The Reinvention of Harry Styles

“So, what exactly is Harry doing?” Gemma asked as she put the finishing touches on Molly’s makeup.

“I’m not sure, and the suspense is killing me!” Molly took a deep breath. “He said he wanted to do something nice for me before his tour starts, and said he wished we could do normal things like going out to dinner. Then he asked me to leave, and not return until 8 tonight.” Molly gave her a questioning smile, and Gemma raised her eyebrows.

“Sounds like he’s up to something,” she said, and turned Molly so she could see herself in the mirror.

“This looks beautiful,” Molly touched her hair and blinked a few times to check out her lids. “And I hope he’s up to something, and he didn’t just want to get rid of me for the evening.”

They both laughed, and Gemma jumped when she saw the time. “Christ, it’s almost 8, we’ve got to get you back home.”

“Worried Cinderella will turn back into a pumpkin?” Molly teased and spun in front of the mirror to admire the way this dress fit her.

“Technically Cinderella was never a pumpkin to begin with. But, no, I just know how anxious Harry gets and I don’t want to leave him waiting.” Gemma explained, and ushered Molly away from the mirror and towards her car. As they drove to Harry’s, Gemma recounted all the cute things she remembered Harry doing for a girl when he was younger, and wondered what he could be up to now.

When they arrived, Molly thanked Gemma for helping her get ready, and promised to fill her in on whatever it was. Molly was met at the door by what appeared to be a waitress, dressed impeccably for the part.

“Miss Winthrope, let me show you to your table,” she said, and Molly followed her. The house had some extra candles, which was a nice touch, but the dining room was lit only by candlelight. The dining room table was covered with an elegant white tablecloth, and Harry was seated at the head of the table, fighting back a grin.

“You look beautiful,” he smiled at Molly as she was seated on his left at the table.

“You look quite stunning yourself,” she smiled back at him and looked over the black suit he was wearing. “Did you wear this to the ‘Dunkirk’ premiere?”

“I did,” Harry smiled to himself before continuing. “It was at that premiere, when I saw you in this dress, that I knew it would be difficult to continue pretending you were my girlfriend.”

“Oh?” Molly wasn’t quite sure what he meant by this.

“It was like that line in ‘Two Ghosts’, ‘I can’t touch what I see’, you were almost like the forbidden fruit.” Harry explained.

“Using your own lyrics in conversation? I thought that was my job,” Molly smirked. “And, I kind of had a feeling that was the case, considering how jealous you seemed of Tom the next day.”

“Was it that obvious?” Harry laughed and blushed a bit.

“It was,” Molly nodded, and decided this was a good time to change the subject. “This is quite formal.” The table was set with some of the nicest china Molly had seen and polished silver.

“I told you I wanted to do something special for you,” Harry smiled again. “We couldn’t go out to a restaurant to eat, so I brought the restaurant here.”

A waitress brought a bottle of wine for them and filled both of their glasses, and a moment later returned with their food. “Norwegian salmon, with roasted brussels sprouts and butternut squash risotto,” she explained, before leaving the two on their own again.

“You like brussels sprouts, right?” Harry nervously asked Molly.

“I didn’t, until you introduced them to me,” she smiled, and took a bite. “Absolutely delicious, thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Harry smiled again; he seemed unable to stop smiling tonight. “Though I think you have our wonderful chef to thank for that.”

“How exactly did you arrange all of this on short notice?” Molly asked as their plates were cleared away.

Harry shrugged and gave her a sly smile. “I made a few calls.”

Dessert was brought out on a small covered try, and Molly giggled when the waitress removed the cover to reveal cupcakes, with pink and green frosting. “Harry, you are so sentimental,” she laughed.

“It seemed fitting, and I know how much you like cupcakes,” he answered.

“I got you something,” Harry reached for a bag under his chair and slid it over to Molly as she finished up her cupcake.

“You didn’t have to,” she protested, but he insisted.

“It’s not much, I just wanted you to have it.”

“Okay…” Molly’s curiosity was piqued, and she opened the small gift bag. “Is there actually something in here, or is it just tissue paper?” She laughed as she pawed through the paper.

“It’s in there, it might be at the bottom.” Harry bit his lip and watched, wondering if he had forgotten to put the gift in the bag.

“I think I found it.” Molly pulled a bundle of tissue paper out and unwrapped it slowly. Out from the tissue paper popped a ring, identical - except in size - to the rose ring Harry wears on his right ring finger. “Oh!” Molly looked up at him with wide eyes. Her head spun with all the possibilities Harry might have for giving her a ring (well, mainly one possibility) and she didn’t know what to say. “Harry that’s-”

“Just a ring,” he reassured her and tried to smile calmly. “I didn’t want you to get the wrong impression, so I took it out of the black jewelry box it came in and stuck it in a gift bag.”

“Sorry, I guess I’ve read too much fan-fiction, I don’t know what I was thinking,” she laughed and nervously shook her head.

“Let’s see if it fits.” Harry picked up the ring, and with the other hand held Molly’s right hand, and slid the ring onto her ring finger. “There, now we match.” He smiled.

Molly held up her hand to admire it. “Thank you, I’ve always liked that ring.”

“I know, that’s why I got you one of your own. Now, I’ll always be with you, even when we’re apart.”

“That’s so cute, and mushy, and very sweet of you,” she smiled, and surprised herself by feeling a few tears forming in her eyes, which she quickly blinked away so they wouldn’t ruin Gemma’s excellent make-up job. “I wish I’d known you were getting me a gift, so I could get you something in return.”

Harry smiled and shook his head. “It’s not necessary. You’ve already given me so much. You helped me turn my image around, and maybe saved my career.”

“I wouldn’t go so far as to say I saved it, since I don’t think it was a failure by any means,” Molly corrected.

“Don’t be modest, yes you did; I’m the one who fucked it up in the first place,” Harry responded with a wry smile.

“Don’t be ‘Modest!’? Uh oh, you’ve caught me,” Molly joked and returned Harry’s smile. “But really, I think we both know you’re not entirely at fault here, since you’re not necessarily making the final decisions on every aspect of your career. That’s what you have a team of people for - to make the decisions you don’t really have time for, or for things you don’t know as much about. You’ve made some changes to that team, and we’re seeming positive results.”

“I’m not sure I would have made those changes had it not been for you, though,” Harry rebutted.

“We can’t know that for sure,” Molly shrugged, “but I know you’re capable of fixing stuff without me. Like your stylist for example - you found Rupert all on your own, right?”

Harry nodded. “Yeah, but I’m not sure I would have gone through with it without you by my side.”

Molly shook her head. “That’s sweet of you to say, but this ‘new’ confidence of yours has always been right here:” She reached across the table and vaguely tapped his chest approximately where his heart was located.

“I guess, though I do have an important question for you.” Harry took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a second.

“Usually you ask the important question before giving the girl the ring,” Molly joked and nervously laughed.

“It’s work related, actually,” he half smiled before returning to a more serious countenance. “Should I fire Jeff.” Harry leaned forward and rested his chin on his hands, with his hands together almost as if he were praying.

It wasn’t even a question, and that made Molly think Harry had already made up his mind. She thought for a minute, wondering if he just wanted to see if she agreed with him, or if he wanted her to talk him out of this. Finally, she sighed and shook her head. “No. I think that would be worse for you right now. He’s made some mistakes, but so have you and many other members of your team. If you took some time off to rebrand and reinvent yourself, that would be the time to find a new manager. I know you two are close, but like you, he’s still figuring things out. He’s been open to suggestions for changes and I think he has seen where things went wrong.”

Harry raised his eyebrows and nodded slightly, but otherwise didn’t move. “So, give him a second chance.”

“Give him a chance. Let him turn this around, let him fix your image, let him make you into the superstar we all know you can be.” Molly paused, and with that Harry finally looked up. “Yes, I believe in you, and I know you can be a proper star, but it’s going to take work. No more buying positive reviews, no more PR stunts, no more relying on your dwindling fans to keep your name afloat. You’re going to have to do promo: lots of interviews (and not just with James Corden and Nick Grimshaw). You need to work on your voice so you don’t burn out after a few weeks of tour, and please practice your guitar more! I know you can play, but I think if you were a little more confident, it would come across as more natural on stage. And most importantly, you need to dig a little deeper for your next album - no more playing it safe. You’re young, it’s okay to make mistakes, as long as you learn from them.”

Harry was deep in thought, and for a moment Molly thought she might have offended him, and bit her lips anxiously as she awaited his reply. “Sounds like you should be my next manager,” he halfheartedly joked and gave her a smile.

“God no, I don’t want to be responsible for all of that!” She laughed. “It’s one thing to have suggestions, but I wouldn’t know the first thing about implementing them.”

“You’ll just be my behind-the-scenes manager, my manager/girlfriend.” Harry suggested.

“Manager/girlfriend, I like the sound of that.” Molly smiled.

Notes

I’ve been busy the past few days for the first time in like, months!
I saw Thor Ragnarok on Friday, and it was fantastic! Perfect use of the Immigrant Song by Led Zeppelin (one of my favorite Zeppelin songs!)

This chapter feels short, but this seemed like a good place to end it before jumping into the next thing.

Thank you for reading, commenting, and voting! : )