Harry's POV

Jeff pulls away from our brotherly greeting with his smile exuberantly wide.  "It's so good to see you." 

"Yes you too," I admit thinking how much I have missed him.  I take his flight bag out of his hand and peer over his shoulder.  "No Glenne?"

"Sadly no, business at Snap is booming at the moment.  She got called back last minute, which is a shame as she was so looking forward to the trip.  We haven't seen much of each other recently what with one thing and another."

I am surprised as they always make a point of making time in their busy schedules for each other.  "Everything alright between you both though?"  I ask concerned. 

He waves his hand dismissively through the air.  "Yes of course.  We are both just busy, you know how it is but," he points his finger at me, "she asked me to make sure I gave you one of these."  He pulls me into another huge hug and slaps my back repeatedly.  "You are looking so-," he holds me at arms length, "content my friend."

"Yes I am, completely content in fact," I agree.  "How was your flight?"

He steps back towards the car to retrieve his luggage from the driver and thank him and he glances back over his shoulder at me.

"Delayed!"  He rolls his eyes.  "But I'm here now which is just as well because we have got an absolute ton of work to get through."  Being the workaholic he is, he looks positively ecstatic at the prospect. 

"Can we at least go inside first?!"  I chuckle with my more relaxed demeanour.   

The car wheels crunch over the gravel as they disappear down the driveway and I turn and gesture him into the house.  First though he steps back to survey the elegant surroundings. 

"Really nice place," he surmises as he gives it the once-over.

"It is an amazing place," I gush and I feel the most ridiculous smile I am wearing.     

"You know when you first said you were disappearing I thought, 'he'll be back within the month,' but I can see why you stayed," he offers sincerely.  

"What can I say, it has a positive aura in more ways than one!"

Jeff gives me a knowing smirk as we both head inside.  I plonk the bags in the hallway and lead  the way through into the kitchen.  The summer heat beating on the glass is stifling the air but sliding the bi-fold doors open, the kitchen is instantly refreshed by the morning breeze. 

"Tea or coffee? I fill the enamel kettle and put it on the boiling plate of the Aga. "Are you hungry?"

"Is it too early for Scotch?!"  Jeff jokes as he perches on a stool. 

"Absolutely," I retort, laughing.  

"Tea will be just fine then, thanks."

Once the high-pitch of the whistle has sounded and the brew is made, we head out with mugs in hand into the brilliance of the garden. 

As we stroll through the tranquil flora and fauna, we talk.  Although it has only been a couple of weeks since I was in LA, Jeff fills me in on all our friends and Azoff family news, touches on a few bits of business and Californian comings and goings.

I listen and a sudden sweeping pang of missing the place I have come to think of as my second home rushes through me.  However, wandering through this green oasis I am surrounded by reminders of Lily, of me and of us. 

At the revelation of the apparent fight for supremacy the two places are having in my mind, I sense the smallest frown hit my brow and I suck in a sharp breath that I hold for a split second.  The depth of my feelings for the here and now are overriding that melancholy for LA and I happily let my mind drift back to thinking about her. 

Jeff brings me out of my reverie.  "So you've told me about the house and showed me the garden but nothing about your mystery girl."

"Woman Jeff and she's not a mystery.  Are you telling me that after I mentioned her you didn't do some homework?"  He looks across at me sheepishly and I raise my eyebrows.  "I would be disappointed if you haven't."

"Okay," he shrugs his shoulders, "maybe just a little bit but there really wasn't much to find."

"I could have told you that!  You could have saved yourself the time and trouble and just asked me.  Lily is down to earth and apart from being incredibly beautiful, kind and smart, she completes me."

"That's great!" 

I cease my steps and give him one of my side glares.  It is the special one I give people trying to take sneaky photos of me when they think I am not looking but I happen to find them every time.

"That sounded completely insincere."

"Sorry, I haven't met her yet have I, best friend prerogative and all that."  He nudges my shoulder. 

"I asked her to come over today but she thought that you and I have major catching up to do and she could take the opportunity to spend some time on her business.  She's coming on Wednesday though."

"I will get to meet her then," he acknowledges.  

I show Jeff to his room and leave him to freshen up.  The shower runs followed by his voice clearly audible on his phone then silence.  Whilst he sleeps, I ensure I gather everything together for our discussions when he wakes a couple of hours later. 

I throw together a simple late lunch/early supper of spicy chicken and vine tomato sauce on tagliatelle with peas, freshly picked from the garden and I open a bottle of red. 

We sit alfresco on the decking under the now cooler afternoon sun and it is reminiscent of so many times we have done this exact same thing in LA. 

We have experienced so much together, practically living in each other's pockets since our friendship began four years ago. The strength of that friendship also turned into a business relationship last January.  Our bond is tight.  He is protective of me like a brother but having been brought up in the music industry, his business acumen means we make a dream team.  I trust his friendship and his judgement implicitly.

"So, where to start?  Dad bumped into Barbara Broccoli at an event in LA last week. They got talking and your name happened to come up in the conversation."  A pleasing smirk crosses his lips. 

I sit up straight like a dog pricking his ears up on hearing something he wants to investigate.  "You are shitting me.  Really?" 

"Yes, really!"  His eyes flare wide.  "Eon Productions are in full scale preparation mode at the moment but the next Bond film isn't due for release until late 2018.  Who will play James Bond hasn't even been announced yet."

I shake my head in disbelief.  "It goes without saying it would be an ultimate honour to write and perform the next theme."

"Rest assured I'm on it.  Based on the last two theme songs being recorded by Adele and Sam Smith, I'd say as a Brit you have a fairly good shot at securing this one.  You know as well as I do though that an organisation like Eon holds all the cards as far as the Bond brand is concerned.  If it happens it will be because they want it and not the other way around. Consider it a work in progress."

"Keep progressing please!"

"Talking of progressing, last time you were in LA your reading for the casting team of the Rolling Stones film 'Exile on Main Street' was really well received.  As I told you when we spoke last week, we are still waiting for more on that but expect to be called back to read again."

"I won't deny I would relish that role but I'm not getting my hopes up too much on it. As we always say, one step at a time. I think they may prefer an established actor to play the Jagger lead," I concede honestly.

"This is very true!  You've also received a positive response from UNICEF about your desire to get involved.  I voiced your passion about safe drinking water and the education of young people and they hinted at a Goodwill Ambassador role.  Next step is a meeting and they are keen to get something organised for September."

"That is fantastic news.  Please get that set up; I'd like to get stuck in as soon as practically possible."

"I know but right now Project Blueprint, its single releases and the initial five live dates have to be your main focus."

"How is everything coming together for the gigs?  Last time we spoke you hinted at some glitches in the online streaming capacity."

"Everything is being finalized.  I don't want you to worry about any of that stuff."

"Jeff, you know that's impossible, this is my vision.  I want to be involved in every part."

"And you are but there are just some nitty gritty bits you don't need to concern yourself about."

"Fair enough.  And the benefitting charities, have you received any acknowledgements to my handwritten letters?"

"Yes, I have the responses with me to show you and I have also spoken at length to each charity. They are all extremely grateful and excited about being chosen."

"Talking of excited, I caught up with James recently and mentioned doing a carpool. He was buzzing just as much as Grimmy was when I dropped into our recent conversation about hosting the Radio 1 breakfast show with him."

"It doesn't stop there, Graham Norton, Kimmel, Fallon, Ellen, plus radio stations.  The Radio 1 Live Lounge is going to be a great warm up to the London gig.  Brits and Grammy Award shows looking likely next February as they fit around the other gig dates. 

"Fuck, my mind is spinning right now," I sigh as a mixture of excitement and apprehension bubble inside. 

"You are right; it's huge.  I would prefer to leave going through your diary schedule for September onwards until later on in the week if that's okay? September is solid but the Gucci, YSL and Daniel Fletcher appointments are all confirmed.  I know you want to catch 'Exhibitionism: The Rolling Stones Exhibition' but that is only on in London until 4th September.  It's moving to New York from November though so that's probably a better option.  The Pink Floyd Exhibition 'Their Mortal Remains' you mentioned isn't due to open at the V&A until May next year. I've put the feelers out for an invite to the opening. More pressing is that you have been inundated with invites to catwalk shows and after parties at London Fashion Week." 

"Not sure if I can be bothered to go this year to be honest," I state flatly. 

"It is the third week of September and you will have just returned to London so it wouldn't do you any PR harm to take up a couple of invites.  Talking of PR, there is a meeting and some sessions set up with DawBell to get you back into survival mode for interview interrogation.  As I said though, let's discuss the rest of the schedule later in the week.  We have something more pressing on the agenda."

"What time is the conference call with Columbia tomorrow?"

"Scheduled for 6pm our time, 10 am their time.  "So."  He pulls his lips into his mouth. 

"So."  I glance tentatively at my laptop then turn it around to enable us both to see the screen. 

"This is it."

"It is."  I cascade my fingers through my hair, tossing the top over to the side and titivating the strands right through to the ends.  It is a signature flip and one I have been told by Lou Teasdale that I do far too often.  I realise I am sweating in anticipation though and I gather my hair up into a bun.  

Jeff nods and a huge smile fills his face. "The track list is impressive.  I don't know what to say." He slams his fist into his chest and points at me.  "So fucking proud of you.  Every single one of these songs is debut album worthy."

"Thank you but truthfully, how am I going to choose?"

"Twenty-eight tracks down to fourteen plus three bonus tracks for the deluxe version.  You never do things by halves; it's going to be tough.  "

"A tall order.  Do you fancy that Scotch now, I think I need one?"

"Clear heads, Hersh.  Let's have one after.  Ready to narrow them down?"

"Ready as I'll ever be."

I remember someone once said, 'Styles does not have one style' and I tend to agree.  There is a rock vibe to tracks such as Latitude & Longitude, Cataclysmic Youth, Rear View Mirror and Vinyl, whilst the ballad-like The Lighthouse is almost haunting in its melody with a harp through the chorus.  The pure love songs that are Endlessly and One Desire through to the more personal tracks of 165998 and Floral Hearts/Glass Dreams lead onto the folk influences on Nomadic Dreamer and the genuine pop songs that are Dollars & Pounds and Rainbow Over The Ocean.

There is no theme through the offerings but my music does not feel like it is a mishmash that has no identity.  It is balanced and flows as I intended. 

The sounds span a multitude of genres that is testament to my love of the diversity of music from across the latter decades of the last century.  The blessing of having more creative freedom is that it allows me to experiment with how far I can push myself.  The result is an eclectic collection of which I am immensely proud.

I am fortunate enough to have written with a plethora of songwriters from Max Martin to Meghan Trainor, Bruno Mars to Jessie Baylin, Ryan Tedder to Dan Leyus, Johnny McDaid to Gary Go, Kodaline and more.  Not all of these collaborations will make the final cut and some of the songs I did not write with me in mind to record.  What writing with a broad range of individuals gives me is a fresh outlook each time I step inside a room with someone new.  All of this is important if I want to have a career with longevity.  

We peruse the list and I outline my top five that must make it.  We listen to the tracks then build from there.  Jeff has heard these songs more than once before.  He has been present for the writing and recording of some of them but ultimately we need to be singing off the same hymn sheet (no pun intended) when we conference call with LA tomorrow.

I have come a long way from that naïve 17-year-old fledgling that stepped nervously into the studio to record the tracks for 'Up All Night'.  Over five albums I watched, listened, learned and honed every single aspect of the writing and recording process from some of the most talented professionals in the business and my knowledge and skills continue to evolve everyday.

I have the majority creative say because it is my work and I am producing it.  However, the release and representation is through Columbia.  I am obliged to hear their opinion especially as this is my first solo material and I know that some form of compromise on my choices maybe necessary.

When it came to it, I signed with Columbia for a number of reasons.  Creative freedom, a meeting of like minds and an ever advancing relationship between artist and label were a few of them.  I have a predominantly creative head whereas they bring their commerciality to the table as balance.  When it flows in tandem it can be a success, if it doesn't it will be a disaster.  So far, touch wood, my dealings with them have been the former.    

After much discussion that sees even the sun sloping off to bed, we narrow the list down to the required fourteen tracks plus three bonus.

The dark, or perhaps it is the relief, feels a little chilly so I turn on the patio heater and grab two hoodies, the bottle of Scotch, two glasses and some ice from inside.   

"Cheers to a great job done!" Jeff clinks his glass against mine.

"Yep cheers!  I'm happy but I am going to sleep on it and revisit again tomorrow before we call LA."

"You know that technically the choices aren't stuck in stone until the first album press about six weeks before release. Swaps in and out are possible at any point up to then."

"I know but I don't want to overthink it too much. My initial gut reaction is usually always right."

Jeff slouches in the metal bistro chair; one arm slung over the back of it whilst the other swirls the glass round in his hand, bumping the ice together in the brown liquid.  I know this man so well; he is agitated.  I do not know whether to put him out of his misery and ask out right what is on his mind or to leave him to mention it in his own good time.  My pondering however is short lived. 

"There's something else we need to talk about," he says tentatively.

"Finally, you've been giving off a hesitant vibe all day.  What's up?" 

"Lily."

"What about her?"

"This is difficult to have to mention but with everything we're discussing, now seems as good a time as any." His relaxed body language cannot hide his practical squirm out of the words, "non-disclosure agreement."