Perfect | How Would You Feel (Book 2) \\ ON HOLD

7. Hands To Myself

November 16th 2014, London

"What's this about?" I asked Simon as I took a seat on a couch, "why aren't the boys here, too?"

"Can't you be patient for a few minutes, Harry?" he rolled his eyes, "we're waiting for someone to arrive,"

"Who?" I asked, once again, but he only stared at me, clearly annoyed at my questions. However, his silence made me even more nervous: whenever I was called in, especially if it happened so suddenly, it was because I had either messed up or because they wanted me to do something I didn't like. I couldn't count on my fingers how many times I had been woken up by their calls and rushed to an office just to find out that they wanted me to be seen or not seen with someone. In both cases, I had to agree even if I hated it. It was part of my contract and I knew better than to disobey.

As I was lost in thoughts, I didn't realize that the room was now filled with people. I looked around and, as soon as I saw Jade, my heart stopped. What was she doing here? Did she agree with them? Was she willing to use me to become more famous? Wasn't she the one who didn't want to leave the club with me to not get recognized? Why was I suddenly so disappointed that I couldn't bear to look at her?

"Patrick told me he saw a good chemistry between you two," Simon finally spoke and, even if he hadn't finished his sentence, I already knew where he was heading, "so we were thinking that maybe you could go out publicly for a while... It'd be a good publicity for you Jade," he finished. After a few seconds of silence, where I didn't even dare to speak, the blue-eyed girl burst out laughing, surprising everyone, me included.

"Did you seriously think about this?" she disappointedly asked her manager, "I'm never gonna agree,"

"Why not? It's innocent," Patrick shrugged, making me unconsciously snort at his words, "a lot of celebrities do it,"

"Are you serious?" she asked, "I will not use Harry, nor anyone else, to get more famous, ever," she said and I finally felt like I could breathe again.

"This is your career we're talking about Jade," another woman I had never seen said,

"Exactly, I make music, my goal is to make people talk about how good my songs are, not make them talk because I might be seeing him," she pointed at me and, at that moment, I realized she was truly one of a kind and she was going to be a problem for my mental health.

"Just think about it, the both of you," Simon looked at me, even if he knew I was against these stunts just like Jade,

"There's nothing to think about," Jade stood up, "I already know my answer... no!" she took her coat, before exiting the room, without looking at anyone. For some reason, I smiled at the girl. She was brave, braver than any of us boys, to stand up for what she believed and that alone turned me on.

"She's going to be a problem," Simon sighed, "I'm already regretting signing her,"

"She won't," Patrick tried to reassure him, "she just doesn't know how it works yet,"

"Or maybe she just knows how fucked up it is," I stood up, "see you," I faked a smile at the team, before getting outside. I walked around the building like a fool for a few minutes because I knew I had to find her, but she was probably already gone. However, I wanted to know how she was feeling, I wanted to be there if she was annoyed or sad... and I probably wanted her to be there for me, too.

I walked into the meeting room, once again, and took a breath of relief as I saw Patrick still there.

"Pat, mate," I approached him, "could you please give me Jade's number?"