"Don't try to make me stay or ask if I'm okay"

My little bundle of joy. Mariangeli Gloriana de La Rosa. She's 5 years old but don't be fooled by the cuteness. She's a bit more advanced for her age, a bit more mature than you'd expect. She just came back from Anne's so now she's going on and on about her weekend while we make our way through the building.

"And then she almost tripped over the cat and fell. You should've seen it." she chuckles to herself.

"Ah what are we going to do with that girl," I said and she starts laughing. My smile broadens just seeing her so happy.

"Is that who I think it is? Couldn't be because I remember that a certain someone was suppose to bring me back cookies?" Linda teased her as we got back to the desk.

"How could I make cookies and not bring any for you, Aunty Linda. ¡Eso está mal!" she exclaimed.

She pulled out the bag of cookies from her bag and took my chair and sat on it. 

Rude! She took my chair!

She and Linda sat next to each other eating, no, devouring the cookies while I watched on in amusement. I looked at my watch and saw that I had about an hour of work left before I could leave.

"Mari, how about you stay with Papá for a little while I finish up here?"I asked and her eyes lit up.

"Yes please!"she exclaimed enthusiastically and ran past me towards the brown office door. Linda and I laughed as she struggled to reach the door handle. Then I remembered, "Are they gone?" I started to cold sweat while waiting for her answer.

" Yup! Left about 15 minutes ago" Oh thank God!

"I owe you" I said and walked towards Mari's direction.

"Big time!" she called behind me. Before the door is fully opened, Mari runs through and jumps on to Simon. I smile at their exchange and signal to Simon that I'll be by my desk. He waves me off and turns his attention back to Mari.

When I got back to the desk, I turned on the computer and started typing out the minutes from the meeting. As I'm typing, I start to think Maybe leaving Mari with Simon was a bad decision. Never leave those two together. It always turns into chaos.

I swear, Mari is the only person who can bring out the kid in Simon. 

And leaving two kids by themselves is a recipe for disaster. I'm broken from my thoughts with the clearing of a throat. Without looking up and my fingers still typing away at the keyboard, I say "¡Hola buenas tardes! Welcome to Syco. How can I help you?" 

"Ummm...I was sent to collect the tour schedule?" a deep British accent asked sounding a bit unsure. Something about this voice seemed oddly familiar but what was even more odd was what he asked.

Tour schedule?

"Tour schedule?" I asked confused. That's when I finally look up and I'm greeted with the tall, long curly haired boy with the green eyes trying to avoid eye contact. 

He looks nervous. 

If I wasn't so angry at him, I'd make fun of how cute he looked.

Just do your job, Mia! 

"Sorry there must have been a misunderstanding. Your tour schedule hasn't even been made yet." I said keeping my voice monotonous. Tour schedule?? Why would he come looking for his tour schedul- wait a minute...

Simon! He set up the whole thing!

Feeling embarrassed, I went back to typing. As if Simon hasn't already pissed me off today, he goes and pulls this stunt. I knew it. I just knew that I shouldn't have told him about Harry and me. Look at what he did! After a few minutes, Harry was still stood in front of me. I could feel his eyes on me. I was starting to feel uncomfortable and irritated.

I don't like it when people stare at me, okay?

"Is there something else I could help you with because if not then you could leave. There is no tour schedule" I snapped. I didn't mean to snap at him, especially not here, but he was making me feel uncomfortable and it just.....came out.

He looked a bit taken aback by my tone. Then he immediately went back to looking nervous.

"M'sorry." he muttered and then looked down at his feet.

I didn't say anything and was about to look away to get back to what I was doing, when he suddenly blurted out, 

"Can I talk to you?" 

"We are talking. If you have an issue with something, I'm sure that I could relay the message to Simon," I said nonchalantly looking him straight in the eyes. I learned that it was a good way to intimidate somebody. So far it's working.

He raised his voice slightly, "No! I meant-" I raised an eyebrow at him, " I meant, privately" he said quietly looking down again. He looks so frustrated I almost fell bad. Almost.

I hesitated for a moment," I don't think-" 

He cut me off, "Mia, please" his voice held so much emotion, his eyes pleading with me to say yes.

I sighed resignedly and nodded toward the empty hallway. I led him further into the hallway until I was sure no one could see or hear us.

"Alright Mr. Styles, you got me out of my seat. Now what was so important that you couldn't tell Simon yourself" I think that was meant to come out as a question for for some reason, it didn't.

He ignored the comment and asked, "Is it really you?" 

What kind of a dumb question is that? Is what I wanted to ask but I held back. It wasn't like I was talking to my childhood bestfriend who I could playfully insult with ease and plan my next comeback while waiting for him to retaliate. Oh no, this was bigshot Harry Styles. International Popstar. One of the Hottest Celebrities to ever exist.

So I've heard...

"I guess. I mean I can't change who I was in a few minutes can I? I'm still the same secretary you met about half an hour ago" Maybe I should stop. He looks like he's about to burst.

"Can't you try to be serious for one minute?!" he said frustratedly running a hand through his hair.

Alright, alright. I'll stop.

"Depends on who you're looking for and who's looking for me, " He stares at me blankly, obviously losing patience with me. Good, now he knows how I felt. "What? I don't know what you do when you're alone. You could be a Russian spy for all I know!" 

You know what? If we're being realistic here, there's no way that anyone could think of Harry as a Russian spy. He's too innocent-looking...like a bunny. The guy doesn't have a violent bone in his body! 

He continues to stare blankly at me so I decide to give in. 

"Hi Harold. It's been a while," I said to him. He watches me intently before exhaling, "Woah" 

Woah? What's that suppose to mean? Is that all he really has to say? Woah??

"Woah? Is that all you're really going to say? How about, 'hey Mia, great to see you, what's it been, four years?' or 'what have you been up to for the past four years?'" I snapped. He was really digging himself deeper into a hole.

He looks down, "I can explain" he says quietly.

"Oh? Do tell!" I exclaimed. He opened his mouth but no words came out. He started fidgeting and looking everywhere but me. I started to get frustrated waiting. The tables had turned. It was probably written on my face because he looked panicked. Like I was going to physically hurt him or something. I wish.

He looked at his shoes again and before I know what's happening, Harry sprints down the hallway muttering an apology heading straight for the exit.

"COWARD!" I yelled behind him before he disappeared. Despite that short display of my crazy gene, it hurt. I knew it. It was too good to be true. He won't stay for me and I'm not going to force him. Our friendship is just a symbol of what once was. We're different people now. No point on dwelling on the past.

I still feel the pang of hurt in my chest though. Him running away from me was like a wake up call. A feeling of rejection. Harry Styles, a grown man running away from a 5'4 woman. 

Well isn't this a sign of the times, I thought as I walked back to my desk.