How It's Going To Be [h.s.]

Chapter 88

{Kate's Point of View}

Thick clouds were resting above London in a way that trapped the cold air. Frost was beginning to collect on the edges of my windows. I watched as tiny snowflakes fluttered down from above. I pulled the duvet up higher around me. I was glad it was Sunday and I didn't have to go to the office—or get out of bed.

The conversation I shared with Niall and Louis weighed heavily on my mind. Knowing Harry had been at least attempting to meet with me that day at Yumchaa made me feel a little better, but he still hadn't made an effort to explain his absence. And it was a relief that Harry was in L.A. for work, but I still wondered if he took the job to avoid being in London where I was. The part of our conversation that haunted me most was when I told the boys that they belonged to the fans more than any single person in their lives and they hadn't disagreed. It was a confirmation of a reality I was terrified to face.

I reached for my phone to check for messages. It was balanced on the edge of the bedside table. When my fingers brushed it, the phone tipped over the side and fell to the floor below. I let out a long sigh. I pushed the duvet off me and leaned over the edge of the bed. I felt around a few moments before finally looking down and realizing I couldn't see my phone.

"You've got to be kidding me," I huffed. I stood up from the bed and crouched on the floor. I dropped to my knees and stuck and hand under the edge of the bed. My hand bumped into a box. I pulled the box out and found my phone just a short distance away.

The box had a thin layer of grey dust on the top. It was a Manolo Blahnik shoebox. From Harry, no doubt, I thought. I lifted the lid of the box. Instead of a pair of pumps, there was a page torn from a magazine. The paper was glossy with the interior edge ripped jaggedly. It was an advertisement for the new Dior perfume. It seemed strange that I would have kept the advertisement stored away in a shoebox beneath my bed. I pulled it out and turned the paper over in my hands. It turned out that I had not kept the page for the perfume advertisement, but rather for what was on the back. It was an article about me.

Known for his multiple fleeting relationships, One Direction's Harry Styles has been labeled a ladies' man. People are used to seeing Styles paired with some of the loveliest ladies including singers and models. Typically star-studded and glamorous, it came as a shock to not just the One Direction fandom, but the entire world, when Styles stepped out with something a little more...er, drab.

One Direction is in the middle of a world tour with their most recent concerts taking place in North America. Harry Styles began turning heads when he was repeatedly showing up in London during short three-day breaks from tour when he should have been somewhere between Vancouver and San Diego. That wasn't all; Styles was seen walking the streets with the same companion on more than one occasion. It didn't take Directioners long to identify the mystery girl Styles was jetting halfway around the world to be with. She is definitely unlike any other girl Harry has been linked to...

Her name is Kate Wright and she is apparently around Harry's age. She graduated from university and moved to London where she landed a job on One Direction's management team. She met Harry through her job and the two hit it off. Prior to her 1D job, the girl had never been to their concert. Kate doesn't come from wealth, doesn't act, sing or model, and apparently doesn't color her hair—although maybe she should.

This girl is definitely different from what Styles usually pursues. Average is a fair word to use on the poor thing. It is unclear whether the two are dating or if their gallivanting is purely platonic. There even seems to be a dispute within the fandom over the issue. Regardless of the status of the relationship, everyone will have to get used to seeing boy band royalty with a boring commoner.