Kiwis | Harry Styles

Twenty-Six

"Morning, how was Mauritius? I saw you whooped Harry's ass at games, I bet he was fuming!" Dustin chuckles. My receptionist is one of those people who always seems to be full of energy. Normally it's motivating but my tired, pregnant body is having none of it. The fresh coffee he has sitting on his desk smells so good but I don't like to have too much caffeine when pregnant so I turn my thoughts back to his question. 

"Mauritius was lovely, just what I needed."

"You look cute, is that top one of Alessandro's?" He asks, reaching over his desk to run his fingers over the embroidered flowers on my sleeve.

"Actually, Robin made it for me for Christmas. It's so pretty, right?" I twirl from side to side to show off the soft blue smock top.

"Oh, you have to Instagram that! People need to see this girl's talent."

I smile politely before stepping towards my office. I don't know how I feel about that; I mean if Robin wanted it on there she would have posted it herself. Maybe I'd ask her?

"Your post is already in your office but Sara asked if I'd send you to see her when you got in?" he yells after me and I turn and head to her office instead. I'm a little annoyed. I'd taken advantage of Harry taking the kids to school and come in early so I could work on my book a little. Hopefully, this won't take long.

My knuckles tap gently on the white door and I don't hesitate before waltzing in when she yells for me to "come in".

"Oh, I'm sorry Dean. I didn't realise Sara was already in a meeting!" I exclaim. I'm a little confused about why she's talking to my intern, he gets his assignments from me. I'm sure she'll explain it at some point though and I back out of the room.

"No, don't go. This involves you," she points to an empty chair and I sigh as I take the seat she'd indicated, it's too early for all this secrecy. I think I should have had that coffee after all.

I sit myself down and glance from Dean to Sara, neither of them seem very willing to talk, in fact my intern looks like he's about to burst into tears. I automatically lean forward and place my hand on his arm. "You okay?"

"I'm sorry," he mumbles. He's refusing to meet my gaze and I look to Sara for help. I feel awful that something is upsetting him this much, he's a sweet kid and talented. I plan to offer him a job once his internship comes to an end.

"I think it might be better if I let Dean explain," she states. And the silence returns.

"Sweetheart, if you have a problem you know you can talk to me, right? My door is always open."

"Stop! You're making it worse!" He pulls his arm from my grasp and I struggle to hide my shock. "I don't deserve your kindness," he says and I immediately go to protest, everyone deserves kindness. "I'm the reason that divorce story ended up in the news, I messed up." His words have me reeling. Why? How? 

"I went home for the holidays and a friend I trusted asked what my internship was like and I told her how great it is, how lucky I am that you chose me and then she asked me about you and I told her how good you are at your job, how nice you are. Then she asked if I'd met Harry, she's a fan so I told her all about how cute you guys are and I know I shouldn't have but I told her about the twins but I didn't think she would tell anyone. I trusted her. I shouldn't have. She sold the information I told her for 100 bucks, she said she didn't know what they were going to do with it. I'm sorry, Mrs Styles. I'm really sorry..." his words disappear into sobs and I struggle to make sense of the information. 

"What did your friend need the money for?" I place my hand back on his arm.

"What?! I - uhm - I don't know. We're not friends anymore. I won't do anything like this ever again. I wish I had just kept my mouth shut."