Softer Side

Chapter twenty-three

I hum softly as I lay on the sun lounger beside the swimming pool, taking the time to completely relax on such an incredible holiday. We had been away for a three days now and had done multiple shoots for the company and for my Instagram feed. My eyes opened to turn to Becky who had her eyebrows furrowed at her phone. I shrug slightly, turning my head back, guessing mentally that it must be some sort of moan between her and Taylor.

"Soph?" I hear her say quietly as I hum in response. "Have you seen-" she starts as the waiter comes over with a smile, asking if we required anymore drinks. I asked him for another cocktail, thanking him as he walked away causing me to close my eyes, sighing as my phone rang.

"I need to take this" I mumble, walking away from the pool and answering the call quickly, smiling at the accent on the other side of the phone and the cheerful face on the camera at the other end of the call. "Louis! How are you doing?" I smile, sliding my hand through my hair as he grins.

"Yeah I'm good love, just checking all was well, haven't seen you both in weeks" he smiles before raising an eyebrows. "Where are you?... that's not London?" He states, confusion lacing through his words.

"Did I not tell you? I'm away on a mixture of business and pleasure" I smirk as he raises his eyebrows as I flip the camera around. "My location at the moment is here Lou, Barbados" I say softly as he raises his eyebrows, licking his lips subtly when the camera catches Becky in her black and white spot two piece.

"Damn, you get better business trips than me" he mumbles as I laugh softly. "Alright love I'll let you go ten so you can continue tanning, you're looking good by the way" he smiles as I thank him, saying goodbye and waving to him. I sigh happily as I sit on the lounger beside Becky again, her eyebrows raising.

"Who's made you so happy?" She teases as I shrug with a smile.

"It was Louis, checking how everything is" I smile as she nods slowly, looking ahead of her and staying quiet now. What was up with her?

~~~~~~~

I sigh softly as I stand on the beach, my hand in my hair in a bright pink bikini for the final shoot of the holiday. I change positions, touching my cheek as a small breeze took my hair behind me for the perfect shot. This was a huge opportunity for me, so I needed to make the most of it if they were to ever consider letting me on the runway. I look over at Becky who was looking at her phone confused, locking it and running her hands over her face.

"And we're done" the photographer calls as I thank them, heading over to Becky quickly.

"Hey!" I cheer as she nods slightly, looking down at her toes brushing in the sand. "Want to go and grab some dinner? I'm starved and it's like 7 o'clock" I smile as she shakes her head.

"Soph I need to speak to you" she sighs as I furrow my eyebrows at her. I didn't like where this was going, she better not be telling me that she was dropping me, or worse, finding out about Niall.

"Go on" I say softly as she sighs, rubbing her hands over her face again.

"I don't know how to say this" she sighs as I raise my eyebrows. "Fuck sake" she mutters as I link my hands together, taking the phone from her hands as she hands it to me. My eyes focused on the article before me, the headline reading;

Harry Styles and new girlfriend engaged?

My heart stopped as I stood up, handing her phone back to her. "Soph," she sighs as I shake my head quickly and stand up.

"I'm okay, I'm fine" I smile, I had Niall at home but this still hit me hard. He had a baby with me, told me he loved me then when we had split he led me on to tell me he had a girlfriend. Now he was engaged? I could let Becky see it had hit me less than she thought, because I couldn't let on to her about Niall. I take her hand in mine, smiling softly as we walk back to the room. "Get changed, we're going out to do something we've wanted to do for ages..." I say softly, dipping into the bedroom with a wide smile.

~~~~~~~

"I love them" I smile softly, standing in the mirror of the tattoo studio with Becky, looking at the thin tattoo of a rose placed on both of our ribs. They were small and dainty, and could be hidden by the underwear I wore in shoots, but they meant no matter what I had my best friend by my side. "We should take a photo" I smile softly as Becky shakes her head.

"You take one, it wouldn't look right having your manager in it" she smiles as I shake my head.

"You're my best friend too, come on, together" I smile as she shakes her head with a smile, standing beside me. I open my camera, posing for the photo beside Becky as she sticks her tongue out with a smile. "Beautiful" I smile, fixing myself to head back with a grin. I thank the man who did them for us, waving goodbye before sliding on my sunglasses. It was so warm here, and my tan had really picked up over the last couple of days.

As we were walking I grab my phone and open Instagram, uploading the photo with the caption;

We went a little rogue, matching with someone who will never mess me over

I completed it with a small emoji of two girls dancing, smiling softly before pressing upload. A few seconds later and I had thousands of likes, luckily I had notifications off except for close friends so I didn't have notifications constantly popping up.

~~~~~~~

Later that evening I laid in bed, scrolling through my twitter feed and seeing what had been written. I jump slightly seeing the screen change to the call screen pressing accept. "Hey darlin'" I head through the speaker causing my heart to swell.

"Hey you," I say quietly as I hear him sigh. "How is everything?" I say quietly as he stays quiet for a short amount of time.

"It's okay, lonely... I met up with Louis yesterday, but I'm really missing having you with me" he says quietly as I smile sadly. "Just having you here, just in the same room... come home?" He says sadly as I sigh.

"One more day... be at mine Friday for 6 pm, you have a key don't you" I say softly as he simply mumbles an agreement. "I'll be home about 6:15, so you'll be the first person I see when I get home" I say softly hearing him giggle.

"How are you doing with the whole, you know" he says softly. He was referring to Harry. I sigh softly and smile slightly to myself.

"I mean, I don't know if I believe it... I know what the tabloids are like" I say softly as he agrees quietly. "I guess I'm doing okay, just need you here" I say quietly as he sighs.

"Come on babe, don't cry" he says softly as he hears me sniff. I sigh quietly as I wipe my eyes, it was t Harry that was effecting me, it was the fact I didn't have my daughter and my secret boyfriend with me. Someone I wanted to show off and not have to be secret with, but for now it was what was best.

"I'm sorry, I just miss you" I say quietly as he hums softly.

"You said it yourself babe, one more day" he whispers causing me to giggle quietly. "Come on babe, get yourself some sleep okay? Then it will be even less time" he says gently as I agree. "I love you" he says softly as I smile softly to myself.

"I love you too, thank you" I say softly as he chuckles slightly.

"You know I care for people, especially those that I'm completely and utterly in love with" he says quietly, the last words I heard before my eyes closed and my body fell asleep.