Harry Styles

Being my own boss came with many-many great perks. Like access to a ton of parties – mainly to network – and women. It was harder to find men who were willing to let go of their pride and admit they were into both genders or perhaps only into one specific, then again, at the end of the day, everyone was up to date with everyone's business. So, really, getting someone in bed was not that challenging.

Unless your name was Renleigh Kensington.

I had a strong feeling she would turn up tonight, not for the benefits of networking but probably more so for the free drinks. We never attended things like this as each other's dates but I have seen her around these kind of events and she definitely wasn't one to turn down a dirty martini. Or a pornstar martini. Or any drink for that matter.

"Sir," the bartender caught my attention as he called out for me and placed the drink, I ordered in front of me. I nodded at him as a thank you then grabbed it as I turned around on the chair. One of my arms was propped up on my elbow as I lifted my other one to take a sip of my drink.

There were a lot of people, all dressed in expensive clothing – I caught a few in some of my suits from my older lines – and expensive accessories. It was all stuck-up people around and at some point, I felt like I fit right in. Now, as I sat on the side and looked around, I wondered why I was even there. Usually, I flirted my way through the night with the many women who accompanied all these businessmen but for some reason, it just didn't feel right. I didn't even have Celia with me, who I used to drag along to these things to basically allow her to make connections and make something out of herself. She had the potential, just needed a little push.

As I tilted my glass to let the familiar taste of the whiskey sit on my tongue, my eyes travelled over to a group of people who seemed to be interested in one thing only. Or, as I found out later, two.

Renleigh Kensington.

And Zayn Malik.

Together.

I scoffed as I watched them smile at people around them as they chatted. My eyes lingered on her body for way too long – to the point where I knew she felt my gaze on her but she never gave me the satisfaction of actually glancing over to me. Others gawked at her in the room, men with desires they thought she would be able to ease and women with such jealousy they were bound to turn green by the end of the night.

I didn't blame anyone for thinking that way.

She was stunning but most importantly, everything that these people wished to be.

The red trousers fit against her thighs perfectly but didn't cling to them to the point where it could have been uncomfortable for her. She had a burgundy lace top on with a rather daring V cut on the front, two straps held the piece on her body on her shoulders with a long necklace around her neck. She also seemed to have another one, a gold one, which she never really took off. At least, I never saw her without it. The whole fit was a match to mine in terms of colours and it made me smirk. I could already hear her voice in my head throwing some kind of shade at me for copying her without even knowing and I could already see her eyes sending arrows at me then setting me on fire.

Zayn Malik next to her looked good. They looked good together. Powerful. They were both hot and them together was just something else. The man had been known for his looks – he was one of the highest paid models in the industry and he was quite difficult to track down and work with seeing as he had his hands in one too many things that kept him busy – and as he arrived tonight with one of the biggest CEOs of the fashion world, they were bound to attract all the attention.

I felt even more out of place which was not like me. I usually was very chatty and – just like them – the centre of attention. Perhaps I felt a little intimidated... annoyed? I knew the two had history and meanwhile Zayn Malik had a girlfriend, the ugly truth was that it didn't matter in this world.

My eyes stayed on the man as he leaned closer to Kensington and said something to her. She smirked and placed her hand on his chest as she laughed. If I didn't know better, I would have thought she tried to make me jealous but she didn't like me enough to go through with a plan like that. She probably despised me for the way we left things. Still, they were like one piece of the magnet and I was the other one. I couldn't keep my eyes away from them.

Then they made their way to the bar and I wasn't sure what to do. It had been almost over a week since I last saw or spoke to Kensington and it just felt weird to be in her presence again. I turned around before they fully approached my hiding place and ordered another glass of drink.

"Two dirty martinis, please," Zayn Malik said as they took a seat near the bar. There were two empty ones between us and yet it still felt like they sat on my shoulders. I couldn't help but look at him and it just so happened that his attention was already on me. "Y'alright?"

I nodded at him and picked up my glass to have a sip of it. I looked at him as a threat when I knew he wasn't one. Not just because he was taken but also because I had nothing to do with Kensington anymore. The contract was over and since it didn't seem like I earned her trust, it was best if we both went back to our normal lives.

"I gotta take this, I'll be right back," I heard him say faintly. I looked down at my lap and fought back the smirk that appeared on my lips. My legs bounced as I had them up on the leg rest of the chair then I slowly looked back up with my lips pursed.

"Harry Styles," I heard my name pronounced slowly and mockingly. It belonged exactly to the person who made my stomach feel all funny with butterflies and my dick hard in any situation.

"Renleigh Kensington," I repeated her name in the same manner as I finished off my whiskey. "What a pleasure to run into you."

"I'm sure it is," she forced a laugh. "What are you doing here?"

"Taking advantage of the free drinks. What about you?"

"I asked the question first, you can't ask me the same," her answer made me chuckle. It was nothing I didn't expect. "Next time try and not ask your people to find out what I wear. I didn't want to match anyone tonight, especially not you."

"You know," I laughed. "It's actually quite flattering that you think I spent my time stalking you to make sure we dressed together."

"Wouldn't put it past you," she smiled at me widely although it was clear the gesture wasn't genuine. The bartender placed the drinks down in front of her which made both of us look at him as he did so. "More olives, please."

"The fact that you like olives shouldn't surprise me, seeing as you strangely like mushrooms."

I heard her scoff and watched as she drank her martini. She looked stunning. I wasn't sure why that surprised me so much, it was more so an observation. I sort of missed her – talking to her and being around her – so the close proximity and great amount of time I had with her, seemed to make my heart go insane. On top of that, I felt like I was drowning in it all and I didn't know how to stay afloat. Then again, I never knew how to survive when she was around.

"I'm not here to discuss what I like and dislike."

"Oh?" I raised my eyebrows curiously. "How can I help?"

"By keeping your creepily angry best friend at bay."

"Come again?" I laughed at her and she sighed heavily. Her arms were on the bar top, her drink in front of her and her clutch next to her. The watch and bracelets around her wrists were the same ones she always had on, the rings around her fingers seemed to be new ones.

"Levi came to pay me a visit earlier today, asking me, and I quote, 'what the fuck happened?' then he proceeded to show he had whatever your other lovely friend, April has, in him as well."

"Levi visited you today?" I asked back in complete confusion. I haven't seen him in a bit although we did text. "And what about April? What do they have in them?"

"The drive to make someone feel like shit, although in the case of Levi, it was more so to do with disrespect. I have to tell you, he has mastered all of the faces he has."

"I'm sorry I'm, um, failing to understand why my best friend even went to you about anything to do with us," I commented and chuckled under my breath as the idea started to settle in my head. "I didn't send him, in case you were wondering."

"Well, I'm sure you didn't personally send him but I do believe your nightly outings did push him to step out of the shadows," she said as a matter of fact. I sensed a bit of mockery in her voice mixed with some confusion and amusement. I wasn't sure what she was on about.

"Nightly outings?" I decided to question and it almost made her choke on her martini.

"Is everything OK?" the third voice, which belonged to the famous and annoyingly handsome model, interrupted our little chit-chat.

"Yeah," Kensington coughed. "Your drink's there."

"Oh, right," Zayn laughed. "Alright. Shall we get to work then?"

"Please," Kensington smiled at him as she turned around and hopped off of the chair. "Have a nice night, Mr Styles."

"Hold on, we need-," but it didn't matter what I said. Or more so what I didn't say. I had no chance to spit it out fast enough. I stifled a laugh as I watched her walk away with Zayn Malik's arm on her lower back. I raised my eyebrow in question then soon enough I caught her removing his arm from around her.

"That your girl?" I heard the question from the other end of the bar. I looked back at the bartender – who was not Brandon this time around, shocker, I know – and let out a low chuckle at his question.

"What's it to you?"

"Hmm," he hummed as he cleaned the glass in his hand with the towel. "To me, it seemed like she was keen to get your attention."

"That's strange because to me, it looked like she couldn't wait to get away."

"Is that why she approached you first?" he laughed. "Without sounding like a creep, it was quite obvious to me that the minute she stepped foot in this room, she had your attention. Then you had hers. I would just work things out with her if I were you."

"I'm sorry but who are you again?" I asked him, quite confused. It was pretty strange how a randomer began to explain to me what I should have done as if he knew better. "With all due respect, you don't know anything."

"My name is Marco and I have been working events like these for quite a while now to see through people who attend. Now, the problem here is that I couldn't see through you. Or that woman – Renleigh, right? So, there must be something else underneath that keeps it impossible for me to figure you out," he rambled. I didn't understand one word of his. "But something tells me that she could get to you. And you could get to her. It's obvious to everyone in this room yet the two of you fail to see it."

"Alright," I snickered. "I'm gonna go do what I do best – which is chatting shit – to these people before I bail. You, on the other hand, should stop sipping on that vodka bottle under the bar. Not really professional," I scrunched my nose up as I pointed to the mentioned furniture then quickly downed the remainder of my whisky. Obviously, I didn't think he was doing that but with the way he chatted, it might as well have been true.

"And to think I was about to make you another drink," he said dramatically. "Hope the last five glass you had will keep you going tonight, mate. Lord knows you'll need it."

I scoffed then stood up and left.

I honestly had no idea how people found it so easy to interfere in other's lives. I mean, I didn't ask for advice or a pep talk or anything and this man – who the hell calls their son Marco? – just decided to do something that was not a part of his job description.

"Mr Styles, it has been a while, hasn't it?" one of the many businessmen at the event called for me and I had to dig deep into my brain to gather the name of the man. It wasn't that I was forgetful and just couldn't remember his name, it was more so to do with the fact that I didn't want to remember it.

"I'm sorry, have we met before?" I laughed awkwardly as I looked around the room to find Kensington. Which I had no idea why I did but once my eyes settled on her – with Zayn Malik next to her, of course – I felt more at ease and alright with the fact that this man decided to chat to me. Which, essentially, was the whole reason of me being at the event but that didn't mean it was how I wanted to spend my evening.

"My bad," he smiled at me as he placed his hand out front, ready to shake hands with me. "I am one of your father's associates and I believe we have met before at one of the events your lovely parents held."

"Oh, right," I nodded. "Of course. That must be it," I chuckled to ease the awkwardness of the situation. "My parents threw one too many parties and sometimes it all just gets to me. There are too many great people to remember at these kinds of events."

"Certainly," he agreed. "Speaking of which, I couldn't help but notice you were chatting to Miss Kensington a few moments ago..."

"Yeah-yeah, I was," I confirmed. "Everyone seems to be wanting to grab her attention tonight and she wasn't even the one to put this event on."

"Haven't you heard?" he chuckled with his hand on his stomach. I looked at him confused as he took a sip of his drink. "The new project her and Mr Malik had been working on is the first most anticipated lines to drop in the new year. Of bloody course, everyone wants to chat to them – mainly her."

"Right, of course, that's why," I smiled. I did know of the line but I had no idea it was such a massive deal. I mean, yeah, I did but I didn't know it would be here so soon. I had not been looking out for my competition lately, in all honesty, I was more interested in looking into them, finding out why they were so closed up and cold. But we all see how that turned out. For me, anyway. She seemed to be glowing and doing better than she was before. "If you'll excuse me for a second," I spoke to him quickly as I pulled my phone out of my pocket and searched for a quieter place to make a phone call.

I had been completely blinded by the things I felt for Kensington and meanwhile I didn't mix business with pleasure, it seemed like maybe that was what I had done. All the times she reminded me of how we were nothing but rivals, she was doing me a favour. She tried to keep my head screwed on because it got loose. I didn't listen to her and now hers was so tight on that it wouldn't have surprised me if mine fell off.

"Mr Styles. How can I help?" my assistant asked right as she picked up the phone. Both of them were at work still, not because I ordered them to but because there were things that needed to be taken care of. I never would have asked my employees to stay longer than necessary.

"Charlotte. I'm going to need you to schedule a meeting with Gucci as soon as possible," I said as my eyes locked on Kensington. I had the perfect view of her from where I stood and once, she felt my burning gaze on her, she looked right back at me. "Top priority."

I wasn't about to go down without a fight just because my heart thumped faster in my chest when I saw her or because my stomach filled up with raging butterflies when memories of her replayed in my brain. Much like she said before, we were rivals before anything and if she already had her way planned on how to take me down, that gave me just enough time to come back fighting.

• • •

a.n.

that's kinda hot harry u go sweetheart

also u probably weren't expecting them to be so civil after the way they left things but it didn't feel right to cause a scene. it wasn't the right time and honestly, zayn was there so zenleigh had to shine 💆🏻‍♀️

thank u for all your feedback on the story so far! i know they are both being a bit of a pain in the arse but it'll all pay off in the end. i hope anyway oops ALSO we hit 70k reads which is so crazy omg thank u so much ok keep reading it pleaseplease

that's all i love harry and i'm still thinkin about his met gala look he was so handsome and sexy and cute and amazing and i'm so proud <3<3