The Boy Next Door || Harry Styles

chapter twelve. {melanie}

To say that I was shocked would be an understatement. I mean, it's not like I didn't see Harry as a famous boybander who tours the world, I just sort of wished he wasn't. I knew from the start that Harry was gonna make it big, and he did just that. He proved himself to everyone and in someway I felt honored for knowing him. I understood why he didn't tell me, but it's a pretty big part of his life that he was hiding. I was going to find out sooner or later.

"Ms. Harte, I need to speak with you." Karen spoke from behind me. I jumped in my chair and turned around to face her.

"Of course. Of course." I said, following her to the small office in the corner. It had glass walls and a glass door, completely exposing the inside. As she sat down, I took a seat on the other side of the desk.

"I should've mentioned this before, but it completely slipped my mind." Her tone was serious and I had a grave feeling I did something very, very wrong.

"We frown upon our employees, especially novices like yourself, having, so to say, sexual relationships with our artists and partners." She continued and I felt my lunch threatening to spill from my agape mouth.

"Uh, Ms. O'Conner --," I tried to explain, but she held up a finger to silence me.

"Now, I know Harry is very kind and handsome lad, but we need to keep things professional. We don't want to get mixed up with the tabloids again, do we?" Karen said in a slightly sinister tone. Her voice sent shivers down my spine, but I knew what she was talking about. Pictures of Harry and me were all over the Internet in a matter of seconds.

"Actually, Harry and I were dating before I even knew about his band." That really shut Karen up. I wondered if she thinking why a guy like Harry would go for a girl like me.

"Oh! That changes the situation, almost entirely! I didn't know, I apologize." She smiled and then rested her chin on her hand. She had transformed from my boss to my best friend.

"How did you two meet?" Karen asked, eagerly.

"Uhm, we've been close friends ever since we were little. We only recently got together." I smiled, too. Thinking about Harry made everything fall away, like he was the only person that mattered. He gave me that warm, jittery feeling and he wasn't even with me.

"Very cute. I'm sorry for even intruding, you may return to your work." Karen laughed and I took it as permission to leave. When I returned to my desk, I realized that I had indirectly received permission to be with Harry. It felt like getting approval from a worthy person.

* * *

"Why don't you invite your boyfriend over?" My dad spoke suddenly. We were sitting around the telly as it served as our background noise.

"M-my boyfriend?" I coughed. I wasn't sure how he knew about my relationship with Harry. I wanted to settle things with Harry for another week before I told my dad and Cassidy.

"I'm not that old, Melanie," he laughed, "There are pictures of you all over the Internet." My lip twitched and I coughed on the air once more. I wondered what sort of pics of me were already spreading around.

"Oh." I bit my lip. "I was going to wait a bit, but since you already know --,"

Cassidy walked into the living room with Riley following her close behind.

"Oh darling, we've known for a while now. It's about time you two got together, don't you think?" She smiled and sat down next to my dad. Riley pulled himself onto her lap.