III. BABY, IF YOU SAY YOU WANT ME TO STAY, I'LL CHANGE MY MIND.

Ella Winters woke to the sound of rain beating against her hotel room window. She blinked slowly and stretched her body diagonally across the king-sized bed, letting her surroundings sink in. She was on the tenth floor of the Prince George hotel, wrapped in the softest white cotton sheets, with Harry Styles asleep in the next room. Ella reached for her iPhone on the nightstand and glanced at the time - five after seven. She had to be at work in an hour and a half and was running on a measly three hours sleep.
Ella pulled herself out of bed, grabbed a quick shower, and wriggled back into yesterday’s clothes. She dried the roots of her hair and pulled her fingers through the lengths of her dark waves to loosen any tangles, while examining her complexion in the wide mirror above the sink. For as long as she could remember she’d had problematic skin – a blemish here, a scar there – but today it was as though the stars had aligned; they knew her cosmetic pouch was an hour away and had decided to leave her skin blemish-free.
Rap. Rap. Rap.
“Ella?”
Ella turned to face the door at the sound of that familiar accent on its opposite side. She felt her cheeks grow warm as she approached the door and pulled it open.
“Good morning.” A tired-eyed Harry Styles greeted her, his long hair secured by an elastic behind his head. “Sleep well?”
"The bed was so comfortable.” Ella smiled, “You?”
"I could barely sleep.” Harry admitted. He spoke slow and kept his eyes on hers as he did. “But I have great news – our bus is broken down.”
"That’s great news?”
“Sometimes. We’re waiting on a part but it won’t arrive until lunch; we won’t be leaving until about two o’clock.” Harry continued, “You should call in sick. I want to rent American Pie.”
Ella found a very distinct memory at the front of her mind – last summer she’d propositioned Eric the exact same way. It had been a beautiful, sunny Monday, and Ella was off but Eric had been scheduled to work. Ella had begged him to take the day off so that they could make the two-hour trek to the nearest waterpark but Eric had refused. It’s irresponsible of me to make someone else do my work when I’m fully capable, Ella, he had told her, you go ahead to the park and I’ll see you tonight. Ella knew it was irresponsible but wasn’t that part of being young? Making rash decisions and just having fun?
Ella glanced behind her, at the rain beating against her tenth-floor window. It’s not like she would be productive at work today, anyway; not with the memory of adorably sleepy Harry Styles standing at her room door.
“Okay.” Ella agreed, “I have to call my boss.”
“Okay.” Harry stepped inside the room and pushed the door behind him. Ella grabbed her iPhone from the nightstand, dialled her boss, and held the phone to her ear.
“Hi Trish, it’s Ella. I woke up with a terrible migraine this morning so I won’t be able to make it in today. Mhm. I can look after that on Monday – they aren’t expecting the file until Thursday, anyway. Okay. I will keep my cell handy if they need anything. Thanks.”
“It makes sense that you’re a fantastic liar,” Harry said as Ella ended the call, “being a writer and all.”
“I hate lying.” Ella frowned as Eric’s face flashed in her mind. Eric. Ella stared down at her phone. For the second time in twelve hours, she had a potentially life-altering decision to make. Calling in sick to work to spend a rainy day curled up in a hotel room with a man who was not her man seemed so scandalous. Could she be that kind of person? Did she want to be that kind of person?
“I’m sorry.” Harry said softly, reading her mind. “It’s inappropriate of me to ask you to do this.” His lips curled into a half-frown, “Don’t worry about it. Let me know before you leave, though – I’d like to say goodbye.”
Harry turned on his heel and headed for the door, leaving Ella and her conflicted, messy heart, standing alone in the center of the room. She watched, seemingly in slow motion, as Harry ran both of his hands over his face and reached for the doorknob. And then he was gone.

***

Ella stared at the back of the door for what felt like an eternity as the waves of emotion crashed against her once more. She already felt guilty for lying to Eric and had no idea how she was going to carry that lie on her shoulders for the rest of her life. But could she spend the rest of her life wondering what might have happened if she had just taken the chance? Which was the real burden – the lie or the 'what if'?
Ella tucked her iPhone into the rear pocket of her jeans, grabbed her purse, and headed out the door. She turned to face the door of room four and knocked quickly, before she had time to change her mind.
Harry opened the door, “Saying goodbye already?”
Ella shook her head, “You promised me American Pie.”
A wide smile grew across Harry’s face as he pulled the door all the way open, “I did. I wonder if we can order popcorn from room service.”

***

Harry watched as Ella ran her fingers through the ends of her wavy brown hair, staring absent-mindedly out the window at the rain pouring over the street. How had he known this girl less than twenty-four hours and yet already hated the thought of leaving her? He knew it was wrong to ask her to spend the day with him, what with her having a boyfriend and all, but he’d laid in bed for over an hour after she’d left the night before replaying the night’s events and wishing she hadn’t left. He’d liked – and dated – plenty of girls before, but something about Ella Winters was different.
“Harry, mate, you in there?” Harry heard his bandmate, Louis, call from the other side of the door as he rapped his fist against it loudly, “Paul says two minutes!”
“Meet you downstairs!” Harry called.
“I really should go now.” Ella smiled at him.
“I don’t want you to.” Harry persisted, “You’ll go back to your fancy banker’s life and forget all about me.”
Ella blushed, “You’re crazy.”
Harry felt his stomach turn to knots. He had so enjoyed Ella’s company the past six hours – they’d ordered blueberry pancakes and popcorn from room service, watched three American Pie movies, and had spent the time between films sharing stories and laughing at one another. Being with Ella was so easy. He hadn’t once stopped to wonder if she as spending time with him for him or because he was, well, Harry Styles – he could tell already that Ella wasn’t that kind of girl.
“You should go out the service entrance and I will go out front with the rest of the lads.” Harry suggested, “No risk of photos that way.”
“Good point.” Ella nodded as she swung her brown leather purse up onto her shoulder, “Shall we?”
Harry held the door for her and they made their way to the elevator and down to the main floor. From the back of the hotel, Harry could hear girls screaming on the sidewalk out front.
Harry pressed his lips into a thin line, “Can I keep in touch?”
“Of course.”
“It won’t cause any problems? With your boyfriend?”
“I can handle it.” Ella assured him, “It was really nice meeting you, Mr. Hannigan.”
Harry wrapped his arms around Ella and pulled her close to him once more, embracing the faint scent of vanilla perfume lingering on her day-old clothes. He held her tight as long as he could, and finally let her go hesitantly.
“You, too, El.”
Harry turned on the heel of his worn boot and began toward the front door while Ella made her way to the service entrance.
“Just so you know,” Harry called from behind her. Ella turned to find Harry walking backward, slowly, as he spoke, “I would have kissed you if it wouldn’t have been inappropriate.”

Harry disappeared out the front entrance of the hotel into a throng of screaming girls and Ella stumbled through the service entrance toward her car, still parked on the curb. She climbed inside and turned the key, bringing the engine to life. The radio kicked in half-way through an old Sheryl Crow song and Ella felt tears well in her eyes. Within seconds the tears let loose down her cheeks. Her body shook with each sob and Ella wondered how she would ever regain her composure well enough to drive herself home.

Notes

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