Mystery?

Chapter 20

I know that this was a long shot but she was the only Penelope in the area. Harry has no idea that I am meeting with her. Just to get some closure and meet her. I want to know if she feels safe and if she moved on with her life. "Mariana, Penelope is in the lobby for you?" The lobby receptionist, Bill asks. 

"Send her up, Bill. Thank you." He tells her to go up to my suite and I am on my desk so nervous for what is about to happen. With someone as damaged as she could possibly be, I need to clarif some things with her. There was a knock on the door and I went to open it. A lady with brown hair and a dark skin tone, almost Filipino, is at my door and she seems nervous. "Hello, I am Mariana. You must be Penelope." I say as I move out of the way so that she could sit. 

"I am. I know you asked me to talk about Harry... but I can't. Even if it is in the past, I have no trust in him. Is he in here?" She whispers and looks around. She gets up and walks around my office. 

"Harry does not work for me, so he is not here. I am sorry for what he did and I am sorry that he wasn't gutsy enough to say it." I told her and she seemed like she was calming her nerves a bit. "I do not ask anything, but I wanted to let you know that Harry is different and that I wish the best for you." She sat down and sipped her water. My father taught me to never let go of hope and that time heals. "One question." I tell her and sit behind my desk and I sat down on the chair sipping my coffee. 

"I don't know why I fell for him. He had those bouncy curls that I had never seen on a head of hair before. I was a feshman and he was a senior. It happened last year." She lets me know. "I got to go before my third period starts. My mom is going to kill me." She gets up and leaves. 

"Okay, have a great day. Sorry for asking you to talk about something you clearly weren't ready for." 

SKIP TO THE END OF THE DAY: 

*Harry's POV* 

Applying to schools is a lot of stress. I go online and set a date for my GCSE test date and I am so nervous to retake them. "ugh..." I shout out and I wished that all of this would be different. Like the older times... before she knew about Penelope. Ever since the other day, she has been seeing me differently and that is making my head spin in circles. What am I supposed to do? I felt my back pocket vibrate and it was a text from Gemma: I need to know... what did you do? Why is she texting me that question. I reply to her What do you mean? I get nervous and start to pace around the living room. What is going on? Is Penelope back? Did she tell the cops... or did Mariana meet with Penelope. The door opens and in comes an angry but depressed Mariana. 

"Harry, do you know what you did to that girl? I met with her and she was nervous. She is still damaged. But she shouldn't be that shocked right? It happened a year ago. Instead of what you told me... you told me three years." She was angry. "Harry, please leave... NOW." I got up and left. 

"I will be back tomorrow to get my things." I say and I leave out the house with my phone, charger, laptop, and keys. I have no idea where I am going to go. When I left the driveway, I decided to look at the response Gemma sent me. Penelope is accusing you of rape. Those words spilled through the phone and made me nervous. Forget the new start... I will not run this time.  I drop my phone and I try to pick it up. I text he back. What? Why? it's been a year! I am so confused and I know that it is catching up to me. Gemma... I did rape her and I filmed it for the whole school to see... which is why I dropped out... I had to come clean now. Fuck, fuck, fuck! Ugh I hate my life right now. Everything is coming back and haunting me. 

SKIP TWO DAYS: 

I am parked outside the police station. Awaiting my fate while I am trying to stall it. I text Mariana: I know I said I would give you space... I am turning myself in. Penelope is charging me with rape. I let her know and I send it. Then I text one more time. I will write to you... talk to you some other time. I let her know and then I go up to the front door. 

"Hello. My name is Zayn. What can I help you with?" He seems like girls would be falling for him constantly. Those brown locks of hair. 

"Officer Zayn, I would like to turn myself in. Penelope Santiago charged me with rape... and I would like to do the time." I let him know and I look back at the outside, knowing that this will be the last time in a while that I could see the outside. Sink it all in. 

"Follow me." He says before radioing in telling the others that Harry Styles has turned himself in. He took my mugshots and I got thumb printed and other booking and processing steps. I am now.. officially, an inmate. Passing the bars and bars and cells filled with other inmates, it scares me. All the new stuff that happened, the adventures, they were al fixations and stuff to make me forget who I really was. 

*Mariana's POV* 

I know I said I would give you space... I am turning myself in. Penelope is charging me with rape. I will write to you... talk to you some other time. When Harry texted me those two or three sentences that made me upset. What if I didn't meet with her? Will Harry still be here and not turning himself in?  One thing I need to do now, is get him one hell of a great lawyer and get him out of there and help him get back on his feet. Rape is a huge offense and if he was convicted because of it, it would make it more difficult to get a job. For him. I text Gemma and ask her to meet me for lunch. It is around 10 and I would drive to her house so that we could go to lunch together. 

"So what are we meeting about?" 

I shuffled in my seat before I showed her the texts Harry sent me. "He turned himself in. He has already been booked and processed. I feel like this is my fault." I sigh and sit back down. 

"What do you think you did? It was in the past..." 

"I met with Penelope.." I told her and she seemed shocked.  "I know, if I hadn't she probably wouldn't have charged him and told the police he raped her. I know I should have let him know before meeting her, but I really wanted to talk to her." She seems angered and she should be. 

"I am so mad at the situation. She took your meeting and turned it into her having courage to tell the cops about last year. I cannot believe it." She says and it makes me angry. Why did I even meet with her? 

"I am going to make this right." I say and get up from the table. She follows me into my car. "What are you doing?" 

"Making it right with you..." Gemma says. 

A/N: This is just a filler.