A Single Daffodil

“Open these doors right fucking now.” I spoke through gritted teeth as I shook the handles to the double doors of the private room. “Or so help me God, Sophia Francis Jones, I will go Muhammad Ali on your Columbian ass.”

The minute I spotted Harry Styles waiting for me in the private room of the River Rock restaurant, Sophia acted quickly. She pushed me into the room, heaved the doors shut and locked them before I could even blink.

“Oh Honey, please. Don’t threaten me with a good time.” She giggled from the other side of the door. “You’ll thank me later for this. Trust me.”

“Sorry, Vita. She made me do it!” I heard Jayden call nervously through the door. He was in on it too. I couldn’t believe it.

“Our friendship is terminated. Do you hear me? TERMINATED.” I seethed, trying to jiggle the double doors open again. No such luck.

“So how did they get you here, then?” Harry Styles’s British accent questioned behind me. Suddenly, I felt very embarrassed. I was left alone with him in this tiny private room, in this way too tight dress. “I have to say I’m intrigued. Judging by the mass of anger you’re demonstrating, you had no idea I was going to be here.”

I released my death grip off the handles of the double doors and slowly turned around. As I watched him bat his eyelashes innocently in my direction, I realized I was officially on a date with him against my own will. There had to be something illegal in the books about this sort of arrangement. This was America for Gods sake.

“A fundraiser for dying babies.” I muttered, throwing a glare at the double doors. I can’t believe I didn’t catch onto their lying sooner.

“Wow.” Harry had his arms hidden behind his back while he spoke. “That’s a little extreme.”

Says the boy who just forced me into going on a date with him.

“Care to sit?” He offered politely, now reaching out for one of the empty chairs at the table.

“No, I wouldn’t care to do anything.” But I walked towards him and the table anyways. I dropped my tiny black clutch on the table and sat down. It was hard to act all kicking-and-screaming about the whole affair in this skin tight dress. “Just so you know, I’m going through with this under extreme protest.”

Harry grinned, taking the seat opposite me. “Sophia said you would.”

“Okay, yeah, what the hell, by the way? How did you two nitwits figure out this whole kidnapping scheme?” I had to ask because I was really curious.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” His every syllable flirted. I let my eyes drift down to his unbuttoned shirt, only for a moment, to spot all the tattoos on his chest.

I quickly looked back up at his smiling eyes, now feeling flustered. Be better, Vita. “Tell me, or I’ll stab you in the neck with this steak knife.”

Harry laughed at my threat. “Alright easy, Shawshank. After you took the call at work, Sophia told me to be at this restaurant tonight, 6:30 sharp, and she handled the rest.”

God damn that fierce, Columbian bitch.

“I feel so very betrayed.” I sighed, woefully reaching for the menu in front of me. “Alright. Let’s get this stupid thing over with.”

“Excellent.” Harry was delighted with himself, picking up his own menu. “I have to admit, you might want to go easy on me tonight. It’s been a while since I’ve been on a date.”

I gazed at Harry with narrow eyes over the top of my menu. “What do you consider a while? A week? A day? What?”

“Try a year and four months.”

I lowered my menu slightly to offer him a strange look. “Really?”

He looked up from his own menu and smiled. “Why is that so hard to believe?”

Because you’re insanely attractive and rich and famous and there’s no way in hell you haven’t dated anyone in over a year.

“I guess it’s not that hard to believe. You are pretty annoying.” I pointed out. “And stalker-ish.”

“See, that’s why I’m attracted to you!” Harry laughed at my pseudo funny remark.

I went rigid the minute the words he spoke registered in my brain. For the first time since being here, my cheeks didn’t turn red with anger, but bright pink, in a blushing sort of way.

“Say what now?” I cleared my throat, trying to hold onto my game face. I could feel it slipping.

“Well, ye know, you’ve been nothing but...unkind since we’ve met-”

“That’s not true!” I immediately protested.

“You called me a Dickwad the other day!” He immediately countered. “And you called my nose stupid and dumb.”

I sunk back into my seat. He was right. “That’s not...entirely true, then.”

Harry grinned, pushing his menu to the side with his elbow so he could lean forward. I got a better view of his killer jawline. God, he really won the gene lottery with that one. “But I like it, strangely enough. No girl has ever been so crude and ghastly towards me in my life. Is it any wonder why I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you since?”

“Hmm.” I hummed, sitting up straight and pretending like this wasn’t affecting me at all while I starred at the menu. Truth was, I’ve been stuck on the word ‘Appetizers’ the whole time I’ve been here, and I was internally, freaking out. I wanted to tell him I’ve never met a guy who’s been so forward about how they felt, but I wasn’t about to give him that satisfaction. “Well, someone has to put you in your place.”

He leaned back into his chair, still wearing an amused grin as he tried to read my expression. “See, even now, after I’ve told you I’m attracted to you and I haven’t stopped thinking about you, you act like I didn’t say anything provoking at all.”

No, no. I’m freaking out alright. My palms are sweating, my heart is racing. I’m just really good at hiding it.

“I like to keep things interesting.” I replied with a lazy shrug. I thanked my lucky stars that my voice didn’t falter towards the end. That happened when I was really nervous.

After that, a waiter appeared out of a door behind Harry, which I didn’t notice before, and brought out two glasses of water. I took a sip immediately, becoming aware of my mouth feeling very dry. Harry told the waiter we needed a few more minutes before we ordered and the waiter was gone in a flash.

“So. Tell me Vita things, then.” Harry’s eyes twinkled with amusement. He was fully aware that he was wearing me down. I was even more aware of it, and I hated it. “So far, the only things I know about you are, you like flowers, making death threats, and the Miami Heat.”

I almost choked on my fourth sip of water. Did he know I was the coach’s daughter? “Wait. How did you know that I liked the Heat?”

“You were wearing their jersey when you came back to fix the flowers at the hotel.”

Oh. Duh. I was wearing Lebron’s jersey because I left the game early to cleanup his mess.

“Maybe I can take you to one of their games sometime?” He smiled.

And thats when I laughed. Really hard. “Oh God, Harry. You have no idea who I’m related to, do you?”

That startled him. Finally. Now I held the element of surprise.

“I can’t say that I do.” He said, his left eyebrow raised with integument. “Am I supposed to?”

No, I suppose not. He was, after all, not from this country.

Instead of answering his question, I pulled out my phone to check the time. If we left now, we could probably still get into the arena.

“Do you have a car?”



Somewhere between getting into Harry Styles’s blacked out Range Rover and barking out directions to the American Airlines arena, I realized I must have been coming down with the flu.

Because there was no explanation as to why I was bringing Harry to the arena.

I don’t even know why I was suddenly partial to bringing him anywhere or even tolerating his presence. Less than an hour ago, I was strategically coming up with a plan of escape, but now I was telling him to take a right at the next stop light.

Maybe it was because the Harry I met back at the restaurant, was a Harry I’ve never met before. When I wasn’t constantly throwing out curse words and threats in his direction, he was actually kinda...God, it pains me to say this but, sweet. He was really sweet.

But I was still pretty sore about how condescending he was towards me the first time I met him.

Then again, he has been trying to make it up to me since.

Aaaaaand. He’s got a pretty good looking face.

Jesus, Vita. Get it together.

As Harry pulled into one the back gates of the arena, his eyes widened. “You know we’re not going to get in, right? There’s no game on tonight.”

A security officer was already standing outside the gate with his hand out, signaling we slow down. I let out a sigh of relief when I noticed it was Jack. He was my favorite security guard.

I rolled my eyes at Harry. “Just shut up for a second.”

When Harry rolled down the window, Jack came right up to the window. “This is a restricted area, sir. The arena is closed. You need to make a U-turn imm-”

“Hey Jack! It’s me.” I quickly released myself from my seatbelt and leaned over Harry to smile up at Jack. I pretended like I didn’t notice Harry’s breath slightly hitched in his throat.

“Vita?” His voice was no longer demanding and firm. “Hey! What are you doing here? You know your dad is in Chicago right now.”

“I know, I know. My friend here, isn’t from this country and I wanted to show him around the place.” I explained, patting Harry on the chest for emphasis. He offered Jack a weary smile. “You don’t mind, right?”

“Not at all!” He smiled happily. “I’ll let Mark know you’re coming in. He’ll unlock the doors for you.”

“Wonderful!” I grinned back, slowly leaning back into my seat. “Say hi to Gladys for me, won’t you?”

“Of course!” He stepped back and waved before going back to his security area to open the gate.

When we pulled into the restricted parking lot, Harry was still in complete awe. “I’m still trying to figure out what just happened. Does your dad work here?”

I slammed the car door shut behind me and motioned for Harry to follow me. “Eh...sort of.”

“Sort of?” Harry followed me into the arena and towards the first flight of stairs. “What do you mean sort of?”

We reached the two black metal doors that led straight to the basketball court floor. I turned my back to the doors to push them open as I responded. “Well he’s kinda...the coach.”

The basketball court shone brightly under the huge florescent lighting of the arena. The grande room was eerily quiet, but it somehow still held it’s magnificent charm. I always appreciated the arena when it was quiet, because without the loud crowds distracting you, you can admire the wonderful structure in here.

“The coach.” Harry croaked. He was one or two steps behind me as we walked towards the shiny new court. The janitors that work here, polish it every morning, game or no game. “The coach as in...”

“The coach of the Miami Heat basketball team.” I finished his sentence, quickly discarding my high heels by a rack full of basketballs before walking onto the court. The team must of left them out during practice before they left. “Yeah. Pretty surreal, right?”

“Jesus.” Harry was still trying to take it all in. “And here I was, stupid Harry, stressing out about how to get us tickets for the next home game.”

After letting out a girlish giggle, Harry turned to look at me and smiled. I think we both realized then that I wasn’t so against the idea of hanging around Harry anymore.

Before I could let Harry acknowledge that out loud, I quickly grabbed a ball from the basketball rack and threw it at his chest. He caught it. “Can you shoot?”

“I’m more of a football person, myself.” He threw the ball pathetically towards the hoop. It bounced right off the rim and towards the other side of the court. “Or soccer, as you Americans call it.”

“Yeah, um, it definitely shows.” I walked over to where the ball landed and threw it, easily making it into the hoop. “Alright, you wanna know Vita things? Every time you get the ball in the hoop, you get to ask me a question.”

Harry gazed at me in awe. Probably because I was being so compliant all of a sudden.

“Alright. You’re on.” He tugged at the sleeves of his button down shirt and started rolling them up to his elbows. I dribbled the ball casually as I watched him do it. I didn’t want it to look like I was checking him out.

Because, damn, I totally was.

“And if you make any shots?” Harry raised an eyebrow, taking the basketball from my grip.

“And if I make any shots, which I absolutely will, I get to ask you questions.” I retorted. “Deal?”

I wanted to snicker so badly, because it was clear to me that I’d be making all the baskets between us. Poor guy, he’ll never learn a thing about me.

“Deal.” Harry grinned at me before making a jump shot right next to me. The ball swooshed through the hoop with ease. “Favorite movie?”

My jaw dropped as the ball bounced lamely underneath the basket. He looked absolutely pleased with my expression. “How even...?”

“Hey, I get to ask the questions.” Harry smirked. “Favorite movie?” He repeated his question.

“Fine, ugh. Casablanca.” I answered, taking the ball from his hands. I bounced it off the ground twice before throwing it straight into the hoop. “Why the hell are you in Miami? Aren’t you from London or something?”


Harry laughed and reached for the neglected ball. “Cheshire, actually.” He easily dribbled the ball through his legs. Jesus. “I’m here with my band for the summer. We’re recording a new album.”

“Oh.” I mentally made a note of googling Cheshire when I got home. “That’s cool.”

Harry jumped and made another shot. The kid totally fooled me with that first shot. He turned to face me. “Favorite fruit?”

“Come on, Harry.” I gave him a look. “You need to come up with better questions than that!” I ran over to the ball and dribbled it around the outer ring. “Bananas, by the way.”

“Ooh. Kinky.”

I made a face at him before making a three pointer outside the ring. “Don’t be gross. Alright, here’s one. What’s your favorite book?”

“Favorite book...” Harry repeated the question in a low hum as he reached for the bouncing ball. He picked it up and rotated it between his fingertips. “I don’t really have a favorite book. I prefer poetry.”

“Poetry.” I stared at him with disbelief. “Are you kidding me? You’re like an enigma, man!”

Harry grinned and tilted his head to the left with a look of utter curiosity on his face. “How so?”

I didn’t want to look at him much longer because with every second that went by, I could feel myself becoming more attracted to his beautiful features. It was dangerous. Instead, I reached up to my hair and pulled my fingers through my hair -- anything to keep me distracted from that incredibly cute nose. “That’s just so...Mr.Darcy of you to say. You know it's the twenty-first century, right? The only thing guys read here is Sports Illustrated.”

We went back and forth for at least another hour. The questions were fairly innocent, mostly regarding favorite foods, tv shows, music, describe yourself in three words, favorite superhero, etc. They were all pretty mediocre, but simple. I liked simple. I learned a lot about Harry in that hour and surprisingly, he learned a lot about me too. At some point or another, we were getting lazy with the rules of the game and just started talking and shooting whenever we had the ball in our hands.

“I’ve got a good question for you.” Harry stated, taking the ball right out of my grip and dribbling it through his legs like a pro. He was so close to me as he did it, that I could smell the scent of his cologne. I couldn’t concentrate on anything other than the fact that my legs had suddenly felt like Jell-O. I backed up a step or two, just so I could gather up my wits that suddenly felt scattered. His emerald eyes were bright and playful as he stepped closer to me once more. He finally stopped bouncing the ball through his legs and stood up straight. “Would you go on a second date with me?”

My very analytical brain did not miss the fact that every syllable was dripping with seductive charm, and it didn’t help that he was British. Once again, I was completely and utterly disarmed by this guy. He looked downright delectable with his bright green eyes and a face that could literally have made angels sing. I wasn’t singing though. I was gawking at him like an idiot.

Before I could answer him though, something happened in the arena that rerouted our attention away from each other entirely. The lights dimmed and music started playing throughout the whole arena.

It was Let’s Get It On. By Marvin Gaye.

Harry and I looked back at each other and laughed.

“Are you trying to seduce me, Vita?” Harry cheekily grinned. “Because wow, this is certainly-”

“God, please stop talking before I punch you.” I cut him off quickly before turning around to face the technical box with all the controls. “Mark!” I shouted over the music, feeling utterly too embarrassed over the fact that someone had been watching Harry and I on the court. Of course it was Mark the security guard playing around with us. “Knock it off!”

“Just setting the mood! Don’t mind me!” His little head stuck outside of the box as he shouted back. Even from the court, I could see his devilish grin.

I groaned. I knew my cheeks were red, completely mortified by Mark’s intrusion. I wanted to kill him. I turned to look at Harry, who was obviously way too amused by this, and rolled my eyes. “Well I don’t know about you, but I’m in desperate need of a cheeseburger. Want to go to Sonic?”

“Don’t think I haven’t noticed you changing the subject.” Harry responded as I picked up my discarded heels on the side of the court.

As we headed towards the exit, I twirled around to face Harry, walking backwards. I offered him a casual shrug. “I like to keep things interesting.”

“Yeah.” Harry grinned, jogging to catch up with me. “I’m starting to figure that out on my own.”