Harry Styles - Instant Attraction Ch. 02

2. Unexpected

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Harry sat in his car. He'd parked it outside her building. Drumming his fingers on the steering wheel, he stared straight ahead as he considered his situation. A week had passed since their blind date. He'd texted her the very next day in the afternoon to tell her how much he'd enjoyed it. She hadn't replied. He'd tried not to let it get to him, but Harry had tossed and turned restlessly in bed that night, constantly checking his phone. He couldn't get her out of his head. This had never happened before. And it was getting worse.

The following day, two days since their date, he'd decided to send a small bouquet of hot pink roses to her apartment complex. He'd texted Zayn to ask what her apartment number was. It made him feel a little desperate, but maybe he needed to be more obvious with his approach that he wanted to see her again. Maybe she'd thought his text had been too offhand and didn't think needed a reply. He checked his phone and read his text again:

Hey Charley! Hope you've recovered from your fall [winky face emoji] I had fun last night.

Harry considered it for the millionth time. He hadn't asked an outright question. Technically it hadn't requested a response. But he'd meant it to be flirtatious. Maybe she hadn't read it that way. He was beginning to question Charley being as into him as he'd assumed. His mind rebelled at the thought. Harry had been pretty sure she'd been just as hot for him as he'd been for her, but a week later, he was starting to doubt it.

Fast forward to today, a week since their date, to where he was now parked like a stalker outside her building. There hadn't been a response to the roses either. A whole week had gone by since seeing her, with no word from Charley. Harry now struggled to concentrate on his work; his mind was full of her smile, her kisses, the memories of her body pressed against his, the way she smelled, her sense of humour...her breasts against his chest... Christ, he thought, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. He needed to see her again. At least for closure. He'd thought the hot pink roses were a good choice -- not as heavy as red ones -- and he'd included a note with clear intent this time:

Charley -- roses too cheesy? Would love to see you again. Without the falling. (OK maybe a little falling). Harry

So here he was. Five days since the roses and a whole week since their date. Saturday night, parked like a creeper outside her home. He knew he should probably just give up, but her response to him on their date just couldn't make him think she was ghosting him. Something had happened. Part of him acknowledged he was hoping for any other scenario than harsh reality. Harry wished for the hundredth time he had asked Zayn if she was all right when he'd texted for her apartment number -- but at that stage he'd just thought he needed to be more assertive. Now he didn't want to seem desperate, so had held back from contacting Zayn again. His leg jiggled nervously and he glanced toward the building, as if she would walk out any second.

Just get out of the car, head up there and knock on her door. If she answers and tells you you're a creeper, at least you'll have your answer. Harry agonised a moment longer, then finally blew out a breath and stopped tapping his fingers. Without another thought, he got out and slammed the car door shut, locking it. He strode purposefully to the building, catching the door as another couple exited with lucky timing. They didn't give him a second glance. He headed to the trio of elevators, entered an empty one and tapped the fourth floor button and waited while the doors closed.

His reflection was all around him, the elevator's mirrored walls making him nervous. He gave his appearance a quick once over. It was an outfit he often favoured -- white v-neck t-shirt over black skinny jeans, black boots. His curly hair was basically styled -- he was never quite able to tame it -- and the glint of silver came from around his neck. He stuffed his hands in his pockets, scuffing his toe nervously on the rubber floor, then straightened as the elevator pinged and the doors opened. He stepped out cautiously, feeling like an intruder, and checked out the apartment numbers. Charley's apartment was 406, so he headed that way, his initially determined tread becoming less sure as he neared the door.

He came to a stop outside one of the white doors. It had a gold 406 screwed into it, and a peep hole below it. This was a nice complex. The apartment doors were far apart from each other, giving him the impression that the interiors were large. He raised his hand to knock, and hesitated. Suddenly, the door behind him opened, and he wheeled in surprise as he saw a girl rushing to lock her door behind her. She turned, jumped a little, obviously startled to see him, then gave him a friendly smile.

"Oh hi! If you're looking for Charley, you won't find her," she said, giving him a brief once-over. He hesitated, feeling like he'd been caught out. He didn't know what to say to that.

"She's not back until tomorrow," the girl continued, and started to swing her backpack over her shoulders, pushing her shoulder length red curls aside and making ready to leave.

Harry came to life. "Charley's not here?" The girl gave him a strange look, and he cringed. "Sorry -- I mean, has she been gone long? I've been trying to get hold of her for a week now."

She nodded. "That's about right. Last Sunday morning she got an emergency call -- one of her clients in Europe needed her to fly out immediately. Somewhere with no cell coverage, some small village, a shoot somewhere, I don't know. I haven't heard from her all week, either. Anyway, I'm watering the plants in her apartment while she's gone and taking her mail..." Her prattle slowed and she trailed off, narrowing her eyes at him. "Hey...are you Harry?"

Harry's whole body was flooding with relief and realisation as she'd ben talking. Charley hadn't been ignoring him at all! She wasn't even in the bloody country! At the sound of his name, he snapped his eyes up to the girls'. Had she recognised him? "Yes, I'm Harry," he said cautiously. Maybe Charley had mentioned him to her? Good or bad?

The red-head clapped her hands together and grinned. "The roses are from you then! I've tried to keep them nice, she's going to love them. They're dying a little bit though, can't be helped. Very sweet note. You were her blind date last week then," she smiled and gave him a sympathetic look. "You thought she was ignoring you?"

He ignored the last question. "Uh, yes, the roses are from me, and yes, I was her blind date...hey, I didn't catch your name, sorry?" Harry felt a little caught off guard that this girl knew who he was and had read his note to Charley. He was reeling a little from the information overload.

The girl laughed and clapped a hand against her mouth. "Oh sorry! I'm Marnie! Charley and I have been living opposite each other for nearly two years now," she gave him another bright smile and shifted her backpack to her other shoulder. "Look, I have to run otherwise I'll miss my lecture, but she's back tomorrow morning. Give her a day or so to recover from jet lag and I'll tell her you stopped by," Marnie said as she started to back away from him toward the direction of the elevators. "You look really familiar by the way. It'll come to me."

"Uh, thanks. Okay, sure." Harry wasn't sure how he felt about Marnie telling Charley he'd stopped by, but the girl was already gone and he heard the elevator ping as the doors closed. All was quiet again. He put his hands in his pockets and turned back to door 406. A half smile started to form on his face and he looked down at the ground as he, too, headed for the elevators. Charley hadn't been ignoring him at all. She hadn't got any of his messages.

Suddenly another layer of relief hit him as he was glad he hadn't given into calling and sending any more texts the rest of the week. He'd have looked like a nutcase. At least he could get away with a visit to her apartment after a text and some roses. Marnie seemed okay too, he wasn't sure how she'd paint him to Charley, but Marnie had thought that Charley would like the roses -- and that boded well for Harry. His smile widened a little more as he waited for the elevator to come back up.

Harry raked his curls back from his forehead and stepped in, tapping the ground floor button. It was good advice to let Charley get over her jet lag before contacting her again -- he'd been jet lagged more times than he could count, and knew the feeling well. He'd try to call her on Monday night. No more texting or messages. He had a full fledged smile on his face by the time he got to his car, and didn't notice the stares he was attracting. He didn't care anyway. He was back in the game.

---

Charley unlocked her apartment door wearily. As they had pre-arranged, Caro had picked her up from the airport, ironic since it was usually the other way around, and dropped her off at the front so Charley could have some time to herself to sleep and shower. Dragging her suitcase through the door and locking it behind her, she walked through the short hallway, entering into her bright open kitchen and living room. It was currently flooded with daylight, being mid-morning, and she was pleased to see the plants scattered around her living areas were still alive. Thank heavens for good neighbours like Marnie.

Her trip had been exhausting -- one of her prestigious fashion label clients in Italy who she did branding, advertising and international point of sale graphic design work for, lost their primary set designer last minute. Sabine, who Charley idolised for her staging work, had been eight and a half months pregnant at the time, and went into labour early. Charley was called in to assist Karina, Sabine's partner.

Charley had worked with Sabine and Karina many times for this fashion brand, the set design eye coming easily to her creative nature. Styling the models each day, and preparing the next day's shoot with Karina to Sabine's standards had taken all of her waking hours, and she'd fallen into bed late every single night. It had been worth it though, watching the photos appear on screen from behind the scenes as famous photographer Grégoire Croviet had taken shot after shot of the beautiful models.

Charley and Karina had rushed out in between to adjust clothing and props. It was so satisfying seeing the photos come to life in real time -- Charley would be using them in her designs for the brand once the finals had been picked -- plus she had been paid handsomely for her efforts. She would finally be able to put a deposit on her own little house somewhere just outside of L.A.

Idly, she wondered what area Harry lived in, then pushed that aside determinedly. She wasn't going to make a decision on a house purchased based on where her blind date lived. Charley scoffed at herself. But Harry had been infiltrating her thoughts and dreams all week.

Luckily the work had been so demanding -- she wouldn't have been able to concentrate if it had been her usual work from home. The dreams, surely caused by her all-consuming days, had been stunningly life-like and erotic. She'd awoken mid-orgasm more than one night early on. She hadn't even known that that was a thing -- but the sensations had felt exactly the same, and pressing a hand between her legs had left her with no doubt. That had been confusing, but being forced to get up early and start the day's hard work meant she had no time to think through the situation. She hadn't had sex for over a year, and it was getting to her. The dreams had tapered off toward the end of the trip, exhaustion finally bringing a more heavy sleep.

Charley closed her eyes briefly, then took a breath and started to head toward her bedroom. As she walked, her eyes fell on the white, round dining table. A slightly wilting bowl of hot pink roses sat there. She frowned. There was normally some succulents in a terracotta pot in its place, and she spied them on the kitchen counter. Her eyes flicked back to the roses as she neared them. Marnie must have brought them in. She dropped her keys on the table and saw a little card had been pressed in amongst the blooms. Pulling it out curiously, she opened it and her heart leapt to her throat in an instant.

Charley -- roses too cheesy? Would love to see you again. Without the falling. (OK maybe a little falling). Harry

Harry! He'd sent her roses! Charley's heart began to race, and she felt suddenly much more awake. Suddenly, she'd wondered if he'd tried to call her -- and she leapt for her hand bag and dove into it for her phone. She'd forgotten to turn it on at the airport! Caroline had been given her flight times before she left and had been waiting for her as she came off the plane, so there had been no need. Charley felt a little manic as she tried to switch it on and the iPhone told her she needed to charge it. Making a noise of despair, she ran to her room where her charger dock laid on her vanity and pressed the device into it, giving the phone life.

While she waited for the phone to boot up, she went back out to the living room and read and re-read the note from Harry, picking up the bowl of hot pink roses and inhaling deeply. He wanted to see her again! He wanted her to fall a little. Was he falling a little too? Did she read that right? Charley felt giddy as she put the roses back down on the table. He must have sent these days ago, she thought as she traced the brown wilted edges of the petals. Her heart thrilled to the idea and felt a sweep of heat race down her and centre in her groin as she thought of their sexy date and the way he'd looked at her. The way he'd kissed her, pulling her in like he possessed her. She squeezed her thighs together and looked down at the roses.

And then suddenly her heart dropped and she went cold. He'd sent these days ago. Harry hadn't known she was leaving. Oh God! What if he thinks I've been ignoring him! Had she lost her chance? Would he even take her call if she rang him now?

She heard the familiar sound of her phone coming alive and she darted back into her bedroom, tapping her unlock key and waiting for the mobile carrier to do its thing. Suddenly a barrage of text tones filled the room and she snatched the phone off of its charger. She tapped on Messages and scrolled down past the more recent ones, and her world stopped for a heartbeat as she saw it. Harry Styles. She checked the time she'd received it. He'd texted her the day after their date! Her heart leapt again and a wide smile lit her face. She quickly tapped on the text and it opened.

HS: Hey Charley! Hope you've recovered from your fall [winky face emoji] I had fun last night.

The text was just as flirty as he'd been that night, her nose crinkling with the smile that couldn't seem to disappear. Charley tried to think -- he'd sent this first, so then he must have sent the roses after. And then...she quickly calculated based on how old the roses looked...no communication since. Her heart sank a little. The high and low of emotions in such a short amount of time was getting to her in her jet lagged state. She stared at the text screen and wondered what to write, then quickly tapped out a message and hit 'send' before she could chicken out.

CP: Hi Harry, thank you for the roses! They're beautiful. Sorry I've been away all week on business -- emergency trip -- I've only just got back. Love to catch up when you're not busy :)

There. That was casual, right? Not too much? She stared at the screen, re-reading her message. Fifteen seconds later her eyes widened and her heart started thundering. Three dots had appeared on the screen. He was typing! Already! She didn't have long to wait:

HS: Hi Charley, glad to hear you got them [rose emoji] I got the T from Marnie yesterday when I stopped by to see if you were all right. Want to go for lunch tomorrow?

Charley stared at the words and let out a breath as she took in what they meant. He'd come to see her yesterday. Here, at her apartment! He'd met Marnie! That meant he hadn't given up trying to get hold of her. He'd wanted to check on her. The thought made her squirm inside and she felt a huge rush of pleasure. She pressed a hand against her mouth to stifle the huge grin. Concentrate Charley! she berated herself and she quickly composed and tapped out her reply.

CP: Perfect, I have today and tomorrow off, where did you want to meet?

She held her breath, then released it as the three dots reappeared instantly.

HS: I'll pick you up at 1pm outside your [building emoji] [boy and girl holding hands emoji]

She thrilled and a laugh burst from her in pure pleasure. She was seeing him tomorrow! The emojis made her grin.

CP: See you then! [blowing kiss emoji]

Charley smiled at her flirty response and sat on her bed with butterflies filling her stomach. She waited a few minutes to be sure he wasn't replying, then suddenly the jet lag hit her again and she closed her eyes, lying back. She couldn't be bothered to change out of her travel clothes or shower just yet. Charley pulled herself up the bed and curled into a ball on top, falling asleep with a small smile on her face, and slept the day away.

---

Harry grinned as he tucked his phone back into the car's holder for it and pulled back out into the traffic. She'd blown him a kiss. He tried not to read too much into it. Flirting with her was fun, and he liked how she had replied instantly. Loved it in fact. No playing games. He'd had that happen too many times before.

Harry had been on his way to the gym, but as soon as he'd seen her name on the phone, he'd nearly caused a crash, so fast did he pull over to text her back. He didn't care if it made him look like he was desperate. He was desperate. He'd waited over a week to see her again. Much too long. And now he'd secured a date for tomorrow. He pulled his sunglasses down from his head and over his eyes, trying to quell the idiotic smile he knew was spread across his face, but couldn't seem to. All he could see was the sexy, dark-haired girl of his dreams. Plenty to smile about.

Another text tone from his phone sounded and he flashed his eyes back to it, his heart doing a funny leap. Charley? No. Niall. His pulsed calmed and he could see from the message preview his mate had reached the gym ahead of him. Niall had been in Ireland visiting his family for the last couple weeks. Their plan today was to go the gym, then shower and head out for lunch for a catch up. He wondered what he would tell Niall about Charley. His friend had known he was going on a blind date set up by Zayn. Harry knew Niall would tease him, and want to meet her immediately. Harry realised he didn't even have a photo of Charley. He frowned and realised he could probably google her as she had her own business after all.

Pulling into a car park in front of the gym, Harry quickly surfed the net on his phone, typing in Charley's name and finding, surprisingly, a large amount of results. Her name was attached to a high-profile fashion brand in Italy, multiple big companies, design awards, agencies, her website and there were quite a few image results too.

Harry let out a low whistle. He hadn't realise she was so accomplished. Charley had made her design business sound low-key, stating that she worked as a freelancer, but it was clear she worked big accounts. No wonder she could afford a nice apartment in downtown L.A.

He tapped on the image results first, and a spread of photos with her on red carpets appeared, mostly accompanying Caroline, but sometimes with other models and businessmen. She looked stunning in every single photo. He drank in the glossy, wavy black hair tumbling down her back in some, swept up in others, beautiful dresses, a pant suit in another -- and he decided she was sexy in every single photo.