♬ ✥*

Serenity.

Demolition day was probably one of the most exciting days of my life.

Everything was officially starting, and the thrill that ran through my veins was so intense, I thought they were going to burst.

I'd already called my family to let them know of this marvellous news since the day everything was confirmed. So what happened when the renovation actually started, they drove down in-person to see the work in action. Needless to say, I was a tad embarrassed but brushed it off when I saw the mutual smiles on their faces that were identical to my own.

Keon showed up midday to double-check on how things were doing. It was all still fresh, but I was surprised to see that all of the walls were removed, the flooring was ripped out. The electrical was all exposed, some of it even removed entirely. The studio was almost unrecognisable to me; it was so bare — almost naked.

The fact that I knew it was going to turn from this caterpillar into a gorgeous butterfly warmed my heart.

Without thinking, I'd snapped a picture, and texted it to Harry. He didn't ask to see progress or anything, but I felt the need to share the moment with my investor.

He'd already invested more than just his money by now — and in my mind, we were slightly past the friendship level.

I wasn't entirely sure if we'd ever be more, but even if that didn't happen, I was content with what we had now.

Or that's what I let myself believe.

Harry didn't text me back that day, though, but sent me a reply Tuesday morning — but not through a message.

He didn't skip out on what I'd told him to find me when he arrived — because he did.

Mr CEO stepped out of his vehicle, this time exiting it without waiting for his driver to bother opening the door for him. I did wave a little hello to Archie from a distance when he saw me from a distance away.

When Harry stepped through the front doors, my focus being on him the entire time. His eyes searched around, not looking at the work that was taking place, but looking for me. The second our eyes met, a smile made its way on his face, and his emerald gems suddenly got brighter.

Another fitted grey suit adorned his body, polished black loafers, gaining some dust on them from the construction as he made his way towards me. His tie, of a lighter shade, was perfectly done up, striped with white — the same tone was his pocket square. Pretty chocolate brown hair styled like a crown, so regal and royal; and those same beautiful petal raspberry lips that spoke heart clenching words.

From the looks of it, it was clear to me that he'd stopped here before he planned on going to his office. He came to see me first, and the closer he got, the more I heard my heart pounding in my ears.

There was also one more thing that I noticed about him. Which was that to me, the world's weight was on his shoulders, but he only let them sag behind closed doors — no one else could sense that from his demeanour and appearance.

His strut towards me was as confident as could be, never faltering with the authority and power he carried. Everyone who was in the room quickly recognised who he was and stood as he passed them. Harry, on the other hand, did not give them a single glimpse of attention — as his emerald gems were locked on my sapphire ones.

"Hi, Essie," he greeted softly.

He desperately needed to stop making my heart turn soft and the butterflies in my tummy flutter.

"Hi, Tiger," I replied in the same tone. "You look happy."

"I am." He smiled, just light enough so that his dimples began to deepen. "I'm here with you, aren't I?"

This man is going to be the death of me.

I like him so much, it's starting to hurt.

Who are you kidding yourself, Serenity? It's clear as day he likes you, but we can't do anything about it.

Investor and partner — that's all.

"Tell that to the Harry Styles who was there when we first met." I laughed.

"Touché," he said, biting his lip nervously. "Sorry about that, by the way."

"It's okay," I softly replied, watching his expression relax from my assurance.

It was evident that the way he first treated me was still on his mind, and he wanted to clear his conscience — it was kind of adorable.

Then, I went on and asked why he didn't reply to my text but mentioned that he was asleep on the flight back, which was a rarity for him. Apparently, he could never sleep on flights, claiming that he also had endless work that needed to be done, but this time was entirely different.

I was happy for him.

Every time I saw Harry before, there were dark circles under his eyes, and I knew that he didn't get enough shuteye. Sometimes I wondered how many hours he truly got per night — that's if he got any at all.

"So you wanted to give me something?" he asked, bringing up what I'd mentioned over the phone.

"Yeah. Actually, there's a couple of things. Item two is waiting for you at your office." I grinned, and he raised a brow.

"And item one?" he questioned, with curiosity. I noticed his eyes scan down to my hands, trying to see if I was holding onto something, but I wasn't.

Without another word, I took another step closer and wrapped my arms around him just like I'd done last week. This time, I held on tighter, and immediately got the same sensation as he didn't hesitate to return the hug.

"You deserve the world, Harry," I whispered in our embrace.

His face was buried in the crook of my neck, feeling the warmth of his breath against me. It wasn't just that, though. The tingling sensation sparked through me as his stubble pricked me slightly, along with the softest brush of lips touched my bare skin — and I'd thought that it was nothing but a dream. I heard the way his inhales were heavier as if he were trying his hardest to take in my scent to never forget it — I knew because I was doing the exact same. A musky vanilla aroma that was now permanently tattooed in my memory.

We stayed like that for a few minutes, neither one of us making any effort to move.

Eventually, and slowly, he released me. It was suddenly then that I felt a strong sense of missing someone — even though he was standing right in front of me. I desperately wished I could take him in my arms again.

However, before we parted entirely, I leaned forward and kissed his other cheek whilst letting my lips linger on his skin for a short while. Pulling back, I held a smile, watching carefully as his eyes were fluttering open — just as they'd done the last time. 

"I love symmetry," I said simply.

"Thank you, Serenity," he spoke tenderly. His eyes were gazing at me with such adoration it was making my heart burst and it rose a blush onto my face.

"You're welcome, Harry."

Yeah, I was definitely, and ultimately screwed because of him.

Removing his focus off me, he looked around, seeing that the studio down to its studs, as the work was taking place. Then he glanced over at one man in particular who was drenched in sweat and about to take his shirt off. His plan, however, changed as soon as Harry gave him a glare that I thought would send the poor man to his grave.

But when he turned back around to face me, it was almost as if that expression had never just happened. "Everything looks great here, by the way. It's going to turn out amazing."

"It better. If it's not, I'm blaming you," I teased.

"Hey, you chose this architecture firm, not me," he pointed out with a small chuckle.

"True, but sometimes I like blaming things on other people for the heck of it," I paused, "I mean, not always, but sometimes."

"You're quite something, Essie."

"As are you, Tiger," I replied in the same way. "By the way, you didn't tell me what the other thing you were going to say on the phone. What was it?"

"Maybe some other time," he said, and I could tell by the tone of his voice he didn't want to talk about anything personal now.

"Fine."

"You're not putting up a fight?" He seemed truly surprised, and I decided to change my response to him or make him think I was overly curious. I mean, I was, but it wasn't the time for that.

"Of course, not. I don't want my tiger to show up to work all riled up."

Wait, what? My? Serenity, you've officially lost your mi—

"You rile it up just by knowing you," he whispered, almost to himself — but I heard him. "But I do have to get to the office."

"So soon?" I tilted my head, feeling disappointed by his news. I knew he would have to leave eventually, but it still put a pang in my heart.

"It's eight-thirty."

"In that case, Mr CEO is very late." I laughed, trying to push my saddened emotions away. "You sleep in?"

"For the first time since I've been to school when I was a kid, yes. I did sleep in. Jet lag's a bitch."

"You should've tried some chamomile tea before you slept." I grinned.

"Linda didn't shown up this morning or make a call. She'd normally do something like that. I should fire her."

Say who now?

"Linda?"

"My housekeeper," he stated simply.

Oh.

"Right." I nodded once, then tilted my head, looking him square in the eye. "Will you fire her?"

"Probably not."

"You really do need to stop throwing that phrase around." I chuckled at his truthful answer, but his demeanour changed. His expression hardened, and he stood tall, seeming clearly offended by my comment.

"Are you telling me what to do, Miss Hayes?" he asked, his tone cold with a harsh glare.

Teasing still seemed new to him. He had to get used to it if he was going to be around me more often.

"Not at all, Mr Styles." I smirked and watched his eyes narrow at me. He tried to keep a firm expression towards me but failed when his lips cracked into a small smile. He shook his head and bit his bottom lip.

"Unbelievable," he muttered.

"So, as we were saying, you're going to be late, and I have things to do."

"You're kicking me out?"

"Hey, you're the one who said you had to leave for work. You can stick around if you want to. I have some research to do."

"Research?"

"Yeah, some guy came by a few days ago saying he wanted to buy my studio. Actually, it was the day you and I talked after we hung up. Anyway, it was like he was out of his mind. This place is not for sale. River and I told him off, though."

"River?" he said, and I swear I heard him mutter, "Fucking again?"

"Yes, we were here together. Dancing."

"Did he hurt you again?" He took a protective step forward, but I waved him off in assurance.

"No, Harry. He didn't."

"I don't like where his hands were on you the last time I saw you two dancing."

"Hands on me? Where?"

"On your — um — sort of — really close your um — fuck," he mumbled, then gave up with trying to explain the obvious.

His words hit me hard. He didn't just see me fall, he was watching us dance the entire time. I wasn't sure if that would be considered as creepy, curious, jealous, or protective.

"Need I remind you, I'm a dancer."

"So?" A perfect brow raised on his gorgeous face. The annoyance in his expression was simply priceless.

I couldn't help but lightly chuckle at his single word. "You have issues, Harry."

"I don't have issues."

"Right, keep telling yourself that. Riv and I, we're best friends, nothing more."

"Doesn't look like that to me with how he touches you," he said, grimacing as he recalled memories that were clearly unpleasant for him.

It was cute.

"Harry, just stop talking." I raised my hand to halt him from saying anything further. "Anyway, I need to continue doing my research. You know, figure out who this guy is, and find a new place so Riv and I can rehearse."

"I thought the dancing would've stopped."

"No. He has his audition coming up soon, and I'm dancing with him for it. It's coming up soon so we have to perfect the routine."

"I don't like that id—"

"You really need a day to just chill. My goodness, you're always so stressed and tense."

"I'm fine."

"That's what you said when you puked your guts out in your office," I pointed out, with a smirk on my face.

That didn't make him happy.

"You need to just relax, Harry. Everyone needs to do that."

"Not me."

"Oh, right. I forgot. You're Mr CEO, a multimillionaire who can't have a day off because he's too busy being superman of the business world." I laughed, catching some attention from the men, who quickly went back to work.

"You're not amusing me," he huffed.

"Do you have a cape?"

"Oh, for fuck's sake."

"I should get you a pair of tights and a shirt that says —"

"Serenity, I mean this in the nicest possible way, shut up."

"Well, someone's grouchy this morning. You didn't have your coffee yet, did you?"

"No."

"That explains why you're Mr Grumpy Pants. Don't neglect that coffee, Mr Styles. We wouldn't want another false promise to fire someone else, now, would we?" Another chuckle escaped my mouth, as my tongue grazed along the corner of my lips in enjoyment. 

"Infuriating, I swear." His tone was ruthless as he shook his head in fury. 

If he wasn't amused, I definitely was.

"Ta-ta, Mr Styles."

"So you really are kicking me out?" he questioned while quirking a brow, and I only grinned at him. "Fine. In that case, Miss Hayes, your relief is only temporary."

A smirk quickly appearing, that smug and cocky demeanour presenting itself once more. He was using my own words against me.

"Is it?" I bit the corner of my mouths, looking at him with the same expression.

"I guess time will only tell." He shrugged his shoulders lightly, watching as the tip of his tongue poked out to graze the corner of his lips.

That was surely not innocent, but feisty, undoubtedly so.

"I suppose so," I agreed, sending him a mischievous smile.

Just as he turned around to leave, he raised his hand, called my name, and faced me again. This time, his brows were furrowed, and his lips were sucked in. He rose his focus from the ground to meet my gazed, puzzled at his newfound expression.

"Do you mind emailing me who this person is? I can figure it out for you."

"I can figure it out on my own."

"I have a right to know, Serenity. We're partners in this business, remember?"

"You know, I feel like both of us keep pulling out that card. Apparently, it's a great one to use," I joked. "I'll email it to you in a bit."

"Before you do your dancing," he firmly spoke.

"Yes, Mr Styles. Any other requests?" I replied in a soft angelic tone, enjoying seeing how the blood was boiling in his veins.

"No."

"Goodbye, then, Harry."

"Bye," he mumbled, looking at the ground, and back up again at me. "Have a nice day, Essie."

"You too, Tiger." I smiled, and he did the same, then turned around to walk back to the front doors.

A smile on Harry Styles was absolutely precious. The way his dimples dug deep into his cheeks, and how his emerald eyes lit up, putting all rare gems to no worth, as they sparkled to an infinite view.

And then his jealously, it was something to enjoy and amuse myself with. Especially when I saw him snap at a few of the workers to focus on their job, and not use their free time to goggle gorgeous women.

At that moment in time, I was the only female in the room, since the other few in the crew were outside grabbing more materials.

Harry, there's no doubt you'll be the emotional death of me.

My feelings rapidly switched between excited and nervous; and those were regarding the gift I got him, and finding out whoever that man was. I just hoped everything would be revealed soon.

So I put matters in my own hand and did what I needed to do.

♬ ✥*

Harry.

When I got to the company, Iris was waiting for me in the lobby. She told me everything that was on my schedule on the way up to my office. Usually, I would've never asked her to do that, but there was a shit ton of things to be done, and I needed to make sure she knew everything on the lists.

"Mr Styles, you also had a delivery today," she informed, just as we stepped foot onto my floor, then stood by her desk.

"What is it?" I asked, even though I already knew something was waiting for me — from Essie.

"I put it on your desk."

"Alright," I said, playing it cool. I didn't want to see over enthused to know what it was. Knowing Serenity, it could be absolutely anything. "Reply to those last emails, then get me the Tanaka Group proposal on my desk. I want to take another look at it, then give Phillip a call. I need to take his opinion on it."

"Emails, proposal, and call your lawyer. Anything else?"

"A double espresso. I have a splitting headache. Fucking drills and machines in the morning do not help," I spoke, rubbing my right temple, then made my way to my office.

"Okay," she replied, "And oh, one more thing, Mr Styles."

Letting out a rough groan and a deep sigh, I turned around to find my personal assistant with a sly smile on her face.

"I really like your new floral cologne. It smells really nice."

She knew. Bloody fucking hell.

It was bad enough when I just told her to add the letter 'E' with Serenity's number to my urgent call list. I already had to answer her question about why the letter and the nickname slipped. I was so far deep into my attraction towards that woman that I was starting to lose sense of where to stop talking about my personal life.

I was thankful that it was just my PA — and well, Archie.

He ended up pestering me about Serenity after I spent the night at her place when she took care of me. That man would not get the hint that I didn't want to bring up the subject, so I finally gave in.

His words were warm and kind. He knew bits about my previous relationship and wanted me to actually be happy this time. Archie firmly believed that Serenity was good for me — and I already figured that part out.

That's beside the fact she constantly pissed me off.

But that wasn't just the problem. I knew that there was no doubt about it that I liked Essie. There, however, was one that I knew I had to stay away from — love.

Sure I trusted her, but there was no chance my wall preventing my heart to fully give in to whatever that emotion was anymore. It was not going to fucking happen.

Hearts are just meant to break; I knew that I was putting myself in a pit of fire, and I was eventually going to get burned.

So I had to prevent that from happening. The issue was, I knew what I needed to do to make sure that I never did — I just didn't know exactly when. 

As for right now, I just had to continue with my temporary happiness.

"Don't push it, Iris. I can still fire you."

"You wouldn't dream of it, Mr Styles."

"You sound like her more and more every day."

"We're friends now. Her ways have rubbed off on me since we met," she said with a grin.

"Oh, I can tell. Now, get back to work," I firmly spoke, and watched as she saluted me still holding that same expression.

Fuck.

Immediately, I continued my path to my original destination towards my personal sanctuary. It was an