The Wrong Woman

So if that week had been hard, the following week was only harder. My shifts at the supermarket had started to dwindle from working four days to only two days a week.

I knew there were a couple of reasons for that.

My boss, Mr. Hennessey, hated me.

He kept on at me about covering up my tattoos. There was one day when he blasted me after I casually rolled up my sleeves.

“You’re not projecting the right image for this supermarket!” He had told me.

He also hated when he’d catch Macy talking to me.

He’d come out and catch us smoking outside and tell me I was a bad influence on poor sixteen year old Macy. Little did he know that “innocent” Macy was not only the one supplying me with the cigarettes but was also furiously flirting with me the entire time.

So a two day a week shift was starting to hit me in the back pocket. I could feel myself reaching that dangerous point where I wasn’t sure I was able to cover the rent for the week. I had relied on friends before, but I knew I couldn’t keep doing that. And I sure as hell didn’t want to ask Maddie for money.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do.” I told her one day as we sat in the park. I hadn’t been back to her house since the time Felicity had caught us together.

“Why don’t you try talking to your manager?” Maddie said trying to be helpful.

“He hates me.” I moaned. “I’m trying to convince Evan to let me play at the club on Saturday nights too, but he said he’d think about it.”

“Look for another job.”

“Yeah like it’s that easy.” I snapped and felt bad when I saw her face fall. “Sorry baby…”

I caressed her hair and gave her an apologetic smile.

“You look stressed.” She said.

“I am stressed.” I said. I was feeling the stress in more ways than one. It didn’t help matters that I was walking around with a permanent hard on. No matter what I did, the ache was always there. I couldn’t help but close my eyes when I felt her hands on my shoulders. She squeezed them gently before she started to massage them.

“You feel tense.” Maddie said.

“I am tense.”

I sat there quietly enjoying the feeling of her small hands working on the tight knots in my shoulders. I turned my head slightly to the left and felt her soft lips kiss me.

“Mmm…”

“Does that feel good?” She murmured.

“Yeah.”

I opened my eyes and noticed a dark car slow down and then stop at the side of the road. I squinted my eyes to see Tomlinson sitting there watching us from afar.

“Fuck.” I couldn’t help but tense up.

“What is it?” Maddie asked.

“Nothing… just keep going.” I urged her.I felt her fingers kneading my shoulders again and I turned my head to catch her kiss once again. If the motherfucker was going to watch, the least I could was put on a show. I turned around and gently pushed her hands away.

“Just kiss me.” I whispered into her mouth, and pushed my tongue in. I could feel her clutch my T-shirt as I kissed her more forcefully, my hands reaching up under her blouse to rest on her back.She responded easily and I couldn’t help but open my eyes as we kissed to see the black car was still there. I knew he was watching, and I hoped he was getting the message. Maddie was mine. A few seconds later the car drove away. Dickhead, I thought. If he wanted a show, I wasn’t going to stop there.

X

It was three thirty in the afternoon and Maddie was about to go into a Louis Tomlinson tutorial. He was running late and I was waiting with her on a bench near the classroom. Seeing his car the other day had pissed me off. Was he following us? Even if he had seen us by chance, why did he stop the car? It had been hard to see but I could sworn I could have seen him watching us. I placed my hand on Maddie’s thigh and she looked up from her folder.

“So are you working this afternoon?” She asked.

“Nope.”

To make things even more interesting, I had found out Mr. Hennessey was Macy’s uncle. No wonder he hated me so much; he was probably scared I was going to deflower his precious niece. Macy had told me she was going to speak to him about upping my hours but I had stopped her.

“Don’t say anything. If I want to say something, I’ll do it myself.”

I placed my other hand behind Maddie’s head and pressed my lips onto hers.

“Harry.” She murmured, slightly pulling away.

“What?”

“Not here.”

“Scared we’re going to get caught?” I whispered in her ear.

“Harry, you shouldn’t even be here.”

“I don’t give a shit.” I muttered. Not only was this guy taking up my girlfriend’s time but he was fucking stalking us too. I covered her mouth with my own to stop her from talking, and deeply kissed her. She whined but then slowly softened in my embrace. My hand travelled further up her thigh and I tenderly touched her soft skin. I think I heard the footsteps before she did. I could only guess it was him, but I didn’t stop there, lowering my lips to the side of her neck. The sound of someone clearing their throat made Maddie jump and we both looked up to see Louis peering back at us. His jaw was tense as he adjusted his glasses.

“When you’re ready Madeline.” He said.

Maddie instantly scrambled to her feet, almost dropping her folder, and with an apologetic backward glance disappeared into the classroom. My eyes locked with Louis’ icy blue orbs and we regarded each other for a long moment. His whole demeanour gave me the impression that he didn’t think I was good enough for Madeline. Without another word, he closed the door behind him.

I had planned on leaving, but I suddenly felt so unnerved by his reaction, I found myself pulling out my cigarettes. I thought about Zayn and how I’d confronted him for telling Niall about Felicity.

“I don’t want anyone knowing.” I had told him. “I don’t want Maddie to find out.”

Zayn had smiled and shook his head at me, as if to say, “Aw leave the poor girl alone and find someone your own age.”

I smoked one cigarette right after the other before Maddie emerged from the classroom forty five minutes later.

“Harry, I didn’t know you were going to wait for me.” She said with a surprised look on her face. She nervously glanced over her shoulder and I could hear Louis scraping back his chair.

“Yeah… I just thought I’d hang around.” I mumbled, flicking my cigarette butt to the side.

“We’d better go.” She said quickly, grabbing me by the arm. I shook her off and snaked my arm around her waist. I heard Louis locking the door behind us and squeezed her ass for good measure. Hope he saw that too, the prick, I thought to myself. I knew I was acting like an immature kid but I didn’t care. I felt like control was slowly slipping from my fingers and this was the only way I knew to fight back.

Maddie drove me to her house but I didn’t bother arguing. I didn’t exactly want to bump into Felicity but I didn’t want to be at home alone either.

“We’ll order pizza.” She told me. I guess that was her polite way of saying ‘I’ll pay for dinner’.

“Dad’s probably home, but he’s working on some big project so we probably won’t see him.”

“Thank God for that.” I muttered and Maddie shoved me.

“Don’t be cheeky.”

“Oh you know I can’t help that.” I shot back with a wink.

“Tell me about. Mr. Tomlinson could barely look me in the eye after what he saw.”

“Really?” I said curiously. “He didn’t give you a hard time did he?”

“Nope... he didn’t say a word.” Maddie giggled. “He looked a bit shocked actually.”

“Good.”

We pulled up to Maddie’s house and I was relieved to see that Felicity’s car was nowhere in sight. My stomach was starting to rumble as we walked in and Maddie disappeared to find the pizza menu.

“Your Dad here?” I asked.

“Yeah he’s upstairs.” Maddie told me as she tossed the menu at me. “Choose whatever you want.”

After we had ordered two pizzas because Maddie hated my choice of pepperoni, we flopped onto separate couches to watch television.

“I was thinking…” Maddie said.

“What?”

“About talking to Dad.” She said hesitantly. “Maybe he can help you.”

“Help me with what?” I asked confused.

“Help you get a job.” She said. “I know he wants someone to help out at the office after school.”

“No Maddie.” I said firmly. “I don’t need your charity.”

“It’s not charity!” Maddie exclaimed. “He’s always hassling me about doing it, but I keep saying no.”

“No.” I said emphatically. “I’ll find another way to make money.”

She made a face at me but I turned my attention back to the television.

“Don’t make faces at me.” I said.

“What are you going to do?”

“Teach you a lesson you won’t forget.” I told her. She opened her mouth to answer back but then promptly closed it.

Twenty minutes later we were in the kitchen scarfing down the pizza when her Dad suddenly walked in.

“Hi kids.” He said and I almost choked on my pizza. Kids?

“Want some pizza?” Maddie offered and her father nodded.

“Pepperoni?” He asked.

“That’s Harry’s pizza.” Maddie wrinkled her nose distastefully.

“Feel free to have some.” I spoke up and her Dad gratefully took two slices.

“What are you up to?” He asked.

“Harry’s looking for a new job.” Maddie said quickly. I almost choked on my pizza for a second time and I shot her a murderous glare, but she studiously ignored me.

“A job?” Her Dad asked chewing thoughtfully.

“Yeah… just something after school. You’re always asking me to help you out with the office tasks… why not let Harry do it?”

I cleared my throat to get her attention but she refused to look my way. What was up with all the girls in my life? First Macy was offering to talk to her Uncle about getting me more hours and now Maddie was trying to hustle a job for me.

The situation got even more interesting when Felicity sauntered in. I saw her freeze when she caught sight of me, but quickly recovered with a small smile.

“I thought I could smell pizza in here.” She said.

“Finished for today?” Campbell asked with a kiss.

“Yes… all done. Dying for a glass of wine.” Felicity said and Maddie giggled. I remember what she had told me about Felicity raiding their wine fridge. “What’s so funny?”

“Nothing.” Maddie said. “I was just in the middle of getting Harry a job.”

“Really?” Felicity asked and I hoped I was the only one who could detect an edge to her voice. She glanced at me briefly before pouring herself a glass of red wine.

“There’s no need.” I spoke up. “Really… I’m fine. I have the job at the supermarket-“

“Daddy, they’ve cut his hours.” Maddie interrupted.

“Well, I do need someone to do some of the admin work. Felicity has been doing the bulk of it lately, and I know Callie’s got other things to do now she’s my personal assistant.”

“I’ve never done office work before.” I said instantly.

“There’s nothing to it.” Campbell answered. “I need someone to do basic things like filing, shredding and tasks like that. Easy stuff… but important nonetheless.”

I started to consider the offer seriously for the first time. God knows I needed the money. I had a feeling I wasn’t going to last longer at the supermarket but I needed to hold onto that job as long as I could.

“The hours are flexible… what with school and your job at the supermarket, I’d probably need you about three days a week.”

What school? I kept forgetting that the guy thought I was only eighteen.

“And it would look good on your CV too.” Maddie piped up.

“Felicity will help you get settled in.” Campbell added.

“Nope, I don’t think I can do it.” I responded.

“Aw Harry.” Maddie pouted.

I could see Felicity shooting me pleading looks. She obviously didn’t want me to have the job. She was yet another person who looked at me and Maddie like we shouldn’t be together. Maybe she thought I wasn’t good enough for her. I was obviously good enough for a casual fuck, but not good enough to be in perfect rich girl Maddie’s life. I could feel the anger rise within me. I must have looked annoyed because Campbell said.

“Leave him alone Maddie. If Harry can’t handle it, then he can’t handle it.”

My head snapped up. Harry can’t handle it? Was he fucking with me? I tried to gauge his expression but he just sat there casually eating his pizza.

My mind started to work overtime. What did I have to lose? God knows I needed the money.

And Felicity was seriously starting to piss me off. She sat there sipping her wine, and peeking around her glass with a small smirk playing on her lips. All these thoughts collided, and maybe that’s why I found myself making a snap decision.

“Okay, I’ll take it.” I said. “I’ll take the job.”

“Yay!” Maddie cheered.

I looked over at Felicity and couldn’t help but shoot my own little smirk her way.

Notes