Substance over Styles | H.S.

XLIII. End of Contract

Hello again, this time it's an actual update...sorry about that.

Make sure to have read the previous chapters before starting this one. It may not be as good as you might hope, I apologise for it. But my head's been very busy lately.

I've just found out a classmate of mine killed himself last week. I hope he found the peace he was searching for. But no one understands why he decided so. We'll never do.

But for anyone who's having difficulties coping with whatsoever, please remember that there's always someone you can talk to. Don't ever think you're alone. Even if it's someone like me, a total stranger who writes silly stories, please...open up and don't cramp everything inside.

My classmate was a enormously talented musician with a beautiful soul, yet letting it all out through his music wasn't enough for him anymore. One last time, people, remember to open up. It's so important.

Anyway, I thought that continuing this story might put my mind of what happened. So Don't forget to send through questions for the Q&A. So far I've got none...so that's pretty sad.

Enjoy this one.

~*~

I woke up to the sound of the alarm on my phone. I lifted my head from its previous place on my arms and looked around me. I rubbed my eyes before trying to recognise my surroundings. Once I saw the giant clock hanging on the wall next to the standing coat rack, I remembered I was still at the office and had just woken up from a little nap during my lunch break.

Weeks had passed since Harry and I had had our talk and my life had turned into shit ever since. I had become a working machine, only taking a break from it to eat and sleep. I had nothing else to do and wanted this whole situation the be over as soon as possible. My social life was zero which let people to wonder what was going on in my head. Yet, even I didn't know.

The only thing I did know, was that my work here at SC was slowly coming to an end. I hadn't told many people this but technically, Harry was perfectly capable of taking back his ship and navigate it to success. The period of crisis was over and the company was more than stable. The only reason I stayed here was to make sure that it wouldn't hit a rock or iceberg out of nowhere.

But that was becoming one of the toughest jobs  I think I've ever had to do. Harry was making it impossible for me to work in a sane environment, hence the occasional lock up. I had already warned the staff that if they had questions or if decisions needed to be made, they could ask Harry. But the Monday meetings, the several trips to Manchester or Brighton and all the other things I had to do with him by my side, were utter nightmares.

If we didn't ignore each other, we fought and fought until Robin had to silently remind us that others might hear us. He was worrying, so was everyone. Not because of unprofessional behaviour or work that might not be one on time, everyone close to us worried that there was no hope for us anymore.

They weren't wrong.

We hadn't told anyone about our conversation, some had even believed we were together again. Yet, after these past few weeks, it was pretty hard not to notice that there was something fundamentally wrong between us.

I had never seen this side of Harry. When I first started working here, I thought his behaviour was mean and disrespectful. I thought he was one of the biggest arses on the planet. But I hadn't met bitter-Harry yet. Bitter-Harry was probably everyone's worst nightmare. He was mean - really mean - and intimidating. He always had snide comments up his sleeve and never backed away from an argument, always wanting to win it, no matter the costs. He was ruthless and egoistic, not at all like the man I once knew.