Chapter Text
Chapter 1
“No,” I sleepily shoo away my husband's hand. I don't know what time is but I know it must be morning else he wouldn't dare to wake me up. His warm fingers gently trail down my shoulder. A second later, his warm body is pressing behind me and his hand slips down my waist. He plants soft gentle kisses on my shoulder, on my nape and beneath it. He nuzzles me behind my ear and his tongue lightly touching the sensitive skin there. He lovingly kisses my temple before biting my ear lightly and I tsk in sweet pain. His dexterous fingers gently tickle my tummy; my entire body vibrates with the awareness of him.
“Get up!” He says in his warm deep voice. Harry's voice is deeper than mine, deeper than everyone I know and it's deeper than the ocean in the morning. I love his morning voice. It’s like butter melting on warm toast.
“No!” I groan in protest. “It’s Sunday,” the day of the week I wait for religiously.
“And you have an appointment today. Your favorite client will be there at 10,” Harry reminds me. He remembers everything I tell him. I'm sure I told him about the appointment on Wednesday and he remembered it. His memory and special skill of I-remember-everything-my-husband-tells-me comes handy a lot of time.
“Wake up, Lou,” Harry turns me on my back, slides over me and gently kisses my cheek. His morning breath mixed with his own unique scent brings a smile to my face. I know I'm not far from tasting him as well when his mouth brushes against my lips.
“Wake me up, Haz!” I slid down my hands greedily over his bare muscular back, my legs parting further for him to settle down between them. He buries his head in my neck, nuzzling me before kissing the skin there.
My heart flutters with joy as his mouth takes mine and he kisses me slowly, deeply. There's nothing in this world that I crave for more than my husband over my naked body, taking his own sweet time to pleasure both of us.
His hands reach down and cup my bare butt cheeks, squeezing them and lifting me into the deft roll of his hips. Before I met Harry, I used to wear proper PJs or boxers to bed. But now I just hate wearing a single piece of clothing to bed, just like him. I learned it from Harry actually. It's the best thing ever happened to me. Sleeping naked feels like liberation and not to mention it has its own advantages like if you wake in the middle of the night hungry for your husband, clothes are not an obstruction at that time. Like I said many advantages, it's just one. I run my fingers through his soft curly hairs, already wanting to pull them.
“Open your eyes baby,” Harry murmurs in his sexy voice while nibbling at my throat and grinding against my shaft in slow steady motion arousing me further.
I open one eye at a time and blinking them a couple of times to adjust to the faint morning light trying to get into the room through the blackout curtains. I gasp as his mouth sucks at one of my nipples. Oh gosh! His devil's work of a mouth is going to take me for a ride, I can feel it. I can also feel him hardening against me. He moves to my other nipple and one of his hand play with my balls. My body arches under his work and I get lost in the feeling I get whenever his mouth touches my bare skin. A moan escapes me as his mouth glides down my navel and to my belly button where he dips his tongue. My fingers slid down his back, following all the groove of his back before slipping my hand over his bare butt and digging my nails into it.
His finger starts rimming my hole. Pulling my legs over his shoulder, and sliding down further his tongue licks my hole over and over again. My hands fist in the sheets, chest heaves as he continues to assault me with his tongue and mouth. Raising his head and sealing my mouth with his again, he inserts two fingers inside me. Another cracked moan escapes me. I have become quite flexible since Harry has come into my life but not too flexible.
I untangle my legs from his shoulder and slip them around his waist. With his fingers moving, tormenting me with constant in and out, I continue to grind my shaft against his. His other hand reaches in between us and plays with the tip of my penis. I can feel a slight bead of cum on the tip of it already. He looks down at me breathlessly taking out his fingers as I take long deep breaths. I get confused for a second as a smile crosses his face, his dimples get deeper and a hint of mischief clouds his deep green eyes. Before I can think what has happened I feel something cold and wet around my hole. He pats my left butt cheek twice and then inserts a vibrator inside. I gasp loudly and dug my nails into his shoulders to keep from screaming in pleasure. His smile widens as he slides down over my body and gives my penis a long lick from balls to tip all the while looking at me.
I close my eyes getting lost in the feeling again. The sound of a click from vibrator reaches me at the same time as Harry takes me into his mouth. He licks and flutters his velvety soft tongue over my sensitive head. My hands fist in the sheets tightly and my head falls back into the pillow deeper. He keeps torturing me with his mouth and continues to drive me insane with his tireless and diabolic tongue. He keeps bringing me to the verge of orgasm and then lets it slide down when I'm close. With a vibrator up my ass and Harry's mouth over my penis, I have an uncontrollable urge to come but I also don't want it to stop as it feels so good. Ultimately I reach a point where I can't stop myself anymore and just need to come.
“Please… Harry… let me come..” I beg him shamelessly, desperate to get off.
My eyelids feel heavy as he takes an inch of me into his warm mouth. Slowly he takes all of me down his throat and lightly bites my base. I feel hot, warm and thick. His hands rub over my chest before the pads of his fingers start playing with my nipples again. They are sore and painful.
But he didn’t let me come immediately, he savored me, his soft hair caressing my stomach, his tongue licking and mouth sucking my cock. I struggle and try to lift my hips to match his pace of his greedy mouth. His hands grip my things and hold me in place. He took his sweet time tasting me, taunting me with the need to come inside his mouth. One of my hand fists in his hair and another rakes his back aggressively. I feel like I’m going mad with all the barrage of sensations that is everywhere in my body. I can’t form a sentence properly anymore, head feels clouded and the only thing that spills out of my mouth is the helpless moans.
My body jerked and that's all it took for me come crashing like a wave and a cry that might have broken the tranquility of the peaceful morning. He swallowed every last drop of me and licked my shaft clean.
When he took out the vibrator, I took a huge breath of relief and sank deeper into the mattress catching my breath.
“I'm still seeing stars,” I mumble. I feel like a jelly right now, very sweaty and by all means very content.
Mornings like this!
Harry leaned over me to peck my lips, “Morning to you as well.” His voice is slightly broken and hoarse but nonetheless very sexy. He flops down on the pillow next to me. He is taking deep breaths himself and I know Harry isn't done. He is not even close to being done.
I smile and curl up with my husband. He smells of sweat, sex, and very Harry-ish.
Huffing out a breath I nuzzle the base of his throat and whisper, “Thank you.”
“Pleasure is all mine, love.” He says entwining our fingers.
I swear I can spend my entire life like this without any guilt. This is my favorite place on this planet, being next to my Harry- my husband. Well, he isn't just my husband, he is also my best-est friend, my confidant, the love of my life, and my soul mate.
He wraps his arms around me, encasing me in his warmth even more and kisses my temple.
“You need to get up, like right now else you'll be late.” He says, always concerned, always caring about me. “How are you feeling?”
“There's still slight sensation in my butt, which I don't mind at all,” I say.
Harry fondles with my bum cheeks for a while then turns me on my tummy and kisses penguin tat on my ass. He loves kissing my bum and always makes an excuse that my tattoo needs love too.
When I got this tat, I put the picture, not the picture of my bare butt or the tattoo, but the picture of me getting it, on my Instagram. Hence, everyone knows I have one tattoo on my ass. But here's the thing, Harry has one too but he never posted a picture of it in any social media or ever talked about it to anyone and everyone thinks he doesn't have any tattoo on his arse. I mean, we both have got loads of matching tattoos and I don't know why people think Harry doesn't have a penguin tattooed on his arse as well, is beyond my understanding. Penguins mate for life. Apart from that bitch penguin who cheated on its lovely mate for someone else. I felt so bad for him for days. I wanted to adopt the male penguin. Anyways, to clear everything up I have a cool penguin with headphones tattooed on my right bum and Harry has a not-so-cool penguin who is singing, on his left bum. So basically, mine is listening to him singing. That's somewhat sappy, I know.
“I hate working on Sundays,” I say. Even though I know I will give up a million pounds just to stay in bed, I have a job to do. It takes me a hell lot of energy to get up and another dose of some cosmic energy to get out of bed. “I hate mornings.” Picking up the glass of water from the bedside I walk towards the curtained glass door of our bedroom that divides it from the terrace. Harry clicks the button on the remote and instantly the curtains open flooding the room with light. I squint my eyes at the sudden intrusion of light.
Drinking the entire glass of water I step out onto the terrace and I'm greeted by cool wind. The simple pleasures of life. I stretch and yawn loudly. A few years back, I went to this yoga class and they told us morning air is very beneficial for our body. I can't remember what they said about it helping to regulate body but I do remember them telling us that morning air helps in waking up properly, or something like that. Since then I step out for like 5 seconds every morning.
A very cheery whimper comes to me and I turn to cuddle our four-legged furry son, Clifford. He is as needy as me in the morning, needs proper cuddles and love which we both give him generously.
“Morning Cliff! You slept properly son,” I wrap him in my arms and kiss his forehead. He is the most playful dog in the whole of the world, always ready to play and chill out. We welcomed him into our lives three years back and on most days he is one of the highlights of our lives.
I nuzzle him behind his ears, and that's it. He breaks free from me and jumps into the bed to get love from Harry. I think he gets confused with whom to get more love from. He also thinks Harry is fun dad which is so not true. I take him for walks in the park, give him a bath, buy him pretty collars and clothes. Harry, on the other hand, cleans his poo ( I could never take that duty, I asked Harry to do that), makes his food, gets him honey pops for his cereal. I even take him to the groomers once every week who keeps his fur fluffy and he still finds Harry fun dad.
It always amazes me how Cliff is more comfortable in our bed rather than the one I got for him. I paid around 2K for his bed and couch. They are pretty big and fit him properly and they also feel so soft like clouds.
Harry is now talking to him about something while caressing him behind his ears and it seems like Cliff is complaining to him about something whilst laying his head on my pillow and one of his paws on Harry's shoulder. I forgot to mention how alike Harry and Cliff look. They both are curly, long-legged, and very clumsy. Cliff is a labradoodle and when he barks everyone in the radius of 5 miles gets startled. He has deep and scary bark. Like I said, very much like Harry.
"You won't get up?" I ask Harry. He woke me up but is still on the cover very comfortably.
"It's Sunday!" he shouts happily. "And Cliff and I don't have any clients to attend to, so we are going to spend our day in the bed all cozy and warm." He turns his head back to Cliff, "We can watch Netflix all day." Harry high fives him. He taught Cliff high fiving when he was just a few months old.
"I hate you," I say loudly. He isn't supposed to make it difficult for me. A sly laugh escapes Harry and he pulls the quilt and covers them in it till their necks.
"I hate working on Sunday mornings," I walk back towards the bed fighting the feeling to get inside and put the glass back on the bedside table.
"It's alright, Lou. It's work," Harry is really a patient person.
"I can't believe some people think it is ok to make personal shoppers work on a Sunday as well especially when they have worked continuously the entire week without a day off. It's like we aren't even humans," I complain. I have all the grounds too. "I won't get any off until next Sunday," I internally whine at the thought.
"Lou, baby just go and when you'll come back him, I can make evening worth for you," Harry offers. He knows things are very difficult for me at work right now and most of the time I come back home stressed. "Promise," he adds.
I chuckle at this and make way to the bathroom.
Harry and I have been married for four years now after dating for five years. Harry brought us a penthouse in Battersea around the same time we got married. The penthouse cost him around 20 million pounds and a couple of millions more for its interior. I danced in joy when he asked me to decorate our bedroom and bathroom.
One time Harry's friend, Dan, asked us to visit his winery and farmhouse in France. We did and loved it so much. We made love under the oak tree there and marked it with 'HL' on it. I told Dan how much I loved the oak tree and the expression of confusion on his face was priceless. Before I started looking for the stuff for our bedroom, Dan called me informing me that they have to cut down my favorite oak tree for some reason. I got so excited and asked him to save the wood for me. We got our king size bed made from the wood of that tree with the exclusive intricate wooden carvings on it. All the furniture in our bedroom is handmade with love from France. I spared no money for our bathroom and got Italian brass faucets, a claw foot bathtub, and a Jacuzzi. All the holders and handles of the drawers in there are made of brass and they look so good against all white bathroom, from tiles to wallpaper. It took me three months and trips to various countries to pick out everything for our bedroom, bathroom, and closet.
The most favorite part of this entire penthouse is my walk-in closet. Harry asked me what I wanted as a wedding gift and the smile on my face totally gave him the clue that I only wanted a huge, huge walk-in closet. And he gave me one by converting the room next to our bedroom as our closet. The room is pretty big, that it has three seating spaces, two huge cabinets with drawers. The entire closet in very timeless and Victorian with a huge glass chandelier hanging in the middle of the room with small brass candle chandeliers hanging at small intervals. The soft yellow light with cream-colored Italian marble and cream paint makes the room look so exquisite. Two sides of the room hold my clothes only because I own a lot of them. Harry is pretty modest when it comes to clothing and accessories, and doesn't bother much. I generally buy him stuff, he rarely goes out shopping. One side of the room is dedicated to our shoe collection. Harry once spent an entire hour counting them and told me that I, alone, own almost 250 pairs of shoes. Neither of us minds it all.
I touch the bunch of pink rose flowers sitting on the top of one of the drawer. Harry gets them delivered every morning and puts them in the vase before I come out of the bath. Not just in the closet, but he puts flowers of various colors every day around the house and I smile like a fool every time I see them. Biting my lips, I walk towards the rack where I put my new clothes and take out few shopping bags from Paul Smith, Givenchy, Rag and Bone. I take out the white shirt from one of the bags and my heart turns in joy looking at it. It's plain white with a heart made of flowers embroidered over the chest. I bought it immediately as I saw it. Teaming my shirt with black jeans and jacket, both new, I walk out towards the dining room.
"Morning June", I greet our house help. She is actually in her early 50s but doesn't like to be addressed as Mrs. Fulham. She says it makes her feel old, and we definitely don't want to make her feel old. She comes here every morning before we leave, makes us breakfast. Afterwards, she cleans the house, does the dishes and clothes, make us dinner, takes care of Cliff for us, and is gone before we get back home. We don't know how will we manage without her.
"Morning, Louis!" she says with her lovely smile. "Breakfast is ready."
Harry is already on the table with his plate heaped with food, reading the Sunday special newspaper. June knows that sometimes we don't have time to get proper lunch, so she makes us a hearty breakfast to make up for it. She passes me my plate with two egg muffins and two pieces of hash browns, and a glass of warm almond milk.
Harry shakes his head reading something. I lean forward to read the news. It is a sports man’s girlfriend breaking up with him. I like football and Harry loves it. He never misses a single game and keeps with everything. His favorite team is Liverpool and mine’s Manchester. It’s always a chaos in our house whenever both the teams play against each other.
“She shouldn’t have broken up with him,” he remarks putting away the newspaper.
“Why?” I can’t figure out why he is sorry over their breakup. Celebrity relationships are anyways fake half the time.
“‘Cos he is a goalie,” he says seriously.
“So?” I’m still confused.
“So… he is a keeper!”
For a couple of seconds, I look blankly at him trying to find words. I hear June laughing at his joke.
“You just didn’t-” I can’t believe him.
His just sits there laughing. I’m still trying to figure out how to shut him up. But that’s Harry, always being fun, always joking and annoying me with his super bad puns.
“What are you going to do all day?”
Harry runs a tech company which creates apps, games, and softwares. He has won several awards for the same. There is never a day when I’m not proud of him and his achievements. He loves what he does and I love that I have a husband who isn't technically challenged as me. Throughout the week, Harry barely has time but it's the weekend he likes to keep free, especially Sundays.
The more I think about working on Sunday, more I get upset. I was supposed to spend one day with him entirely.
The remorseful look on my face might have given him what I'm thinking. He leans to kiss my cheeks, "I'll be in my office for few hours finishing up some pending work, I guess." Harry’s favorite part of the house is his home office and library. He spends a lot of time there and whenever I come back home late I know it's where I’ll find him.
I nod my agreement. At least he won't be bored without me here, which is very consoling. I grab my breakfast quickly before I pick my stuff from the counter, like my phone, car keys and a mug of hot tea before I leave.
Harry comes to stand in front of me and I kiss him goodbye. "See you for dinner."
Cliff comes and stands in front of me wagging his tail. "Please trouble your daddy, son". I hear Harry snorting behind me as I kiss Cliff goodbye too. I don't have time for a snappy comeback, I'm actually getting late now.
"John will take you," Harry says.
John is Harry's second driver. I still don't know why he has two of them. I call John, patient John, as there have been times when I have dragged John along with me for my shopping sprees and he has ended up holding around 10 to 20 shopping bags at once. The other one, Patrick, gets grumpy if I take him shopping with me. Harry keeps Patrick to himself.
"Mr. Tomlinson… wait," I hear someone calling my name as I reach the reception area of our building. I turn to look around and oh gosh it’s Mary Colbert again. She is wearing pink jogger pants that Adidas launched two years back and holding her ugly cat in her arms. Ugh!
"Your dog was troubling my cat yesterday. How about putting him on a leash at all times," she says in her shrill voice. I don't like her at all.
"Cliff doesn't trouble your cat at all. Instead, it's your cat who keeps messing with him." I can never hear anyone coming after Cliff like this. And she always tries to make Cliff look bad.
"No... You need to hear what your dog-" she says but I cut her mid-sentence.
"No! you need to stop thinking that your cat is innocent," I say. Seriously, all cat owners should stop thinking their cats are innocent. "Remember last month your cat broke those lamps and everyone blamed my Cliff when he didn't do anything!" We paid hell lot for those lamps. If Harry hadn’t stopped me, I would have slapped the bill on her face.
"How about you stop thinking that he is innocent," she says.
"We haven't trained him to be a mess. He is a responsible dog. Anyways, your cat should look at her size before she goes to hassle my dog again," I reply her and make my way towards the entrance doors. This is the last thing I want to deal with this morning.
*
“Darling, you are so efficient. You always pick the best for me,” Mrs. Logan keeps talking. She hasn’t stopped in ten minutes. She is the client for whom I had to work today. “These flare pants fit me so well and will go so nicely for my lunch with friends on Tuesday.”
I really don’t care what she is going to use those pants for. Last week, she emailed me saying she needs a dress for some evening function and that I need to find her the best one for the same. She also told me that it will be with some associates and she has to look her best. I picked out 15 of the best dresses, keeping her specification in my mind. And she came in today informing me that she is going to some island to meet her old friends and her plan for the dinner was canceled on Friday. I mean, she could have bothered to tell me this beforehand, I wouldn’t have spent hours in selecting looks for her including shoes and handbags. But no, she came here and gave me the news and I had to do it all over again. She has been here for four hours and she brought only those pants and a handbag. That’s it! I’m tired and exasperated thinking about all the clothes, shoes and accessories I’ll have to put back on the rack. This itself will take few more hours.
Of all ten clients that I have, she is my only female client and undoubtedly she is my favorite. She is cheery and polite, and never forgets to email me back about the compliments she gets over the outfit I choose for her. Even in her late fifties, she wears all her clothes which so much confidence that I can only admire. But there are also days like this when she drives me crazy.
“I hope you have a lovely time with your friends,” I wish her with a smile on my face as Ted from the billing counter hands her the shopping bag.
“Thank you for shopping at Harrods, ma’am,” Ted says.
I let out a huge sigh as soon as she walks out from the door. I close my eyes for few seconds and take deep breaths trying to calm myself down before I go back and arrange all the clothes back neatly.
“Want some water, Lou?” he asks.
“Nope, thanks for asking, Ted,” I say walking away.
Anyone who thinks that people in customer service or basically anyone who is doing the job for you, owes you something, are the most ignorant people. I have seen people calling the customer care service and blasting at them or calling them names even though they haven’t done anything. I mean, they are there to help you why can’t you be little polite with them. Can people start looking at other people like they are also humans and maybe like you, they are also doing their job. It’s not at all difficult to understand or follow. Ugh! I think I’m still grumpy over the work and Mrs. Logan’s carelessness. And I’m also hungry. Hunger makes me moody. I should probably go out and get a sandwich or something.
“LOUUEEEEEHHH!!” A loud screech snaps my attention from hanging the dress back to the rail.
I turn back and find my two best friends walking towards me, Zayn and Niall. Earlier today they asked me if I would be free for lunch but I told them I had work. They might just be here to say hi. They are darlings. Every time they are in the area, they pop in to say hi and buy something.
“Help me!” Zayn says hurriedly. His hair is a mess like they are always. He is too lazy to style them properly. Niall is walking languidly taking his time glancing at the collection on his way.
“Whoa, Z. Wanna tell me what happened?” I can’t figure out where exactly he would need my help. I’m not sure if I can offer him a good advice as well, not when I don’t feel very optimistic myself.
“I have to do a pap walk tomorrow and my stylist is on a holiday. Find me something nice to wear,” he says. Zayn is a rockstar who has won many, many awards for his singing and lyrics. His voice is very soothing. More than his look, it’s his voice that makes people swoon over him. He is good looking as well with his amber colored eyes in perfect almond shape. I like listening to his songs. They are very deep and soulful, just like he is.
“Why! Wasn’t your pap walk pre-planned?” I ask. I mean he is an artist and has an entire team working behind him. Surely they might have put the pap walk for tomorrow in his calendar sometime back.
“No, it’s last minute decision,” he rolls his eyes. He hates when he is asked to do something last minute or without any prior notice.
“I like that scarf.” Niall walks towards us, casually sipping his iced tea and pointing at the one wrapped around a mannequin. It is a lovely scarf indeed. Black in color and made with silk sourced from the Middle East, and delicate handiwork did with gold thread. I bought one in navy blue color for Harry as well.
“They are in three colors if you want to look at it,” I tell him. He nods still eyeing the scarf.
“Shall we!” Zayn asks impatiently.
“First of all, I’m hungry! Second of all, I need to eat something before I go and look for outfits for you.” I inform him.
Zayn snatches the box Niall has been holding, “We brought you chicken salad.” He smiles. “Let’s go now.”
I roll my eyes and follow them to the restaurant where they help themselves with some cakes and tea while I devour my chicken salad. It’s from my our favorite cafe not too far from Harrods.
Zayn was discovered by Niall and they have been besties together since then. On most days, Zayn credits Niall for the life he has now and on some days he gives himself the credit for the life Niall has now. Niall was struggling to find a breakthrough artist when he came across Zayn. Since then Niall has given world too many amazing and talented artist, and he gets a good fat cheque from the music labels every time he discovers an artist. People in music industry love him and trust his decisions. His business decisions are pretty clever and no wonder Niall is Zayn’s first point of contact whenever he needs to make a decision for his career.
“Try this one,” I hand Zayn another rugged denim jacket. In three hours, Zayn has managed to find himself jeans, a t-shirt, shoes and a snapback. What he cannot find is a perfect jacket. He isn’t too satisfied with the others as well but he doesn't have much time or option anymore today.
“Why don’t designers make cool clothes!” This is the third time he is complaining about it.
“Define cool clothes, Z!” I ask him fixing the collar of the jacket. I step back to have a look at it. It looks good but it doesn’t fit Zayn’s style, actually.
“Where are you pap walking tomorrow?” Niall says looking up from his iPad. He joined us fifteen minutes back after he went to find a handbag for his mom for her birthday.
“Grocery shopping.” Zayn fakes his enthusiasm. I couldn’t help but snort at that.
He generally does pap walk doing some grocery shopping or apartment shopping and people think Zayn is such a thoughtful person who knows his way around the kitchen and is very interested in real estate. But the truth is he doesn’t give two fucks about real estate and he can’t even cook to save his life. One time Zayn invited us for dinner at his place and prepared everything by himself. And honestly, it was so bad I thought I was gonna die. I had to take a promise from him afterward that he won’t ever try to kill me with his food. Since then Zayn has stayed away from the kitchen. We ordered food that evening and watched a movie. I always find it funny that his fans admire him for shopping fruits and veggies. Like he doesn't have a housekeeper who does all these tasks or he doesn't know how to order grocery on the internet. People are naive in general.
“Yeah! I know. So excited for it.” His lips form into hard line. He really doesn’t like it at all but his team makes him do it every few days or so.
I pick up leather jacket from the rails and hand it over to him. I hope this will work. This is from the new Gucci collection and if in doubt wear a suede leather jacket. It’s the mantra that I live by for the days when I don’t know what to wear.
“Why can’t you pick up something from your collection of jackets? You own quite a few of them,” Niall says.
“I try not to repeat my clothes for pap walk,” Zayn says fixing the sleeves of the jacket. I think he has found himself a decent jacket. It goes with his outfit.
“Who even wears any clothe twice!” I say.
“Yeah, Lou! You wardrobe collection is something,” Niall remarks.
“Perks of working in fashion industry my friend,” I say proudly. There’s never a dull moment for me when I’m shopping.
“I like this jacket!” Both Zayn and Niall say in unison.
I breathe out a sigh of relief and flop on the couch next to Niall. It was a long day and I’m happy it is almost over. I can’t wait to go home back to my husband. I turn my head towards Niall who is looking at me intently. I raise my eyebrow at him.
“You look tired, Lou. Working too much!” Niall asks.
“Just a job, dude.” I lean my head onto Niall. He has very comfy shoulders to lean head into. He wraps his arms around my neck making me even more comfortable. He smells nice and is so cuddly, I love him. He gently pats the back of my head.
“Sleep,” he says. Only Niall would ask me to take a nap or sleep while I’m at work. I can assure you no one will come after me for doing it as well since Niall will have my back.
For the first time in this mad day, I feel at peace. Being with your best friends always makes you calm and saner, doesn’t it? After your partner, it’s your best friend who knows what will calm you. I can bet Niall will ask me if I want some chamomile tea as well.
“Lou!” Zayn’s voice jolted me upright. Two seconds of peace I had…
“What!” I hiss at him. He is always a buzz kill. He really can’t see me relaxing. His motto of life is ‘If I’m not relaxing even Lou shouldn’t’.
He squeezes himself next to me on the couch. There isn’t much space but we both adjust to make room enough for him. Propping his socked feet on the table, he hands me a glass of water. We all have been best friends for a long time now and it’s not even a question that we will die for each other without thinking twice about it. There’s also a fact that we will kill each other over a slice of pizza. Hence, we always order way too much pizza so there’s never the last slice in between us.
“Thanks for helping me,” he gently pats my thighs. “I would have worn a ragbag if you wouldn’t have helped me out.”
I chuckle, “And you still would have rocked it.”
He nods his head, “I’m cool like that!”
Niall and I burst out laughing at that. He is the least cool person I know but he has the confidence to call himself cool.
“Should I give you a rundown of all the least cool things you have done?” Niall challenges him.
He slumps down on the couch. He knows we will have a good time opening the box of his most uncool moments. As much as Zayn likes to pretend he is too cool we all know he is a hot mess.
“Back to the topic of why designers don’t make cool clothes?” he says. He won’t really let that topic die. Suddenly an idea pop into my head.
“Why don’t you collab with a designer, Zayn, and start your own line?” I advise him. “Lots of celebrities do that. It raises their profile from just an artist to business person as well.”
Zayn looks at me, his brows drawn in concentration. “That’s a good idea, Lou! I’ll talk to my manager about this.” The sudden glow on his face makes me smile.
It can only imagine all the opportunities Zayn will have with the collection. His fan following is pretty massive and his fans would love to own a piece that Zayn created. I can’t see why his manager will not agree to it. Zayn has been trying to set up a statement with his fashion sense for a while now but it doesn’t seem like it is making enough impact. His own line will probably do. With his background and being half Asian and half Britisher, there’s so much he can do. Zayn is a very creative person and there’s no doubt he won’t hold back starting a line which will be impactful.
*
The sounds of television give me the idea that Harry must be in the living room. The entire house is lite with soft yellow light and I can see my reflection on the marble as I walk towards Harry. He looks up at me from the couch with a soft smile. My breath catches in my throat looking at him. He looks so relaxed in his silk pajamas and a soft white t-shirt. His long legs are propped on the table in front and he puts aside his laptop on the table next to him.
“Babe!” I lay down with my head on his lap. I instantly find peace. His fingers gently caressing my hairs and another hand wraps me around my chest. I close my eyes to get lost in the feeling. No one makes me happier and comfortable like Harry does. I love him so much.
“Tired?” Harry asks softly. He bends down to gently kiss my forehead.
“Tired and exhausted,” I say. It was one heck of a day. This isn’t the first time I’m coming home like this. Lately, I have been coming home late and exhausted and the only thing I’m able to do afterward is curling myself next to Harry and falling asleep. I have been skipping dinners as well. After a long tiring day, I don’t have any appetite for food or even any patience left to sit and eat. Last week, Harry was concerned about the considerable amount of weight that I have lost. I don’t gain weight quickly but I lose it quickly and it always bothers Harry if I lose some. The only proper meal I have been having lately is breakfast.
Harry links his fingers with mine. Something cold touches my cheek and a second later a very wet tongue. I giggle at the feeling.
“Hi Cliff,” I open my eyes to look at him. Dogs have the sense to find out the mood of their owners. I didn’t believe that until Cliff entered our lives. He always tries to uplift our mood if either one of us had a bad day. I caress his neck softly with my fingers.
I find Harry fonding at both of us, “How was your day?” I ask Harry.
“Not too good, not too bad,” he replies still massaging my head. “Dinner’s ready.”
Now I’m really confused whether I should have a shower or just hug my bed right now. I can sleep in the shower but I’m bloody hungry as well. I know Harry won’t let me go to bed without a proper dinner. But I feel so tired. All my limbs and muscles are aching.
“I’ll get a shower first,” I tell him. Hopefully, the warm water will wash away my tiredness.
“I have the bath ready for you with the de-stressing oil you brought from Thailand,” he says. I got loads of oils and bathing salt from our holiday in Thailand a few months back. I just don’t remember to use them. Thankfully, Harry thought of using them. I’m sure the box was still sitting in one of the drawer unopened. God bless my husband!
*
City lights look so pretty from our terrace. Right now wrapped around Harry under the warmth of a blanket and a clear sky over our head, I feel so relaxed than I have in months. After dinner, Harry took me out here to lay and I’m so happy he did. With his fingers gently caressing my hairs, my head over his heart so I can listen to his heartbeats, everything looks beautiful. There’s some soothing piano music playing through the speakers in low volume.
“Harry!” I say quietly. The hum of his acknowledgment reverberates through my body. “I wanna quit my job,” I say dead seriously and look up at him. This thought has been going inside my head for a while now.
He slowly opens his eyes to look at me carefully.
“I don’t want to shop for other people anymore. I want to do something else. Something new.” I say. I can feel my entire body tense up again as I speak. But I have to put it out there, I can’t keep it inside my head anymore.
He gently touches my cheeks, “It’s alright, Lou. If you don’t feel like doing what you are doing right now, then go ahead and change it.”
“My heart isn’t in it anymore,” I say.
“It’s understandable. Doing just one thing your entire life gets monotonous. And you have so much caliber and talent. You have quite an experience in this field. I’m sure any fashion house or media outlet will be happy to have you.” The way he says makes me emotional. He is always so supportive, always my rock.
“But before I take up another job, I want to take some time off for myself and figure out what I want to do exactly,” I tell him. He is right I have quite good experience and have made contacts in these years. I’m not sure about any media outlet being eager to recruit me but at least I can try my luck. In past, I’ve had few offers from celebrities including Zayn, to be their stylist but at that time I wasn’t ready. I’m not sure if I’m ready to take that kind of opportunity right now but first I need to clear my head. And some time off will only do me good.
Harry smiles at me, “Whatever you want, love. I hope to feed you five times a day during your break to get back the weight you have lost.”
I chuckle, “I’ll get fat!”
“It’s not about being fat or skinny. It’s about being healthy,” he says softly. And yet again, he has a point.
“I love you,” I say.
“And I love you the most,” he kisses me lovingly.
I lean my head back into his chest and feel the rhythm of his heartbeat while breathing in his scent.
*