Anger. | Harry Styles

{ Lydia's P.O.V. }

I sat impatiently in my mom's office, tapping my foot repeatedly against the hardwood floor as I waited for her to come back in. She told me stop by her office because she had 'news' for me. Which I wasn't exactly excited to wait for it, or hear it. I was supposed to be hanging out with my friends, we were planning on going to the movie theater tonight. I looked up once I heard office door creek open, seeing my mom and her dark head of hair walk into the room.

"Finally," I complained, throwing my hands up at her lengthy absence.

"Sorry, sweetie," She apologized as she walked around her desk and plopped down in her chair. "I just wanted to tell you about a welcoming party that my boss is throwing tonight for our clients and their family," She informed.

My eyebrows rose in distaste at the news. Why is she telling me this? "Uh...okay," I said awkwardly, waiting for her to continue.

"Well, I wanted you to come along with me," She finished, folding her arms across her chest as she looked at me.

"Mom...I really don't want to," I said bluntly, "I actually wanted to ask if I could go to-"

"Let me rephrase this," She interrupted, "You're coming to the party with me tonight," She corrected.

I frowned, jaw dropping at her demand. "I brought my grades up! What's this about?" I whined.

"I'm not punishing you anymore. I just want you to accompany the party with me tonight. You can't turn me down, Lydia. I'm your mother," She explained.

"Jesus Christ," I muttered, getting up from the chair.

"I should be home around 5:50. I'll cook dinner. Then we'll leave for the party," She said as I made my way to the door.

"Yeah, yeah," I mumbled, quickly storming out of her office and out of the building to my car. How is she making me come to a party with her? I was punished a week earlier for the drop in my grades, so I felt like she was still trying to carry out that punishment.



+++



I managed to get a short nap in before my mom came in, babbling something about getting ready for the party. And I did just that. I dressed myself in a tight fitting blue dress with a gold belt to go around the waist. I curled my hair and pulled it over one side of my shoulder, pinning it with a small blue bow. I pulled on blue heels and scanned my eyes over my reflection in the mirror. Once I approved of my appearance, I carefully walked downstairs and into the kitchen for dinner.

"You look beautiful. I can't imagine how you would dress for prom," My mom complimented as I passed through the kitchen.

"Thank you. And I don't think I'm going to prom," I told her as I walked into the dining room.

I took my seat at the dining room table, watching as my mother walked in with furrowed eyebrows. She set large bowls of food on the table, multiple options to choose to put on our plate.

"Why not?" She questioned curiously, "Ian, dinner is ready!" She called to my brother.

"Because I'm almost positive I won't have a date," I stated simply as I piled food onto my plate.

My mom rolled her eyes, taking a seat at the table. 'You and both know that you can be with any guy you desire to be with. You're a nice girl. Guys love nice girls," She spoke with an assuring grin.

Ian walked into the dining room, texting rapidly as he made his way to the table. His face looked less than pleased as he shoved the phone into his pocket and plopped down into a seat.

"Dude, what's your problem?" I quirked an eyebrow at him.

"I don't think that's any of your business, Lydia," He snapped, angrily slamming food onto his plate.

"Ian-" My mom started but was abruptly cut off. "Me and Alex are fighting, okay?" He blurted out, his frown deepening.

My mom and I stared blankly at him for a moment. Alex was his girlfriend; they've only been dating for a couple months and he's already practically in love with her. The girl is a complete snob.

"I was just going to tell you to fix your tone, but okay mister tell it all," My mom mumbled as she dug into her food.

I was going to ask where our dad was, but I assumed he had to work late again, as usual. My mom and I hurried to finish our food, leaving Ian behind at the house to attend the party.



+++



I followed carefully behind my mom as we walked through her boss' front door. My heels clicked against the floor and I looked around the living room. There weren't as many people as I thought there would be; it was a fair amount.

"Now, Lydia. You don't have to be under my dress tail. You can go and socialize if you'd like," My mom told me, smiling as she looked back at me.

"I might, I don't know," I mumbled, shrugging my shoulders, glancing around again.

Janet, my mom's coworker and best friend, squealed excitedly when she caught sight of my mom and pulled her into a hug. You would think those two never get to see each other, when in reality, they do almost every day.

"It's great to see you two here! And Lydia, look at you! You look gorgeous, honey," She grinned, hugging me as well.

"Thank you, Janet," I offered a small smile as I pulled away from her hug.

I folded my arms, taking a small step back as they held a conversation, probably gossiping about their clients. I don't know if anyone could tell, but I was clearly bored and we just made it to the party. My eyes roamed around the room again, landing at the front door where my mother's boss stood, greeting another client. He was a male and looked much younger than most of the clients they dealt with. I couldn't take in his features completely before my mom called my name.

"Would you mind grabbing us a bottle of water from the kitchen?" She asked sweetly.

I nodded, turning and walking across the room to the kitchen. There were cold bottles of water already placed on the island for our convenience. I grabbed two water bottles and glanced over at a bottle of white wine and wine glasses on the counter top. My mom would probably choke on her water if I asked her if I could have a glass of wine. Considering that I'm 18, I'm not allowed to drink yet but what she doesn't know won't hurt her. I've only had a couple sips of wine before. And that was at Adriana, my friend's dad's fancy birthday party. I decided on asking my mother as a joke, curious of what her reaction would be.

"Are you going to try the wine?" A voice laced with a thick accent suddenly asked me.

I turned around, slightly startled by the sudden appearance of the client that had just arrived at the party. I hadn't responded as quick as I should have, too busy taking in his features. How else was I to remember a stranger that I might come across again. He had a head full of long, fluffy brown hair and pink, plump lips. He was dressed in a blue plaid flannel and probably the tightest black skinny jeans I've ever seen on a guy.

"Lydia?" My mom poked her head into the kitchen, pulling me out of my thoughts. Her eyes shifted over to tall male who stood in the kitchen with me.

"Harry," She smiled warmly as she stepped into the kitchen. "Nice to see you here, honey. Is your mom with you?" She asked, pulling him in for a hug.

I watched awkwardly as 'Harry' smiled at her greeting, hugging her tightly against him. Either he was really good with hugs, or he had a close relationship with my mom.

"She couldn't make it. She had to work tonight," Harry answered as they pulled back from the hug.

"Oh, well, Harry, this is my daughter, Lydia," She gestured to me. "And Lydia, this is one of my clients, Harry Styles."

"Hi," I said shyly, giving an awkward wave. He gave a lopsided smile, showing pearly white teeth.

"Hi, how are you?" "I'm fine," I simply stated.

For some stupid reason, I couldn't form long sentences around boys the first time I meet them. My mom took the bottles of water from my hands before leaving us standing there in the kitchen.

"So what's wrong with you?" I asked bluntly as I leaned back against the counter.

Oh, that's another thing. Often times when I'm nervous, I'm a little too blunt. I would probably come off as rude to him.

"What do you mean?" He asked, confusion written on his face as he stared at me. Directly into my eyes.

We weren't too far from each other, or too close. I could see how bright and beautiful his green eyes were. Since he was a client at the counseling center, there was no telling what type of issues he had. Sometimes looks could be deceiving. And he looked like an sweet angel with an alluring voice.

"I mean, why do you need counseling?" I corrected myself.

"That's...sort of personal information. I'm sure you've heard of things being confidential before, haven't you? How would you feel if I asked you personal questions that you had no business knowing the answer to?" He spoke a mouth full, his tone hinting at annoyance.

My eyes widened slightly at his reply and I quickly shut my mouth. Well, damn. You don't have to worry about me asking you anything anymore, Harry Potter. Or whatever his name was.

"I'm sorry, dude," I muttered, refraining from rolling my eyes at his attitude.

"It's fine," He said, shifting closer to me. His arm rested on the counter, barely touching the small of my back.

I almost told him to take three thousands steps back out of my personal space, but decided to stay quiet. Although, I'm sure he could see how uncomfortable I was as I looked up at him.

"Now, how about we try this again? I'm Harry. You look incredibly sexy in that dress, your turn," He tugged his bottom lip in between his teeth as he stared into my eyes, waiting for a response.

I tried to bite back a smart remark but I couldn't help myself. "I'm Lydia. I'm very uncomfortable right now. And you need to get your irrelevant ass away from me, or at least remove yourself from my personal space."

Notes