Call Girl

“Oh my god,” she choked out.

“Ariana…” Harry said, looking at her wide-eyed.

“I… I… no,” Ari stammered, turning to go back down the hallway.

“Ari, wait!” Harry said, quickly trailing behind her. She could not believe this was happening.

“Stop!” Harry shouted, grabbing her arm, pulling her toward him.

“Harry, I can’t,” Ariana said, feeling the prickling of tears as she looked up in his eyes.

“Let’s just talk. Please,” he said, looking hopeful.

“Why are you doing this to me?” She choked out.

“Ari… please,” he sighed. Her stomach was in knots and her brain was screaming for her to leave, but in true Ariana fashion, she folded under Harry’s stare.

He grabbed her hand, intertwining their fingers together and led her back to the hotel room. She let go of his hand as she stepped inside in front of him. She stopped short, squeezing her eyes together, trying to dam up the tears before they started.

“Ariana…” Harry breathed again.

When she opened her eyes, he was standing in front of her while his hand rubbed at the back of his neck. He looked how she felt – awkward. She watched the emotion on his face change from hopefulness to anguish in an instant.

“Listen, I’m sorry,” he breathed, letting his hand drop to his side. Ariana’s eyes dropped with it, looking at the carpeted floor.

“God, I just… I was just… I wasn’t expecting that,” he stammered.

“It is what it is,” she said passively, shrugging her shoulders.

“No. I was a complete git. I should’ve… I shouldn’t have let you leave,” he said. Her eyes shot up to his to see if his body language matched his words. To her surprise, it did.

“I was so angry with myself for… for just letting you walk out like that,” Harry admitted sheepishly.

Ariana’s memory cut to watching him with his dog – how he seemed so incredibly frustrated. She just figured it was because he was angry because of what she was – because he fell for a hooker. Her expression softened as she studied his face.

“Ari, I’m sorry,” he said again, stepping forward, but reluctantly holding himself back from reaching out to her. She sighed, dropping her vision again. She knew this was too good to be true. They were too different.

“Do you… do you forgive me?” He asked, softly.

“Harry…” She breathed. This could not continue.

“Please, Ari,” he said.

“Stop calling me Ari!” She erupted. Harry looked startled, yet concerned as he stared at her wide-eyed.

“God, I’m sorry,” she said, taking a step back as she started pacing.

“Are you okay?” He asked.

“I’m sorry. I’m just… just when you call me Ari, it just… it makes me feel like we’re closer than what we are,” she said, shaking her head.

“Is that a bad thing?” He asked, his voice raising optimistically at the end.

“Yes!” She exclaimed, looking straight at him.

“Why?” He asked, sounding frustrated.

“Because I have sex with men for money and you are Harry Styles, for Christ’s sake!” She argued.

“That doesn’t matter,” he stammered.

“But it does. Like, you and I… we’re complete opposites, okay,” she pointed out.

“Opposites attract, Ariana. And besides, I don’t think we’re as different as you seem to think,” he said.

“What? You sleep with girls for money?” She scoffed out.

“Well, no. But… I just… I can tell you’re a good person, Ariana,” Harry told her. She let out a quick laugh, finding what he just said completely absurd.

“We spent one night together, Harry. One night. You couldn’t possibly have any idea what kind of a person I am,” Ariana scoffed.

“Being a prostitute doesn’t make you a bad person, Ari,” he said quietly.

“Yeah. Sure,” she said quietly, wrapping her arms around herself.

“Why do you do it?” He asked after a few moments of weighted silence. Ariana’s eyes shot up to his. For fucking shits and giggles. Why the hell did he think she did it?

“You think I like my job!?” She erupted.

“That’s not—” Harry started, but she cut him off.

“I pretty much got raped last night my by father’s lawyer! By my father’s fucking lawyer,” she choked out. Harry’s face shot up, his eyes wide.

“This isn’t fucking fun for me, okay. You think I like that I have to hide my feelings?” She growled.

“Ari…” Harry breathed, his features softening.

“I need this fucking job, Harry. I can’t just stop and go flip burgers for minimum wage somewhere. I have to take care of three people. It’s up to me! And I-I can’t complicate my life any more by bringing you into it,” she sighed.

“And what if I don’t take no for an answer?” Harry retorted.

“It’s not up to you,” she said, shaking her head.

“Well, what if… what if I paid you?” He asked, puffing out his chest as if he found the master solution.

“Harry, no,” she said, shaking her head again.

“Here. Here. What’s the going rate for spending some time with the girl I like?” He asked, grabbing his wallet from his pocket.

“Harry, don’t,” Ariana sighed.

“I’m not giving up. And if you don’t want to quit your job, then let me pay you. Let me be your client,” he said, wiggling his wallet in his hand.

“I-I… I… just stop, Harry,” she stammered, letting her eyes fall to the carpet.

“No, Ariana. No,” he said, stepping toward her quickly.

“This isn’t fair,” he said, grabbing her upper arms in his hands.

Ariana lifted her sad eyes up to his moments before he crashed his lips into hers, taking her completely by surprise. The kiss was fiery and hungered, until she relaxed into it and Harry’s lips moved slowly and meticulously with hers. Their tongues moved fluidly with one another’s. And she kept thinking how good it felt to kiss someone again. But that only reminded her of why it wasn’t right. But she also couldn’t justify calling it wrong.

When they broke apart, Ariana just stood there staring into his eyes, her lips tingling from his kiss. His chest heaved as he stared back at her. He was so incredible all worked up like that. Her entire body was reacting to him.

“I don’t kiss clients on the mouth,” Ariana said, blurting the first thing that came to her mind. He laughed a little and she couldn’t help but smirk back at him.

“Harry…” She sighed.

“Don’t even try to talk me out of this. Cause it’s not going to work,” he said, shaking his head.

He was making it hard on purpose and she just kind of wanted to smack him. But she also, so terribly much, wanted to kiss him again.

“And I can see it in your eyes that you’re fighting yourself. You want to fall just as hard as I have,” he said, smirking at her. Ariana’s heart tightened in her chest, bringing tears to her eyes.

“This isn’t fair,” she whispered as the emotion overwhelmed her.

“I want to spend time with you. I want to know you, Ariana. Like… like, I don’t even know your last name,” he said.

“Ramsey,” she found herself telling him.

“Ariana Ramsey,” he smiled. She stared at him, practically whimpering as she felt herself slipping. This fucking boy.

“And your middle name?” He asked.

“Elizabeth,” she told him.

“Ariana Elizabeth Ramsey. Nice to meet you. I’m Harry Edward Styles,” Harry smiled sweetly at her.

“Nice to meet you, Harry Edward Styles,” Ariana said, cracking a reluctant smile.

“Could we… I mean, could we just sit and talk?” Harry asked.

“Uh…” She stammered.

“I’ve been craving that girl I stayed up with until the sun came up on my birthday. I’ve just… I really, just really like that girl,” Harry said, smirking at her. She bit her lip trying to hold back her smile.

“Could we—” She said, cutting herself off with a smirk.

“What?” He smiled back.

“Could we uh, talk in the bed again?” She asked, pointing back at it.

“Sure,” he said, cocking his eyebrow.

“Only because I’m, once again, barely wearing anything and I just… I just really feel self-conscious right now,” she explained.

“You’re beautiful, Ariana,” he breathed as his eyes trailed up her body. But not in a degrading way like most men. She couldn’t help the blush that rose on her cheeks.

“We can sit in the bed,” he nodded, grabbing her hand in his.

He walked them slowly to the bed and only let go of her hand when she sat down to take off her boots. He stood watching her with a smile on his face and when she swung her legs over, she looked up and smiled at him.

“Are you going to get in?” She asked as she smirked at him before pulling the blankets up over her.

“Mm-hmm,” he smiled contently before he crossed over to the other side of the room, kicking his own boots off before getting in the bed.

He kept smiling at her and she was kind of getting concerned that he had nothing to say, nothing to talk about – that they were only compatible that one night and now it was just going to be awkward.

“So, what do you want to talk about?” Ariana said, gripping the blankets tightly in her hand.

“I’d like to know more about you,” he told her.

“Me?” She choked out.

“Yeah,” he chuckled.

“What do you want to know?” She asked, feeling self-conscious to have to share anything about herself.

“Everything,” Harry said. Ariana sighed, feeling overwhelmed.

She kept her life so secretive for over a year that just the thought of talking about herself sent a panic attack through her body. The last time she was really intimate with someone – really let someone in, was her ex-boyfriend Collin. And he was the one to get her in this mess in the first place.

“How… I mean, what made you…” He stammered.

“How did I start sleeping with men for money?” She asked. She could have guessed he’d ask about that – something she really did not want to talk about.

“Well, yeah. I mean, you’re only nineteen, right?” He asked.

“My life isn’t easy,” she told him sternly.

“Tell me about it,” he said sincerely.

Ariana let out a large breath, trying to dispel the bad feelings she had about herself. But the way he was looking at her made her feel at ease somehow. He had a way and she found herself completely spilling her soul to him. She told him about Collin, about her father’s mistakes, her mother’s addiction – pretty much everything up until the previous night with her father’s lawyer, Mr. Turner. She told him about how she got the call from his friend Jude to do the stripping and that she almost didn’t do it – to which he replied, “I’m glad you did.”

Ariana also told him how everything she did was to protect her sister, to keep her safe.

“She’s lucky to have someone like you in her life,” Harry told her.

“I’m really the only stability she has,” she told him, remembering she should probably check on her.

“That’s commendable,” Harry said.

“I should… I should probably give her a call,” Ari told Harry.

“Sure. Of course,” he said. She quickly pulled herself out of the bed and walked over to where she left her purse.

“I’m gonna… I’m gonna step outside,” she told Harry, pointing to the balcony.

“Sure,” Harry said, smiling at her from the bed.

When she got out there, she lit up a cigarette and called Robin. She told Ari that she and their mom were watching a late movie together, but it was almost over and she was going to go to bed. Ariana made Robin put their mother on the phone to prove to her that she was really there. She was relieved when she actually was.

When Ari ended the phone call, she heard the balcony door open and turned to see Harry stepping out. She almost felt shameful that he caught her smoking. He was such a good man and she just felt like having an addiction to nicotine was just another thing to knock her down a few pegs.

“Another one of my problems,” she said, holding up the cigarette.

“I won’t judge you if you won’t judge me,” he shrugged, coming over to lean against the balcony. Ariana nodded at him as she quickly stubbed out the half smoked cigarette and placed it back in her pack.

“Is everything okay at home?” Harry asked.

“Yeah,” she nodded, putting her cigarettes and phone back in her purse.

“Come back inside?” He asked hopefully.

“Yeah,” she nodded.

“I’m gonna go to the bathroom,” she told Harry once they were inside.

“Alright,” he said as she made her way into the tiny room and closed the door behind her.

She dug in her purse quickly for her toothbrush and toothpaste that she always kept with her. She hated the fact that she smelt of cigarettes when she was with him. It was gross. She brushed her teeth quickly and sprayed herself with some perfume before checking her makeup and smoothing out her dress against her body before she walked back out.

Harry was sitting in the bed, waiting for her and it sent a jolt of sexual frustration through her body. He was incredibly sexy – just everything he did. But she didn’t want to sleep with him just to sleep with him. If she ever had sex with him in the future, she wanted it to mean something.

When she crawled back into the bed, she gave him a mischievous smile.

“What?” He smirked back at her.

“Tell me everything there is to know about Harry Edward Styles,” she said, smirking at him.

“Oh, where do I start? Where do I start?” He joked with a laugh.

They found themselves losing track of time as they talked, much like they did on his birthday. And Ariana enjoyed every second of this night as she did that one. But her eyes began to get heavy as her head sunk into the pillow. She started slowly debating with herself whether or not she should make her way home.

She and Harry lay face-to-face, their heads on pillows, looking into each other’s eyes.

“I don’t want you to run away,” Harry told her sincerely after their conversation hit a lull.

Her eyes searched his, before she pulled her hand up to his cheek. He was so close to perfect, it was hard to breathe around him. Harry’s lips turned up into a smile keeping his eyes on hers. She leaned in and kissed his lips softly, feeling her heart beating out of control. It had been so long since she had something like this, since she felt the butterflies and pictured a future with someone. And he made her feel all of that.

“I thought you didn’t kiss your clients,” he smirked.

“You are the only exception,” she smiled back at him.

“Good,” he smiled, leaning in to kiss her again.

It felt so good to just kiss him and not have to worry. And when his hand grazed up her thigh, she welcomed it, not cringed like she normally would when a man touched her. She felt herself adapting for him and she thrived on it, feeling good about herself for the first time in a long time. And she realized she couldn’t count him out. Not just yet anyway.

Ariana woke up to Harry’s fingers tickling up and down her arm. She was wrapped so tightly around him, it almost felt like they were one person. The brightness of the morning confused her, only because she didn’t remember falling asleep.

“Good morning,” he breathed softly before kissing the top of her head.

“Morning,” she croaked, retreating away from him only slightly so she could look up into his eyes.

“You sleep like a rock, you know,” he said, smiling down at her.

“I felt safe,” she told him without even having to think about it. His face softened even more from her words before he leaned down, leaving a kiss on her lips.

“I’m glad,” he told her.

“I… I should get home,” she told him, retreating fully from his arms to sit up in the bed.

“Yeah. Yeah, sure,” Harry said, sitting up too.

She loved that they were both fully clothed, that they didn’t let themselves get carried away with one another. They could have easily had sex, but she was glad they didn’t.

“You know…” she breathed, turning back to him after she replaced her boots on her feet.

“Yeah?” He asked.

“Thank you,” she told him sincerely.

“For what?” He asked.

“For being a gentleman,” she said, smiling at him. He would never know what it truly meant to her. He smiled bashfully, looking down at his hands before he looked back up at her.

“You’re welcome,” he said.

Ariana leaned over and kissed him – just a peck on the lips – before she pulled herself out of the bed.

“Ariana, wait,” Harry said as she was grabbing her purse to leave.

“Yeah?” She said as she turned her head back to look at him.

“I don’t want to cheapen this at all, but…” He said, looking up into her eyes.

“But what?” She asked, her eyebrows furrowing.

“But I am a client,” he said, smirking bashfully at her. She gave him a curious look and then watched as he took out his wallet.

“Harry, no,” she said, immediately shaking her head as he grabbed what looked like all the cash from the wallet.

“I called you. I spent the night with you. I mean, that’s worth a lot of money, right?” He asked, holding out the money for her.

“I can’t take your money,” she told him.

“If you don’t take my money then you’re going to get it elsewhere and I don’t even want to think about that, okay. Just please, take it,” he said insistently.

“Harry…” Ariana breathed, feeling uncomfortable as she looked at the wad of cash he held in his hand.

“Take it, Ariana,” he said, shoving it into her palm.

“I don’t like this,” she told him.

“We all have things that we don’t like,” he countered.

“You’re stubborn,” she said, eyed him. He laughed out loud.

“And you’re worse,” he retorted.

She couldn’t argue with him there. But it felt all sorts of wrong to take the amount of money that he just handed over for practically doing nothing. But Harry wasn’t taking no for an answer.

Quickly dropping the subject, Harry pulled her into his arms, swiping her hair back behind her ear.

“Thank you for not running away,” he told her, looking into her eyes. Ariana leaned up and kissed him.

“Can I give you something?” He asked, quirking an eyebrow.

“What?” She questioned. What else could he possibly give her?

“My phone number,” he smiled.

“Sure,” she said, letting out a small laugh.

Once the number was stored in her phone, Ariana told him she really needed to go – to which he pulled her back into his arms to give her another kiss, which led to another and another.

“I just… don’t wanna… stop kissing… you,” he said, kissing her with every pause as they stood by the hotel room door. Ariana giggled into his kisses. She really liked playful Harry.

“Okay. Okay, Mr. Styles,” she giggled, trying to be the voice of reason.

“I’m going to call you and I want you to call me,” he told her.

“Okay,” she nodded.

“Bye, Ariana Elizabeth Ramsey,” he said, smiling at her as he opened the hotel room door.

“Bye, Harry Edward Styles,” she smiled back, giving him a small wave before she disappeared out the door.

Ariana got home to find the apartment empty. Her mom and Robin were nowhere in sight. After calling Robin, she found out they were grocery shopping and Ariana felt a sense of relief fill her body. Maybe things were finally looking up. Her mom was taking care of Robin and even buying groceries for the first time in a long time.

Ariana headed to the shower with a smile on her face, reliving every moment of the previous night with Harry. He was so sweet and such a gentlemen. She wanted things to work out with him, yet she knew it wouldn’t be easy – actually it would be incredibly difficult. And honestly, she didn’t even know what it meant for things to ‘work out’ between them. Their lives were so different.

When she got out of the shower, she wrapped herself in her robe and grabbed the money out of her purse that Harry gave her. Counting it out, she realized there was more than three thousand dollars in her hand. She just about lost it. She stared at it for a few moments in disbelief before she pulled out her lockbox and opened it up. Looking at the stack that was in there, it looked a little off to her. She had nearly three thousand in there before she put in her thousand from Mr. Turner. But it looked a little skimmed. After counting it, she realized there was nearly nine-hundred dollars missing. Her heart sank in her chest. She knew exactly what happened: her mother.

Ariana let out a scream, wanting to scratch her mother’s eyes out. No wonder she was out grocery shopping. No wonder she had money. No fucking wonder. She threw all the money back into the lockbox, including what Harry gave her before replacing it on the shelf. She got dressed quickly, and went into her mother’s room. She tore apart every drawer, every hiding place looking for her stash of pills. If she was going to fuck with her stash, Ariana was going to fuck with hers too.

She found a full bottle of Vicodin in a small box under her bed. Ariana knew she had to have some sort of connection in the pharmaceutical world to be getting as many pills as she did, so the missing bottle probably wouldn’t be the end-all in her pill popping addiction. But she was sure she’d almost immediately know it was missing and Ariana would be the first person she came to looking for it.

And when she did, her mother was going to get a fucking reality check.

Notes