Harry watched Jessica as she gave the new secretary a quick brief while she packed the table. It was Jessica's final day at work and in London, before leaving for Los Angeles that night. She was trying her best to keep her voice down so whatever she mentioned to the new secretary would be between them but Harry could hear everything.

"Every morning, check on any calls, emails and update the schedule if needed before greeting Mr Styles," she went, making Harry smile at how she was making it as formal as possible when she barely call him that on a daily basis. "Don't make tea or coffee for him. He can make it himself," she continued and Harry shook his head and sniggered. He could never get mad at her despite how much she picked on him. Jessica handed the lady a piece of paper and told her, "here's a list of his allergies and what he's selective about so you can take note when ordering from the caterer for events."

Harry could not believe how someone who hated him so much initially and did not even like the job would still take the responsibility over the tasks that were thrown at her. He had never met someone as selfless as Jessica, in fact he thought he never would once she was out of his life. He leaned back on his chair and looked up at the ceiling, releasing a heavy sigh. Letting go of past secretaries were easy, even Leah. Letting go of his wife, Joanna, to be some other guy was easy. Right now, even though Jessica was still around, his heart was heavy. He knew this day would be hard for him but now that it was actually happening, he found himself struggling to contain the pain. A drop of tear went crawling down his right cheek but he did not move an inch to even wipe it away. He felt a certain numbness to his body, as though his heart stopped beating and his body went weak. He blinked his eyes and another tear crept from the corner of his eye.

"Harry?" a soft voice jolted Harry from his thoughts. "What are you doing?"

It was Jessica standing in front of him with a file clutched in her arms. Harry quickly flicked the corners of his eyes and rubbed his face. "Nothing, just clearing my head."

It was certain that Jessica saw him crying but she did not mention a word about it and passed him the file that was in her hands. "Here, you might want to go through this with her before she starts tomorrow. I had to go through this on my first day and it was not even funny." Her tone was serious but Harry could not help but to laugh.

"I'm sorry about that," he apologised sincerely. "What do you think of her?"

"Whether she can do a better job than me or whether you can try to get a date with her?"

"Jessica, I am not going to date her," Harry stated, his tone somber.

"Yeah...she's alright."

Harry put away the file and looked at Jessica in the eyes. "I'm gonna miss you, you know that right?"

"Harry-"

"No, listen to me," Harry cut her off. "I wish I could stop you from leaving but I know you already have your mind set. But I will have you in my arms again once the divorce is settled. And that's a promise."

"Harry, I'm not expecting you to do that. Really," Jessica affirmed, crossing her arms. "We can just go on and pretend like nothing happened."

"I can't believe you just said that, Jess."

"What? About pretending like nothing happened? Nothing would have happened if you didn't force it, Harry."

"You feel like I force you into liking me?" Harry asked, clearly hurt from what she said.

"No that's not what I said," Jessica spat, looking away.

"Then what do you mean by that, Jess?" Harry pressed on. "That you never felt anything for me?"

"What I'm trying to say is," Jessica blurted out with tears in her eyes. She took a deep breath to calm herself down and lower her voice. "What I'm trying to say is that life sometimes doesn't work out exactly as we plan or hope for. There must be a reason why you are still tied down to the marriage, like it was meant to be but you haven't seen it yet."

Harry shook his head. "No, Jessica. The only reason I am married is for this company. For my father. Nothing more."

"Well, I don't want you to risk all that just for me either. Harry, a lot has happened. The case with Leah and Greg...the company needs you to stabilise everything again. And I suggest you start putting yourself together and forget about me."

With that, Jessica left the office and put on her coat before leaving her desk with a box full of her belongings.

-

"Jess, you sure about this?" Wonda asked as she handed over a cup of tea she got from the machine at the airport. "You don't have to do this, you know? You can start over here. In London."

Jessica took a sip of the tea and shook her head. "I want to breathe in some new air, Wonda. I need this."

Wonda straightened her her skirt and shifted slightly in her seat. "Louis told me about the dinner you had with him that night."

"I'm not surprised."

"I didn't tell him about you and Harry at all, you know?"

"Ha. Ha. Liar."

"Jess, I'm serious! That only means that it is written all over you that you're running away from the feelings you have for him. Till Louis could have guessed that there's a man in the picture."

"Wild guess, then."

Wonda sighed, "The least you could do was to be honest with Harry about how you feel instead of making him feel like he's the only one who's broken about it."

"He knows that the feelings mutual."

"Does he? I'm sure you've been telling him to move on, let it go, and forget about it."

Jessica continued drinking her tea without saying a word.

"Jess. I know Alex did that to you and expected you to forget the whole 3-years you both shared. You were torn up inside so you guarded your heart with all you have. And then Harry broke those walls, somehow, making you believe in love again. And that's not something you should be running away from. Yes, he's married but he is willing to give up his so-called marriage for you. I know a part of you refuse to believe that he's telling the truth and another part of you knows he is. If only a divorce is as easy as it sounds but we know how the procedure is like. But he's willing to take that risk and go through the trouble for you, Jess. Why is that so hard for you take in and accept?"

"It just wouldn't work out."

"How would you know if you haven't even try?"

Wonda's words brought Jessica back to the day Alex told her that he was leaving.


"But we haven't even try!" Jessica exclaimed.

"Think about it, Jessica. I will be busy recording and performing. You will be busy at work and the time zone's different. We're gonna have a hard time and we'll end up fighting all the time. It just wouldn't work out."


"I'm just gonna go give him a call to say a proper goodbye," Jessica told Wonda as she got up from her seat and walked towards a nearby pillar.

Jessica: Hey.
Harry: Hi Jessica.
Jessica: I just wanted to say goodbye.
Harry: Thank you, I really appreciate that you called me.
Jessica: Yeah...sure. You know, Harry?
Harry: Yeah?
Jessica: I also wanted to say...that I'm sorry that we didn't work out.
Harry: It's not your fault, Jess.
Jessica: No, no, I mean, I didn't even try...so I'm sorry. I just wanted you to know that I wish it was different too, that this...we worked out. But yeah, that's just how it is I guess.
Harry: You know I'm willing to do whatever it takes, right?
Jessica: No, I don't want you to.
Harry: Do you love me, Jess?
Jessica: -pause- Yes. I love you, Harry. And I'm sorry.
Harry: If you love me, please don't leave me?
Jessica: I'm sorry Harry I can't.
Harry: Yes you can.
Jessica: No I-
Harry: Turn around.
Jessica: What?

The moment Jessica turned around, her body was pulled into Harry's embrace. "Don't leave, please?" he whispered, his head resting on hers. He tightened his grip and told her, "I'm never letting you go, Jess. I love you."

Jessica lifted her head from his chest to meet his eyes. "What are you doing here?"

Harry smiled and wiped away her tears with his thumb. "To take you home, silly."

"And what made you so sure that I was going to miss the flight for you?" Jessica forced herself not to smile and hit Harry's chest.

"Because of this." Harry cupped the back of Jessica's and pulled her towards him and their lips met. It was something they both have longed for, to feel connected again and knowing that what they felt for each other was real. They shared a rather long, passionate kiss before they both parted and smiled at each other, as though there was an unspoken notion that everything was going to be alright, as long as they stayed together.

Notes

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