Chapter 20

When the two of them stepped into the elevator, Harry started to fidget with the rings on his fingers. They turned to face the open doors, and Niall pressed the button that had the number 28. Before they had gotten here, before they had even left the hotel, Harry still tried to tell his friend that there was no reason for his presence. It wasn’t Harry’s meeting, it was Niall’s, and Harry wanted to believe that he was merely tagging along because of where they were going to lunch, but he had his suspicions.

“Are you sure that I won’t be in the way?” Harry asked the Irishman standing next to him as the elevator started to move up several floors. This was maybe the 28th time he had asked him.

“Positive, Harold,” Niall darkened the screen on his phone and shoved it into a pocket of his beige pants, then turned to face his friend. “All you have to do is just sit there and listen.”

Raising his shoulders in a shrug, it seemed good enough for him. The elevator stopped at floor 28 and when the doors opened, Harry and Niall were met with an open lobby of sorts. First thing Harry noticed were the floor to ceiling windows with all of the light that was being shone in from them. It was well lit that Harry almost wanted to question why this floor even had lights to begin with, but then he remembered there is a such thing as nightfall and early morning when the sun is nonexistent.

The room seemed to be pretty spacious and the two colors, blue and green, that seemed to be placing the theme gave Harry a sense of comfort. A glance over to what he made out to be the receptionist desk, there were two women of darker complexion dressed in white business suits, and Harry’s mind instantly went to his camera. The way the sun was beaming in on their skin in just the right tone, it made the two women shine so bright and beautiful. He could think of possibly several different places he would want to have them, whether it be in the city or in a nature-ridden park or even on the beach, where he could get his camera to really bring out how beautiful the two women were.

His wrist was grabbed and he was pulled out of his trance, as well as the elevator, by Niall. The Irishman was leading him down one of the hallways that Harry assumed held conference rooms of sorts. Turning his head back to look at the lobby, the light green and baby blue couches were growing smaller with every step, and it made Harry stop entirely.

“Harry? You alright?” Niall asked, his voice laced with worry.

His head of curly hair slowly turned to Niall and he looked at his friend with a squint, “You told me all I have to do is sit and listen.”

Niall was confused, “Yeah?”

“You’re dragging me away from the lobby. I thought I’d be hanging out there until your meeting was over.”

A smirk appeared on the Irishman’s face and suddenly Harry wanted to smack it off of him, “Ah, you must have misunderstood me. When I said ‘sit and listen,’ there is emphasis on the listen part. You can’t listen in on this meeting unless you’re in the room when it’s happening.”

Harry’s mind blanked for a moment. He’s trying to come up with any reason as to why he would be even let into room where Niall has this meeting. It’s for Niall, so why should Harry even be here, being dragged down this hall to begin with?

Then, Harry thought back to Niall’s Instagram post with that damn Just Do It slogan and how his friend likes a very specific comment and it suddenly dawned on him that his best friend just had to have something more up his sleeve.

“What do you have planned?” Harry whispered, his anxiety starting to rise again.

“Walk with me, Harold.” Niall grabbed Harry’s arm and linked his with it, resuming their walk down the long hall, totally ignoring the taller friend’s protests of not wanting to walk anywhere with him anymore. “As I told you in DMs this morning, I am taking you out to lunch after this meeting. It’s easier this way, and now that you’re here, I don’t have to go all the way back to the hotel to grab you and bring you back to the restaurant, which is right down the street.”

Harry started to fidget with his rings again, “So where does me sitting and listening have to do with any of this?”

Niall was quiet for a moment, and Harry briefly wondered if his friend was trying to come up with an excuse of some sort. After turning to the right, the duo stopped suddenly at the very next door. There was a placard next to the door that had the number 28 on it and underneath it was a conference room label with the words “Reserved for Horan”. Niall unlinked his arm from Harry’s and turned the door handle, pushing it open to reveal a room with a long conference table. The Irishman made the notion of letting his friend enter first and despite the groan he let out, Harry entered the room anyway.

When Harry was fully in the room, he shoved his hands into the pockets of his pants. He heard Niall enter the room behind him and close the door. It was just the two of them in there, and Niall studied Harry as he looked around room, waiting for a very specific moment. That moment came exactly four seconds later.

He spun on his heel and Harry wanted to fall over and die the very moment he laid his eyes upon them. Green eyes wide, he looked between each of the four posters that were at the other end of the room. Maybe he was dreaming, but Niall confirmed that he wasn’t when he opened his mouth.

“I know this looks bad.”

“Looks bad?” Harry was trying so hard to swallow the anger that was bubbling up his throat. “Niall, those are my photos! What the hell are we here for?” He was now staring at Niall.

And Niall being the little shit that he is just shrugged, “Well, if you remember back when you asked me what is in Panama and I told you an opportunity and-“

“And how based off the emojis you used alone, I had no interest in going?”

“Yes, precisely!” Niall grinned. He took one step forward so that he was right in front of Harry. “This is that opportunity.”

“For what?!” Harry raised his arms up in the air, wanting to understand what was going on. He walked around Niall and made his way over to the four posters on stands, standing proudly, that were four of  the best photographs he’s ever taken. Harry wanted to rip them in half and leave.

There was movement behind him, and Niall was now sitting in one of the chairs. “Don’t overthink it, Harry. This is a job opportunity for you. It’s why I need you to sit and listen.”

Harry’s eyes closed and he pinched the bridge of his nose, “This has been your plan the entire time, hasn’t it?”

“Told you this has been in the works for a little over a month.” Niall snorted.

“You are fucking unbelievable.”

“Thank you.”

“That wasn’t a compliment, you dick.” Harry glared at him.

“You’ll thank me later,” Niall gave him finger guns and it didn’t improve Harry’s mood at all.

Nonetheless, Harry took a deep breath and just decided to hopefully seek more information. He leaned his arms on the top of the chair closest to him, “How is this an opportunity, Niall? Do I need to remind you that we are in Panama right now? I live in London. I can’t work in Panama.”

Niall did a couple of spins in the office chair he was in, his voice getting quieter when the back of the chair was facing his friend, “First of all, you complain about that job every day to me and how you wish you could have a career and be paid as a photographer. This is that chance. You’d be traveling and taking pictures and be getting paid for it!”

Harry’s eyebrows were brought together in confusion, “Traveling?”

“Traveling,” Niall confirmed. “You’d be following him around and taking pictures of him wherever he is.”

Harry groaned. He thought back to how Niall told him how he went to his place of work and told them how he’d be traveling with Niall for a bit, and just be back when it’s over. So, whatever this opportunity is, it starts in Panama.

Before Harry could say anything else, the door to the conference room opened and other people started piling in. The anxiety slammed into Harry’s chest like a freight train as he watched Niall rise quickly and greet each one of them. There were five of them, and Harry swore he’s seen the redhead from somewhere, but he can’t exactly place a name to his face at the moment.

The new people made their way around the table, opposite of Niall, and sat down. Papers were being gone through, Harry saw several with his name on it, and he wanted out. Right now. So, he made an excuse to use the bathroom. He told Niall what he was doing which got Niall to grab the redhead’s attention and ask where the bathrooms were. Once being told, Harry left the room quickly.

On the way to the restrooms, Harry was pulling on his hair. He could not believe his friend was doing this to him. Yes, Harry complains about his current job often, and yes, his passion is photography. His photography account on Instagram has over 100 thousand followers on it, and he gets the best comments on every photo he posts. Harry takes photos of everything any chance he gets, even if it’s an object most people would consider to be useless, Harry finds a way to make it prominent and meaningful.

Harry got so lost in his train of thought and what he could possibly be traveling and taking pictures for, that he almost missed the men’s restroom. He found himself holding open the door of the women’s instead. Stealing a glance up at the sign on the door, he almost decided fuck it and went inside, but something told him not to. Harry’s never really labeled himself as a specific gender or with a certain sexuality. He just loves himself and loves loving and does whatever he finds comfortable. Unfortunately, that damn feeling wasn’t going away, so he took a step back and let the women’s restroom door close.

With a sigh, he took an extremely wide step to the left and was met with the door to the men’s restroom. He wasn’t opening the door. Why was he not opening the door? Harry was just standing there, staring at the sign that said “Men’s Restroom”. If anyone looked at him right now, they’d probably think he was super creepy. Or maybe he needed help, who knows? At the last second, he then dropped his head back with a groan and pushed open the door.

What he was not expecting was for someone to be pulling the door open at the same time. Harry’s hand pushing on the door made whoever was on the other side of the door pull it open even faster. He noticed someone was there and went to apologize, but an apology was not what tumbled out of his mouth.

“Oops,” is what came out instead.

“Hi,” is what Harry heard in return.