IN ANOTHER LIFE // Harry Styles

The Girl In Black

Y/N didn't expect her first day at work to start with her head down the toilet. It must have been the milk she'd drunk earlier that morning, or maybe the microwaved dinner from last night. But it didn't matter now, the important thing was that her famous boss, whom she'd never actually met before, was waiting in the recording studio, while she was throwing up in this bathroom stall.

With her head spinning in circles, however, Y/N could still make out a knock on the door.

"Hey, ya alright?"

She should've recognized that British voice because she'd spent the entire night before watching his interviews on YouTube to get to know him better. In a situation like this, her memory was helpless.

"I'm fine...Thanks." Y/N groaned as she flushed the toilet before rising from the floor, feeling slightly better but still quite unsure.

"Sir, I don't think you should be in the ladies' room," she told the man on the other side of the door.

And to her surprise, he replied with a laugh. "That's why I'm in the men's room."

Y/N's bloodshot eyes grew wide the moment she heard those words. She pulled the door open in an instant, then almost fell backward when she found Harry Styles standing right in front of her. Harry gave the girl a friendly smile, yet when he opened his mouth to speak, she immediately turned away and got back down on her knees to empty her stomach in the toilet bowl.

In the haze, Y/N could feel Harry kneeling down by her side, gently holding her hair back so it wouldn't get in the way. It was a lovely gesture, she supposed, but he still had no idea she was his new assistant.

And the only thing on Y/N's mind at this moment was, her first day of this job could also be her last.

.

.

.

The girl in black carefully followed the path leading through the dark woods, with only the light from her oil lantern guiding the way. She was heading home alone, like a shadow under the moonlight, trying not to make a sound as her heart was pounding like a drum.

The young maiden could've got home early that night as she was so close to her village already. However, it was one of her good habits that became her obstacle — she never walked away from someone in need.

"Hello?! Can anyone hear me? I'm trapped!"

Her feet rooted to the ground when she heard the cry for help. The girl already had her guards up, ready to fight for her life, but there was no one around! At first, she thought it was just her imagination, then the desperate call repeated, louder this time. It took her a moment to realize it was coming from a hole in the ground a few steps away from where she stood.

"Who's there?" she asked, carefully approaching the victim. Holding up her lantern above the hollow to get a better look of whoever was down there. When the light flashed across the person's face, the girl was so terrified that she backed away from the edge.

"Hello, thank God! Could you please get me out of here?" begged the hopeless young man as he looked up. But this girl knew for certain he wasn't just a man.

"You're...You're the Prince!"

"You recognize me?" Prince Edward smiled widely as he put both hands on his hips and heaved out a sigh of relief. "Great! Now could you please help me out?"

"No."

Her answer came as a shock to the heir of the throne.

"Pardon?" he raised an eyebrow for no one had ever talked to him that way beside his father - the King.