four

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None other than my irritable neighbor Harry drops his things onto his desk that is immediately diagonal from mine. He sets a coffee cup down and runs a hand through his hair, sighing. He doesn't seem to notice me.

Mr. Greenman steps out of his office, a stern look on his face.

"Styles," he says as he walks up to Harry. "You're late. Again."

"So?" Harry asks, plopping onto his seat.

"So, that's the fourth time this month. You'd better shape up or we'll be shopping for a new accountant soon," Mr. Greenman snaps.

Harry rolls his eyes. "You can say all you want, but we both know I'm the best accountant here."

"I can still fire you," Mr. Greenman warns.

"Alright, well when you get the balls to actually let me go, give me a call," Harry says. He smirks and Jesy covers her mouth with her hand.

"Oooh," Arnold says.

Everyone seems to stifle a laugh as Harry leans back in his seat triumphantly.

Mr. Greenman crosses his arms over his chest. "Watch it, Styles," he says through gritted teeth before turning on his heel and stalking back to his office.

"Good one," Zayn says to Harry, chuckling. Harry smirks. His eyes land on me and his face quickly shifts to an annoyed expression.

"Hi," I say, trying to sound friendly.

Harry locks his jaw. "Newbie, huh?" He asks Zayn, his eyes still on me.

Zayn nods. "This is Rose."

"I know," Harry says coldly. "We've met."

Zayn shifts his vision from Harry to me and back. He finally shrugs and turns in his chair to look at Perrie.

I nod, quickly returning my attention to my manuscript. Why, of all places, must we work at the same one?

I hear him spinning in his chair and clicking his pen. Shouldn't he be working, at least? If he's so good at his job, why isn't he working?

I have trouble concentrating on my work after that. How can Harry be so rude to everyone? His boss, who also happens to be the COO, threatened to fire him and he responded by insulting him. How much nerve does he honestly have?

Lunch rolls around and I follow Zayn to the break room.

He introduces me to everyone and goes to stand by Perrie. She smiles at us.

"Nice to meet you," she says. "Welcome to Crystal."

"Thanks," I say. We chat for awhile longer as we eat lunch. I catch the lingering looks Zayn gives Perrie, trying to hide a smile.

About fifteen minutes into lunch hour, Harry slides into the seat across from me, next to Zayn.

I shoot him a glare. I'm done trying to be nice to him when all I get in return is rudeness. He doesn't notice my death look as he begins chatting with Zayn.

Lana sits by Perrie and I, joining the conversation.

"I hear Phil's going to ask out Marion," Perrie says.

"No way," Lana gasps.

"Yes way. Jesy told me."

I eat salad quietly as the two trade office gossip. I've never been one for trading gossip myself, but I can't lie and say I don't like listening to it.

Towards the middle of lunch, everyone watches intently as John pushes a jar of M&M's toward Mike. My jaw drops as he pops in one after another.

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