Aurora [H.S AU]

Chapter 2

2019, September 2nd - monday | 5pm

Aster's P.O.V.

I actually don't know what to think about the news my father and Desmond shared with me earlier today. I've been trying to wrap my mind about it ever since I left the office, but still haven't got to a conclusion yet. I hate that I'll have to share my office with someone else - I tend to work better alone and in silence. But at the same time, I don't even know what to expect about Harry's way of working, perhaps he is just like me, considering he did ask for a private office for himself.

Last time I saw him was during a birthday party. My 15th birthday. I was in such a bad mood - my father brought Penny to the party even though he knew I hated her. The party happened at my father's house, which I lived in till I left for college, and even though all my friends were there, I wasn't enjoying it as I should. I missed my sister terribly, was utterly disappointed at my mother's non-attendance and had a fight with my then boyfriend, Chase.

However, when Desmond arrived along with his then wife and Harry, my mood changed slightly. I always loved my "uncle" Des and "aunt" Anne, and to be completely honest, I'd spend most part of my adolescence nursing a huge crush on Harry. I don't know, maybe it was because he is also the only child and the other heir of the empire our fathers have built together, so he kinda understood the weight it had in our shoulders. Maybe it was because he was always smiling and always had a funny remark that used to make me laugh out loud, or maybe it was because of the way he looked.

He is two years older than me, so when I was turning 15 he was 17, and looked like every other girl's dream - bright green eyes, a mop of chocolate brown curled hair, pink pouty lips and good height. His voice was already so deep and raspy, and he had such self-confidence that made him look even more mesmerizing. All of my friends had a crush on him, and I was no exception.

The day of my party was a breaking point to make my crush on him go all through the roof. He saw how miserable I was, specially when Penny decided it was suited for her to give a fucking speech in my regard - she tried way too had to make me like her, when I was younger. When I saw her taking the mic I just turned my back and ran away, and Harry followed me to the front yard of my father's house. He saw the tears of frustration rolling down my face and didn't even think twice, taking me to a park nearby in his father's cars and turning my terrible day in one of my best birthdays ever.

I felt like we had a special kind of connection, back then. Till he moved to England with his mother, we were very close - we played together as kids, and used to spend hours talking at the edge of my parents pool when we grew older. However, after he moved we completely lost touch - he stopped going to the social gatherings between our families, and never came back to New York. At the time social media wasn't the big deal that it is today, so we only had each other added on Facebook, but I deleted my account when I started going to college. Currently, we follow each other on Instagram, but the only kind of content he shares is pictures of his cats, nice landscapes and some concept photo with internal jokes in the caption. And his stories are basically memes he shares from humor pages.

Anyway, it's not like I can say a lot about it - I rarely post in my account, and when I do, is pictures of videos of Tate and Brie.

A knock on my door pulls me out of my own head, and I quickly glue my eyes to the screen of my laptop, typing random things on my keyboard to pretend that I'm doing something useful, at the same time I ask the person who is knocking to come inside.

"Excuse me, Ms. Aster" I don't need to look up to recognize the British accent with the charming inflection that always sounds like he is low key flirting with me. "Are you ready for our meeting?"