pull it together, nothing comes for free [harlan]

At the continuous insistence of her mother, Piper had finally agreed that a short, work-free vacation –maybe one but nothing more than two days—was in order. Piper was not the vacation type, after all she had not really taking a vacation in the last year or two, but as she kept working, the stress piled on and she had no way to get rid of it. Over time she found it difficult to sleep or work or do anything else with a clear head. Her mother had suggested she see a therapist years ago but Piper had little time to herself and felt it more necessary to indulge in a book or write a friend rather than talk about her problems with a stranger. She was not being obstinate, she did not think of herself as perfectly handling all of life’s problems but for now she had to. Piper dreamed of becoming editor-in-chief and could not let a little headache ruin her career.

In reality, Piper had little reason to miss work. She had no special hobby or outside interests, not many friends, and no significant other waiting for her at home. While she at times found herself thinking about how luxurious a weekend getaway somewhere far, far away from her responsibilities would be, Piper had absolutely no idea what she would do. Her life was consumed by her work and apart from the magazine, there was little else she knew how to do. But, a promise was a promise. She had asked for two days off, cleared it with her boss, and had arranged for her secretary to reschedule important meetings and deadlines. Even though her boss was reluctant to let her leave, even if only for a couple days, she had agreed to it on the condition that Piper not take Christmas off this year. After all, the holiday issues were even more time consuming than the regular ones and Piper was the only one who seemed to be able to stay on top of things.

The start to her first day off was glorious. She slept in an extra hour, made a trip to the market down the street and bought freshly baked bread and a few extra things. She ate a huge breakfast and brewed a fresh pot of coffee. What should I do first? She asked herself but finally settled on doing a little reading. She couldn’t remember the last time she read for fun. Before she could take the first sip of her coffee, there was a knock at the door. It was Catherine, her secretary, looking like a nervous wreck. Even before the words left Catherine’s mouth, Piper had already come to the conclusion that her vacation was officially over.

“I’m so, so sorry Piper,” she started, an apologetic look written all over her face, “but the new PR girl got all mixed up and forgot to reschedule the Quidditch guys for next month like we asked her to,” Catherine said hurriedly. “I told Nancy I could ask one of the guys downstairs to handle it but she insists that you come back to work as soon as possible,” she continued.

Piper rubbed her temples. She could already fell a headache coming on but forced herself to smile. “It’s no big deal, just give me a few minutes and we can go together,” she said in the kindest voice she could muster. She wouldn’t deny that she was not annoyed. It was such an easy thing to do, make a phone call and reschedule things, and the new girl couldn’t even handle that. The PR position would probably reopen within the week. Changing into a black dress and high heels, the two women rushed off to work.

This was the third “special issue” for the magazine and something that they soon hoped would be more efficiently done. Every month a special topic was proposed, phone calls were made, people were interviewed and photographed. But once in a while, the magazine tackled topics that were not directly related to fashion but did grab their reader’s attention. This time, a top ten list of some of the best or most sought out Quidditch players. Piper had little input on what was considered “best” or “most handsome” and she supposed it was a subjective matter, but she had to admit she was a little excited to meet the players. She was a Quidditch fan at heart and although she had not seen a game in years, she would occasionally indulge in the sports section of the Daily Prophet when she had the chance.

Piper often worked behind the scenes and did not always have the pleasure of meeting the people in the issue. Her schedule was often preoccupied with meetings with agents, managers, and her own co-workers. So, while she was not particularly excited about going to work, she was sort of interested in the prospect of meeting and interviewing these Quidditch players. Quidditch players were often used to the spotlight, the interviews, people taking photographs and swooning over them. As long as everyone played their parts accordingly, everything would run smoothly and Piper could have a chance to return home before dinnertime.

“Ms. Morel, Mr. Bellamy has arrived,” Catherine popped into her office to announce the player’s arrival. Checking herself in the mirror and forcing a smile on her face, she went out to greet her first guest of the day.

@Harlan Bellamy

"You're leaving?" Harlan, clearly in disbelief, repeated the words that had just been spoken to him by Tierney Talwit, the Gravesend Griffins' newest Public Relations Coordinator. "You're leaving me..." The blond slapped a hand to his chest for emphasis. "Me, Harlan Bellamy, alone.. to handle an interview on my own?" He could hardly control the smile that tugged on either side at his lips. "Who knows what I'll say," The captain warned, studying the young woman for signs that she was only getting his hopes up only to cut them down.

"Bellamy, it's a top ten list and Merlin knows you aren't number one," Tierney fired back at him with her hands impatiently placed on her hips, waiting for him to enter the building they stood in front of. Apparently an unknown reserve that had been let go from the Griffins months ago had spoken to the press about some sort of mistreatment and all hands were needed to clean up the mess. "Actually, I'm not sure where you landed, but that's besides the point," She added in a breath.

"Just -- " The petite brunette was now trying her best to shove Harlan through the front doors of Label Magazine but the fact that she was half his size did not help her endeavour. "Just be nice!" Tierney called out breathlessly as the door closed behind him, Harlan having given up on fighting back. "Please!" Her final plea was muffled by the glass now separating them.

Harlan was so pleased with the recent turn of events that he had almost forgotten where he was entirely. That was, until he saw the expectant pair of eyes peering up at him from behind the marble receptionist desk. He made his way toward to the employee, his own eyes exploring the walls covered in magazine covers around him. There was certainly more than one pair of familiar legs emblazoned on the glossy posters, he noted.

"Harlan Bellamy to see..." He leaned forward on the palms of his hands that were now placed on the top of the desk. Usually the details of these meetings were handled by a Griffin's employee - Tierney in this case, who had just left him. Before he could even vocalise his predicament the young blonde woman was up and out of her chair and coming around the corner excitedly.

"Ms. Morel," She almost screamed, pausing for a moment to control herself. It was clear now that she knew exactly who he was and exactly why he was there. "You'll be meeting with Ms. Morel, Mr. Bellamy,"She repeated, this time with much more composure. "Floor six, Catherine will take care of you,"

Harlan offered a small smile in response and wasted no further time before escaping to the elevator, catching a glimpse of her leaning to watch him through the closing doors. Once he emerged on the sixth floor he was greeted by a woman he could only assume was Catherine, her disposition far more inviting. Per her direction, the wizard made himself comfortable on the plush armchair in the lobby. It wasn't long before the door across the room opened to reveal the woman who would be conducting his interview.

"Ms. Morel?" The captain stood up and offered his hand in greeting. "Harlan Bellamy," He introduced himself formally, doing his best to keep up appearances without the help from a Griffins representative to deal with the formalities. Upon taking in the woman's appearance briefly, he had decided that perhaps this ordeal wouldn't be so bad after all.

While Piper had seen him in the papers once in a while, Harlan looked completely different in person. Most people did, she figured. Even though Label Magazine focused on fashion and beauty, most of the models were often unrecognizable without the help of special lighting and makeup. But, Harlan Bellamy was exceptionally tall and quite handsome. She would even go as far to say that the photos in the Daily Prophet did him little justice. While she had not seen a Quidditch match in some time—years, really--if the local sports fans were anything to go by, he was rather talented. But a talent could not be photographs and Piper could already hear Silas, the head photographer, asking for the Quidditch player to show as much skin as possible for the fans.

Piper shook his hand gently. She felt ridiculously short, even in heels, and suddenly regretted not going an inch or so higher than normal. As long as this giant knew that she was a force to be reckoned with, there would be little incident and much success. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, please call me Piper,” she said with a sweet smile. “I am the junior editor here at Label Magazine and I must say we are all excited that you and your manager agreed to be part of our project. It’s not everyday that we get to meet talented athletes such as yourself,” she added.

Piper turned towards Catherine, her secretary, who was having a hard time keeping her eyes off of their guest and seemed to have completely forgotten protocol. Piper cleared her throat gently, a somewhat forced and annoyed smile gracing her face. “Catherine, could you bring Mr. Bellamy and I a cup of tea, please?” she turned towards her secretary but the girl barely moved an inch, “Catherine? If you could momentarily take your eyes away from our guest and bring us a cup of tea, I’d greatly appreciate it,” Piper added in annoyance.

The young woman suddenly turned towards her boss, her face turning red in embarrassed once she was able to process what was being said, “t-tea? Uh..yes, right away” Catherine added, and walked away in a hurry, it seemed like she couldn’t get away fast enough. Piper had met her share of celebrities in her years at the company but after the first few faces, it all just seemed routine. Catherine, on the other hand, attended Quidditch matches religiously and Piper often overheard her talking about how she fantasized meeting one of her favorite players, being swept off her feet, and living happily ever after. Piper could only assume Harlan Bellamy had made Catherine’s list of potential suitors. Piper doubted the girl had actually ever been on a real date before. She led Harlan to her office, “in here, please. I’m really sorry about Catherine, she is relatively new and gets star struck pretty often. You must be used to all of this, no? The press seems to have a field day every time you play a match or show your face”.

Label Magazine needed someone like Harlan Bellamy to get their issues flying off the shelves. In the fashion world, Label Magazine was in the top three. While the magazine had a sizeable audience of dedicated readers, if they ever wanted to draw even bigger names to their covers, they would have to expand their readership. The last thing she needed was a distracted secretary. A majority of the staff showed interest in the idea of a Quidditch-based issue, but Piper was not initially convinced. She enjoyed Quidditch even though she was so busy that she could hardly attend a match. But the concept of talking to the Quidditch players individually was a task she was not particularly looking forward to. Most of them had athletic talent but had rather boring or controversial personal lives. Nevertheless, the instructions had been clear: dig as much as possible but with grace. No one needed another tabloid magazine.

Catherine returned quickly with two cups of tea, and seemed to have regained her composure. At least she was trying to keep her focus by staring intently at Piper. Satisfied, she motived the secretary to leave the room.

“I would like to spend the first part of your visit chatting about your career but we’d love to hear about your personal life. Then, we will go ahead and proceed to the studio for your photos. I would like for you to feel completely comfortable and open with me.  So, let me start by asking you, you have a bit of a bad boy reputation from what I hear, so I’d like to hear more about it. Does the press have you completely wrong? Is there another side of you that’d you’d like us to see of you today? I’d love to share your photo concept ideas with Silas downstairs…”

"Piper," Harlan repeated per the dark haired witch's request as he took her hand in his own in greeting. For a person so petite, her shake packed quite a punch. He liked her already. A small smile tugged at the corner of his lips. "Thank you," The captain replied out of courtesy as a wave of realisation hit him that he really was on his own on this one - no manager, no handler, and no one clean up his mess. The prospect was both exciting and terrifying. The last time he had been left to his own devices with the press he had been suspended for three games, so he was well aware that he needed to watch himself carefully. "Miss Talwit apologises for her absence," He remembered to inform the junior editor at the last moment of their introduction.

Just then, the topic of conversation shifted to the young woman to the left of Piper who, up until this point, had been gaping at Harlan with wide eyes in complete silence. He couldn't fight a small smile but directed it to the ground uncharacteristically flushed with embarrassment. The player was by no means a stranger to that sort of behaviour from fans, but hearing it be called out in a professional setting was enough to make him want to slink away himself. His blue eyes flicked back up to Piper, now brimming with humour.

Harlan followed obediently into the Piper's office, taking in the decor as he found his seat on a plush arm chair opposite her, his head shaking in the process. "Don't apologise," He protested with a polite nod. Although he had become alarmingly conditioned to the stares and gawking from complete strangers, he couldn't bring himself to speak the fact out loud. The wizard preferred to ignore it entirely.

As her assistant brought in the two requested cups of tea, Harlan smiled up at her despite the fact that she seemed to be looking everywhere in the room but at him. "Thank you, Catherine," He called as she made her exit, nearly falling over her feet at his proclamation. Harlan turned back to Piper with a smile, eyeing the drink in front of him that he had no intention of drinking.

The once smile quickly faded to more of a grimace as the editor starting throwing out words like personal life and studio photos. Suddenly he was wishing that he hadn't dismissed Tierney so quickly. She would have fielded these things without a blink of an eye. Harlan on the other hand, folded his arms across his chest to brace himself for the inevitable chaos he was about to create. He folded one leg over the other in an attempt to find comfort, resting his chin on the palm of his hand in an attempt to bide his time.

Bad boy reputation. He was no stranger to the idea that his name often proceeded him and he silently thanked Piper for starting with a question that he was all too familiar with. "Well..." Harlan began thoughtfully, sitting back in the arm chair, visibly feeling more at ease. "It's no secret that I've gotten myself in a fair bit of trouble over the years," He confessed matter of factly. The proof was in the pudding in this case, splashed across the sporting and social sections of various editions of the prophet. "Although I do think that sometimes spectators.. players.. just anyone, try and get a rise out of me," Harlan's memory flashed to the many instances in which he was persuaded into action. "Trouble seems to find me," He concluded.

Harlan could continue his attempt to rationalise his actions but his notoriously bad conversational skills had come into play. He simply shrugged his shoulders. Photo concepts were entirely out of his realm of skill "I trust you and your team," He stated plainly, mainly because he was sure his idea of a photoshoot was not one that they would approve of. "What.. concepts," Harlan repeated the word with scepticism. "Did you all have in mind?" He figured if he shot any ideas he didn't like down early, the better this process would go. As he watched the woman in front him, though, it dawned on him that the thought of her watching him in front a camera wasn't all that painful.

On one hand, Piper was a little annoyed that his manager had not come along. Managers could be imposing but at the same time often knew their clients well enough to skip over the pleasantries and get down to business right away. But, Piper would not have been surprised if she found out that Nancy had requested that the PR coordinator find a way to conveniently be absent. After all, what better way to encourage a sudden burst of anger, the revelation of a secret, or a slip, any slip of information that would have issues flying off the shelves. But Piper could tell Harlan Bellamy would not be an easy one to pry open. After all, even beyond his natural charm, Piper could tell that he was somewhat guarded. Or was it that he was used to having someone else answer the questions for him? She wouldn’t have been shocked. He probably kept his PR coordinator on her toes with his antics. 

“Now, now! Your reputation certainly precedes you, The Prophet has never been forgiving once they’ve got their hands on some gossip. But, I’d like to think that there’s a side to you we’ve never had the pleasure to meet. So think of this as a place to set matters straight, if you will,” she said. She needed to find a way in and did not want to provoke him with any of the many headlines she had read about him.

She wasn’t quite “famous” but did know a thing or two about having a bad reputation. Unfortunately, no matter what she did, Piper’s reputation for being all work and never play was known throughout her company. In the beginning she had been invited to drinks, house parties, and had even been asked out on a date once by a co-worker. However, after countless no’s, they just stopped asking. Piper was hard at work most of the day if not all of it, weekends, holidays, after hours. Once her reputation had been set it was little she could do to change people’s first impression. So, she slowly became the person they thought she was.

“You are definitely one of the more handsome ones on the list, at least by my standards,” she said with a small smile, in a matter-of-fact way. It was a little bolder than she intended. In reality, she was feeling a little intimidated inside but Piper knew how to conceal it. He was after all a Quidditch star, easily recognizable, ridiculously talented, being told he was handsome was probably just as common as hearing the daily forecast. "So, really, you’d look great in almost anything, or if it were up to Silas, probably just as good in nothing at all,” she added. “But, alas we’d like to try something different this time. Here at Label Magazine we really want to stand out from the crowd, want to add something new to the mix. Therefore, we’d really like to see you in a way we haven’t seen you before,” she said.

“Many of our readers have also been dying to hear about your preferences in women, so we could always try a romantic concept with one of the models of your choice, the fans would eat that up,” Piper added with a grin, shifting through her notes, “actually, is there anyone special in your life now? If you’d like to talk about her we’d probably have to give a heads up to her PR team” she added. She had not read about anyone in particular in the headlines but felt the need to ask. It wasn't rare for celebrities that were often in the news to keep important parts of their personal life a secret. She looked over at the clock on the wall. Silas should have been here by now. Something was probably going on downstairs, but Piper did not have the energy to deal with his drama.

Piper could already feel a headache coming on at the thought of Silas  bursting into the room and making ridiculous demands of Piper because his assistants were not living up to his expectations. It had been a typical occurrence recently and something that Piper had been dealing with for a little over a month. Piper called Catherine into the room and quietly asked her to go downstairs and see what was going on with the set up.

“Silas should be making his way up shortly to discuss the photoshoot in more detail, but until then please relax, it will be a long day and you’re stuck with me a little while longer,” she said apologetically, hoping that she was not making him feel uncomfortable, “would you mind terribly if I smoke?” she asked, reaching into her purse on the floor to fetch her pack of cigarettes.


@Gage finally responded~! ^^ sorry for the super long wait.