Harry’s POV

Minor victory but I have finally found a way to make visiting Jess at the café a bit more interesting for me. At the start, I would just sit there and look around like an idiot because I don’t know what else to do aside from sip my tea. Seriously though, a guy can only tweet and instagram so much until he gets a bit overloaded with social media.

So I started bringing my journal with me. That brown leather bound diary I that I bring with me pretty much everywhere when I’m on tour. It’s probably one of my most prized possessions, and I never let people see what I’m writing. I guess in a sense I’m a lot like a 13 year-old schoolgirl, am I? But writing is fun especially on there. It’s the place where I could really speak my mind without the fear of getting judged. Sometimes the lads tease me about what’s written on it, but they respect the fact that it’s a personal item for me.

My “routine checks” (and I know I sound just like a doctor) at the café is now much more interesting because of my journal. A cup of tea and time alone with my thoughts. That’s pretty much something I look forward to now.

Except sometimes it’s just so awkward with Jess there. I mean, I can’t exactly go there when she’s not working, right? And when I’m there, I just don’t know how to act. I think I’m just being friendly at the moment, but I know sooner or later the plan must go into action. We already know what’s going to happen, yet the actual part of making it happen is just so damn awkward.

We make eye contact and smile a lot, but that’s pretty much it. I try and linger around the counter to talk to her, but I just don’t know what to say. I guess that’s a huge improvement from how we were at the start. Well, rather, how I was towards her.

“What are you doing, Harry?” Liam asked as he made his way to where I was sitting.

“Nothing, I’m just resting really. What’s up, man?”

“I just finished recording. I might head off and sleep. What are you still doing here?”

The truth was, was that I didn’t know. I spent the last half hour just sitting here and thinking about the whole girlfriend thing. Sven was sending me texts and emails frequently with messages like “Harry don’t forget, time is gold” or “Take your sweet time in asking her out but just don’t forget about the plan!”. As if I could ever forget the plan. He was getting impatient, and I was quite worried that if he takes the matters into his own hands, then I was going to have to do something worse than this.

“Do you wanna go do something?” I asked Liam. The rest of the lads weren’t around because we recorded individually at times and so today’s session was just for Liam and I.

“Yeah,” he said, “what thought?”

“Umm. . . maybe we could get coffee or food or something? I know this really great place,” I suggested.

“Harry,” Liam said as he leaned in closer to me and looked me straight in the eye, “are you asking me out on a date?”

“Yes, Liam, it’s true, I am hopelessly in love with you,” I laughed, “hey that kinda rhymes!”

“So poetic, Haz! Of course I’ll go out with you because I am hopelessly in love too.”

We laughed at our own silliness for a while before gathering our stuff and getting ready to leave. We decided to take my car instead since I knew where we were going more than him.

My brilliant plan is to take Liam to where Jess works and see if he can be my wingman. However, I thought I should tell him when we got there instead of now just in case he thinks it’s a bad idea.

“Umm, I don’t even know where we’re going. Where are you taking me?” Liam asked, confused as to where we were headed.

“It’s just this nice café that I’ve been going to.”

“We’re driving all the way to the other side of town for coffee and food?”

“Yeah, why not?” I avoided looking at him and instead focused my eyes on the road.

“You must really like me that much if you wanna spend more time with me in the car,” he chuckled.

We finally pull up to the café’s parking lot. The trip was not as long as I had anticipated because there was no traffic. I was hoping that there would be cars everywhere so that I could put off this moment longer.

“The place looks nice,” Liam said as he started unbuckling his seatbelt.

“Hey Liam before we go, there’s something I need to tell you. . .”

“I knew it! You are in love with me!” he joked. He must have seen the seriousness on my face because his expression soon turned into concern, “What’s up, man?”
“So I actually took you here for a reason.”

He urged me to continue talking.

“She’s inside there working and I think I need your help.”

A look of confusion was painted on his face. “Who? Who works there? And help with what?”

Then it all became clear to him. He couldn’t hide the surprised look on his face as he realised where I was going with this. “You mean her her? Like the one Sven hired?”

“Yeah,” I replied, “I’ve been coming in to see her lately and it’s just so awkward. I don’t know what to do.”

“So you brought me here to be your wingman as you make a move on your future fake girlfriend even though you already know that you’ll end up together anyway?”

The way he worded it made me dragging him here seem like such a silly thing to do. He’s right, of course. What am I acting all awkward for? It’s not like I’m going to ask her out for real. I mean I am, but it’s not because I like her. It’s because it’s our job. I don’t even know why I’m freaking out or scared about being rejected.

“You know what Li, you’re right,” I said as I started putting my seat belt back on, “this was a stupid idea. Let’s just go.”

Just as I was about to start the car, Liam interrupted me. “Well we’re already here. We didn’t just drive all the way here so that you can back out, Styles. Besides, I want to see who the lucky lady is.”

And with that, it has been decided. I was sure that this was a stupid idea and now I can’t even back out from it anymore. As we walked across the parking lot, we were stopped by a few fans who wanted photos and some autographs. Some of them also wanted to chat so we stayed out quite a bit before we headed inside.

Once in, I noticed that the café was semi-packed. There were 3 staff members in the counter and I spotted Jess behind the coffee machine making someone’s order.

“Which one is she?” Liam whispered in my ear.

We were lining up in the queue and from the corner of my eye, I could see Emma, the other girl that works there, notice that Liam and I were around.

“That one there, by the espresso machine,” I tried to discreetly nod to Liam.

“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah, her name’s Jess.”

“She’s okay looking? I mean, you’re right she’s not your type at all. She seems lovely though, Haz.”

“Mmm.”

Finally it was our turn to get served.

“Hey guys,” Emma greeted brightly, “fancy seeing you here.”

“Harry just loves this place so much,” Liam replied and I glared at him.

Emma laughed as if Liam said the funniest joke ever and took our orders. We decided to order some food since we were really hungry from recording. Liam made me pay for his meal as he joked that technically, I was the one who asked him out so it was my treat.

Jess didn’t really say anything to us, just smiled shyly as she mostly looked down at what she was doing. Liam and I found a table that was quiet enough for us to talk but still gave us a good view of where Jess was standing.

“So what now, Harry? How are we gonna do this?”

“We,” I explained, “are not going to do anything.”

“God Harry, you’re so lame. What happened to the confidence, man?”

“I’m only confident when I actually am interested in someone. You and I both know this is more of a business arrangement.”

“Then why are you freaking out?”

“I’m not.”

“Why did you take me here then?”

“God you’re annoying. Why did I take you here?”

“Because you wanted a wingman as you ask her out.”

Before I even knew it, Liam was dragging me to the counter to where Jess and her coworkers were standing. He moved to the counter in Jess’s left side and positioned me so that I was standing beside him.

Her workmates looked at us before she did, and when she finally noticed that we were lingering around, the expression on her face was unreadable. I took the time to actually stare at her for a good bit. She had her hair up and wore a really dark shade of purple on her lips. She had her typical look that she always sports when I’m here. All black outfit, hair up. No wonder I thought she was quite. . . boring.

“Jess, right?” Liam said, addressing her.

“Hey, yeah. How can I help?” she spoke with an accent I couldn’t really recognise. It sounded American, but with a slight mixture of something else.

“I’m Liam,” he said as he shook her hand, “you’ve met my friend Harry here, right?”

“Yeah, nice to meet you Liam.”

“You too, Jess,” he said, “so Harry here has been hanging out at your café a lot and he tells me how much he loves it here.”

“Aww thanks,” she replied, “maybe you could put a customer feedback and send it to our boss.”

So this girl was witty and quite sassy. I was really surprised by that. I’ve written her off as this shy and reserved girl already but maybe I’m completely wrong. Feeling my confidence come back, I decided to get it over and done with.

“So Jess, do you wanna hang out sometime?”

I heard Liam make a teasing sound, and then I heard a few gasps and “oh my gods” from her coworkers. I regained more of my confidence as I observed their reactions.

“How about a movie and dinner tomorrow night? What do you think, Jess?”

Notes

I can't believe this has 10 chapters already! I've never written a story before so thanks for reading this and for supporting! Hope you like Jess's blog so far. As always, got a few surprises for you in the coming chapters (I may have found the perfect song for this story) so keep the reviews coming! Much love x