Adele Kelly

Only a few hours separates me and Mr. Styles now. The image of me meeting him has been haunting me since the other night, leaving me nervous to the point I couldn't stop wondering what would happen once I'd be there. What will his intentions be?

I remember the way we kissed the other night. He didn't force the pace and from what I can recall, he didn't force me to do anything. I took the decision to let him kiss me. He seems to be quite nice and comforting and that reassures me. Anyway, it's still difficult to go and meet a handsome and powerful ten years older man, CEO of one of the biggest firm of New York City.

As I drink my cup of coffee, lost in deep thoughts, I don't hear my mother coming in.

"Don't you eat a little bit, sweetie?" she asks me in a gentle voice.

I shake my head no. I am not hungry. She looks at me the same way she has looked at me for two days now, then frowns.

"Are you sure everything's fine ? You've been strange all week-end and you barely got out of your room," she says, worry clear in her voice.

"I'm fine, mum. Just quite busy with school, you know," I tell her.

"Look, honey, if you don't feel well, you can stay home today," she tells me and puts her gentle hand on the top of my head.

I shake my head no. There is no way I'm going to let myself overwhelmed by all those feelings. I have to go to school and I have to go to the cafeteria. I promised him I'd come. I just hope he won't forget me. I feel both nervous and excited at the idea of seeing that man again, it's an odd feeling. And I feel like my mother can guess absolutely everything I think about. It's disturbing.

She then just nods and kisses me on the top of my head before heading to the bathroom. I finish my cup of coffee before going upstairs to the bathroom I share with Samantha. Obviously, she has locked herself in for two hours and it will still last long. It's ten past seven and she's going to make me late. I pound on the door and scream at her.

"Relax, school isn't going anywhere," she says when she gets out and rolls her eyes at me.

I ignore her because I know what she thinks of me. She is everything I am not. She hangs out a lot with her friends, she's always partying, or shopping. Whereas I work a lot and school is my priority because I know how important it is for what I want to do next in my life. That's why she thinks I'm a rube. Of course, I have friends, but we don't really party for now.

When I enter the bathroom, I'm astounded by the mess she made. There is water everywhere on the floor and she left her towels on the floor as well. I sight. So I hurry to clear this mess up before taking a quick shower and quickly dress up.

*

It's half past four when class is over. I get out of the room with Emily next to me. We walk down the noisy corridors, trying to find our way through the crowd of students. Once we finally reach the exit of the building, Emily breaks the ice.

"So, you didn't tell me what exactly happened the other night with your dad's boss."

As soon as she speaks, I feel a knot in my stomach and my cheeks turning red. Obviously, I should have expected her to ask me that. Emily is the most curious girl I have ever known, and now I have to find an answer to that because even if she's my best friend, there is no way she finds out about what happened between Mr. Styles and me. It's not that I don't trust her, but it's always better to keep this kind of secret to yourself.

"Erm... Well, he's a strange guy," I say hesitantly.

"Just strange ? That's all ?"

"Yeah, erm... he has strange reluctances."

"What do you mean?" she asks, raising her eyebrow and I bite in my tongue, nervous. Damn, why does she have to be that curious?

"Well... he hates pasta! I mean, everybody likes pasta," I tell her and pray silently for her to believe the most stupid thing ever told. She simply shrugs so I guess she just did.

"He may have a good reason," she says and I nod, impatient to change the topic.

As we walk down the street to the tube station, we talk about this and that. I then say goodbye to her before getting down into the station. I feel my heart pouding harder in my chest each second and that's all I can think about for my fifteen minutes journey. How things will be going when I will arrive at Styles Investment? Sitting in the train, I can feel the anxiety growing bigger in my stomach as minutes pass by. Is what I am about to do wrong? I don't know if it's wrong but it sure is dangerous. Dangerous for me, but especially for him.

Soon, I walk out the subway in direction of Styles Investment. It is an enormous building and I can already see the top of it from where I am.

I take a deep breath as I walk into the vast hall of the building. My shoes collide with the glazed floor and my heart starts pounding in my chest so hard that it almost hurts me. I smile politely at the lady at the reception who is now used to see me every day.

As I take the lift, I can't help but wondering thousands of things. What is actually going to happen? Are we just going to talk? Will he be nice? Perhaps I only imagine things. Perhaps nothing is going to happen. But why would have he asked me to meet him at the cafeteria, then? I feel like the lift is taking an eternity to arrive at the fifty-fifth floor. I fiddle with my fingers and my legs are now trembling so I had to lean against the glass wall of the lift to stabilize. That's when a beep echoes and the doors open.

Hesitantly, I venture into the hall and walk to the long corridor. Everything here is grey, white and design. I easily find my way to the cafeteria and when I open the door, I find him on a chair, his elbows resting on the table and his hands crossed in front of his face. When he hears me coming in, he stands up. Oh my god, he really is tall.

"Good afternoon Adele, how are you?" he says with a reassuring smile.

"I'm good," I say and smile shyly back at him to hide my anxiousness but I know I can't fool him.

"Quite nervous, aren't you?"

"Yes," I admit and lower my head.

"Can I offer you something to drink, or maybe to eat?" he gently offers me.

I immediately shake my head no. I don't want him to spend money for me each time we meet.

"No, thank you." He simply nods before licking his lips.

"Well, I'm thirsty. I'll take a bottle of water," he says.

He heads to the vending machine and puts coins in the slit. I don't understand why I'm here or where all of this is going. What are we exactly doing?

"Did you have a nice day?" he asks me as he leans to take his bottle.

"Yes, thank you. I'm tired but I'm okay. And I have work to do," I say, trying to make the conversation.

"Oh, I've always said it, work takes precedence. It's a good thing, you will go far in life."

"What about yours?" I ask and he drinks before answering. I watch him as he slightly leans his head back and swallows big mouthfuls. His Adam's apple goes up and down as he drinks and I find that sexy. He really is handsome. When he finishes drinking, he dries his mouth with the back of his hand.

"You're thirsty too. You kept staring at the bottle all along. You could have told me, you know," he says with that little grin of his as he hands me the bottle of water.

I blush because it's not true. Well, even if my mouth is dry, I wasn't staring at the bottle all along, but at him. It is dry because of him, not because I'm thirsty. I don't discuss and I take the bottle, but when I put my lips on the opening, I can't help but think that he just did the same.

"My day erm... well, it's always the same and it's kind of complicated. It's paperwork over and over again. Oh, and meetings, lots of long and boring meetings," he says as I drink from his bottle.

"I don't know you well, but I think that you are a very determined person, you like it when you get what you want. I can tell just by the empire you have built here," I say and my observation seems to amuse him. He still has this same little grin I like on his lips.

"Indeed, it summarizes me very well. Come on now, follow me," I frown. He just abruptly put an end to the conversation and I wasn't even expecting it.

He then walks to the door and holds it for me to go out first. I feel him placing his big hand in my lower back to guide me but it disappears straight away. As I follow him, I think of how he managed to make me feel confortable; when I arrived here earlier, I was completely nervous but his kindness and the way he has to make conversation immediately helped me to relax.

We then arrive in front of a huge ebony double door which I guess is the door of his office. The muscles of his arms get contracted as he pushes it to let me in.

His office is huge and just as the building, it is very design, the set of furniture is white and he has leather sofas. I'm also quite surprised by the light. There are two huge window bay and of course, the sight of Manhattan is amazing.

When I lay my eyes on the big clock on the wall, I panic. It's 5.10pm and dad is waiting for me, he must wonder where I am. I frown and turn around to face Mr. Styles who's standing in front of his desk. How could I tell him that I have to go? What with me not daring asking him a bottle of water, I wouldn't have the courage to run away from him.

I realize how embarrassed I feel, alone with him in his office. It's way more intimidating now and I don't feel confortable here. I don't dare to make a move, fearing doing something stupid. I know there's absolutely no reason to be scared of him but it's more the situation that intimidates me. And he seems so sure of himself, it's almost unsettling for me.

He walks to me and I keep in mind that I need to be out from now until five minutes. He doesn't smile anymore and he looks very serious as he stands now only a few inches away from me. I look up and my eyes meet his. He's so tall and placing his big hand on my shoulder is the first thing he does. He grabs the strap of my bag on my shoulder and gently makes it slides down my arm then puts my bag on the floor near his desk. He comes back to me afterwards and takes my hand to take me to his cream-colored leather couch across the room. We both sit on it.

"Look, Adele, I'm aware of how risky what we intend to do is, but I feel like I just can't help myself. I really want to try this with you. I really want to try but you have the right to say no, you have the right to stop whenever you want to, the I'll leave you alone. You understand?" he says clearly but very nicely.

I nod. At least he goes straight to the point. I feel reassured that he is willing to talk with me about that. I don't really know what to say. I'm jumping headfirst in an affair and I surely won't be able to control anything. But as he just said, it's irresistible and the desire to taste danger turns me on. I want to try to do something forbidden for the first time. Especially with him. I still can't believe a man like him is interested in a girl like me. Maybe it's a trap? I immediately chase this thought out of my mind. No, impossible, I feel like I can trust him.

"Do you have any question?" he asks me gently.

"What's your name?" I say and it just came out of my mouth before I could think about it. I think none of us was really expecting that from me. I smile shyly at him as he remains silent for a moment. He is still holding my small hand as his thumb is softly caressing the back of it and it's very pleasurable.

"What's my name?" he repeats as if he didn't understand.

"Yes, well, I mean, your first name," I clarify my question and his face lights up when he understands.

"Oh! It's Harry. Call me Harry."

I nod and smile shyly as I can't help thinking about how it suits him well. We remain silent as he is still stroking my little hand. His are well-groomed and he has rings on his fingers and a small cross is tattooed on the back of it.

My phone vibrating in my jeans pocket brings my attention back to reality. Suddenly, I panic. It's my dad, that's for sure. I take it and read the message.

Adele, where are you?

It's 5.16pm and I didn't see time going by. Those few minutes with him were so pleasurable and I wish they would have never stopped.

"I-I'm sorry, I have to go now. My-my father just texted me," I apologize, literally jumping from the couch.

"I see," is all he says.

He gets up too and walks to his desk to take my bag on the floor. I almost forgot it. He hands it to me and I smile thankfully at him and take it.

"May we meet again? Tomorrow?" he asks in the sweetest tone I have ever heard.

"Of course, I'd love to."

"Come straight to my office tomorrow, okay?"

"I'll be here as soon as possible," I reply with a little smile.

His smile shows me how glad he is. As I try to open the heavy door, his brawny arm reach for the door over my head and pulls it to help me getting out. I thank him but before I can leave, his hand grabs my wrist. I turn my head to find Harry's face just a few inches away. Without hesitation, I lean forward and give him a peck on the lips. It's a chaste but authentic kiss. I think it makes him smile and on that note, I slip away, my heart pounding in my chest.

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Hi lovelies, here is the new chapter, just as promised. Please leave some feedbacks and tell me what you think is going to happen next with Adele or Josephine and Harry. It's just the beginning but I promise you a lot of adventures. Lots of love, Ella. x