Ruffled ~ H.S

Forty-Eight

A/N: Helloooo, sorry for the wait. I hope this chapter's worth it <3 There is also quite a bit of time-skipping (***), so I hope you don't mind xo

Harry

"I'm sorry, Mr Styles. I must request a better offer than that," said Leslie, "I've already cut the price down quite generously for you. I wanted 5 million, and now I've dropped it down to 4."

"Yeah. And I'm offering 2.5 million," I laced my fingers together on top of the table, "Leslie, I want the title deed of your property by the 18th of November. That's next week. One week, my friend," I looked at the realtor carefully, "I know how long that house has been on the market. You must be getting pretty desperate to sell. Wouldn't you rather accept my offer, still receive a pretty generous commission, and have that place sold within a week, or wait God-knows-how-long for a different buyer to come along, just because you're hoping to get more money?"

"I can't be satisfied with half the original price, Harry," the man replied firmly, "look, you're a businessman too, yes? Surely you can understand where I'm coming from."

I rolled my eyes. "Fine. 2.75."

Leslie shook his head. "I still want 4 million. Or 3.5, at least."

"I just offered you 2,750,000 pounds, and you still won't budge?" I cocked an eyebrow at him.

"It's quite an outstanding property, Mr Styles," he shrugged, "it's worth more than that. Much more," he then straightened himself out on his chair, "so...do we have a deal? 3.5 million?"

"How about we meet in the middle and settle for 3 million exactly?" I suggested.

"Seriously?" Leslie raised his eyebrows, "What difference does 500,000 make, considering your financial status?"

I shrugged. "It's like you said, Mr Parsons. I'm a businessman. It's in my nature to negotiate."

Leslie stroked his chin thoughtfully, "You know...you don't exactly need to have the deed in your hands in a week's time. All this rush to bargain isn't really that necessary."

"It's necessary for me, and that's all you need to know," I told him.

"Are you sure you won't reconsider 3.5 million?" He asked me.

"3 million is my final offer," I insisted, "take it or leave it, Mr Parsons."

The estate agent sighed. "You have to give me some time to think about it."

I rolled my eyes. "Fine. I'm giving you 48 hours."

His jaw dropped. "48 hours? To consider an offer that's 2 million pounds less than I initially wanted?"

"In case you haven't caught on, I want that deed by next week," I reminded him slightly peevishly, "I could extend it to 72 hours, if you really need it...but that's all I'm willing to give you."

Leslie sighed. "Alright, Mr Styles. You win. I'll be in touch within 72 hours."

I felt myself smirking. "Thank you. I'm glad we've finally come to an agreement," I then cleared my throat and pushed my chair out before rising to my feet, "anyway, I have to go now. I need to get home to my wife," I told him, "I hope I'll hear from you soon, Leslie."

***

Deidre

I opened up the pantry and broke out a smile before letting out a soft "Yes!" as soon as I found the new packet of coconut biscuits Harry recently bought sitting on the bottom shelf. Giggling, I immediately snatched up the packet before running to the living room and flopping on the couch – resuming my movie and pulling the packet open before taking out one biscuit and letting out a soft moan of satisfaction as soon as I bit into it.