Mixed Up // Harry Styles

Eight

Picture of Kerry on the side.

                                                CHAPTER EIGHT

     “Holly! My office now,” Kerry, my boss, yells across the room everyone falling silent and all eyes resting on me as I stand up.

     “Good luck,” Felicity whispers, chuckling at the same time as I pass her by.

     “Sit.” Kerry orders, shutting the door closed behind her and making her way around the desk, taking a seat at the same time as I do too.

     “What’s wrong?”

     “I have a news story for you to write,” She chirps happily and pushes a file in my direction.

     “Really?” I gasp a little and switch my gaze from her and to the bulging file in front of me.

     “Yeah, it’s about Harry Styles and…” Her voice drowns out the moment I hear her say his name.

     This can’t be happening again. The last thing I want to write about is his engagement, well, that is what I’m guessing it’ll be about, and it’s the big news at the moment in the celebrity world. So far I’ve done well in not getting involved with that side of Harry’s life and still no one knows that me and Harry are childhood best friends, the only people to fully know are Felicity and Nathan but only because they found him at my apartment block one day waiting for me.

     “Mystery girl,” I catch her last few words.

     “Sorry, what?” I question, caught off guard and a little stunned.

     She sighs and rolls her eyes. “Harry Styles, you got that?” She asks sarcastically and I nod my head whilst rolling my eyes. “Caught, with mystery girl…early hours this morning, understand?”

     My heart rate quickens and I feel my heart thumping in my chest. That mystery girl is me.

     “The paparazzi caught a photo of them kissing,” She air quotes the last word and picks out a photo caught by the paparazzi out of the folder and slides it across the glass desk towards me.

     I stare down at it, feeling thankful that my hair is covering my face although we have nothing to hide as we were doing nothing wrong.

     “I’m sure it was nothing, just a peck on the cheek maybe?” I cover it up and push the photo away as fast as I could.

     Kerry stares at me oddly, her eyebrows furrowing together in confusion and then her face eases as she begins to talk directly to me again.

     “That’s where you make it something. Gossip earns you money, Holly. Get out of here, make it good.” She says, pushing the folder and photo into my open hands and shoos me out of her office door, closing it behind me.

     I stand there for a moment to register what she has just asked me to do before making my way silently back to my desk, Felicity peering over the desk again to see what I have.

     “What’d you get?”

     I look up at her, fear striking my face as I have her the folder, her mouth forming the perfect oval shape as she peers inside it and flicks the sheets of paper between her fingers.

     “Oh my god,” She stifles a laugh.

     “It’s not funny!” I whine and fold my arms onto the desk, resting my head on top of them.

     “Maybe you should’ve been careful then,” She replies simply.

     “It’s not about being careful, I didn’t know they were watching and now they know where I live.” I grumble and sit back up to be met by her staring back at me.

     “Well, on the bright side, you get to make yourself look like miss-oh-so-perfect and no one will ever know.”

     “There is no bright side!” I exclaim and take the folder back from her.

     “I’m actually surprised that photo doesn’t catch your ginger-ness,” She comments and clasps her hand over her mouth to stop a laugh from escaping about my current situation.

     “You always comment on my hair, every time.” I sulk and open up a word document on the computer.

     “I’m sorry bu-“

     “Felicity!” Kerry’s voice erupts through the office block once again and Felicity freezes on the spot.

     “Good luck,” I snigger and watch as she walks away, giving me a worried glance over her shoulder before disappearing into the office, the door slamming shut once again behind them.