The rest of the week luckily carried on being quite uneventful.

Credit definitely had to be given to yourself, Harry and the rest of the team as you'd all shown just how well you worked in the mini crisis that had started the week.

All the headlines had pretty much disappeared, clearly realising that it was just a rumour or blown out of proportion tip off from a source lacking all the facts.

However, you couldn't help but feel as though this was just the beginning of what could become a huge nightmare for the company. There was something about your few encounters with the people from Bear Records that you just didn't trust; if they were just going around stealing artists and putting false claims in their heads, then what else could they do?

Everyone who was involved with the music industry - whether it be as a fan or as a singer - knew first hand how petty and cut-throat record companies could be to their competitors. Countless court cases, unfair suing, huge settlement deals, the list goes on.

You would be absolutely devastated for Harry if any of this happened to him and his company, knowing how hard he has worked to get to where he is today. But as always, jealous rivals is a price to pay for success and talent, both of which Harry had a lot off.

Saturday rolled around and you were planning to get ready at Harry's since he wanted to see you straight after your meeting so you could fill him in on what had been said.

You'd discussed tactics over dinner which consisted of a lovely linguine dish made by Harry himself; seeing him working around his kitchen with an expression of concentration and a tea towel flipped over his shoulder and the longer strands of his hair held back by a little clip had been a pretty spectacular sight. Harry could be doing the most mundane of tasks and yet you'd still be able to gaze at him in complete awe - you were just that smitten. Part of you couldn't help but wonder if you were getting a glimpse into your future. You certainly hoped you were.

However, when you'd started to do your make-up, you'd noticed Harry doing just what you'd done when he was in the kitchen; watching you devotedly with these big puppy dog eyes. It was probably mostly because you were dressed only in his fluffy purple dressing gown which kept slipping down your bare shoulder, but you definitely didn't mind his attention.

"Baby..." Harry whined in a needy tone as he came over to you and started peppering kisses along your shoulder and from all of this, you knew exactly what he was after.

"No, cos then I'll be late Harry," you pushed his face away by fluttering your fluffy make up brush on his nose which caused him to scrunch it up adorably.

"Please, I'll be quick I swear, I've just been getting all riled up watching you and you just look so good..." he sounded like a little boy trying to convince his mum as to why he deserved a treat after dinner.

"No Harry," you laughed as you got up to grab your clothes and change into them.

He made a noise of disappointment and jutted out his bottom lip in a pout. As you passed him on your way to the bathroom you gave his puffy bottom lip a little kiss, "Later, I promise, then you can have me for as long as you like."

That seemed to satisfy him for now, as he gave an enthusiastic nod at your words, "Yay, can't wait," Harry said cutely, pulling you in for a proper kiss before letting you go and get dressed.

Thirty minutes and lots of kisses from Harry to try and distract you later, you were walking up to the entrance of the fancy looking bar.

The plan was to go in professionally and cooly, to show this new head manager that you, on behalf of Eroda Music, was not someone to be messed with. You'd even worn an outfit that made you feel like a powerful girl boss; a pleated hem black skirt and silky white low cut shirt paired with a pair of red heels that gave out a satisfying and commanding tap as you walked.

However, as you were led over to your table in a secluded part of the bar near the back, apprehension building in your stomach, any plan of acting a certain way went completely out of the window when you laid eyes on your mystery meeting partner.

"Liam?!" You said in surprise, completely not expecting to see your old friends face after so long of not speaking.

"Cecy? No way!" He laughed in shock as he got up to greet you.

Liam had been one of the first people besides Emmy and Damon that you had met when you'd first moved to New York, but Damon had absolutely hated him and basically banned you from seeing him. Because of that, over time, you and Liam had just fallen out of touch, no bad blood, just your shitty ex being a controlling bastard.

In that moment it also finally clicked why the name Bear Records had caused that flicker of recognition when you'd first heard it. When you'd met Liam he had been trying to get work as a singer, but when hope was slowly dwindling, he had gotten an incredible job offer at a record label - Bear Records - to work as an intern. It wasn't what he'd been dreaming for, but he knew that it was a way in to the music industry nonetheless and to not take it would be a big mistake.

"I have to say I was not expecting to see you here," you admitted as he pulled you in for a hug and kiss to your cheek in greeting. You returned the gesture feeling slightly shocked at how funny the world worked sometimes.

"I know, me neither!" His face was lit up in his classic kind smile, big brown eyes crinkled and happy at seeing you again after so long. He pulled back to look at you, "You look incredible as always. Take a seat, take a seat, how have you been?"

"Ah thank you, so do you, I can't believe how long it's been!" Liam pulled your chair out for you and you gratefully took a seat across from him, "Thanks - but, uhm, yeah I've been good...really good actually," you couldn't help the small smile that crept onto your lips as you answered, thinking instantly of Harry.

"I'm so glad to hear that Cecy, really," and you could tell he was; those gentle eyes were always so expressive.

"What about you? How the hell have you ended up as head manager when last I knew you were an intern?!" You said with a shocked laugh, still trying to wrap your head around this strange turn of events.

With a laugh, Liam began to tell you all about the last year or so that you hadn't been in contact. He had excelled so much during his time as an intern at the company by managing to help sign on the band that one of his good friends was in, 5 Seconds of Summer, who were arguably now known as the companies biggest artist. Because of this, he'd scaled the ranks quickly, skipping many roles and being promoted straight into management in a role slightly similar to yours, and had worked under the old head manager before he had left just under a month ago.

Something about Liam's story and the cocky tone to his voice had flagged something up though. You vaguely remembered hearing about the old head manager, Simon Walsh, at the afterparty of the American Music Awards and how he'd been practically forced out of his position for a younger, more current person, who you now found out to be Liam.

He had made it out that Simon had willingly stepped down from the role, but you were sure that's not what you had heard about the story, but instead more of a case of his prodigy coming up from the dark to, essentially, fuck him over for the job.

Making a mental note to have a google later now that you had more information, and to ask Harry if he knew anything about it, you let it slide for now and didn't question it.

However, your uneasiness had only grown slightly when, after telling Liam about your life for the past year and telling him about how amazing Eroda Music had been for you, he'd scoffed and reacted unimpressed by your love for your job.

"I can't believe you went with Eroda out of all the labels out there."

You furrowed your brows in confusion, where had this sudden animosity towards your company come from?

"Why do you say it like that?"

"They're just a big headed company Cecy, everybody knows it. Especially that Styles, he's -"

"My boyfriend," you cut Liam off instantly, keen to avoid the rest of his sentence which you could tell wasn't going to be very complimentary. You narrowed your eyes at him slightly, warning him to tread carefully. You hardly had time to register how easy it had been to call Harry your boyfriend, the word not feeling foreign on your lips at all.

"Oh. I'm sorry Cecy, I didn't know," the disappointment and indifference was clear in his voice, which took you by surprise as it made his apology seem very far from genuine.

"It's fine. So is this why you chose to steal our client?" You questioned.

Liam relaxed a little and gave a short laugh, "We haven't stolen anyone, Zayn chose to leave."

"Chose to leave a company which he'd had no complaints for before you got in the picture with a buy out? I find that hard to believe," you swirled your wine around in its glass, awaiting Liam's answer. The atmosphere between the two of you wasn't cold, but it had certainly taken a step away from the friendly reunion it had been a few moments before.

"Look," he shuffled forward in his seat to place both his elbows on the table, "Yes we did offer him more money, but I played no part in coercing his issues with your companies management, you'll have to take that up with him. This is purely just business."

You pursed your lips at his answer, still not believing him fully. There had to be some element of foul play - how could there not be when Liam had very openly shown his dislike for Eroda Music and Harry's success? Plus, there was this whole suspicious issue with knocking Simon off the top spot.

It seemed to you that due to his quick rise to success, Liam had become cut-throat and a bit arrogant, and would do whatever it took to have the best artists for his company.

"If you say so. Once we meet with Zayn and his team then hopefully we can get to the bottom of this and any brewing disputes can be avoided."

"I'd like that to definitely be avoided, as now I've got my friend back through this, I don't want there to be any drama between our companies," Liam said sincerely.

Choosing to believe him, as seeing Liam again truly had been such a nice outcome of what you thought could've been a difficult night, you nodded and smiled in agreement, "It has been so nice to see you again Liam."

"You too Cecy...umh," he cleared his throat before speaking again, "I don't want to bring this up, since you're clearly in a much better place now...but I've always wondered, was Damon the reason we grew apart?"

You sighed, expecting this to possibly come up at some point. The truth was, well...yes. Damon had actively shown you his dislike for Liam, as he had claimed Liam was interested in you as more than a friend, and hence by you hanging out with him, it meant you were interested too. Damon's jealously was ultimately the reason you and Liam hadn't spoken, and you'd be lying if it didn't eat away at you, especially after you and Damon broke up. And now seeing Liam's puppy dog eyes full of unsureness, you felt worse than ever.

"Liam...yes he was, he let his jealously overcome him and grew to believe you were interested in me as more than a friend - which is crazy right?" you asked with a breathy laugh.

But Liam didn't reply, instead he just looked intently at his glass.

"Liam?" You pressed.

"Oh! Ye-yeah, crazy, carry on," you couldn't help but notice how he stumbled over his words, unsure of why he'd suddenly blanked out.

"Um, yeah, so he was just unbelievably jealous and got a bit threatening with me so I just gradually stopped speaking to you. And I am so sorry Liam, I was a coward, I should've stood up for myself and realised his true colours earlier on."

"No, no! Cecy don't be silly, I completely understand...I know what he was like with you, whether you said it or not, so please don't apologise," he said earnestly, "and besides, look where we've both ended up! It all worked out in the end."

You nodded wholeheartedly, he was right - life always had a weird way of bringing you back to good people, you of all people knew that first hand.

◇

A little while later you'd wrapped things up, partly eager to get back to Harry, but also to mentally unpack everything Liam had said.

As you sat in the cab on your way back to Harry's, your mind was whirring away, trying to piece this complicated picture together to try and figure out exactly what Liam's intentions and motives were. You felt like it was a game of chess; each move from both players would cause a reaction the other might not like, but both sides were playing hard and to ultimately win.

But part of your brain was also consumed by that warm feeling that being reunited with an old friend always brought. Even though it was clear you and Liam had both changed in different ways - you more sure of yourself, and him maybe a bit too much so - but that didn't matter, as you still felt like hardly anything had changed within your friendship.

Making your way up to Harry's apartment already felt like second nature, even if your mind was still clouded in thought, ready to find out the last few remaining gaps in your knowledge. However, part of you felt bad for planning to pry and dig up the dirt on Liam. He had been such a good friend to you, and if this whole fiasco had brought anything good, it was seeing him again.

"Hey beautiful," Harry called from his spot on the sofa as you opened the front door.

You dropped your bag, hung up your coat and gladly slipped off your heels, flexing your toes after, before making your way to Harry.

The sight that greeted you made you stop in your tracks.

Harry was sat, lounged across his L-shaped sofa in only a pair of grey sweatpants as he watched something on the TV. He had a pen tucked behind his ear and his journal was laying open in front of him, but you hardly noticed that as all the tattoos on his upper body were on display and being drunk up by your greedy eyes

No longer hearing your footsteps, he turned to look over the back of the sofa to find out why you'd stopped moving, "What?"

"I came home ready to talk business with you, and here you are wearing grey trackies - GREY of all colours - and looking all sexy and irresistible!" You said in exasperation.

Harry laughed loudly, a proper belly laugh where the corner of his eyes crinkled and his dimples were about ten foot deep. He put his pen down and closed his journal, not before you saw some freshly written words, before gracefully rising from his spot to move around the sofa and saunter towards you.

"Like what you see darling?" He moved languidly, but with a clear intention and a huge smirk as he put his hands in his pockets which caused the hem of his pants to move slightly lower, telling you that he was also without underwear.

"Dear god," you breathed out, eyes widening with every step he took, the details of his body coming into clarity the closer he got.

The way his cross pendant bumped between his muscled pecs; the sprinkling of chest hair just below it that led to a little happy trail; the two little marks on either side of his abs below his nipples; the dip of his hip bones; the clear and inviting bulge between his thighs...you were absolutely fucked.

Harry had finally made his way to stand in front of you while you'd been staring at him, transfixed. Your gaze rose up to meet his and when you saw the smug amusement in his emerald irises, you couldn't help the helpless hum that left your lips.

"Such a t-tease," you whispered, the last word coming out in a stutter as he'd just moved to start placing feather light, tickling kisses from the point where your jaw met your ear.

He hummed against your skin, "Knew you'd forget all about business if I had these on pretty girl."

You made a faltering noise again at his words, completely wrapped up in him and how he was currently setting your body alight with want and need.

"How about we talk business tomorrow and I take care of this?" He mumbled into your ear, and you'd not even noticed but his hand had been trailing up your skirt, and when the last word left his lips, he gently swiped his finger up your now damp panties.

A gasp left your lips at the sudden contact right where you needed him the most as your hands gripped his biceps, scared of your knees giving way.

He continued his soft assault over the lace, turning you into a complete mess at how slowly and lightly he was tracing his fingertip over your heat.

"What do you say darling?" A whiny moan left your lips as he dipped his finger into your panties and pushed his finger inside of you, right up to the knuckle in one smooth movement.

"Y-yes Harry please, need you now," you finally managed to get out your confirmation.

As soon as your words were spoken Harry was removing his finger from you and sweeping you up into his arms and walking very quickly to his bedroom. You could feel the strain of his erection under your hip and had to resist moaning at the thought of how soon he was going to be fucking you.

Yeah, business could definitely wait until the morning.

sooo...big reveal its Liam!!! did anyone guess that right by any chance?? I'm interested to see what your theories were and whether they were right or wrong so please leave a comment and let me know!!

how do you guys think Cecy will fair out now that its a familiar face involved with this bubbling situation?

and why was Liam so quiet when Cecy mentioned him having feelings for her...?

so many questions! make sure to comment your ideas as I love hearing what you guys think :))

also they're so saucy aren't they the horny devils teehee

thank you so much as always for all the love you guys show my book, it truly does always put a smile on my face to see your reactions and votes and everything in between :)) so dont forget to click that little star button!!

lots of love,

Kait x