Lockdown | Harry Styles | AU

Chapter 3

"Fuck, I can't do this." Aubrey whined, her face screwing up as though she were in great pain.

"Yes, you can." Sofia said firmly. "You haven't been on a date since you broke up with Luke, you need this, you need to have some fun." Her voice oozing support down the phone, her tone actually giving Aubrey a small amount of relief.

"I'm really fucking nervous though." A puff of air escaped her painted lips as she slumped down on the edge of the bed.

"I know, sweetie," Sofia cooed down her ear as Aubrey continued to hold her phone against it. "Go fix yourself a drink or something, just to ease your anxiety a bit."

"Yeah, sure, a drink, you're right..." Aubrey spoke dumbly while nodding her head, her eyes landing on the mini bar before she moved off the bed and headed towards it.

She placed her phone down on the small desk in the corner before tapping the loud speaker button, her hands moving to pour two miniature bottles of gin into a glass, not even bothering with ice or a mixer. She then delicately brought the glass tumbler to her thick lips before tossing half of the drink to the back of her throat, wincing at the strength and letting out a slight cough.

"Sure I'm not over dressed?" Aubrey then asked, panting slightly through her scorching drink.

"No." Sofia reassured, "that place is fancy as shit, besides, you always look banging in that black dress." Sofia's voice complimented through the phone. "He's gotta have money to be able to take you there, especially on a first date."

"I know, I feel kinda awkward going somewhere like that, I just kinda thought we'd go to a pub or something." Aubrey rolled her lips together after finishing off her drink and placing the glass down.

She then straightened herself up and looked at the floor length mirror that rested on the wall. Checking her appearance while raking her fingers through her blonde hair as it rested in soft waves passed her shoulders. Her make up was slightly heavier than usual, but nothing too much, thick eyeliner and nude lips along with a slight blush. Her black cocktail dress clinging to every perfect curve of her body, the straps falling slightly off her shoulders while the hem ended just above her knees.

"Do you wanna FaceTime real quick?" Sofia offered, wondering if speaking face to face will ease Aubrey's pounding heart and twisting stomach.

"No, it's okay, Sof." Aubrey said softly, "my Uber will be here any minute, I better head down to the lobby."

"Okay, well, love you. Can't wait to hear all about it." Sofia drawled out in a giddy tone making Aubrey roll her eyes.

"Love you too." Aubrey responded before hitting the end button on her phone.

She then swiped it off the side and stuffed it into her black clutch before grabbing her jacket and heading out the door.

After Aubrey had agreed to meet Edward they decided to exchange phone numbers, rather than continuing to chat through the Pinder app, after which Aubrey fell asleep. But she had woken up this morning to a text off Edward saying he'd booked a table for 7.30pm at an Italian restaurant in the main town, which wasn't far from Aubrey's hotel. After checking the place out Aubrey was more than impressed seeing at how expensive the menu was, not to mention that they had a strict dress code.

Edward had asked if Aubrey would like him to pick her up from her hotel, which she wasn't sure was his way of finding out where she was staying or if he was actually being polite. Either way, Aubrey declined, telling Edward she would just meet him there. She thought it would give her more time to gather herself together before they met, she felt it might have been awkward meeting someone for the first time in a car.