To be so lucky {H.S.} ✔️

Chapter 23

The next days were dreadful. Harry's management team had put us under their own version of house arrest, as soon as our feet landed on California soil. There was no going out, no going on social media, no talking to anyone besides our closest friends, and in Harry's case, his family. The plan was to lay low until the next scandal popped out, and people forgot all about how Harry Styles and his girlfriend had starred in a homemade porno movie.

Harry would spend his days coming in and out of meetings, trying to figure out with his team what his next steps should be. At first, they'd tried to contain the propagation of the video, tried to figure out where its first publication had originated from, but with no success. I had tried to explain that whoever sent it would have taken precautions to hide their identity on the network, but no one was listening.

I felt invisible, the whole time. People would come and go, usually followed by Rhiannon, and Harry would lead them to his private office, shutting me out. It would have hurt me, but I knew Harry was trying to protect me, in his own particular way, and deep down I knew this situation had been my fault. I had ignored all the signs that something was going on, and pulled Harry into my bad luck in the process.

It didn't mean I wasn't feeling like crap. I'd tried to interrupt my vacations and go back to work earlier, but Rowan had thought that my association with their project would have done more harm than good, so I was kindly asked to step out for an indefinite period. "We will of course still be paying you..." Rowan had added, like that would make me feel any better.

So I spent my days in bed, Oscar by my side, making up scenarios in my head where my life wouldn't be a living nightmare. At night, Ava would call to put me up to date with the latest news on Blackmar's investigation, or lack of them.

My friend tried to stay positive, to support me, to be there for me every night, but by the end of the third day I'd refused to get out of bed, she'd had enough.

"Have you even showered today?"

I sighed, burying my head further on my pillow. "No."

"Eaten?"

"That would also be a no."

"Nina!" Ava's eyes were opened wide, her expression exasperated. "You can't keep living like this. I know this whole situation sucks. You don't deserve any of this shit, and if I ever catch the bastard that... I'll take their eyes out with my bare hands."

That, imagining my friend who would faint every time a doctor had to stick a needle in her arm, claw someone's eyes out of their face in cold blood, got a smile out of me. Ava grinned too, guessing what was going on through my mind.

"Seriously, Nins. You can't allow this thing to take you down the drain. Not again." Her expression was softer now, almost sad.

"I don't know what to do," I admitted. I felt defeated, impotent.

"You can start by getting your ass out of that bed and get in the shower. Then you can go downstairs, or wherever the kitchen is, and get yourself something to eat. Just take care of yourself, Nins." Grunting, I rolled over on the bed. "If not for you, then do it for me."

Her voice sounded sad. The last thing I wanted was to cause anyone any additional pain, so if letting warm water run down my back, and wash my troubles away was the price to pay to see make Ava happy, so be it.

"I will. As soon as you hang up, I'll drag my ass in the shower."

"And the kitchen!"

Rolling my eyes, I half-smiled. "And the kitchen."

Ava's expression looked a lot more satisfied like she just managed to fix me. "Where's Harry, anyway?"

My throat tightened at her words. Closing my eyes, before the tears would spill over, I shook my head. "Who knows? Probably stuck in his office, or outside, talking to yet another team member on the phone."