♬ ✥*

Harry.

"The lift's back up and running," I stated as it suddenly moved, beginning to descend again. The look on Serenity's face was pure relief as she looked around frantically when the lights came on and a voice spoke through the speakers. It was Carl questioning if I was alright, and I replied to him with assurance.

My focus turned back to the girl right next to my side, with my brow quirked upwards. "You sure you didn't have anything to do with that?"

Striking blue eyes met mine, her mouth opened in shock, clearly appalled by my comment. Just before she replied, her sapphire gems narrowed slightly, and her lips pursed tightly together. "I'm no magician, you know."

There was nothing else that I could reply to what she said. I knew she wasn't at fault with that, but it was only a mere coincidence.

Slowly, I stood and helped her up with me, not letting go. Our hands held onto one another for the remaining of our short journey. I didn't let go of her until she felt comfortable to — and that was just as we reached the main floor. I felt a sense of relief, however, there was also something else that I couldn't quite figure out. For a moment, confusion rolled through my thoughts, but I carelessly threw it to the back of my mind.

Quickly, I grabbed my briefcase and slipped her folder inside just before the doors opened. The two of us stepped out and walked to the main door together. The employees at the front desk, along with security, all showed a small smile as I made my way through the lobby; in return, I gave them a simple nod. I wasn't chatty or the person who liked to wave. Direct and firm was how I was — and how I've been for the past few years.

That is who I am now — and that is how I will remain.

Serenity stopped in her tracks as she turned towards me, her head tilted in curiosity, "So, um, what's the next step?"

"For the investment?" I questioned to clarify and she nodded. "Well, obviously there are contracts that need to be signed. Meetings need to be set up and eventually progress reports sent in, so that the cashflow will be sent back. This isn't a product, so I obviously won't ask for a royalty. It's not predicted how long it'll take to reverse the losses from the crash. Everything will be talked about more in depth during our initial meeting. Of course, I also need to take a proper look at the details in your proposal."

"Okay," she replied with a small nod, chewing on her lower lip in continued anxiety.

"Don't worry, Serenity. I'm not backing out just because the lift started working again." I let out a soft chuckle — another foreign one. What the fuck is wrong with me? Carry on, Styles. "The way you pitched, even in the most unusual circumstance, you nailed it."

She thanked me, but I could still see her fingers fidgeting together, almost nervous to say something. "I have a question, though."

"What's that?"

"Since this is the first time you're investing in something like this, don't you need to know more about it?"

"About what?" My brows furrowed in confusion. There was something about the way her words came together that was quite peculiar and I needed help to understand them. Not once have I asked this many questions to know what someone is referring to.

"Dance," she replied with a small smile.

A smile. How pathetic.

"What's there to know?"

"You really have a tendency to offend someone quite quickly, you know." A laugh escaped her lips. "Dance is complex. It's both a sport and an art. Not everyone can do it — or certain types of it, that is. It's basically like me saying what's so hard about running this company? It's not my expertise, which is why I need you. I mean sure, I can learn how to tie the ropes, but what's to say they won't loosen?"

"Are you indirectly, directly, saying that I have to know how to dance? Or at least, have some knowledge about it?"

My words caused a grin to further tug on her lips. "Can you dance?"

"That's a bit of a personal question, don't you think?" I questioned and she raised a brow. "Alright fine, I've got two left feet."

"Okay then." She smirked.

A smirk. Why would she smirk?

"What's that look for?"

"Nothing." She bit the corner of her lip mischievously. I could see something twinkling in her eyes, disappearing every time she blinked. Whatever was on her mind, she surely wasn't planning on revealing it anytime soon. "When should we meet then?"

"I'll get Iris to get in contact with you. I'm travelling to London for five days next week, so I'd prefer to meet with you before then."

"Sounds good. Well, until next time, Harry," she said with another smile, and her words only made me purse my lips in irritation.

"Who said you could use my first name?"

"You do first names with certain deals. Since we've established that, I believe I have the right to call you, Harry — or am I mistaken?" She answered my question with common sense and I silently applauded her for that. She was a clever girl, even though, many might not believe her based on a first glance.

Never judge a book by its cover.

That was something someone I knew very close to me would say.

I nodded my head, impressed, "Touché."

"I look forward to seeing you soon, Harry."

"Likewise, Serenity."

"Oh, and please have my name removed at security. I think it'll be a hassle if I have to enter using a fake ID every time." A grin was wide on her face — it was one that looked good on her.

Our conversation ended there, watching as she was the one who turned away, walking away from me. She informed me of a simple command, expecting me to act upon it, then left.

Again, that was something no one else dared to do. Of course, with a reason for her to come to the office, and dealing with me directly, I was forced to fix that small issue that I had demanded. I knew that Marcus would be confused by my decision change, but he needed no explanation.

My word was final and it was never questioned.

"Thank you, Archie," I said as he opened the rear door of my vehicle that I'd approached to. The second the main floor button was pressed from my personal lift, they knew I was leaving the building. The car was always brought directly to the front, awaiting my arrival — almost as if it had no other purpose.

In a way, it was a perk of owning the company — being able to easily controlling my workers in whichever way I pleased. However, I never once used them as slaves or degraded their position. The person who worked in the mail room, or any of the cleaners, they all needed money for a reason; and whether that was to feed their children, families, themselves, helping support someone else, I respected that. When someone needs something and they go their way to get to it, and for whatever reason, that showed me determination — even if they, themselves, were ashamed of their job.

Once I entered the vehicle, my driver shut it, quickly running around to his seat. As for Archie, his reason for hire was to take me wherever I needed to go. I'd established a decent relationship over the past couple of years. He'd lost his wife recently, with two grown boys, and many moons passed since he'd seen both of their faces. They left for university and never looked back, apparently blaming him for their mother's death. It was cruel to see such a behaviour.

I hired a PI to find out the exact reason they decided to do such a thing, but there wasn't one — the two just had cold hearts with no emotions. The irony was that both were married, neither having a relationship with one another. Seeing their father's sad face every day, it brought one of the only emotions I carried within me — sadness. I treated him with the utmost respect he deserved, knowing how truly great the man was; and in return, he treated me like how he would with one of his own.

There was one other thing that all of my employees respected about me, and it was that I knew every single person who worked in my company by name — and by face. Whether it was someone who worked slightly below my position or even an intern, I was aware of everything that happened in my company.

I liked to keep it that way.

The moment that Archie left the curb and merged into traffic, my conscious mind forced me to pull out my phone to check my schedule. All of my meetings and the client lunch that I had were pushed back. Being stuck in the lift for well over three hours, took up most of my energy for the day.

Something like that had never happened before. Everything about the few hours felt like a blur — a crystal clear blur.

It was strange.

Meeting with Serenity, was the most unprofessional and unconventional deals that I'd ever done in my life. I didn't lie to her when I said that.

Serenity.

She was also the most infuriating woman I'd ever met in my entire life. I'd met with hundreds of clients, investors, lawyers, and the obvious general public; but she was the only person that turned my sour mood into rage.

Countless times, I'd yelled at my employees, but not once to someone I'd never met before.

Hell, I even insulted her name.

That was a dick move, Harry. No fucking doubt about that.

Nonetheless, she didn't snap back at me, nor did she react with physical anger. She did, however, talk back at me — and that was something no one had ever done before.

They all knew better than to ever do that.

In the past, I wasn't this way. Things changed over the past few years, and luckily, Mateo didn't mind. The company was running more successful than I had ever planned. My decisions were smart, precise, and I never trusted someone based on just giving me their 'word'. That meant absolutely nothing in the business world. It was always a term clients loved to use to either gain extra time on signing a contract or would use it to find information through other sources.

I'd fired several employees because they were transferring information to other competitors that Urban Corp. has; and at times, funds were included. Most of them that worked here were incredibly loyal and loved their job. They also loved me as a CEO and the main boss. I was fair, even though I wasn't entirely the nicest.

However, I did come across as a narcissist and a conceited person, even though I wasn't. Some people knew that, and that was okay.

It was a problem that I had and I admitted it — but only to myself.

No one else needed to know that.

Serenity, though, that woman is incredibly breathtaking. My heart nearly went into cardiac arrest the moment I saw her.

Surely that's an exaggeration, but it's still a close second.

A daze hit me with her vivacious and passionate qualities. Perseverance carried through her bloods, moving parallel to oxygen cells. Slender, slightly curved, and beautifully toned muscles were hidden under the fashionable outfit that adorned her body. Hair appearing like it was made of the most luxurious dark chocolate and eyebrows matching with perfect definition. Luscious garnet lips, a pair of heavenly and dangerous wings. Dazzling sapphire eyes that sparkled, hidden this time behind framed glasses — a dash of determination beneath them. She held elegance, grace, and poise.

Those were the words that typically described a ballerina; but from what I could tell, she was no ordinary ballerina.

The way her feet stepped atop the floors, told a story that could only be spoken if they were followed. The way her body moved, proved that was where that novel began. The way her personality shined with a simple smile, gave a peek to what more she had to say. She was a mystery waiting to be solved, but still somehow appeared to be an open book.

She was a well-known, professional, and accredited dancer; all I had to do was simply Google her name, and it would give me everything I needed to know about her. Her social media accounts, whether or not they were public, it still helped me define who she was — or at least, to an extent.

Nonetheless, with all of that information that could easily be at my fingertips, it all led down to one small thing — one that I knew very well.

I was the mystery between the two of us.

A draft grazed against my entire body, raising goosebumps on my skin. I peered down at my hands, lifting the cuff of my shirt to see them on my wrist. My focus moved towards the dashboard, noticing that the air was turned off in the vehicle. My lips pressed tightly together and pushed my brows together, trying to understand how I felt a sudden cool breeze when there was none to begin with.

Disregarding that feeling, I shook my head, and continued to let my thoughts roll through.

The difference with Serenity was that I've never found any woman to give me any sort of sensation — especially not brunettes. It wasn't that they weren't attractive, but only not my type. Every girl I've ever dated was either a blonde or had ginger hair — at least, the limited few there were in my life.

It's probably why I acted even more than just an arsehole to her.

That, and she basically snuck into my office and scared the living shit out of me the first time. As for the second time, I honestly thought I'd died, and that she indeed was a ghost. My words were not a fucking joke.

I don't joke — nor do I know sarcasm.

I hate it — both of them.

"Mr Styles?" My driver's voice broke me out of my thoughts — thoughts that I didn't even want in the first place.

Since my afternoon schedule unexpectedly changed, Iris sent my drive a new address that I needed to be at. A separate email was sent to me as a reminder for a black-tie event I had to attend while in London. I needed to do a fitting for a suit, so she moved things around, filling the spot to do so, at this moment in time — in my "free" time.

Though, as a CEO, there was no such thing as free time. It didn't exist.

Time for a relationship didn't exist.

My work was my life — and that was it.

"Yes, Archie."

"We're here," he replied, and I could tell that he'd been calling my name for a while.

Shit. I'm in way over my head. Why the fuck did I agree to invest in a business like hers?

It's an excellent opportunity.

Yeah right, you curious fuck.

"Right." I nodded once. "Thank you."

♬ ✥*

The appointment went quick and easy, as I explained to them exactly what I wanted, and they immediately understood. Doing that, preoccupied my mind — but only for a short while.

Getting into the car, Archie took us straight back to the company; and during that time, I began to flip through Serenity's business proposal.

It was fucking immaculate — there was no doubt about that. I'd come across several proposals from various prestigious and well-known companies that were written like shit, but this was incredible. All of the details were in it. The past and present revenue. The location and area it was, with research precise research on all of the similar companies within the city and a 50km range. Names of every instructor that she had were acknowledged. There were many letters of recommendation by different elite professionals in the province — and from where she studied in Alberta.

This proposal didn't just describe her business, but it described Serenity — and who she was as a person. These papers were the book that I'd thought about earlier — they were the pages behind the cover.

As the pages were what described her, the cover was her.

It was one indefinite circle.

The issue was, there were so many different things that were filled within that shape. Each of them an angle of something. Just as there was a colour wheel, there was a Serenity wheel. Several slivers that I couldn't understand — at least, not yet.

There was colour within her. It showed the last time when snuck in wearing an outfit that I couldn't recall, but it definitely had several hues. In the elevator, there were neutrals, even though she wore black trousers. At least, it was more than I ever wore.

Blacks, greys, and whites. That's all I knew in my life.

Colour didn't exist in my world because they didn't need to. At times, I thought that it was me who refused to let it in, but that wasn't the case.

There simply was no need for it.

There was no need for anything besides work. Even though the load only added on every single day — and now, Serenity's investment was personal. I agreed that I would help her and no one else. Rarely have I ever done that. Usually, I'd send it down to the top investors in my company, but not with her.

The words had already come out of my mouth before I could genuinely process them — and I wasn't sure if that was a mistake.

I didn't believe in 'words' when it came to contracts or deals, but with her, my personal risk to invest couldn't be any more signed. It was a contract that was indestructible — one that was built with graphene, diamonds, and spider's silk.

But Serenity didn't need to know that.

It was something that I wanted to keep to myself. I needed her to continue believing that I could pull out at any moment in time — even if the deal had already been signed. I knew that she wouldn't be able to hire a lawyer to win against mine. She said so herself that I was her last hope and chance to be able to help her studio triumph further into the future.

There was only one more thing stood out most during our unconventional meeting: she was severely claustrophobic.

It was clear something happened in her life that caused her to be the way she was. Anyone could have a phobia of something, but her reaction was grievous.

I wasn't sure what came over me when she had the panic attack. All I felt was that I needed to help her and quick — so I did. I knew exactly what to do, what to say, and how to assure her that she'd be okay.

It was years since then, but it came back to me like it happened yesterday, forcing me to tap back into my past.

As for my past, I fucking hated it.

...

A/N:

Surprise! A whole Harry chapter. Ayeee.

How'd you like it? (Or did you like it?) Especially now that you know a tiny bit more about him as a person.

But then, there's his past...what do you think happened in it?

And what are your opinions and thoughts about the chapter? Anything changed about the characters yet? Specifically Harry?

Please press on that little star on the chapter, I mean, it only takes a millisecond. They're nice gifts.

Kissy, stay golden, and TPWK!

S x