push the thoughts into the back of my mind so I can fall asleep again. I fill my mind with thoughts of Niall instead and slowly drift back to sleep, cuddling Charlie close into me.

-

“You can’t just cut me out of this! It’s my restaurant too!”

Derek screams as he jumps from his seat slamming his hands on the large table the 5 of us are sat around. I glance between Niall and his lawyer, hoping one of them knows something to say. Niall’s lawyer, Dean, is the first to speak.

“Technically, my client can. The type of contract you signed is very, very flexible by definition. Also, luckily for my client, the span of the contract is only 1 year, meaning that it ends in 45 days. The renewal would need to be signed by both of you within the next 20 days, but as you can see, that won’t be happening. Your only option at this point is to make a case to take us to court to attempt to continue the contract or we can figure out some sort of settlement between you and my client.”

“They can’t do this, can they?” Derek looks back at his lawyer, Anthony, who simply nods at him.

“You fuckers!” Derek points his finger at us, leaning over the table. “This was my idea, this is my restaurant!”

I take a deep breath and swallow hard, gripping the arms of the hard chair I’m sat in. I’m worried Derek might do something actually dangerous and I wasn’t expecting him to be quite this aggressive or upset.

Niall leans forward and clears his throat; I knew he was extremely nervous about this entire situation.

“Derek, none of this was your idea. I came up with idea, the food, the design, everything. Literally all you did was tag along and provide a small amount of money to the start up. I only agreed because I was with Abby. I don’t need you and finally you aren’t going to be around.” Niall’s voice faltered as he spoke, I could tell he was trying his best to stay calm and assertive. I gently squeezed his thigh reassuringly as he finished, wanting to let my hand linger but I knew that letting him alone would help him the most in this situation.

“Fuck you, Niall! You wouldn’t have this without me!” Derek spat at Niall before storming out of the room.

“Give my client and me a moment to discuss and we can decide where we stand upon my return.” Anthony slowly stood and walked out following Derek.

“We can do this, right? I mean there’s no other option Derek has?” Niall timidly asks Dean, his confidence now completely gone.

“Absolutely correct, Mr. Horan. I’ve checked it over several times, there’s nothing he can do.”