Candy

Chapter Two

“Jesus, Clara.” I opened one eye blearily and looked around the room. There was a pair of bright red skinny jeans standing by my door, with a shock of curly brown hair leaning over my body protectively.

“What?” I asked, not understanding what was going on I’d been in and out for the past few days. I could hardly stay awake for more than ten minutes, and usually I felt dizzy and weak.

“Louis, help me get her up. She’s not staying here.”

“What?” I asked again. I opened my other eye, the one that was still slightly puffy and winced.

Louis Tomlinson and Harry Styles were in my disgusting apartment, while Leah and Carmen, Reggie’s other girl looked on in wonder. “What are you doing here?!” I asked as Harry pulled the covers off me. Louis turned away respectively when he saw I was wearing a sheer nightgown and no underwear. Reggie didn’t like it when we slept in regular clothes. Harry immediately took his shirt off and slipped it over me, throwing the nightgown on the floor. He picked a pair of shorts off the ground and helped me step into them. He buttoned them for me and Louis turned around.

Reggie came in the room then and looked from me to Harry and Louis. “Who are these clowns?” He asked me.

“They’re my clients,” I gasped as I stood. My ankle had been killing me these past two days. I hadn’t eaten or worked since Reggie beat me up.

“Yeah, they better be.” Reggie said. “You haven’t gotten off your ass since you came back from that swanky hotel. You gotta start pulling your weight around here, or else I’m going to kick your ass out onto the street!” He spat.

“Excuse me?” Harry asked.

“Harry, stop it.” I warned him. I slipped on a pair of tennis shoes with no socks and grabbed my enormous purse. Louis immediately took it from me and held it so I didn’t have to.

“What did you just say to me, pretty boy?” Reggie asked.

Reggie got in Harry’s face and Harry stared right back at him. It was like Harry didn’t even see that Reggie had at least 50 pounds on him and 4 inches.

“Let’s go, guys.” I said, grabbing Harry’s hand. “Please.”

Harry grabbed me around the waist and helped me out of the apartment. Once the door shut behind us he swept me up into his arms bridal style and carried me down the steps.

“Shit,” Louis swore. A swarm of people with cameras were waiting outside my apartment building for us.

“What’s going on?!” I demanded. “Why are you guys here?”

“Call Paul,” Harry mumbled to Louis, completely ignoring me. “We need damage control.”

Harry pushed through the crowd of paparazzi, still taking pictures of us into the black SUV I’d been in just two short days ago. Harry set me down on one side of the SUV and he and Louis got in the other side. I started to sit up but Harry immediately snapped: “Lay down.”

“Why are you here,” I asked, feeling woozy.

“You haven’t replied to any of my texts or phone calls,” Harry said. “I called Reggie and pretend to set up another appointment so I could get your address and check on you. And I’m glad I did. Who did this to you, Clara?”

“Reggie,” I mumbled, closing my eyes.

“Fuck,” Harry said, looking extremely distressed.

“So, Harry,” I heard Louis say as I fell back asleep. “Now will you tell me what the fuck is going on?”

When I woke up a few hours later, I was back in Harry’s hotel room. All of the boys were in there plus two other men I didn’t recognize, quietly waiting for me to wake up. The two men were deep in discussion sitting in the two chairs by the window. Zayn was on his phone. Liam was doing a crossword puzzle, sitting on the desk cross legged, since one of the men was using the chair. Niall was eating from a bag of chips leaning against the wall and looking out the window. Louis was sitting next to Zayn on the floor on his phone, and Harry was lying beside me, stroking my arm gently. And crying.