Written

Chapter 42

HARRY

Hayley handled the newfound press attention brilliantly. Her picture was plastered on blog sites and newspapers and tabloid covers, all with the same question- Who is Harry's mystery girl? It amused me, because as much of a mystery as she was to them, at times she was an even greater mystery to me. It was a mystery the way being in a room with her could lighten up everyone's day. It was a mystery, her closeness with the other boys. The way she leans against Zayn used to make me jealous, but I see now that it is an act of pure friendship, an act of trust. Watching Hayley be, well, Hayley, was my new favorite hobby. I loved the way that she would lean closer to whoever she was talking to, sometimes brushing their arm with her fingers. I loved the way her dark hair splays out across the pillows when she sleeps. I love the small sounds of irritation that she makes when she can't quite do something, and the way that she taps her pen when she can't think of what she was going to write. Hayley was a beautiful mystery that I would gladly spend the rest of my days trying to solve.

A blissfully uneventful week goes by before something else happens. I should have seen it coming, the quiet was too good to be true. I was walking down the hallway in an arena in Indianapolis when Paul summoned me into his makeshift office.

"Harry, we need to talk," he sounds serious. I take a seat in one of the folding chairs in the small room, allowing him to go on. "Before I say this, I want you to know that I'm just passing the message on from people who are higher up than I am, so don't shoot the messenger." My heart automatically sinks; nothing good can come of this. "Harry, management is not best pleased about your, er... arrangement with Hayley." He holds up his hand to silence me when I move to interrupt him. "In fact, it states in your contract that you will not have any romantic entanglements unless otherwise preapproved by management."

"What?" Unbelievable. "I didn't sign that shit in anything!"

"It's in the contract, Harry," Paul says apologetically.

"Why has it never been put in place before now?" I challenge.

"It hasn't been a problem before now," Paul says. "Your relationship choices have been very management-friendly. Until now, that is."

"So what? What do they want?"

"I'm not sure exactly what they want Harry. You'll have to find that out yourself. They just want you to know that it's being looked into, and not in a good way."

"Fuck," I mumble. "Paul, please. What do I do? Forget work, forget that you're authority. Not as a manager, but as a friend, I am asking you what I should do." The desperation in my voice softens him.

Paul's hand runs across the stubble on his chin before he lets out a long breath. "I don't know, Harry," he sighs. "I see the way you are with Hayley. She's good for you. But they don't care about that."

"I can't lose her," I feel like I'm going mad, going fucking insane with the thought.

"Here's what I think you should do, then. It's not going to be easy and it's probably going to piss her off," Paul warns. He knows Hayley almost as well as I do, in some senses. "Break it off with her now."

"I can't-" I begin angrily.

"Listen to me, Harry!" Paul speaks over me. "Tell her the truth, tell her what's happening. Let her know that you're still all in it but break it off publicly. For all intents and purposes, you need to appear single."

"I don't know if I can do that," I admit, cursing the day I had the dumb idea to even take her hand in public. At the time, I thought I was showing her loyalty and proving my dedication. Now I see that I should have been less selfish; this is exactly the kind of thing I was trying to protect her from.