Fix You

“Have you met the new girl?” Niall asked me, pulling my headphones out of my ear. I spun around in my chair, annoyed with being interrupted with my work. I had a pretty solid five o’clock deadline and it couldn’t be missed for anything. Our boss was constantly on my ass about this new print I was supposed to have finished a week ago.

I got busy.

It was easy to see how that could happen. The startup culture is a lot different than any other company I’ve worked for. Niall, my cubicle neighbor, was always popping over to my desk, interrupting me. Today, I decided no distractions, yet here I was, listening to Niall go on about the new girl.

“No, I’ve been at my desk all day, like you should be,” I scoffed. Niall immediately knew I wasn’t too serious about it and pulled his chair around, sitting in my cube with me.

“None of us know what to think about her. She started yesterday and whenever anyone tried to talk to them, she just kind of smiled and nodded. I don’t think she understands the concept of small talk. How she managed to get hired here is beyond me,” he continued. I was trying so hard to tune him out and continue on my work, but it wasn’t working. Niall had a way of getting you wrapped up in a story.

“Have you tried talking to her?” I asked, taking the bait. That was actually kind of weird that she didn’t talk to anyone. Everyone here was pretty friendly and talkative. I’ve been here for a little under two years and I couldn’t say I’ve met someone who worked here who kept to themselves.

Of course, the overall level of friendliness was both a blessing and a curse. Most of the time it meant everyone knew everything about everyone in a matter of seconds. In some ways, this office was a lot like high school, gossip spread like wildfire.

“Yeah, I did. She just gives these one word responses. If she’s that shy, I don’t know how she’s gonna replace Olivia. Aren’t receptionists supposed to be friendly?” I perked up a bit, I didn’t know she was receptionist.

Olivia was our old receptionist. We kind of had a thing, she met her old high school sweetheart and long story short, they moved across the country and have five kids. Okay, they haven’t had any kids yet, but they did move away, leaving me with no chance for us to get back together.

Olivia was perfect. She made me laugh, she was sweet, cute, great in bed, all I could ever want in a girl. Too bad she met me during my asshole phase and we ended up breaking up over and over again.

I always told myself I’d get over her once she moved, and now she had. Of course, in the past few years, I grew out of that phase, but that was neither here nor there. She was happy now, and that’s all that should have mattered.

“Well, she was hired for a reason,” I shrugged, as I always did as of late whenever someone mentioned Olivia to me.

Niall spun me around in my chair, effectively making sure I wasn’t going to tune him out or focus on anything else. He had my attention for whatever it is that he wanted. One thing that didn’t make sense to me was the fact that it was Wednesday and she was just starting. Most people started on a Monday, standard office protocol.

“Why did she start today?” I asked out loud, knowing Niall or any of the other office gossips would have gotten to the bottom of this by now. Of course, he didn’t disappoint.

“Apparently she broke her arm or something on Sunday. Fell down the stairs bringing in the groceries. The weird thing is she won’t talk to any of the guys. She let a little slip to Lily, who managed to sign her cast. It’s covered in sappy shit from this guy, probably her boyfriend. When I say she’s hot, I’m not exaggerating. It does not surprise me that she’s got a boyfriend.”

Now this intrigued me. I’ve never met a girl that didn’t talk to any guys. At the very least, I managed to get them to talk to me. Of course, this makes me sound like some kind of ‘playboy’ but at one time, I was. Hence me and Olivia not working out.

“I’ll be the judge of that,” I said with a smirk and locked my computer screen, getting up from my desk. Sorry work, I had to see the receptionist that Niall couldn’t stop gushing about.

As I made my way to her desk, I smiled at a few of my co-workers as I passed by them, laying on the Harry charm thick. I brushed my curls out of my face, wishing that I had a headband to keep them off of my forehead and stopped at her desk.

She seemed to freeze when she laid her eyes on me and I couldn’t help but grin at the reaction I got from her. This was too easy. Clearly, Niall wasn’t doing something right.

The new girl was kind of cute, in the Liam and Danielle’s, my neighbors, new puppy was cute. Nothing about her really stood out to me, and she was blonde. I very much had a thing for brunettes, so I knew this girl was not my type. Either way, I was on a mission to get her to talk to me.

“Hey, I haven’t gotten a chance to introduce myself,” I told her, flashing her the pearly whites. When she glanced down at her paperwork, I frowned, wondering why she seemed so disinterested.

“Hi,” she murmured, her hair draping over her face. I couldn’t see any of her features and she more resembled Cousin It from the Adams Family than the semi-attractive girl that sat here seconds ago.

“I’m Harry, uh, Styles. Over in advertising. It’s nice to meet you,” I added. Her sheer awkwardness was throwing my game off and I found myself fumbling at my words.

I stood there for a few more moments, waiting for her to say something, anything, but to no avail. When I cleared my throat, she finally looked up and I noticed she was wearing far too much makeup. Maybe that’s what I found so unappealing about her. It was caked on on the side of her body with her cast and I was not into it at all.

“Is there something I can help you with, Mr. Styles?” she asked, her voice so soft I could barely hear her. She was an odd one, this girl.

“I didn’t catch your name. And please, by all means, call my Harry,” I corrected her. With another grin, I hoped it helped to put her more at ease, but instead, she glanced back down at her paperwork, as though it was more important than this conversation.

So much for getting to know your co-workers.

“Daisy. And no thank you, Mr. Styles. It’s better that we keep things professional,” she said from behind her mop of hair. I was beyond shocked. I’ve never met a girl that I couldn’t win over by my smile alone. I’ve never met a girl who didn’t want to speak with me.

I’ve never met a girl like Daisy.

“Well uh, I know it can’t be easy starting in a new office, so if you ever need anything, my desk is just a few cubicles away.” I stood there at her desk, feeling like a fool, waiting for some acknowledgement that she heard what I said. To my surprise, I got none and I headed back to my desk, completely dumbfounded.

Niall was sitting in my chair and I wanted to wipe off that shit-eating grin so badly.

“And judging by the look on your face, I take it she also gave you the cold shoulder,” he said as he had a hard time containing his laughter. Har. Har. I could kick that Irish asshole.

“Out of my chair,” I snapped. Niall got up without a second wasted, though the grin was still present.

Yes, not even Harry Styles, regular office slut, could get the new girl to have a conversation with him. Everyone should tell that story at parties.

Niall folded his arms as he stood against the wall of my cubicle, smirking at me. I typed in my password, wanting to get back to work. “Ouch, bud. Sounds like someone needs to get some action and soon. Don’t worry, new girl is off the market. She would’ve never gone for you anyway.”

I sat at the computer, fuming. I didn’t even want the girl, she wasn’t my type, but the fact that she didn’t even bother talking to me made my head spin. Who was she and why didn’t anything work on her?

“What the fuck kind of name is Daisy anyway?” I muttered, only to hear a woman clearing her throat behind me. I spun around in my chair to find the new receptionist, clutching a few pieces of paper in her hand, seemingly angered by what she heard.

“Your faxes,” she simply stated and walked back to her desk. With a groan I shooed Niall away and tried to get back to work. I could be a jerk at times, yes, but it didn’t feel good to have upset the new receptionist on our first day. There were only a few hours left in the work day, but I knew I could make it right.

Five o’clock came and somehow I managed to get my work turned in; my job was no longer on the line. Most of the time, I never felt like my job was seriously in jeopardy, I did my job well, but I knew it wasn’t good to take it for granted.

After packing away my laptop, I passed by the receptionist’s desk, surprised to see Daisy still there. Normally, Olivia was the first one out, and since it had taken me what felt like forever to gather my belongings, we were the only two left in the office.

“Why are you still here?” I asked, stopping at her desk. Her computer was shut off and she was staring at her phone, seemingly awaiting for something to happen. I immediately regretted my choice in words. I had sounded like a huge asshole, especially with what I said earlier.

“I’m sorry. I meant, most people rush to get home. And I’m sorry for earlier. I guess I was just a little miffed that you didn’t want to talk to me.” I bit my lip nervously as her silence left me very aware of everything I said.

When she finally spoke, I couldn’t be too sure that I was actually hearing her. “It’s fine.” I turned to look at her, and when she was staring back at me, I was sure that she was actually speaking and it wasn’t just my imagination.

“But you know, my question is still out there in the open. Why haven’t you rushed home like the others?” I asked again, leaning against her desk now. It couldn’t be too safe for her to stay here too late alone, if I had to wait with her, I would.

“I’m um, waiting for my boyfriend. He’s stuck in traffic, I think,” she spoke again, glancing over at her phone. I got a whole sentence out of her and I couldn’t erase the grin if I tried. It felt like such an accomplishment to do something so trivial. What has gotten into me?

“Well, then I guess I’m waiting for your boyfriend too,” I told her, setting down my bag and leaning it against her desk. Daisy’s eyes grew wide and she shook her head; I had never seen that kind of panic in a person’s eyes before and it was kind of frightening.

“No, don’t. I mean, you don’t have to. I’ll be okay.” As much as I wanted to believe her, I didn’t. It was so odd that she kept to herself, that she seemed afraid of me waiting with her. With a sigh, I leaned forward, grabbing a pen and paper from her desk and scribbled my name and number on there for her.

“Look, if it gets scary or anything, please just call. I don’t live too far away, I can get here in seconds,” I told her, offering her a small smile. When she didn’t return it, I frowned and picked up my things, doing my best to not worry about her.

Notes

Hiii this is my new story. I hope you guys love it as much as I've had planning it <3 and I'll update MDS super soon!