Harper's POV

Jesus Christ I don't know if I'd ever been this nervous before , my whole body felt like it was shaking. I'd been tossing and turning all night , at around 4 am I'd given up with trying to sleep and found myself cradling a cup of coffee in the dimly lit kitchen. In the early hours of Tuesday morning I'd realized something , I loved Angelo. 

With that thought I knew I had to tell him, the feeling had been eating me away for weeks now and I needed to do something about it, I couldn't go on like this . The thought of going to work in a few hours and confessing my feelings to my best friend who also happens to be my boss was daunting to say the least.

God I wish I had someone to talk to about this , I had to be THAT girl. The one who fell in love with her best friend and if that wasn't enough , this was the first time I'd even felt like this , it was a strange and foreign feeling to me. I knew if my nan was here she knew what to do but she wasn't home for another few days so I was left to figure this whole mess out all by myself. 

I had tried to imagine what I'd actually say to Angelo , I didn't want to make him feel like this was all some kind of joke when this was one of the most important things to ever happen to date in my life. I couldn't exactly go up to him and be like ' hey Angelo , I've been in love with you for a while but I've been too much of a chicken to tell you'. God feelings were complicated , I'd gone through 18 years of my life without having to deal with feelings like this but the moment my eyes met Angelo's he completely messed that up for me.

I knew when it came down to it I'd tell him , by the end of the day my best friend would know that I had feelings for him and my heart was either going to remain intact or its going to end up shattering into a million pieces. 

The thought of rejection scared me the most , I was a confidant person most of the time and I'd say what's on my mind but the thought of opening up to someone and revealing something as raw as loving someone to only have it thrown back in your face made me want to keep those thoughts and feelings to myself. However the small possibility of Angelo returning the feelings was what was keeping me going , I knew I had to do it. It was make or break time.

By 8:15 I was ready , freshly showered and make up applied. I was pleased with how I looked today , my hair falling elegantly down my back after a 20 minute battle with the hair straighteners. My white blouse and black skirt combo was elegant but also professional. 

Thankfully the butterflies in my stomach had subsided enough to let me enjoy my usual chocolate spread on toast. By the time the toast was gone and I had drained the last drop of coffee from my cup my phone had buzzed to let me know Angelo was outside , not feeling as brave as I'd like I'd opted to tell him during lunch.

"Good morning, Harper , sleep well?"

" I slept great, you?" Okay, I lied, but Angelo didn't need to know I'd been up all night trying to figure out how I was going to confess my love to him, he'd find out later on.

" Sleep hasn't been my closest of friend lately , the paperwork needed for the new hotel needs to be filled out along with working out how long with the construction is going to take so we can start the interior aspect , I feel like I've aged 10 years. New hotels always take it out of me."

My heart ached for him , he worked too hard without asking for help from his employees. "Why don't you let me help? I've got your calendar to sort out this morning and fit meetings into your schedule but I'll be done by lunch and then I'm all yours ?" I tried my best not to blush at my own words.

" Thank you Harper , I really appreciate the offer. Meet me in my office at 12:30 , bring your lunch and we can go from there. You can start picking colour schemes and other internal aspects for the hotel." The smile that had found its way onto his face was breath taking.

"Great, I'll see you at lunch."

However what he didn't know was that the interior of the new hotel wasn't the only thing that we were going to be discussing over lunch. Thankfully if I worked like a mad man I'd be done way before mid-day giving me plenty of Time to collect lunch for myself as well as Angelo and then to ultimately decide how I was going to tell him that I was in love with him

As soon as I was tucked away in my office I fired up the coffee machine , the smell of hot coffee filled up the room and it was heavenly. After poring myself a cup I made my way over to my beloved computer to start today's to-do list.

Most of the companies and other smaller businesses that wanted to meet with Angelo were ones he and his company were already familiar with and had worked with in the past on previous projects so there was no need of the tedious filtering out process. 

Pulling out Angelo's planner from a draw in my desk and with the office phone pressed against my ear I went about my first task of scheduling all of the meetings around Angelo's schedule. 

Thankfully two hours and a few coffee breaks later I had managed to organize all of the meetings with the exception of one , who I needed to ring back later on in the day to confirm if the Time that was suggested would be okay for them. 

I was pleased with how much I had accomplished in that small amount of time . I guess if Angelo rejects me he can't fire me for not doing my job properly.

At 11:45 the butterflies really kicked in and the enormity of what I was going to do in the next hour or so really kicked in. At 4 am this morning the idea seemed like such a foreign concept that I'd be able to get my head around by lunch , but here I was sat at my desk trying not to hyperventilate.

 The thought of googling how to confess your love to someone had crossed my mind but realizing how utterly pathetic that would look I decided against it. Even though this kind of emotion and situation was completely new to me I knew full well that other girls my age didn't resort to using google to help put their inner most thoughts and feelings into words.

I knew I couldn't put this off any longer I still had to go down to the deli to collect lunch for myself and Angelo, I just hoped that what was to follow doesn't result in Angelo choking on his sandwich.

 Giving the door that connected the two offices a small nock, I made my way into his office and found the object of my new found emotions sat lazily back in his chair, looking much more awake than he had a few hours ago in the limo.

"I'm off to the deli to get some lunch , do you want anything?" He paused for a moment; I knew he was trying to think of a way to try and wriggle out of me buying him lunch. Angelo hated it when I even paid for something as simple as a sandwich for him, as well as the fact the man never ate in work; I was more than 99% sure he lived off coffee while he worked.

"If you don't mind, I can wait till I get back to the-" I cut him off mid-sentence.

" Nope , you will do no such thing. What can I get you?"

"Surprise me, remember you're in here with me after lunch."

"How could I forget, I'll be back soon."

The walk to the deli was refreshing; it was the. Middle of January and the cold weather provided a great distraction from everything that was going on in my head. 

Inside the shop, the usual rush of business men and women were lined up collecting their lunch before returning to their allocated places of work. Grabbing Angelo's favourite, a BLT and picking up a simple chicken salad for myself I Waited in the line. "Just these please and can I also have two large vanilla lattes , please," I said after finally reaching the front of the cue.

A few minutes later I was walking back to the office , I could feel my legs shaking and I knew I had to get it together walking in 5 inch heals was a task I had only just mastered and I'm not sure how well I could balance when my legs felt like jelly. I could see Angelo's building and I took two deep breaths , come on Harper , I know you can do this , it's just Angelo. 

So without a second thought I not so bravely made my way back inside the building and towards the elevator that would lead me to Angelo's office. The ride up to the top floor went too fast , I was silently hoping that the damn thing would break down but no such luck as moments later I found myself outside his office door.

I was hesitant to go inside; I knew to tell him how I felt was the right thing to do but the feeling of losing him as a friend if he didn't remotely feel the same way weighed heavily in my chest. 

I was a coward; any reasonable person would barge right into the office and confess their feelings but not me; I was too much of a chicken to do that. I gave myself a few more moments to compose myself, and then I practically forced my body into Angelo's office.

"I'm back I brought you your-" the sight in front of me shocked me to say the least , I was completely speechless. Before me stood Jessica , in what I could only describe as a micro - mini hot pink dress. My brain had little to no time to process how little clothing she had on when I realized what she was doing , she was practically wrapped around Angelo like a second skin. Her arms were wrapped around his neck like a snake and her body was so closely pressed up against his I'm sure you wouldn't even be able to fit a hair between them. The sight of them together like this made me feel physically ill but I couldn't tear my eyes away , my whole body felt like it was aching from the inside out. I guess this was what it felt like when your heart was breaking.

Angelo looked at me and my body almost convulsed , Jessica was still wrapped around him like a python. "I'll j-just leave this here , I-I've got to go." And then I ran , I ran as fast as my legs could carry me , I was surprised I could move at all but I wasn't sticking around to hear whatever he had to say for himself because  I was now running on auto pilot. 

After everything that had happened in my life , my parents and grandfather dying and nearly losing my nan a few weeks ago , loving Angelo Deluca was that one thing that finally broke me. I had no idea how but I had managed to find myself in the back of the taxi on my way back to the empty house I call home.

A/N

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