“Are you ready for this?” Alister, the stylist asked Harry.

“I don’t know but I can tell you she’s not,” he said as he gestured to me. I was sitting on the counter in the kitchen we were using above the pub his Mom owned, it was our makeshift dressing room today. I had without realizing it started to bite my finger from nerves. It was our second day of shooting for the magazine spread and we’d reached the moment I’d been dreading since we got on the plane for the UK. I tried to laugh off the nerves that Harry was enjoying pointing out.

“You like his hair long?” his Mom asked. She and one of her friends had stopped up to say hi and witness ‘the cut’.

“I love his hair long. I think he’s going to look perfect no matter what he does but his long hair is the only way I’ve known him. And I really like his hair long.” It was an understatement that I really liked his hair long. I loved his hair. I was envious of his hair.

“She laid in bed last night playing with it for at least an hour before she finally fell asleep.” He was still laughing at me so I flipped him off.

“Aww sweetheart,” Anne said as she wrapped her arm around me trying to laugh with me instead of at me like her son was doing. “He looks cute with short hair.”

“I know and it’s gonna be okay, it’s just going to take me a bit to get used to.” Harry smiled at me as the hairstylist they’d brought in started to brush out the curls in his hair. It was crazy to see how long it was as they tried to pull his hair straight. I felt my heart rate increase with anxiety.

Why was I so nervous about this?

It was just his hair.

Hair grew back.

Hair didn’t define a person.

But honestly, I really love his hair. I loved watching him play with it. Watching him pull it up into it’s tiny bun. The way it looked when he first woke up in the morning and slowly moved around the kitchen to make coffee. The way it hung in his face when he hovered above me when we made love. And with one chop of the scissors that hair was going to be gone and I was going to have to get used to the way his new hair did things.

“Here goes nothing.” And with that the stylist started to cut just above the small hair tie that was holding his long hair in a ponytail. The sound of the scissors cutting through his hair seemed so loud, loud enough I couldn’t hear anything else. As soon as the ponytail was cut and his hair fell towards his face I realized I hadn’t been breathing. My first breath was more like a gasp for air.

“Are you okay, Evie?” Harry asked as he looked towards me.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I forgot to breathe for a second there.” He started to laugh at me, but his eyes showed it was out of love, not out of the sheer enjoyment he had when he tortured me. He smiled to give me a glimpse at his dimples before reaching his hand towards me. I reached for him and our fingers locked together.

“Is that all you’re cutting?” Anne asked. My eyes bugged out. They had cut off enough hair that Harry held a braid of his hair in his hand. He intended on donating it which I found endearing and perfectly him. He needed to cut his hair for a film but he wasn’t just going to do it because someone was paying him to. He was going to do it because his hair could help create a wig so a young girl or boy who had lost their hair because of cancer could feel more like themselves again.

It was inspiring to see how he lived his life. The way he gave of himself to his fans or something he was passionate about. He wanted to make the world a better place and no matter how small the gesture if he was able to do something to make someone’s day better he’d do it. He was the most genuine person I knew. And despite the fact that he was mocking me for getting a bit misty eyed as I now held the braid in my hand I loved him with every single part of me.

“We will do a few shots before we cut some more of the hair since we have the other shots we intend on getting,” the creative director said. He was in charge of the way the set had worked the last day and a half. It was literally one of the easiest shoots I’d ever been on. The way the team from Another Man worked and having both Emma and Eliza meant I was able to relax and enjoy watching my boyfriend get made up in everything from suits to pink Converse and dog collars. I’d been able to keep up with my email and even take a few calls from my family.

“Sounds perfect,” I replied knowing he was waiting for me to okay it. They had told me they wanted to have my approval on everything they did. What they didn’t know was that I was nothing like the managers Harry had worked with before. They didn’t need MY approval, they needed HIS. But he knew that having me say no worked better than him saying it so we’d developed a silent system where he could communicate with me what he was willing to do and what he wasn’t.

I watched as the they worked to style his now short hair before he stood up. He was shirtless and smiling as he came over to where I was still sitting on the counter trying to hide from the photographer we had brought with us. Harry had decided as he started to work with his team for his album that he wanted to film it, all of it. Everything he did relating to his album was being filmed until the cycle for the album was done. He wanted to have all of it to look back on decades from now and remember where he was and what he was doing. Whether it was a recording session, his tour, or us sitting in this old kitchen above a pub while he chopped off what felt like 10 feet of his hair, it was all going to be captured. I loved the concept of it, I hated the reality that meant I would be in all of this footage. I constantly tried to hide from the cameras, I didn’t want to be part of it, knowing that it would see release as part of the promotion for the album. He didn’t want to leave me out so he made sure to do whatever he could to get me in it. Right now it involved him, still shirtless, pulling me to the edge of the counter to hug me and kiss the top of my head.

“What do you think?” he asked as he looked down at me, what was left of his hair hanging in his face and framing his eyes.

“It’s gonna take me a little to get used to it. It’s not as curly and you know how I feel about the curls,” I said quietly. He bent down to kiss me as a smile spread across his face and I ran my fingers through his hair. It was so foreign for it to stop so quickly between my fingers and I knew this wasn’t even the shortest his hair would end up. “I like it though. You still look like you and are still cute.”

“Good,” he replied before kissing me again. He followed Alister out of the room and I sat in silence checking my email quickly before following them out of the room.

The Circus
ES: It’s gone.
KM: What is gone? Other than Joe’s morning of sleeping in now that you’ve woken him up with a text message.
JJ: Yeah…TIME DIFFERENCE, Ev. TIME DIFFERENCE.
ES: His hair.
ES: It’s gone.
ES:

KM: Holy. Fuck.
ES: I KNOW!
HS: Calm down, Evie. You told me I still look cute.
TK: She’s probably lying. She’s obsessed with your hair.
ES: True story about the obsession. Not lying. He looks pretty cute. Though this is what he looked like yesterday afternoon.

TK: How the fuck did we not get the inappropriate texts during that yesterday? H, are you wearing a dog collar.
HS: Yes.
NJ: Oh god.
JJ: Oh god.
KM: Oh god.
TK: Oh god.
HS: Do you all share a brain?
KM: Most of the time.
ER: I told her to not send pictures of him in these looks, which is why you didn’t get them yesterday. Clearly she stopped caring today.
ES: Look? He looks naked with long hair and a dog collar. That’s not a look. That’s a dream.
TK: You’re an absolute perv sometimes, Ev.
ES: I know.
KM: So do we get to see the after of that cut?
HS: They just showed me this one…

TK: Are you crying, Harry?
HS: Yes…from laughing…at Evie.
ES: I was actually told by the photographer that I was a great addition to the set because I made him feel relaxed. So all of you that have told me I’m a nuisance on set…FUCK. YOU.
NJ: You are a nuisance on set.
ES: I am not, asshole.
HS: She’s kept me relaxed.
JJ: Is relaxed code?
ES: Fuck off, Joesph Adam.
TK: Probably. They speak in code sometimes. I’ve picked up on it. When Eli and I had dinner with them before the left Harry kept talking about needing to pack when they left and she would sit and giggle.
ES: How is that code?
KM: Did you have sex instead of pack?
ES: I mean yes but it wasn’t code. It was just that we got home and I’d had a tad too much wine at dinner and whoopsie the clothes fell off.
NJ: So relaxed is probably code for blow job in the dressing room.
HS: No, she’s actually been a great to have on set. But she needs to get back to work rather than giggle at her phone. We will call you all later, we have a long drive tonight.

“Evie…off the phone,” Harry said from the other side of the room we were in where he was getting changed for the last look of the day.

“Fine,” I replied before shoving my phone back in my purse and heading over to where he was standing. They had his hair styled a little funny to make him look a bit like a young Mick Jagger. I was ready for them to be done messing with it so I could go home and get used to the way it looked when he’d either style it himself or just let it go. He wrapped his arms around me kissing my temple.

“I love you, thank you for being here for this.”

“I wouldn’t be anywhere else.” He bent down and kissed my lips softly. “And I love you too.”

“Okay, final look,” Alister said. “We should be done shortly. Everlee is starting to look bored.”

“I’m not bored, just ready for wifi, food and sleep.”

“She’s not been sleeping well while we have been here,” Harry added.

“Jet lag?” Alister asked.

“A bit of that. A bit of missing my own bed. Of missing our house, our cat, my normal daily routine. It’s hard to work on anything other than his project right now since I’m not in London with my staff there and I’m so far ahead of the staff in LA when it comes to time zones.”

“I can imagine that would be difficult,” Alister replied. We both took a seat as Harry started to work with the photographer. “Do you end up working all evening to connect with people in the office in Los Angeles?”

“Not particularly late. Though last night I was on a video conference call in my pajamas. It was scheduled for 2PM in LA so it was 10 here. I could’ve stayed out of my pajamas but didn’t care.”

“They wouldn’t move it?”

“It was my father that scheduled it so he didn’t care that I was in my pajamas. It was just our leadership so they weren’t overly concerned. My father’s business partner lives in New York so it was 5:00 his time. They basically had to deal with me pacing around Harry’s Mum’s kitchen and Harry deciding to start dancing behind me. I’m glad it wasn’t the conference call I’d been on when we were in London still, that was my entire team in LA. Thankfully when he did the weird dancing during that one he was on the side of the computer without the camera.”

“You two have a great relationship.”

“Thank you.”

“I must admit when I heard rumors that my cover model was dating his manager I was worried about how a shoot would go. You have a level of professionalism I’ve rarely seen of managers and you push him to do more. And it was admittedly funny to watch his girlfriend forget how to breathe while we chopped his hair off.”

“Let’s not talk about that.” Alister laughed at me. “I am going to have a major adjustment period. The only thing I see being beneficial is maybe he will cut back on the amount of hair products taking up our bathroom. Well, that and I maybe won’t constantly stare at him like I want to stab him for having better curls than I do.” The laughter got harder.

“Is she actually being funny?” Harry called from where he was standing.

“Yes,” Alister answered.

“I told him about wanting to stab you for having better curls than me.”

“She actually threatened me in the kitchen last weekend. I was a bit concerned. She was holding a knife. I should preface that by saying she was making margaritas for the tacos we’d made for dinner so she was cutting up limes, she wouldn’t actually hurt me.”

“Never. You’re too pretty. You make me money being pretty.” I winked at him as he rolled his eyes.

“I have no idea why I put up with you.”

“Because you love me,” I answered. It wasn’t much longer and we were done for good. There were hugs and goodbyes to the team we’d bonded with over the two day shoot before we put ourselves and our things into Harry’s car and took off towards his Mom’s house. Emma and Eliza were heading back to their hotel because they were getting up early to head back to London so that we could get ourselves on a plane late tomorrow night to head back to Los Angeles. “How do you feel about your first solo shoot?”

“I think it went really well. The shots I saw looked cool and their vision was different which I liked.”

“How does your head feel?”

“Light,” he replied laughing. “I feel a bit naked and kind of cold.” I reached across the car and ran my fingers through the extremely short hair on the back of his head. He leaned into my touch before turning and kissing the inside of my hand. “Thank you for everything you did this week.”

“It’s my job.”

“I know but I appreciate it. You really did make me being there on my own a lot easier than it could’ve been.”

“Making sure a shoot goes smoothly for a client is something that’s important. Nothing should ever happen that makes anyone unhappy or uncomfortable.” I yawned as I finished speaking.

“You are exhausted aren’t you?”

“Early call times and jet lag are killing me. I love being here and I love England but seriously I can’t wait to get home.”

“I am ready to be home too. I just wish it was for more than a long weekend. I mean I’m really excited for Mexico but as soon as its over I have to leave you and I’d like a bit more time at our home together than just this quick trip.”

“I know,” I replied. “I promise. I’ll have the house perfect when you’re done with Dunkirk and we can have a week where we don’t leave the house.”

“I love that idea. Can I declare that we must be naked for the entire week?” He looked at me with hope in his eyes.

“Sure,” I replied. “A whole week naked. Sounds great.”

“You’re lying to me but I’m going to hold you to that.” He pulled into the drive at his Mom’s house. Both Anne and Robin’s cars appeared to be there so I knew we’d get a chance to say goodbye to both of them before we got back in the car and drove to London. I was ready for a quiet couple of hours in the car and hopefully this time Harry would let me work. We headed into the house, greeted Anne and Robin briefly before running upstairs to change out of work clothes and pack everything to head home.

“Do you want some time alone with your Mom and Robin before we leave? I can go outside and call Pops or Kammi or something. I haven’t checked in on the office yet today.”

“No, it’s okay. You can call Kammi from the car. I’ll allow you to work a bit on this trip.”

“Aren’t I lucky?” I smiled at him and he flipped me off. We grabbed our bags and headed downstairs. I could tell that Anne was a bit sad about Harry leaving home.

“You two all packed and ready to head back to London?” she asked.

“We are. This one already has the wheels turning on how much work she can get done in the car because I told her I’d let her make a few phone calls on the drive back.”

“Don’t work too hard,” Robin said.

“I’ll try not to,” I replied as he pulled me into a hug. I caught Anne pull Harry into a hug out of the corner of my eye.

“I’m gonna miss you,” she practically whispered. “Call me when you get home so I know you’re safe.”

“I will. I love you, Mum.”

“I love you too, darling.” I felt terrible. Here I was watching Harry leave his Mom and Robin when I knew there was nowhere in the world he’d rather be than right here with them. I felt like it was my fault. That if it wasn’t for me he’d be staying here with them instead of jet setting to Mexico for my family vacation and then taking off to France for the summer to work. While the work wasn’t directly my fault, it didn’t mean I didn’t feel like it was. I wanted to tell him we could stay longer or he could stay longer and I’d rent a car to get back to London and fly home. “Evie, I am so happy to have finally met you.” Anne pulled me into a hug and immediately the terrible feeling left and all I felt was love from this wonderful woman.

“I am so happy he invited me to come home with him.”

“As am I. You are welcome here anytime. If you make it to England for work and don’t happen to have my son let me know. We’d come down for a visit to see you and Gemma.”

“That would be nice,” I replied.

“Feel free to come without him,” Robin added. “We’d like to keep you. Harry we are used to at this point.” I started to giggle at Robin picking on his stepson. Harry put his best pretend hurt face on which just made me and Robin laugh harder.

“You are officially my favorite.” I couldn’t stop giggling.

“Fuck off,” Harry said under his breath. I turned to look at him, raising an eyebrow. “Kidding. Kidding. I love you, Evie.”

“Good job.” I smiled deviously which made Harry laugh and pull me into him. He placed a kiss on the top of my head. A few more hugs and promises to call and we were out the door. “I feel terrible.”

“Do I need to stop? Are you going to be sick? Are you getting a migraine? I’ve been worried that would happen while we were traveling. Your Mum and Dad warned me that sometimes when you travel and get jet lagged that you get them.”

“No, I feel fine.”

“You just said you felt terrible.”

“I do,” I answered. “I am stealing you during your last bit of freedom to go on vacation with my family. You should be staying here with your Mom and Robin.”

“No, I shouldn’t.”

“Yes, you should.”

“Want to know what Mum told me this morning while you were upstairs getting ready?” He glanced at me as I nodded before he focused his eyes back on the road. “That I should do whatever I can to make sure I don’t lose you and enjoy the time we have together. She is also already making plans for a trip to come visit us in LA after I’m done filming.”

“Come visit us? Are you really coming straight back to LA?” I asked.

“Of course. That much time away from you I’m going to come straight home. Then we will figure out what is next. We can take the time while I’m working in France to figure out where I’m going to record and what we are going to do, where we are going to live.”

“Or more accurately how long we are going to live in each place. We both know I won’t be able to be away from Los Angeles for long.”

“I do know that. And eventually I’ll be out on the road again and I hear you don’t tour.” I laughed a bit at the way he sounded. It was like he was sad and a bit disappointed.

“It’s been a million years since I’ve spent any considerable amount of time on the road.”

“Do you think you’d be willing to tag along for a little while?”

“I don’t know. Maybe. But I have to be able to make sure that my work gets done. It’s not like I can go on the road as a tour manager, assistant or professional arm candy.”

“I know. Honestly, I really enjoy having a partner that is so focused on their own career. It makes me feel less guilty when mine takes me away. You understand life with a busy schedule and you really want to see me out and working rather than making me feel bad that we can’t have regular date nights.”

“I’ve not ever been good at the normal stuff.” I laughed uncomfortably.

“You’ve done pretty damn good so far. Don’t short yourself, babe.” My phone vibrated in the center console.

Have time to chat?

“Kammi is asking if I can give her a call. Do you mind?” I asked.

“Not at all.” I clicked to call her and put the phone on speaker. I didn’t want Harry to have to only listen to one side of the phone call.

“Well, that was a whole lot faster than I expected,” she answered.

“Yeah, we are in the car driving back to London from Holmes Chapel.”

“Hi, Kam!” Harry called.

“Hey, Harry. Are you driving carefully?”

“Of course.”

“So what did you need?”

“Well, just checking on when you’re getting back in town. I’m going crazy. I need girl time. You and EJ left me here with the JoBros and Ty. I need some pedicures and martinis and gossiping about boys in my life.”

“We land at a really random time. Want to hang out Sunday? I need to start packing for Mexico and to move.”

“You don’t need to pack to move. Ty has that handled. I’m supposed to transfer you to him when we are done.”

“Well, then, I just need to pack for Mexico. If Ty has everything handled I’m assuming he and EJ are living at my house?”

“Their stuff is there and Ty I think started staying there last night. He was sending me Snaps of he and Harold snuggling and watching TV.”

“Ugh, I’m jealous. I want to snuggle Harold.”

“You get to snuggle the human one.”

“Yes, she does,” Harry said. He reached for my hand. “I have to do some work on Sunday before we take off for Mexico on Monday so you are more than welcome to come hang out with Evie while she packs.”

“Thank you. I’m going crazy. I need a vacation and estrogen in my life.”

“Doesn’t Ty normally talk boys with you?” Harry asked.

“He does usually fulfill all of the girl time needs I have, but I need you to return Ev and Eliza to me. K? Thanks.”

“I will. If I could have gotten them home earlier I would have.”

“I know and you don’t get much time at home before we take off for Mexico and then she’s going to get tired of me and want you back.”

“Kameron Ann, I would never get tired of you. But it is highly likely that I will want him back immediately after he leaves.”

“Welcome to my life. Between talk of playing shows and movies I’m bound to be asking if I can stay with you this summer because Nick will be gone.”

“It’ll be like old times, except with a way better house.” Harry started to laugh. “So is the office still standing? Pops is basically refusing to tell me if my team is in disarray without me.”

“It’s not been great, but you’re fine. I’ve been wearing your stilettos that click on the floor when a couple of times when I walk through the office just to scare them into thinking you’re back.”

“You are hilarious,” I said. “Okay I need to not spend the whole drive ignoring H. Transfer us to Ty.”

“Okay. Text me when you’re back in London and we can plan Sunday.”

“Sounds good. Here’s Ty.” I listened for a minute to the transfer music.

“Hey bitch,” he answered.

“Hey bitch, I replied.

“So, here’s an update. The packing was all finished today and I have one of our float assistants overseeing the move at the condo right now. She’s calling me when they are headed to the house and I’m going to head over there to oversee the move on that end. I have them scheduled to unpack too. Well, just your stuff. I’ll oversee it since I organized you at the condo."

“What would I do without you?”

“Live out of boxes like you did for the first three months we were in the condo.” It was true. I’d refused to unpack and just lived out of my boxes for months until I had to go on a work trip. I came home and everything was in unpacked and in a place that made sense. Ty had done it all because he was tired of passing by my room and seeing the stacks of boxes with clothing coming out of them.

“I appreciate you doing that,” Harry said. “The idea of watching her live out of boxes would stress me out. The suitcase when she first moved in was bad enough.”

“You wouldn’t have to watch it. You’ll be gone. I’d be the one having to watch her live out of boxes and be driven crazy by it. She would just FaceTime you from places where there were no visible boxes."

"She would do that wouldn't she?” He looked at me while trying not to laugh as I flipped him off.

“I hate you both.”

“I packed you to move you so you wouldn’t have to lift a fucking finger. Maybe I should let everyone who is unpacking your belongings to have a few freebies while they do it. Perhaps they’d all love their own Birkin.”

“You wouldn’t dare.”

“Do you hate me?”

“I don’t have you, Tyberius. I love you with all of my heart and soul. I will name my first child after you.”

“No, she won’t,” Harry said. “But we do love you. Please don’t give away her bags. I can’t handle the idea of her going shopping for more of them.”

“Okay, I will not give them away but I expect that you pack a few of my favorite treats from London and bring them home to me,” Ty said.

“Consider it done. I miss you. FaceTime me when you get to the house?”

“I will. I know that Little Harold will be excited to see Mummy and Daddy.” I started to laugh. Literally all of our friends knew we were like the nervous parents who had left their child at home over the kitten.

“Thanks for all of this, Ty,” Harry said.

“No problem, I love organizing stuff. It’s satisfying to know that Ev will have a closet that works well. Also if you don’t mind I’ll probably reorganize your stuff.”

“Please do,” he replied. “I just might have to bring you to London to do that here too.”

“I mean, I’ll take an all expenses paid trip to go through your closet.” I started to laugh.

“Alright Ty, we will talk to you soon.”

“Bye loves,” he said before hanging up the phone.

“I’m so glad he’s taking care of all of this.” Harry sounded relieved that he wouldn’t have to wait for me to decide to unpack my belongings in our home.

“Me too. Moving is a nightmare. And that’s considering the last time I moved it was from Chicago to Los Angeles. That was a nightmare.”

“I can imagine. Did you do that drive yourself or ship your stuff?” he asked.

“I wanted to do the drive, but I didn’t. We’d been on holiday in Europe to celebrate graduating and decided to stay longer which mean I had less time to pack and get to LA. So I pretty much threw what I needed into suitcases and packed in the most unorganized way every and shipped it all. Which is why me living out of boxes annoyed Ty. Rather than look for stuff I’d just go buy new which drove him crazy.”

“You’re a bit nutty.”

“I know.”

“I still love you though.”

“Thanks, H. I love you too.” We picked music and got into the flow of the trip. We alternated between singing along, talking about anything and everything, and me fielding emails from the office.

The drive back to London was a much easier one than the drive to Holmes Chapel. There weren’t the nerves of meeting his parents for the first time or what his first shoot would be like. Now it was just the anticipation of a long flight home and unpacking, doing laundry, and repacking in less than 48 hours to get back on a plane and head to Mexico for a wonderful vacation and time away with my family.

“Honey, I’m home!” I called as we opened the door to Harry’s house in London. The house had life in it which meant Eliza was here somewhere. I could hear music coming from the kitchen and could smell something cooking.

“Kitchen,” she yelled back. We carried our bags through the house and found her at the island, in an apron, reading something off of her iPad. “I thought I’d cook us dinner.”

“Well, aren’t we lucky,” Harry said as he hugged her quickly. “What are you making?”

“One of Ev’s favorites. I called in the big guns and Linda sent a recipe to me today.”

“Is it her bolognese?” Harry asked. He had fallen in love with it the second the fork touched his mouth.

“It is. She taught it to us when we were in high school but I wanted to make sure I had everything since I haven’t made it in ages,” Eliza replied.

“Yum! EJ, you are amazing.”

“I’ll take our bags upstairs,” Harry whispered to me before kissing me. I went to the refrigerator and grabbed a bottle of wine that I could tell Eliza had opened by the glass on the counter and poured myself a glass.

“How was your drive back?” Eliza asked.

“Good. I got some work done, called Ty to see how the move is going. He sent me a bunch of pictures of the progress today. My empty closet at the condo was a little sad.”

“He’s in his zone today. He loves the organizing process, crazy bastard.”

“I know. Without him I’d be lost. I am trying to decide what the likelihood is that he also organizes you because he gets so excited he can’t stop.”

“I’m hoping that he does. I don’t want to unpack from this trip, unpack from moving and repack all in a weekend. I was begging him to just pack me for Mexico before he packed for the move but I don’t know that he was accepting the bribes I offered.”

“I would be that he does. He’s not planning on going in to the office tomorrow so he can get everything finished before we land.”

“Kammi will go crazy.”

“She is crazy,” I said laughing. “She begged Harry today to return us because she needs estrogen.”

“That’s odd to hear from her.”

“I know, right? I’m excited for next week. Dad called while we were in the car. He and Harry are so excited for the trip that it is just so cute. Harry and Dad are like besties which is hilarious.”

“It is. Your Dad is pretty awesome though.”

“I know. I am a bit nervous about Harry, Dad, and Pops being together. His relationship with Pops is so different than it is with Dad. I mean he and Pops have been doing better and they golf together a lot but I’m pretty sure he talks to and texts my Dad more than I do."

“I’m sure he does. I think it’s great that your Dad and boyfriend get along so well. This is going to be interesting for me. My family and Joe have always gotten along decently but now our relationship is different. I mean he got us in so much trouble when we were kids that I’m not sure my family will get it.”

“They will. Joe is a good guy. You’re having fun and happy. That is all your family wants. They aren’t as crazy as mine.”

“True story.” She started to laugh. “Thankfully my parents aren’t asking for grandchildren yet.”

“Be grateful for that. I mean you’ve met my Dad. He’s got baby fever all the damn time.”

“He does. I think if your Mom would agree to another kid he’d go for it even know.”

“He would. Mom would not. Thank god. I mean I don’t need to be 25 years older than a sibling.”

“Yeah, that might be weird.” Harry’s laughter started to carry through the stairway and into the kitchen. The footsteps down the stairs could be heard with his voice. He came walking in the room while on FaceTime.

“Say hi,” he said as he sat down next to me. I peaked my head into the frame to see Ty and Harold.

“Awww baby!” I cooed at the phone. “Mommy misses you Harold.” He rubbed his face against Ty’s phone and I could hear his very vigorous purr through the speaker.

“Of course she misses you,” Ty said as he held the cat up in one hand. “I only moved her, unpacked her, and organized her closet and bathroom today. Doesn’t miss me.”

“You’ve been sending me Snaps all day. You haven’t given me the chance to even miss you yet.”

“Whatever,” he replied as he rolled his eyes at me. “So this cat, he’s a real talker. I put him in the bathroom off of the living room while the movers were bringing stuff in. He cried the entire time.”

“He doesn’t like being alone,” Harry said. “Did he sleep with you last night?”

“No, I shut the door. He cried outside my bedroom the entire time.”

“You need to leave the door open. He really hates being alone. Don’t you, Harold?” Harry’s concern about the cat had Eliza and I both giggling a little bit. “Stop laughing at me, both of you.”

“You’re so cute about the cat,” I said as I leaned over to kiss his cheek. “But seriously Ty, he really does hate being alone. He will sit on the counter in the bathroom if one of us is in the shower so he can see us. If he can see us he doesn’t cry.”

“He’s a bed hog,” Ty whined. “I really did try to sleep with him but for as tiny as he is he takes up so much space.”

“Oh dude, I know. He slept on my head the first two nights. Harry just giggled and took pictures instead of helping me get the cat off of my head.”

“You two just looked adorable.” I rolled my eyes at Harry.

“How did today go?” Eliza asked as she poked her head in view of the camera behind us.

“Good. I’ve got Evie completely unpacked and the closet arranged in a much more efficient way. Harry, not gonna lie, you’re color coded now.”

“I can handle that,” he replied.

“I’m tackling our stuff tomorrow, Eliza. I will have it ready so that we can all be packed and ready for Mexico before we are asleep Sunday night.”

“You’re a lifesaver,” Eliza said. “I was pretty freaked out about packing.”

“Yeah, I nearly packed both of you for Mexico but I didn’t want to try and do that while packing all of us to get out of the condo in less than a week. James had me schedule a cleaning crew to be in there tomorrow to get it ready. The client he has that is renting it will be in by the end of next week. So there will be a decorator going in and doing the staging on it so it’s ready for rentals.”

“Crazy how fast you got that done.” I was blown away by how fast he’d worked. “You’re a magician, Ty.”

“We really do appreciate it,” Harry added. “You’ve made this transition so easy.”

“Hey, it’s my job to make her life easier. I’m just doing this because I like you,” Ty said.

“Well, we both are endlessly indebted to you. Expect all of your favorite English treats when we arrive home. My bag is stuffed to the brim.” I smiled because I’d made Harry stop at a shop on the way home today so I could buy all of Ty’s favorites. I’d probably end up having to hide it in everyone’s bags or I’ll send mine over the weight limit. Doing little things like this for people always made me happy but knowing how excited Ty would be made it even better.

“You’re my favorite. Just don’t tell Kammi.”

“I won’t, I swear,” I replied laughing. We said our goodbyes so we could finish helping Eliza with dinner. Harry put music on and the three of us danced around the kitchen while we finished cooking.

“I want to make a toast,” Harry said as we sat down. “A toast to the two amazing women I’ve been able to travel with over the last week. You are both amazing, so incredible at your jobs and have been a joy to travel with, minus the flight here.” The side eye he threw at me made me start to giggle. “I am so thankful to have both of you in my life. You’ve both made this trip extremely enjoyable and made my first experience on my own not completely terrifying.”

“You’re too sweet,” Eliza replied.

“Love you.” I leaned across the table to kiss him. “Thank you for bringing us both with. Also a giant cheers to you on successfully completing your first photoshoot as a solo artist.” We all clinked glasses and started to eat. Harry was still on cloud nine from the shoot the last few days and knowing that he was doing this all on his own. He was the one who was in charge of his image and what he did, which obviously made him a little nervous but also was a sense of freedom he’d truly never had. By the end of the shoot today he’d finally stopped asking me if I liked what they were doing out of a sense of approval and more to see if his girlfriend thought he looked hot.

After dinner we cleaned up the kitchen and started to get ourselves ready to head back to LA the next day. Eliza and Joe had planned a FaceTime date since she’d been so busy working. Harry and I went upstairs to do laundry and pack. I dug my laptop out to go through my email while Harry decided what he wanted to bring out of his London closet with him. He was also busy packing what Emma would eventually bring to France when she arrived to help him get settled as he began shooting ‘Dunkirk.’

“Fuck me,” I mumbled as I dropped my head into my heads at the email chain I’d been included on today by some of my staff.

“I mean okay, but it was less than 10 minutes ago when you told me to pack and then we could have sex.” I looked up and saw Harry start to laugh as he pulled his t-shirt over his head.

“Not what I meant, but nice try.” He clearly did not care about what I was saying because he picked my laptop up off of the bed where it sat in front of my legs. He grabbed my ankles and pulled me so I laid out flat on the bed. “You are supposed to be packing,” I whispered as he hovered over me, his lips brushing against mine.

“I know. But someone said the magic words.”

“When did ‘fuck me’ become the magic words?”

“The first night I met you.” I quickly moved and put my feet against his stomach pushing him off of me as we both burst into fits of giggles.

“You are the worst.”

“Is that code for me being the best? I distinctly remember the morning after those became the magic words you mentioned me being the best.”

“I did and I am never going to live down that you heard that.” He snaked his arms around my waist pulling me onto his chest, his arms trapping me in a hug as he played with the ends of my hair that still had loose curls in it from this morning.

“Okay, jokes over. Why were you making the scrunchy face?”

“My team is incapable of working without me there. I will have been out of the office for basically a month when I get back. If the building is still standing I will be shocked.”

“What happened today?”

“What didn’t happen today is perhaps the question you should be asking.” I groaned again as I dropped my head on his chest allowing the sound of his heartbeat to calm me. “Evidently two of my team members decided to start fucking each other.” I felt him cringe beneath me. “Wouldn’t be a problem except she is married and he was in a relationship…with a client.”

“Ouch! Why are you aware that all of this happened?”

“The client came into the office today and fired her rep, who happened to be the married woman sleeping with her boyfriend…in the middle of a pitch meeting with one of our bigger clients, one who is covered by nearly ever division we have. He’d stepped off of her account to avoid a conflict of interest. His Dad is a senior rep in Jimmy’s division so his Dad basically forced him too. So just imagine how messy it all is. The first email I got today was from my father.”

“Fuck. You gonna be ok?”

“Yeah, I might need to have a meeting Saturday afternoon, which is NOT what I wanted to do Saturday.”

“I know, you wanted to do me.”

“I mean, yes, but also we will now have two roommates and a cat when we land. And these two roommates both have boyfriends.”

“When did we go from living in a lavish Hollywood Hills home to a frat house?” I started to laugh.

“When you declared that I was moving in with you and we decided to rent out my condo for extra cash. My goal is that there’s no traces of these roommates by the time you get home.”

“Don’t rush them. It will be fine if they are there. We can manage.”

“I know we can but I don’t want to.” He laughed quietly as I felt his lips connect with the top of my head. “I love you and want it to be our life, not The Circus every night.”

“Well, that can be completely up to you. If Eliza and Ty have to live with us for a while, I don’t mind.”

“You’re amazing.”

“You just told me a few minutes ago that I was the worst.” I glanced down at him.

“You’re also that. We need to be packing.”

“I know but I also know that right now, right here, just like this, I love it. I love us.”

“I love us too.” I moved to gently press my lips against his. This whole week had been busy and confusing. We were navigating life as a couple and as our business relationship and doing it around people who weren’t just family and friends for basically the first time. I was proud of how well we’d done. “You need to pack. I need to work and then shower since we’ve got such weird travel times tomorrow.”

“Okay,” he groaned. “I’ll pack. But before you shower, you’re getting naked…in this bed…with me. Got it?”

“Got it!” I kissed him and rolled back onto my side of the bed, quickly grabbing my laptop off the nightstand. He felt his index finger on my chin as he turned me to face him.

“I love you, Everlee Mae Scarcello.”

“I love you, Harold Edward Styles.” He kissed me.

“I still love you despite the fact that you know my name is not Harold and insist upon calling me and our cat that name.”

“It’s cute.”

“You’re cute,” he said.

“Thanks.” He shook his head at me one more time before kissing me softly and getting out of bed. I looked at my computer and there was a new email from my father.

From: James Scarcello
To: Everlee Scarcello
Subject: Update on Today’s Situation

Everlee,

I just wanted to let you know that things today amongst your team got out of hand. As I haven’t been able to reach you all afternoon (evening your time) by phone I went ahead and handled the situation. Both parties in question have been placed on a leave of absence pending investigation into the situation. I will allow you to handle the investigation and how their employment is handled. My advice at this point is to let them both go. Both are easily replaceable and have caused more problems than they are worth.

I was also able to grab Demi this afternoon for coffee. You’re going to be representing her until you can find a suitable replacement. We lucked out that it was one our clients who you maintain a friendship with. Nick and Kammi also helped smooth that out. She understands that you don’t conduct business that way. You might want to call her and check in. Then call me.

James

It was always a bad sign for my father to sign off from an email with me by using his name instead of saying ‘Pops’ because of how much he hated it if I called him James. I quickly reached for my phone to discover that it was off.

“Fuck.” My head fell in my hands again.

“What now?” Harry asked as he poked his head out of his closet.

“Pops has been trying to call me. My phone was off.”

“I turned it off before dinner. It had been buzzing incessantly. I’m sorry, I didn’t realize it was anything this big. It had been Nick and Kammi both saying you needed to call.”

“Yeah, the client from today was Nick’s best friend, that’s why.” Harry looked confused. “It was Demi Lovato in the meeting when the other client stormed in, fired her rep and broke up with her boyfriend by throwing a glass pitcher of water at him and shattering the glass window in the conference room.”

“Oh god. Call. Now.” I turned my phone back on and tried my best to ignore the hundreds of notifications going off as I scrolled through my contacts landing on Demi Lovato. It rang twice before it connected.

“Hey Ev,” she answered.

“I am so sorry.”

“You are fine," she said laughing. “It wasn’t your doing. I know that. Nick and Kammi both hunted me down after the meeting. I was actually at Rachel’s for final fittings on the looks you saw the last time we were both there. The three of them both tried to call you knowing there was no way you knew what happened. The way that Lola behaved was so not your fault. She was clearly unstable because of Shane’s behavior, we both understand that." I laughed a little. Demi and I both had our fair share of poor behavior by men in our lives. “Maggie tried her best to remain professional but Lola was screaming about calling her husband. It was a mess. I mean it would’ve been great for a scene in a movie but that’s about it.”

“I am still so sorry. I should’ve been there.’

“You are in England taking care of a client, a very important one at that. Just don’t piss him off so the next time I’m in a meeting I have Harry Styles chucking glasses at a wall behind me.”

“I would never and neither would he.” I laughed again, this time it didn’t sound nearly as uncomfortable as it had the first time. “I’m out next week in Mexico which you know. When I get back we will sit down and get this handled. In fact, let’s meet Saturday. Come to my place. I will have the LA office send me all of the proposals that Shane and Maggie were supposed to be presenting to you and we can go over them.”

“I heard you moved out of the condo.” This was the sign of the conversation shifting from one where I was trying to smooth over a rough meeting for a client to one where a friend was interrogating me.

“Technically, Ty moved me out of the condo. But yes, I moved. Harry and I are living together now.”

“Good. It’s nice to see you happy. Text me the address and I’ll come over Saturday afternoon to check out the new place and we can talk.”

“Thank you. Again, Demi, you have no idea how sorry I am and how completely embarrassed I am by my staff’s behavior.”

“You’re fine. I’d picked up on their flirtations lately. The last photoshoot I did they were a little chummier than normal. You don’t need to apologize for their behavior.”

“Okay. I’ll text you the address and see you Saturday.” I hung up the phone.

“Sounds like you fixed it,” Harry said as he leaned against the door of the closet. He still hadn’t put a shirt on, just the jeans he’d worn in the car back to London.

“Technically, Nick, Kam, and Rachel fixed it. Demi is cool. She knows that shit happens. Now I have to call Pops. That’s going to be the uncomfortable one.” I hit the button to call his cell phone.

“Everlee,” he answered.

“Hey Pops. Sorry, my phone died on the drive back.” I was lying to save my boyfriend. If I told my father that he’d gotten annoyed by the alerts on my phone he would be furious. I needed to be reachable 24/7 in my father’s eyes. In my boyfriend’s eyes it was dinner time on a Thursday evening and I was in another country, there wasn’t anything that was urgent enough that it couldn’t wait until I woke up Friday morning. “I just caught up on your emails and the emails coming in from the team. I’ve gotten quite the variety of stories on what happened today. I called Demi, she’s coming to the house Saturday for us to go over the contracts for her before I leave so she has them and time to consider her options while I’m in Mexico. If I need to come back early from that trip or leave late for any of her needs I will.”

“You’re fine, kid. You didn’t know this was going on. It’s been happening while you’ve been on the road for work. You also have amazing friends that stepped in. When I was trying to get ahold of Demi I heard from Rachel that she was at her studio and went there to smooth things over.”

“Thank you. I owe Rachel, Kam and Nick my life.”

“You do in fact owe them your life, your sister especially. When Demi walked in early and frazzled she sent an SOS to Kammi and Nick who showed up almost immediately.”

“I owe her already. She’s been cat sitting this week and is doing it next week too.”

“She told me she was enjoying that. Your cat is evidently very snuggly.”

“He is. Harry picked a good one. So Pops, everything is okay then?”

“Yeah, when you get back you can do the investigation into it. Then we will meet as an Executive Team and with the Board if necessary to go over your findings.”

“I’m prepared to fire them. Judging by the emails I received they both have used work trips as a cover for their affair and misused company funds to not only have the affair but cover it. Shane even got his assistant involved in it. She sent me an email statement that I read before calling you and it laid everything out. She'd been keeping record of everything Shane had her doing in case she lost her job over it. I feel terrible that she didn’t just come to me and tell me. I will call both Shane and Maggie and schedule meetings with them either Saturday or Sunday to let them both know that judging by the statements that I’ve received from the rest of the team, Demi, and you that they are being let go.”

“Offer the Level A severance package to them if they agree to leave quietly, it’s more than generous considering we should just fire them.”

“I agree with that but you’re also right, having them leave quietly will make it easier on the company and the transition for their exisiting client base. I’ll have Eliza write it up on the plane tomorrow.”

“You’re doing much better with this than I assumed.”

“Well, firing Shane won’t be easy. His Dad will cause complications for you I’m sure,” I said.

“Don’t worry about it. I have sat him down and gone over it. He’s more embarrassed that his son was this stupid. Shane had already told him he was pretty sure he was getting fired and asked if he could get him in at a different agency. Jeffrey told him that he was done helping him get by and he needed to figure things out on his own. We had a bit of scotch because I could tell Jeffrey was thrown off by it.”

“Fathers don’t expect their kids to screw up bad enough to let a relationship ruin their career. Shane has never been smart. This isn’t the first client he’s dated. He dated a few as an intern, usually at the same time. I was in the intern group with him, remember.”

“I do.”

“He used to hit on me. It was that week he came to Chicago for a project when I was still in school. He didn’t realize I was Everlee Scarcello. Thought that being in LA and me being a reception in Chicago when he walked in the first time meant I was his subordinate and hit on me. It was pretty funny when he had that moment of realization that I was not only not his subordinate but the boss’s daughter. He tried to get me to pretend it never happened. But then when I went out to LA he was trying to get me to go out with him all summer until I finally put him in his place.”

“Have I mentioned how proud of you I am?” he asked.

“Often."

“Well, I am Everlee. I’m very proud of who you are. I miss ya and tell my golf buddy that today’s round wasn’t the same without him.”

“I will,” I replied laughing. “He’s packing right now. I’m making him get himself mostly packed for France so that Emma doesn’t have to do it all while he’s gone.”

“You’re a hardass. Have a safe flight. Love ya, kid,” he said.

“Love you too, Pops.” I hung up the phone and flopped back onto the bed. “Harry!”

“Yes,” he answered from inside the closet.

“I'm off the phone now. Come get naked.”

“Well, you don't have to ask me twice.” I watched as he walked out of the closet completely naked. I started laughing so hard that I nearly fell out of bed as he tried to pull my pants off of me. “Stop squirming. I can’t get your pants off.” He finally got a good grip on the fabric and pulled them down as I leaned up and took my top off. I moved my laptop as he pulled my panties off and laid down on top of me.

There was something about the way Harry kissed me that took over every once of my senses. He was capable of controlling me in a way that I hadn’t realized was possible and he wasn’t even trying to. He had the ability to make me feel a way I never had before. It’s like his lips against mine sent me into a completely different solar system.

“Evie…” His voice broke me from my thoughts. I opened my eyes and looked up into his. It was different today. I was used to his hair hanging around his face or being pulled up into a bun and there he was, hovering above me with short messy hair that barely reached his eyes. “Hi.”

“Hi.”

“Where did you go?” he asked.

“The Degobah System.” His laugh was so loud it echoed off the walls.

“The Degobah System? Are you hanging out with Yoda? You are such a fucking nerd.”

“You love it.”

“Do I?”

“You love me.” I smiled brightly.

“That I do. I just wasn’t quite sure where I lost you.”

“You have the capability to send me into a different galaxy, H. I got lost.”

“Why don’t I find you and bring you back to Earth with an Earth shattering orgasm?” This time it was my laughter echoing off the walls.

“I do really love you.”

“That fact makes me the luckiest man in the world.” He kissed me again, this time much slower than before. “I love you. I love the way you smile. I love the way you taste. I love the way you laugh. I love the way you think. I love the way your skin feels against my skin. I love having you here with me.”

“I love being here with you.” Our lips connected again. “How did we go from ‘get naked’ to being so mushy so fast? You were supposed to come in here and fuck me.”

“I know and then you got that look on your face that you get when you get lost in the Degobah System.”

“You’re mocking me.”

“Only half mocking you.” I pouted at him. “Don’t do that. Everlee Mae, I love you with all my heart. I’m sorry but I needed to get a bit mushy on you. This week, having you here, it’s meant the world to me. I’m so lucky to have you.”

“And I’m so lucky to have you.” Our lips connected again. My fingers ran through his hair, gently pulling on the short strands.

“Alright, mushy time over, time to remind you that I’m the best there ever was.” I started to laugh loudly again as his lips connected with my shoulder.

Notes

I am ready to be chastised for taking so long to write that. It’s been a wacky few months, which isn’t really an excuse but at the same time, it is. Since the first of the year, I have signed like 8 new clients, moved my business into an office, and moved myself into my Mom’s house which is the first time I’ve lived here since I was 15. Everything is going amazingly right now and it gave me a chance to get in the headspace where I could work on this so I hope you all forgive me for the leave of absence.

Now to the good stuff. Harry’s haircut. Writing the way Evie reacted to it was a challenge but something I truly enjoyed. I am not gonna lie, I MISS HIS HAIR. The long hair was everything for me but the pics coming out of this tour give me hope that the curls are returning despite his hair being so short. I am sad that I will now no longer get to write about Evie’s obsession with Harry’s hair.

What did you think? Did you have a favorite part? Did you like the glimpse into some of what was happening at Evie’s office? Ty and Harold? Everyone cooking together? I am so anxious to hear what everyone thinks!!!

I think I’m going to work on another piece for A New Life in New York before diving into the next chapter of ITHOLA. I’m open to ideas for New York so send those in as well.
xx AM.