The Cafe Girl
Officially yours
Jess’s POV
I finally found Sven’s office after about half an hour of walking around. The building was situated in one of London’s posh locations. It was ultra-modern, and the dark grey of the buildings exteriors looked clean against the large windows it had. I walked past it twice before I realised that that’s where I was meant to be going. There was a very discreet sign that says “Johnson and Associates Management” to indicate that it was indeed where Sven worked.
Inside I was greeted by a lithe blonde girl with blue eyes. She was wearing a white mini dress and her hair was loosely curled and fell perfectly down her shoulders. I noticed that the people around me looked quite identical to her. Attractive, well dressed, and groomed to perfection.
I suddenly felt self-conscious as I approached her. I’d like to think I have my own style and that I felt comfortable in my own skin, but there was something about being in an unknown territory full of beautiful people that made me uneasy. Suddenly I was all too aware that I was at least twice the size of these people, that my black dress and cardi combo was too plain and uninspired, and that everything about me was just wrong for this place. I became so unsure of myself that I contemplated on turning around and running far far away from this place. Before I even had the chance to, blonde hair and blue eyes approached me.
“Hi, how can I help?” she asked.
“Umm, I’m here to see Sven?”
She tried to discretely look me up and down before she turned to the screen in front of her. “Do you have an appointment?”
“Well I’m not sure. He just told me to come in at this time.”
“Fine,” she sighed, “I’ll let his secretary know. Take a seat.”
Before I could even sit down, I felt a hand tap my shoulder. It was Sven. I didn’t think it was possible, but he somehow managed to loom more intimidating in this environment.
“Glad you could make it, Jess.” he said as he shook my hand.
“She doesn’t have an appointment, sir, I wasn’t sure what to do.” The receptionist interjected.
“It’s fine. Let her up straight away whenever she’s here,” he said as he motioned us to go to the elevator, “And Sarskia? Jess is a VIP here. I trust you’ll treat her accordingly.”
Sarskia looked at me and then at Sven, confusion evident in her face. Obviously she didn’t understand why I was so important, and frankly I didn’t either at that point.
Sven and I exchanged pleasantries on the elevator ride up. He was surprisingly really friendly, chatty even. He ushered me in to his office on the 10th floor and led me straight to the couch in his office.
It was evident that Sven was the boss around here not just because of how large his office was, but because of the way the staff acted around him. From where I was sitting, I could see a beautiful view of London through his big glass windows.
“Would you like some coffee? Tea? Juice?” a voice interrupted my thoughts. I looked up to see who it belonged too and was momentarily confused. The girl looked like Sarskia from reception, but this one was in black slacks and an identical jacket and her hair was in a sleek ponytail. She looked eerily familiar.
“Umm, maybe a coffee please.”
“I’ll have one too, Alice, if you don’t mind.” Sven said.
“Of course. Won’t be long,” she smiled as she closed the door behind her. Unlike Sarksia, this Alice girl has made me feel a bit more welcome in this place.
“If you can’t already tell, I cut straight to the chase,” Sven started, “so I’m assuming you being here is a yes?”
Actually, I had no idea I was there. I was curious more than anything, but sitting there in Sven’s office made everything real. And a lot more confusing.
“I’m not exactly sure why I’m here. I think I still don’t quite understand what you want from me?”
“Okay, so basically I want you to be Harry Styles’ girlfriend.”
“Harry Styles?” I asked stupidly.
“Do you know who Harry is? He’s from a band called –“
“Of course I know who Harry is. Like hello have I been living under a rock?”
“Right, right. So I want you to be Harry’s girlfriend. Do you accept?”
“Did he say that he wanted me to be his girlfriend?” I blurted out, my head rushing with thoughts. Harry Styles wanted me to be his girlfriend! I mean, I haven’t met the guy before but wow how the hell did he find me? I have a blog, but I wouldn’t call myself a famous blogger. I was ecstatic, flattered, and extremely giddy at the thought of that but before I could bask in my own self-flattery, Sven called me out.
“No, don’t be silly. Harry doesn’t even know you yet.”
Ouch. Okay that shit hurt man. I know I’m a nobody but did he have to be so blunt and cruel about it? “Okay then. . . so?”
“I want you to pretend to be Harry’s girlfriend.”
Oh.
“Pretend? Why would I do that? Does Harry want me to do that?”
“Again, Harry doesn’t want you to do anything. He has no choice though. The reason I’m doing this, is because Harry needs an image overhaul. Have you seen what’s being written about him in the papers lately?”
Before I could even answer, Sven continued on. “The gay rumors won’t stop and it’s affecting Louis and the band’s credentials. And then if he’s not gay, then he’s this big manwhore that fucks anything with a skirt. Either way it’s affecting the band. The fans are upset and divided!”
He seemed to be genuinely concerned about the situation. I watched as he turned his back on me and faced his window while Alice quietly placed a cup of coffee on his table, “It’s giving the band a bad reputation. It’s affecting their brand and if it doesn’t get fixed soon, I see a potentially even bigger mess in the future.”
“But why me?” I asked, curious as to why in the world did Sven think I was the chosen one to be the girlfriend.
“I’ve observed you in that coffee shop for a while now trying to place where I’ve seen you before. And then it hit me, I’ve read your blog.”
I was still confused as to how he’s found my blog. Sensing this, he continued on, “I had my secretary Alice research different bloggers in the UK for this. I wanted someone unknown but someone with a credible blog. An ordinary plain-jane that would be relateable to the fans. Then I stumbled into your coffee shop one random afternoon and I was surprised. I observed you for a while although I doubt that you remember that.”
I was taking it all in slowly. “But why me? You could have picked any blogger out there, girls who are way prettier than me, who ran more popular blogs than me. Why did you pick me? Especially if I was an average plain-jane?”
“I didn’t mean calling you a plain-jane to be insulting, Jess,” he apologised,”But I knew you were the one because of the way you carried yourself. There was something about you that was confident, and you weren’t afraid of being yourself even in such a work environment. You were joking around with people, you smiled, you’re real.”
“So just like that, you chose me?”
“Oh no. I made sure you were the real deal by having Alice observe you for a few weeks.”
Then it all clicked. That’s why Alice looked so familiar! She’s the low-fat caramel latte lady! She was a regular at The Coffee Drum and I’ve served her quite a lot. She would always sit in the corner facing the counter furiously typing in her iPad all the time. She was always friendly and would engage in small chitchat in between the order.
“She went to the café purely to spy on me?”
“I would hardly call it spying,” he chuckled, “She would sit there and take notes, sometimes look at your blog and see what you’ve been up to.”
If the situation wasn’t so fucked up, I would have laughed. “I still don’t get why you want me? Or why even look at bloggers?”
“You underestimate the power of blogging. Social media has a lot to do with the boy’s brand and image. This opportunity would not only be doing us a favour, but would get your blog popular too.”
I thought about what Sven was saying. I knew he was right. I had a look at some websites, twitter, and instagram accounts of the boys last night and they had millions of followers. I had no doubt that as Harry’s girlfriend, people would be following me too.
My mind wandered to my old life back in Hawaii. How disgusted I was of the so called friends I associated with back then, of the boys who broke my heart and crushed it into pieces, and I thought about how I vowed to one day make them all pay.
I moved to London to get away and to maybe get my revenge. I had no idea how I would do that, but I swore I was going to do it even if it was the last thing I do. Here was an opportunity of a lifetime that might just help me do all that.
“Okay, Sven. What do I have to do?”
“So you’re absolutely sure you’ll do it?” Sven asked looking like he just had the weight of the world lifted from him.
“Yes, I will. Now what?”
“I have my lawyer ready to draw up a contract because I was really hoping you’d say yes. I want to discuss the terms and conditions first, and of course the pay.”
“The pay?” I asked. I was unsure if I heard that correctly. Was I getting paid to be Harry Styles’ girlfriend?
“A Starting salary of $100k a month. More if the relationship goes for more than a year.”
I was dizzy. I was so flattered, confused, and in such a daze over all this that I hadn’t even considered that this was an actual job. AN ACTUAL JOB WITH PAY. I was silent for a while and I could see Sven was getting uncomfortable.
“Jess, depending on your performance, I’ll see if we can throw in a couple more if that’s your concern.”
“Where do I sign?”
I hope I wasn’t too eager in saying that. I didn’t want Sven to think that I only said yes purely for the money. To be honest, I don’t even know why I said yes. I know it sounds crazy, but I felt like this was finally the universe’s way of backing me up. Of karma finally allowing good things to happen to me. To finally show everyone back home that they were wrong to have treated me like shit.
Sven told me that he was going call me back once the papers were ready for me to sign. We shook hands and he ushered me out of his office while thanking me again for agreeing to do this.
It was strange that he was thanking me to do this when I felt like it should be the other way around. No Sven, thank you for paying me that much amount of money and for helping me get my blog out there. I was unsure if what I felt was excitement even, but I knew that as I rode the elevator down, I couldn’t shake the feeling that things were looking up for me big time.
I was walking out the building when I saw a slight commotion outside. There was some yelling, the sound of cameras flashing, and a few onlookers gushing.
Then I saw him
To be exact, I saw the back of him. Curly hair, skinny jeans, and a dark green shirt. He was being ushered in by who I can only assume was a body guard all while the lights flashed and the paparazzi continued to harass him with endless questions.
It hit me then that what I just said yes to was actually serious. That this man, on Sven’s terms, was about to be my boyfriend. And I have the whole world as an audience for all of it.
I finally found Sven’s office after about half an hour of walking around. The building was situated in one of London’s posh locations. It was ultra-modern, and the dark grey of the buildings exteriors looked clean against the large windows it had. I walked past it twice before I realised that that’s where I was meant to be going. There was a very discreet sign that says “Johnson and Associates Management” to indicate that it was indeed where Sven worked.
Inside I was greeted by a lithe blonde girl with blue eyes. She was wearing a white mini dress and her hair was loosely curled and fell perfectly down her shoulders. I noticed that the people around me looked quite identical to her. Attractive, well dressed, and groomed to perfection.
I suddenly felt self-conscious as I approached her. I’d like to think I have my own style and that I felt comfortable in my own skin, but there was something about being in an unknown territory full of beautiful people that made me uneasy. Suddenly I was all too aware that I was at least twice the size of these people, that my black dress and cardi combo was too plain and uninspired, and that everything about me was just wrong for this place. I became so unsure of myself that I contemplated on turning around and running far far away from this place. Before I even had the chance to, blonde hair and blue eyes approached me.
“Hi, how can I help?” she asked.
“Umm, I’m here to see Sven?”
She tried to discretely look me up and down before she turned to the screen in front of her. “Do you have an appointment?”
“Well I’m not sure. He just told me to come in at this time.”
“Fine,” she sighed, “I’ll let his secretary know. Take a seat.”
Before I could even sit down, I felt a hand tap my shoulder. It was Sven. I didn’t think it was possible, but he somehow managed to loom more intimidating in this environment.
“Glad you could make it, Jess.” he said as he shook my hand.
“She doesn’t have an appointment, sir, I wasn’t sure what to do.” The receptionist interjected.
“It’s fine. Let her up straight away whenever she’s here,” he said as he motioned us to go to the elevator, “And Sarskia? Jess is a VIP here. I trust you’ll treat her accordingly.”
Sarskia looked at me and then at Sven, confusion evident in her face. Obviously she didn’t understand why I was so important, and frankly I didn’t either at that point.
Sven and I exchanged pleasantries on the elevator ride up. He was surprisingly really friendly, chatty even. He ushered me in to his office on the 10th floor and led me straight to the couch in his office.
It was evident that Sven was the boss around here not just because of how large his office was, but because of the way the staff acted around him. From where I was sitting, I could see a beautiful view of London through his big glass windows.
“Would you like some coffee? Tea? Juice?” a voice interrupted my thoughts. I looked up to see who it belonged too and was momentarily confused. The girl looked like Sarskia from reception, but this one was in black slacks and an identical jacket and her hair was in a sleek ponytail. She looked eerily familiar.
“Umm, maybe a coffee please.”
“I’ll have one too, Alice, if you don’t mind.” Sven said.
“Of course. Won’t be long,” she smiled as she closed the door behind her. Unlike Sarksia, this Alice girl has made me feel a bit more welcome in this place.
“If you can’t already tell, I cut straight to the chase,” Sven started, “so I’m assuming you being here is a yes?”
Actually, I had no idea I was there. I was curious more than anything, but sitting there in Sven’s office made everything real. And a lot more confusing.
“I’m not exactly sure why I’m here. I think I still don’t quite understand what you want from me?”
“Okay, so basically I want you to be Harry Styles’ girlfriend.”
“Harry Styles?” I asked stupidly.
“Do you know who Harry is? He’s from a band called –“
“Of course I know who Harry is. Like hello have I been living under a rock?”
“Right, right. So I want you to be Harry’s girlfriend. Do you accept?”
“Did he say that he wanted me to be his girlfriend?” I blurted out, my head rushing with thoughts. Harry Styles wanted me to be his girlfriend! I mean, I haven’t met the guy before but wow how the hell did he find me? I have a blog, but I wouldn’t call myself a famous blogger. I was ecstatic, flattered, and extremely giddy at the thought of that but before I could bask in my own self-flattery, Sven called me out.
“No, don’t be silly. Harry doesn’t even know you yet.”
Ouch. Okay that shit hurt man. I know I’m a nobody but did he have to be so blunt and cruel about it? “Okay then. . . so?”
“I want you to pretend to be Harry’s girlfriend.”
Oh.
“Pretend? Why would I do that? Does Harry want me to do that?”
“Again, Harry doesn’t want you to do anything. He has no choice though. The reason I’m doing this, is because Harry needs an image overhaul. Have you seen what’s being written about him in the papers lately?”
Before I could even answer, Sven continued on. “The gay rumors won’t stop and it’s affecting Louis and the band’s credentials. And then if he’s not gay, then he’s this big manwhore that fucks anything with a skirt. Either way it’s affecting the band. The fans are upset and divided!”
He seemed to be genuinely concerned about the situation. I watched as he turned his back on me and faced his window while Alice quietly placed a cup of coffee on his table, “It’s giving the band a bad reputation. It’s affecting their brand and if it doesn’t get fixed soon, I see a potentially even bigger mess in the future.”
“But why me?” I asked, curious as to why in the world did Sven think I was the chosen one to be the girlfriend.
“I’ve observed you in that coffee shop for a while now trying to place where I’ve seen you before. And then it hit me, I’ve read your blog.”
I was still confused as to how he’s found my blog. Sensing this, he continued on, “I had my secretary Alice research different bloggers in the UK for this. I wanted someone unknown but someone with a credible blog. An ordinary plain-jane that would be relateable to the fans. Then I stumbled into your coffee shop one random afternoon and I was surprised. I observed you for a while although I doubt that you remember that.”
I was taking it all in slowly. “But why me? You could have picked any blogger out there, girls who are way prettier than me, who ran more popular blogs than me. Why did you pick me? Especially if I was an average plain-jane?”
“I didn’t mean calling you a plain-jane to be insulting, Jess,” he apologised,”But I knew you were the one because of the way you carried yourself. There was something about you that was confident, and you weren’t afraid of being yourself even in such a work environment. You were joking around with people, you smiled, you’re real.”
“So just like that, you chose me?”
“Oh no. I made sure you were the real deal by having Alice observe you for a few weeks.”
Then it all clicked. That’s why Alice looked so familiar! She’s the low-fat caramel latte lady! She was a regular at The Coffee Drum and I’ve served her quite a lot. She would always sit in the corner facing the counter furiously typing in her iPad all the time. She was always friendly and would engage in small chitchat in between the order.
“She went to the café purely to spy on me?”
“I would hardly call it spying,” he chuckled, “She would sit there and take notes, sometimes look at your blog and see what you’ve been up to.”
If the situation wasn’t so fucked up, I would have laughed. “I still don’t get why you want me? Or why even look at bloggers?”
“You underestimate the power of blogging. Social media has a lot to do with the boy’s brand and image. This opportunity would not only be doing us a favour, but would get your blog popular too.”
I thought about what Sven was saying. I knew he was right. I had a look at some websites, twitter, and instagram accounts of the boys last night and they had millions of followers. I had no doubt that as Harry’s girlfriend, people would be following me too.
My mind wandered to my old life back in Hawaii. How disgusted I was of the so called friends I associated with back then, of the boys who broke my heart and crushed it into pieces, and I thought about how I vowed to one day make them all pay.
I moved to London to get away and to maybe get my revenge. I had no idea how I would do that, but I swore I was going to do it even if it was the last thing I do. Here was an opportunity of a lifetime that might just help me do all that.
“Okay, Sven. What do I have to do?”
“So you’re absolutely sure you’ll do it?” Sven asked looking like he just had the weight of the world lifted from him.
“Yes, I will. Now what?”
“I have my lawyer ready to draw up a contract because I was really hoping you’d say yes. I want to discuss the terms and conditions first, and of course the pay.”
“The pay?” I asked. I was unsure if I heard that correctly. Was I getting paid to be Harry Styles’ girlfriend?
“A Starting salary of $100k a month. More if the relationship goes for more than a year.”
I was dizzy. I was so flattered, confused, and in such a daze over all this that I hadn’t even considered that this was an actual job. AN ACTUAL JOB WITH PAY. I was silent for a while and I could see Sven was getting uncomfortable.
“Jess, depending on your performance, I’ll see if we can throw in a couple more if that’s your concern.”
“Where do I sign?”
I hope I wasn’t too eager in saying that. I didn’t want Sven to think that I only said yes purely for the money. To be honest, I don’t even know why I said yes. I know it sounds crazy, but I felt like this was finally the universe’s way of backing me up. Of karma finally allowing good things to happen to me. To finally show everyone back home that they were wrong to have treated me like shit.
Sven told me that he was going call me back once the papers were ready for me to sign. We shook hands and he ushered me out of his office while thanking me again for agreeing to do this.
It was strange that he was thanking me to do this when I felt like it should be the other way around. No Sven, thank you for paying me that much amount of money and for helping me get my blog out there. I was unsure if what I felt was excitement even, but I knew that as I rode the elevator down, I couldn’t shake the feeling that things were looking up for me big time.
I was walking out the building when I saw a slight commotion outside. There was some yelling, the sound of cameras flashing, and a few onlookers gushing.
Then I saw him
To be exact, I saw the back of him. Curly hair, skinny jeans, and a dark green shirt. He was being ushered in by who I can only assume was a body guard all while the lights flashed and the paparazzi continued to harass him with endless questions.
It hit me then that what I just said yes to was actually serious. That this man, on Sven’s terms, was about to be my boyfriend. And I have the whole world as an audience for all of it.
I miss this story so much. I hope you can update on this story
4/1/15