The Adjacent Room [h.s]

Chapter 1

For the last 4 years I've been Harry Styles' assistant. Yes. THE Harry Styles, ex One Direction member and 'most handsome man in the world'. It's an understatement to say this is the job of my dreams. I get to travel the world with Harry and his band, hiding backstage every show, listening to Harry's charismatic voice and personality captivating the thousands of fans filling each and every stadium.

Harry and my relationship is strictly professional, despite the fact that my whole life is devoted to Harry's career. Many people, even the fans, make jokes we're like an old married couple. It's become a running thing that if you see one of us, the other won't be far away. Without me, Harry's life would become an unorganised mess and without Harry, my life would be nowhere near as enjoyable.

This week Harry is going to be in Sydney for the Australia and New Zealand leg of his world tour for his new album, Fine Line. We spent all last week in Melbourne, where Harry performed two shows. No matter how many times I watch him perform, the viewing experience never loses its spark. I'm never sure if it's something special about Harry or if it's just the atmosphere in general, but my favourite thing in the whole world is to watch him perform.

This brings me to now. We're 45 minutes away from touching down in Sydney, and my heart is starting to race. I've been on countless flights in my time, almost always seated next to Harry, but even the slightest turbulence will freak me out. Knowingly, Harry begins to open his mouth to calm me down like he always does.

'Sophie, it's okay. Don't worry about the shakiness. You know it's never as bad as you make yourself think it is.' He gently places his hands on mine, and calm washes over me. It's moments like these when I know I wouldn't trade my job for the world.

45 minutes later, we're on the tarmac and just as Harry promised, we're all still in one piece. Luckily, Harry's driver is ready and waiting for us just as we walk out of the terminal, and the band, Harry and myself rush into the heated car protected from the cold, windy night. I swiftly plop myself down onto the warm leather seats, already looking forward to tucking myself into bed in the latest hotel room.

When we arrive at the hotel reception, I can barely keep my eyes open and I'm afraid I look totally unprofessional, despite my pressed white dress and black heels. Harry always tells me to lighten up with my outfit choices while we travel, but you never know when a situation might arise where I need to look my most professional in an airport.

Just as Harry starts speaking to the receptionist, I realise I'm about to nod off - possibly onto Mitch's shoulder. With my eyes half open, I listen to what the receptionist tells Harry,

'Under the name Harry Styles we've got 6 standard rooms booked. Is that correct?' My eyes dart open. This is most definitely not correct. I know our bookings all too well by now and I even booked this hotel. Each member of Harry's band has their own standard room, and Harry and I each get a deluxe suite adjacent to one another. This makes 7 rooms, not 6. It's sort of our tradition to have rooms adjacent to one another because it allows each of us to know where the other is at all times, and this is very important considering the ever changing plans of the famous Mr. Styles. Even if this wasn't the case, deep down I know I wouldn't want to be far away from Harry anyway. I think it's just the fact that we've worked so closely together for so long he's almost become a part of my breathing mechanism.

Snapping out of my daydream, I question the kind lady at the desk again.

'I'm so sorry, but are you sure it's 6 standard rooms?'

'Yes, that's what we've got here. Has there been an error?' Before I open my mouth to speak, Harry jumps in.

'No, don't worry, it's not an issue at all. Have a lovely night.' He flashes his award winning smile at the lady and passes out the cards to each member of the band, leaving one remaining in his hand. I wonder why Harry excluded giving me a card, but that's a question I'm about to find out the answer to.

After all this time together I've learned how to read almost all of Harry's thoughts, and I know he didn't want to cause an inconvenience for the receptionist, especially at this late hour. He truly lives by his infamous motto, treat people with kindness.

As we walk down the hallways of the luxury hotel, I begin to question Harry on what our sleeping arrangements are supposed to be. Given the fact that everyone in our cohort is holding a room card except me, I don't know where this leaves me. For all I know I'm going to be at a motel down the street and at this point, I'm not sure if I have the energy left to brush my teeth let alone organise a week's worth of accommodation for myself. I look up to Harry, who is walking beside me and ask,

'I know why you did what you just did but now what are we supposed to do? Where am I supposed to sleep?' He can sense I'm beginning to panic and even in my sleepy state, his ever-present calming influence never falters. He places his warm hands on my shoulders.

'Sophie, take a deep breath. We are going to be all okay. We'll just share a room. We're basically family at this point anyway.' His words shouldn't affect me like they do, but for some reason, his description of us being 'family' stirs something inside me I didn't know was there.

'Yeah, you're right. I'm sorry for being so on edge today. I just want Sydney to go smooth.' I try not to winge.

Harry's smile doesn't falter, but he doesn't respond either. Instead, he just wraps his arms around me, and strangely it almost feels like home. It's at this moment I realize Mitch, Sarah, Ny Oh, Adam and Charlotte have all left us to go to their rooms. Harry slowly releases me from his tight grip, and we walk side by side in a comfortable silence all the way to the door of our room. Harry swipes the card on the scanner and the door opens, revealing our shared room for the next week. At the same time, our eyes settle on the room in front of us. Instantaneously, we both spot the one queen sized bed and each mutter a quiet,

'Shit.'