Fall 2017
Maggie Covington never thought herself to be sexy – not in the conventional way at least. She couldn’t really compare to the kind of girls that a guy like Harry Styles brought home. She always felt like she was more on the average side looks-wise; nerdy even. She sported glasses and a ponytail half the time and she could usually be found in the library studying rather than in a night club. She mostly kept to herself, but loved deeply. She enjoyed taking care of everyone and everything around her – whether it be people or animals.
In fact, it was how she first met her newest neighbor. His dog, Hemingway – who she aptly nicknamed Hemmy, much to his owner’s dismay – got out of his house and began running amok in the courtyard. Maggie was the one to seize the pooch. Hemmy ran straight to her when she called and began sliming up her face with kisses.
“You are a lover, aren’t you? Funny, puppy. Where is your human, huh? Where are they?” Maggie spoke to the little tan and white English bulldog like she would a baby or young child.
When she looked up, it was as if an angel was hovering above her. Well, maybe not so much an angel, rather an extremely attractive curly-haired man with a huge smirk on his face. Maggie had never seen such a perfect specimen in her entire life – the smile, the body, the charm. His eyes were covered with black Ray-Ban’s and his smile was about a mile wide. Maggie was struck speechless as the man bent down placing a leash on the dog’s collar.
“Thanks,” he said, his voice much, much deeper than she expected. Maggie stood up slowly, keeping her eyes on the dog’s owner.
“You’re welcome,” she said quickly, realizing he’d spoken and that maybe she should reply.
“I think he likes you,” the angelic man quipped and Maggie noticed his British accent, which really only made him sexier.
“I think you’re right. What’s his name?” She asked as she looked down at the dog and then back up at his human. The man smiled jovially at her, causing her to smile as well.
“Hemingway,” he answered.
“Aww, Hemmy. You’re a good boy aren’t you?” Maggie asked the dog, bending down momentarily to pet his head again.
“Hemmy?” The man chuckled.
“Sorry. I like to give everyone a nickname, regardless of species,” she explained, smirking bashfully.
“Ah, well, I’m Harry,” he said, holding out his hand to shake hers.
She placed her hand in his, feeling the warmth of his tanned skin against her own. And in that moment, it dawned on her. She knew who he was. She knew of him at least. He moved in that summer and word around the complex was that he was some famous guy. She heard through the grapevine that he was Harry Styles from the band One Direction. Maggie heard of them a while back, but never really got into them. She remembered hearing a song or two of theirs on the radio, but nothing more. She also remembered not being too impressed when hearing that a member of One Direction moved into the complex, but now – wow. She should have paid more attention, because he was a fox.
“What’s your name?” He asked, giving her a sideways smirk as they continued to shake hands, and she realized she went into a brief daze thinking about him.
“Oh, uh, Maggie. Maggie Covington,” she told him and quickly took her hand back.
“Maggie. I like that,” he said with a smile as he slid his sunglasses up to the top of his head.
She was blushing and she knew it. It was not every day she was met with a pair of eyes she could easily spend the rest of her life staring into. Even though she was sure he was the owner of a beautiful pair of green eyes, in the sunlight they almost looked multi-colored. The way the light hit them it look as though they were kaleidoscopic.
“Do you live here?” Harry asked. Maggie almost didn’t hear him because she was too busy staring at his eyes.
“Hmm… oh, yeah,” she stammered, smiling bashfully again.
“Same here,” he said, returning a smile.
“Yeah… uh, I think we’re next door neighbors,” she pointed out, almost wishing that she kept that stalker-ish piece of information out of the conversation.
“Brilliant,” he chuckled.
It wasn’t a big shocker to her that he didn’t see her around the last couple of months. She really didn’t get out much – unless it was to go to work, school, or the library – and really the library didn’t even count because for one, she worked there and for two, the only other reason she was there was to study for school.
“Yep,” she said awkwardly, swaying back and forth on the balls of her heels.
“Well, Maggie. It was really nice to meet you, but Hemingway and I have an appointment to get to,” he said, smiling widely at her.
“Oh. Yeah. Don’t let me stop you,” she said, waving her hand through the air. Maggie quickly bent down to say goodbye to the dog, rubbing his ears playfully in her hands.
“I’ll see you around, Hemmy,” she told the canine. Hemingway jumped up and licked her face one last time.
“Aww. Thanks, boy,” Maggie giggled as she wiped the slobber away.
“I told you he likes you,” Harry said, smiling at her as she stood once again.
“The feeling is mutual,” she said truthfully, giving Harry a smirk.
“See you later, Maggie,” Harry said finally and she could have sworn she saw him wink at her before he turned to walk away.
Oh, goodness. She already knew she was smitten with him and his dog with just one meeting. Never mind the fact that she knew she didn’t have a single chance in the world with him – probably not even in her dreams either. He was a famous boy bander after all.
But little did she know, the day she met Harry Styles would change her life forever. She soon realized it changed her life in regards to having one more thing to worry about. And her crush on Harry most definitely kept her occupied – whether it meant she had to study harder to keep her concentration on the material in front of her rather than the perfectly chiseled tattooed body Harry so proudly worked out every day; or having to worry about Hemmy when Harry was off jet-setting around the world. Maggie officially became Harry’s dog sitter that Christmas when he flew back to Cheshire to visit family.
She was certain she would have done anything Harry asked of her, because they were friends and because she was falling head over heels for him, though he didn’t know it.
Unrequited love. Ain’t it a bitch?

Notes

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