Hello there lovely people, who have been gracious enough to read my little story!

This is this week's update! When I first started writing this, I never thought I'd post it anywhere it could be read...But the story started to develop and I felt the need to see what others would think of it.

Bliss became a companion of sorts to me, I find myself thinking how she would react to certain events on a daily basis. Harry, on the other hand, we all know and adore.

When I first posted the prologue to this story, I planned on twice a week updates (Tuesdays and Saturdays). Sadly life has gotten in the way forcing me to scale back to once a week. I deeply apologize for that

You'll be getting a new chapter every Tuesday. I hope you stay with me on Bliss's and H's journey.

Today our girl is out in London with her family, she has conflicting feelings about them.

Wishing everyone a Terrific Tuesday!

Eleven

If had to rate the next day lunch at The Ivy using the five-star system, I'd give the restaurant five out five stars. My family, on the other hand, would get only three out of five stars. And that's just because they are family and I love them otherwise, they would get none.

The restaurant was lovely. The staff overdid themselves making us feel comfortable; despite Allegra, Felicity and Joy showing up with Mum, Imogen, and even Dad on tow muttering "You're going to America soon and we won't see you for months" by way of an explanation. (See why their number of stars is going down?).

Nevertheless, the name of Harry Styles worked its magic and even though the restaurant was packed, they still managed to accommodate three extra persons in premium seating and shower us with complimentary champagne. Although this gesture was not appreciated by everybody.

As soon as the glasses were set up at our side Dad began to complain about him being a simple English man and not wanting anything to do with foods and drinks not produced on home soil. This was settled soon and he was promptly given complimentary bottle scotch. Dad loves Scotland. The rest of us were mortified. (See why the number of their stars is going down?).

"This place is amazing, all the biggest YouTubers are vlogging and Instagramming about this" Mum said. And not to be outdone by any twenty-year-old internet celebrity, she proceeded to take out her iPhone and made us pose for selfies. After twenty-eight photos she was satisfied.

Imogen was being her quiet and polite self, bless her. Truth be told she was the least harmful of them all. But when it came to ordering she could never make up her mind, kept asking the waiter about the ingredients of each dish in the menu, and after twenty minutes she would ask them "Would you fancy making a recommendation, dear? I can't seem to make up my mind. " And of course the waiter would make her order the most expensive thing on the menu. And she would eat and praise whatever was brought to her, afraid of stirring up any trouble. It was a time-consuming process, which unfailingly took place every single time she ate at an establishment she considered posh.

Allegra was alright, she even joined in the conversation whilst craning her neck looking around the room at what other people were wearing. She has a borderline obsession with anything fashion related, as I might have mentioned before. And although it came in very handy when an occasion, like say going on a three-month world tour, came up it still meant that she would sometimes forget about her surroundings when she noticed a remarkable piece of clothing, shoe, handbag, sunglasses. People often got offended at her intense stares, she got many guy's phone numbers, many women held on to their men when she started and threw her dirty looks. It was deeply embarrassing to all of us, but she was oblivious to it all. However, I was feeling very grateful towards Allegra; during our morning stroll through the shops, she had picked several new items for me that would be very useful on my upcoming time on the road. She even offered to text me some outfits ideas, so I could reuse things and avoid over packing.

"Will you excuse me for a minute?" Allegra asked "I'm just gonna do a quick run back to the shop and ask about the wool/cotton content in the socks we got. Bliss might need something warmer. Also, I'm having doubts about the color." I knew she was just looking for an excuse to check some belts at the shop we had seen nearby, full well knowing full well of us had seen enough accessories for the day and would not agree to go there after lunch. Maybe that was the reason she was a model size 0. She would rather peruse Vogue than eat.

"I have big news" Joy announced moving her hands and arms excitedly in the air. Whenever Joy got excited she would gesticulate frantically knocking out whatever was in her way. It was an involuntary thing. Once she had slapped a girl whilst queuing for an OTRA concert in London, luckily the victim accepted her apologies and laughed it off. Today she knocked a water pitcher out of a waiter's hands. "I finished the business classes my parents insisted I take, and now I'm free to work on makeup. I've applied and been accepted at Charlotte Tilbury's" This was, of course, exciting news. Everybody forgot about the water incident, even the waiter.

Having finished eating the main course, we indulged in the usual round of excuses for ordering dessert to assuage our consciences. You know "I'll just have one bite," "There's fruit in here, it isn't very fattening," "I'll live on lettuce and water for a week" when Felicity excused herself. She never ate dessert, but could not be trusted around any savory dish. Still, she was a size 2. I, on the other hand, am a size....Never mind, you don't need to know that.

On our way out we saw Felicity talking animatedly, some might say flirting, with the maître. "Oh, Felicity is networking! How clever of her." Mum said cheerily.

"That one is going places; she never lets an opportunity to make contacts slip away" Dad added, happily.

The rest of us kept quiet albeit giving each other knowing smirks. We all suspected that Felicity 's vast network of contacts came from her flirting unabashedly. She was twenty-one after all.

¿See now why they deserved no stars?

During the afternoon, Joy took me under her wing to make sure I had all my beauty needs fulfilled before the tour. Dad went placidly along with all our girl shopping since he didn't have to fulfill his usual bag carrying duties thanks to Harry's forethought.

Our outing was peppered with occasional questions about Harry. During my first two days in Manchester, they had texted me incessantly asking for details. We had a massive row on the third day, when I flat out refused to answer any of their questions explaining that keeping my job, rested on my ability to keep my mouth shut. Tears and apologies followed and soon we were back to normal. We contrived to find some sort of middle ground where certain conversations about my work could be had, with facts that were already common knowledge.

"Loved Harry in Radio's 1 Live Lounge, he has an amazing voice. He certainly wasn't lying when he said his celebrity crush was Rihanna. He covered Four Five Seconds when he was in 1D and killed with that cover of Wild Thoughts." Joy said.

"Oh, darling. This new job of yours is so wonderful. It reminds me of an Agatha Christie novel, or a Downton Abbey episode. You know, during the first half of the twentieth century when they had massive mansions filled with rooms, and everybody lived together. The Lord of the Manor would have his staff living with him, in all those books you can always find a secretary or other living on the premises. So elegant!" Imogen commented.

"Please, take and send me as many photos as you can of all the Gucci stuff he's gonna wear on tour," Allegra pleaded, "If it doesn't get you into trouble of course."

"I'd like notes, photos and details on the concert venues and hotels" Felicity pleaded. She was always on the lookout for the new and trendy, determined to make her mark on the world of event planning. That is if she didn't end up running an escort service with all the flirting (or "networking" as Mum called it) she was doing.

"This Harry lad is bloody nice." Dad said cheerfully, "We'll ask him for a proper dinner when he returns. We'll even use real china plates." When Mum and Dad got married they agreed she would cook and he'd wash the dishes, but after Mum's attempt at cooking almost burned down the house Dad took over the cooking. Mum refused to do the washing up, arguing she hadn't agreed to it. Dad settled the argument by always using disposable dishes.

Soon it was time to part and a lump began to form in my throat; I wouldn't be seeing them for months. "Now, now don't cry sweetie, we'll facetime all the time" Mum, comforted me.

"You've been offered an amazing traveling experience; it'll enrich your writing." Dad offered.

Imogen had gotten me a brand new video camera, "just in case you have time to send us snippets of your journey."

Allegra, Felicity, and Joy each texted me a list of things they wanted me to purchase for them in the different places the tour would visit.

And see here, that's why they earned their stars.

By making their shopping list Allegra, Felicity and Joy were sending me in a wild scavenger hunt, but it was their way of making sure I'd stay in contact. They knew I'd be texting about the different items constantly. Mum and Dad reassured me everything would be all right, Imogen offered to buy me a ticket back home if I ever needed it.

My family should have come with an instructions booklet, but seeing as there is no such thing I'll explain. I'm afraid I'm going to have ruthlessly honest about this, I apologize in advance. My parents were perpetual optimists. They were also utterly and completely clueless. Their optimism was not inherited, but acquired since they both were brought up in gloomy households. They had worked very hard, their entire life on it, they were always looking for the silver lining. If say, one day I would have come home announcing I wanted to become an astronaut, they would have cheered me on "That's wonderful, Bliss." "You've got what it takes to accomplish anything in life" Don't get me wrong, is amazing to have a built-in cheer squad at home, is just that they tended to act as if the unpleasant things in life didn't exist. When Allegra broke her arm, they immediately soothed her with "Is not so bad, we'll buy you ice cream until that cast comes off." Our woes and sorrows were always received with "Now, now sweetie. It's not so bad. The sun will come out tomorrow. Here have a biscuit." If we asked for advice unfailingly we would be answered with "Do whatever makes you happy." It worked in a way since we were trained from a very early age to drown our sorrows in sugar, which meant that we didn't turn to alcohol or drugs as teenagers. Also, from a very early age, we learned to push down within ourselves any unpleasant feeling and always show a happy face to the world. Joy, whose parents adhered to a very strict school of child-rearing, also adopted my parent's optimistic creed since we met in preschool. Imogen was still a trainee, having had to deal with The Duck his entire life made her want to pledge to my parent's optimistic outlook in life. In short, during my entire childhood, it felt like I was being raised in Sesame Street with Barney as a guest star.

In fact, they were so optimistic that in parting Mum pushed a small package in my hand. "We think you'll be wanting this now." She said.

***********************************************

Upon my return to Astor Hall, I found it eerily empty. A few lights were on in the front door and entryway, no doubt lighted by the timer in the security system. The rest of the house was utterly dark. It was absolutely silent; no sound at all could be heard in any of the bedrooms. "Harry must still be out," I thought. He was not a quiet person; if he was in the house his presence would be felt. After I walked briskly through the ground floor calling out his name and getting no answer, I made my way upstairs. I stopped for a minute at his bedroom, the door was ajar but the room was as dark and noiseless as the rest of the house. I decided to just go to bed and do some writing till I felt sleepy enough, and eat the chocolate Harry had sent for dinner.

I had placed the package Mum had given when saying goodbye in my nightstand, I had a pretty good idea of what was inside and didn't feel like facing it at the moment, choosing instead to submerge myself in work.

My writing for Harry was pretty much up to date, and since I hadn't seen him all day no update was required. The next task I undertook was answering Common Knowledge emails, it only took twenty minutes. I knew there would come a time when a talk with The Duck would take place to end all my involvement with the e-magazine, but since he hadn't bothered to contact me since the failed wedding I carried on. I reasoned that if I stopped doing this, I'd be forced to have a lot of awkward conversations with the people who worked there. To postpone facing uncomfortable situations at the moment seemed the correct thing to do.

"You're all out of excuses, open me now" the package seemed to be saying. Of course, it couldn't talk but every time I glanced its way it seemed to grow bigger and the nightstand seemed to become smaller. "Better get it over with" I resigned myself and opened it, inside was a Links of London jewelry box and inside the box was a beautiful 18kt. signet gold ring with a little-handwritten note "Enjoy all the new options life offers you, love Mum & Dad."

It was such a sweet, loving gesture. When I graduated from Uni, my parents had gifted me this ring. "We would have liked it to be from Cartier, but we live on a professor's salary and we also have your sisters to think of" Mum had explained at the time, a little flushed. I put her qualms at ease assuring her that I loved the ring, which I did in spite of suspecting it was a subtle way of them telling me not to rush into marrying The Duck.

I had left my parent's ring at home when hurriedly packing to go on the road with Harry. The message my parents were sending by bringing it today was clear. It was their gentle way of telling me to take off the engagement ring I still wore, and replace it with this other one. But that would mean dealing with things, which I had already decided not to do tonight.

I hurriedly put the box back in the nightstand and decided to take a relaxing bath. My room came with a prodigiously huge bathtub I hadn't put to use yet.

Just as I stood naked on top of the bathroom rug, ready to submerge myself in the warm bath water, a deafening noise emerged from downstairs; followed by very loud screaming, unmistakably in Harry's voice

"FUCK....FUUUUUCK....FUCK"

Harry was home and, he was either on some kind of trouble or having extremely rowdy sex in the kitchen.

If you got this far and liked, please click on the star!

What do you guys think Harry is up to? Let me know!!