I don’t know how he got my number.

I wasn’t in any phone books, there was no listed number for me in the company directory but at six am on a Saturday morning I received a call from an unknown number. Thankfully I was up nursing a triple caffeinated cup of tea as Socrates, my large, white and overly spoiled cat, begged me for more food. The nightmares had been back so I hadn’t seen much point in trying to get more sleep that would never come. So instead I’d traded that for my other toxic habit of staring at the cork board in my kitchen covered in string and newspaper articles.

“Hello?” I answered cautiously wondering who would be calling me this early in the morning.

“Izzy?” The voice was distinctly male and familiar but I couldn’t seem to put my finger on it.

“Who is this?”

“Harry? Harry Styles,” He said it like I should have known but that only confused me more as to why a billionaire playboy who I hadn’t given my number was calling me at six am
.
“How’d you get my number?” I asked politely trying not to show the confusion in my voice.

“Let’s just say it involved bribing a very nice secretary.” He stated with a chuckle, “But anyways that’s not important what are you doing this morning.”

“Catching up on Friends.” I stated my voice dripping in sarcasm as I sent another glance at the board.

“Well be at the café on Rosemont in half an hour. I have a proposition for you.”

I knew better than to bother asking why he wanted to meet me at a café, and an expensive one but from his demanding tone I expected that he didn’t hear no a lot. Rather that attempting to protest I tried to get more information out of him because bluntness didn’t seem to be his specialty.

“Why would I want to do that?”

“Other than to see my lovely face, I have a proposition you don’t want to miss so remember the one the corner of Rosemont and 6th.”

Trying to get information out of him was like working with a demanding child so I gave up on even trying.

“What’s the magic word?” I quipped already bored
.
“Coffee?” He stated like it made perfect sense.

Shaking my head, I gave up.
“Corner of Rosemont and 6th, half an hour.”

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

I was not ready for Harry Styles to show up in a tanktop and athletic shorts half drenched in sweat.

It was a stark contrast from the perfectly tailored suit that I’d seen him in last, his hairline now sporting droplets of his sweat and his sweaty shirt sticking to perfectly formed abs that I quickly tore my gaze from. I also wasn’t expecting the large, dopey smile he gave me that seemed to me so out of character for him. He didn’t even bother with hellos before he led us into the small overpriced café. In fact, it wasn’t until we had sat down and ordered breakfast that he turned to me with his toothy smile.

“So you are probably wondering why I brought you down here today?” He stated the line with his elbows on the table and his hands folded like all of the villains do in the movies leading me to scoff.

“I’m trying to re-face the management of Styles Enterprises. My father’s staff was……” He trailed of kind of hoping I’d understand and with a bod he continued. “I was kind of hoping that an overqualified IT tech might consider switching jobs from a sinking ship company to well mine. It would be an analyst position with good pay.”

“You’re offering me a job?” I stated slowly pausing to try and collect my words. “You dragged me halfway across town on a Saturday morning to offer me a job?”

Harry just gave a shrug obviously not phased. He was used to people doing what he said, when he said it and I wasn’t going to be an exception. It was precisely the kind of entitled boredom that I detested.

“What about my…other work?” I asked knowing full well he’d probably had one of his security team google or database search me.

Harry’s expression quickly turned serious. It was back to the sadness I’d noted just several days prior. Part of me wondered what had put it there, what had been so difficult to a boy who had everything that it colored his entire countenance. He seemed for once to be taking time to choose his words, words that might convince me not to leave now.

“Do you really think that you’ll be the only one who’s made mistakes at Styles Enterprises?”

I didn’t know how to take that. Sure his father’s company was full of criminals but that he knew that I’d made mistakes and was still willing to let me work on sensitive information that could cost him millions.

“But you don’t know what…” I protested.

“Isadora Cross, known to the cyber world as Finesse, convicted 2014 with a single case of hacking a government server and leaking documents, more suspected charges but covered her trails well enough that there wasn’t enough proof of a conviction. 18 months at county.”

I gaped at him because I figured he looked me up but to be able to recite, like he’d read my dossier one too many times. He gave me a serious look as if sizing up whether he’d actually scared me away.

“I think you tried to do the right thing with the resources handed to you.” He admitted quietly.

I looked up from rummaging through my purse in surprise to find his green eyes searching my face in curiosity. Even Carter had yelled at me for my stupidity, he had visited me in county but he had never understood. Maybe it had been my young foolishness but nineteen-year-old Izzy had seen all the suffering in this world and tried to solve it in the only way I knew how. So taking out my keys and taking a final sip of tea I gave him a nod of affirmation, of understanding.

“Are you sure?” I asked seriously making sure that this wasn’t some playboy whim.

He just sent me a quick nod.

“When do I start?”

Notes

"You're offering me a job?"

So this has been too long in coming and for that I am sorry I've been so blocked but thank this to Harry's single and the fact that he says y'all in the SNL skit that is on repeat on my computer (the southern part of me is absolutely dead)

Once I'm through finals the next chapter should go up (or sooner if I can get it written during study breaks) but it's almost summer y'all!

What are y'all's favourite summer memories?