Laughter filled the house as , along with her best friend , got ready for their night out. It had been far too long since they had last let their hair down. Both girls worked long hours working for various websites and entertainment blogs, with working as a featured journalist and using her passion for photography to secure her jobs snapping pictures of some of the biggest names in the industry. They were a well-known tag-team within the industry, a duo much like Ant and Dec. would go along to a venue to interview a client and wherever she was, wasn’t far behind and vice versa. If you booked one you would find the other listed as the top-preferred partner choice. It had started out as a coincidence with both women being hired to work with the same clients time and time again and before long they were hanging out outside of work as well. Within a year of working together they had become highly requested by famous clients as they felt more at ease with the friendly atmosphere that the women created as soon as they were in their presence.
The smell of hairspray tangled with spritz of perfume and the essence of alcopops as the two women prepared for the night ahead of them. They had already started on their pre-party drinks buzz as they fixed their hair and applied a bit more make-up than usual; or a lot in their case. usually stuck to the bare minimum: foundation, mascara, a slick of eyeliner and either a muted lipstick or gloss. , on the other hand, usually just put on a bit of concealer, mascara, and a flavoured Chapstick which she applied throughout the day, hoping for the best. would take more care when it came to her hair, choosing to straighten it before each job whereas would just throw her hair up and pray that it wouldn’t come undone. Vanity just wasn’t a big deal to them; no matter how big or small. They were confident enough in themselves to believe that they shouldn’t have to wear layer upon layer of makeup to look good because they were comfortable enough in their own skins. If they could’ve gotten away with turning up to the Brit Awards in their pyjamas and their hair in messy buns then they would’ve.
Taking a sip of her blue-coloured beverage, looked in her vanity mirror to address ’s reflection:
“Looking forward to seeing Louis tonight?” she placed her bottle down to take up her curling tongs, twirling a strand of hair around it. She was going for a beach wave vibe that would hopefully compliment how her hair faded from her almost-black to blonde.
turned her head away from her own mirror, eyeliner pen in hand, to give her a wide grin. She had met Louis – along with the other members of One Direction – various times thanks to her career and from the first time they met it was as if they had known each other their whole lives. The last time their paths had crossed he had complimented her on her ability to capture his good side – a comment which she had counteracted by telling him that all of his sides were his good sides, much to his enjoyment. He had then proceeded to ask her to go for a drink with him after work and she had agreed. One drink turned into six and before long they were seeing each other whenever he was back in town. They had both agreed, for the time being, that there would be no strings attached and that it was merely two good friends having a bit of fun with someone they could trust without feeling the need to adhere to typical boyfriend/girlfriend scenarios and feeling like they were attached to just one person. Although they were both in agreement, neither of them had seen anyone else whilst their pact was active, leading their friends to believe that they were more involved than even they realised.
“Let’s just say that if he wasn’t expected to be at the awards show and then go to an entirely different country at silly o-clock in the morning, then you’d be on your lonesome tonight.”
Widening her eyes in mock shock, placed her tongs back down and took down a light green sheer scarf that was draped across the top of her mirror, balling it up and throwing it ’s way.
stuck her tongue out at her as she caught it single-handedly, something that was rare for the uncoordinated beauty. actually physically applauded her achievement – just like would do for her – as she shook her head at her friend. dropped it onto the bed on which she was sitting and turned her attention back to applying half an eyelid’s worth of liquid liner.
Making sure that she was satisfied with the outcome of her hair, stood up and unplugged her tongs, placing them onto a heat-resistant mat. She was a little bit OCD when it came to removing plugs from sockets rather than just switching them off. She then tipped her head over and shook it a few times before returning upright and spraying it with hairspray. This was the extent of effort she was willing to put into doing her hair. She then moved over to the bed, to the side opposite to where was sat and sorted through her case for the last time. As well as having a touch of OCD, she felt the need to re-check her case – and various lists – several times to ease her anxiety over potentially forgetting something.
She went through one of her checklists out loud as ran her straighteners through her hair one more time.
“Uber?”
looked at her through her reflection, “Ordered this morning by Emma for four thirty which is in…” she looked up at the clock above her, “twenty-two minutes.”
checked off the item, “Hotel booking?”
“Printed out and on top of the sideboard by the front door; they’ve agreed we can check in whenever we get there.”
She nodded, “Your case?”
moved her head down slowly, “Packed and…” her eyes moved side to side, trying to remember where it was; “in the hall downstairs. Handbag is on top of it.”
“Awesome,” she ticked off a few items that had been her responsibility, “Now just to sort out the holdall.” She picked up their toothbrushes – which she had put caps over to protect them from germs – and slid them into the small bag. It was just big enough to hold the essentials that they were going to need at short notice. Things like chargers that would be attached to their phones right up until they left could then just be thrown in as they walked out the door. She then put her Dictaphone in it along with ’s camera that had already been placed in its case and hair ties for when they got sick of their hair being down. Although they were to be at the awards socially, they were also required for a pre-show interview and photo-op with One Direction. They were the only media people in attendance who had been hired for the sole reason that the lads had requested them and who’s schedules allowed them to be able to trail behind the lads should their interview run late or over-time. Content that everything was in its place, she closed the bag and her small suitcase over.
“Meet you downstairs?” she asked as she picked them up.
nodded at her in the mirror, making sure everything was in place. She watched as walked out of the door.
She muttered under her breath, “1…2…3….”
soon bobbed back into focus as she turned back on herself and peaked her head through the door, “Make sure you unplug everything.”
She nodded again, giving her friend a smile before rolling her eyes at her. made a face at and continued walking towards the staircase, bags in tow. She mentally made a note to make sure she made try to relax over the next few hours or so, whether she liked it or not. Failing that; she reasoned, she could always just ply her with alcohol until she was at least drunk enough to forget to care.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” fumed at no one in particular as she checked her watch, kicking the side of her suitcase. Their Uber driver was late – forty-seven minutes late to be exact – and the women were running out of time to check into their hotel before the event. She pulled her coat tighter, trying to eliminate the sensation of the cold February air hitting her skin. She had no idea why she’d volunteered to stand outside in the cold instead of being inside making much needed phone calls to their place of accommodation or even the event organisers who had expected them to turn up not long after they’d check in nearby. She groaned. Their driver need to hurry up otherwise the hairs on her legs would have regrown and banded together in a bid to shield her from the cold by the time the Brit’s had started.
closed down the menu on the house phone. She’d been trying to get through to “The Hoxton Grove” for well over an hour only to have the briefest of discussions with a member of staff who could not have cared less. She’d spent all of thirty seconds explaining their dilemma only to be silenced with a blunt “yeah, yeah. See you when you get here… Twat.” The line clicked off and the dull tone from where she’d been cut off sounded in her ear. She’d taken it upon herself to make all the necessary phone calls as she was sure ’s blood pressure was sky high by now. She looked out of the open front door to her friend who was standing with two small suitcases and a holdall big enough for their appliances. She turned to place the phone back on its charging block and grabbed her coat. Slipping it on, she patted herself to make sure her phone and its case were in her pocket, along with a small change purse. She closed the door behind her and locked it, sliding the key into her pocket, content that she had everything.
Hearing the door shut, looked up, scuffing the bottoms of her shoes in a bid to give them a little more grip in the wake of the February frost
“Any luck?” All this anger was making wish she was a smoker. She’d have chain smoked her way through all the cigarettes in England by now and would be furiously stubbing out her thirty-ninth of the day by now. The evening was not shaping up the way they’d hoped.
She looked down at her friend and shook her head, “Bitch cut me off so I’m not holding out much hope but I did warn them we’d be late.”
gave her an understanding look. They may have been heading off to a star-studded event but they could hardly give it the “don’t-you-know-who-we-are?” speech as it would be met with a resounding “no” followed by looks that could only be described by the phrase “who-the-fuck-are-these-psychos?”
“Suppose if worst comes to worst, we hitchhike there together. No one will try slicing and dicing either of us if we stick together. We’ll probably beat them to it.” Her attempt to lighten the mood was succeeded by a low chuckle. She bounded down the front steps to join her friend at the bottom. They’d both taken to wearing their converse under their dresses to ease their feet into the night, aiming to put on their stilettos on just before a car came to pick them up from the hotel to the venue.
By now hitchhiking was looking like the most plausible method of transportation. It was just a shame the girls’ shared car was now likely heading to be crushed at the scrap yard due to some idiot ramming into it at top speed the previous week.
As contemplated taking up smoking once more, a car juddered into view, grazing the side of the curb as he tried to pull up alongside it.
The window wound down and a gruff voice barely muttered; “Uber?” He turned back to his wheel, not paying them any attention.
leaned closer to the window, “Shortest route possible, please.”
She briefly took in his appearance; he was unshaven and wearing only a string white vest that was peeking through a thick brush of hair that seemed to start at his greying beard with seemingly no end to it. His arm hair and back hair that creeped over his shoulders to meet with the hair on his chest was stringy and matted with sweat.
The driver mumbled something inaudible, staring straight ahead.
The women exchanged a look before simultaneously sighing. They didn’t have time to rebook someone, or make a dash for the train. They took a hold of the handles of their own suitcases, the holdall perched on top of ’s, and wheeled them the short distance to the boot of the car. The driver showed no sign of movement. rolled her eyes and sighed deeply, knowing that the other was not impressed with the level, or rather lack of, service. They heard an audible “click” which alerted them that the boot was now open and again looked at each other. The driver had finally been of some use. cupped her hand under the rear door and pressed a small button, allowing it to be lifted up. The pair loaded their luggage into the vehicle and made sure the door was fully shut before they both made their way to the separate side doors.
went to pull the door handle open and found that it was locked.
“Door no work.”
She looked up at to be met with the same look of dismay. She quickly made her way over to who had already gotten into the car and moved over so that she could get in. Neither of them fancied sitting up front with the driver and it wasn’t just his unpleasantness that put them off. They could’ve gotten over his sheer audacity to be rude to paying customers but the overpowering stench of body odour was unforgivable. With the price they were paying to get from their home to the centre of London he could’ve at least afforded the fifty pence that public toilets charged to have a “hobo’s shower” in the sinks. wrinkled her nose. visibly choked on the foul smell as she desperately tried to find a way to wind down the window.
“Is there any way we can roll down the windows?” asked the driver as he pulled out onto the road.
“Windows no work,” he sounded pissed off this time. shrunk back in her seat, reminding herself to breathe through her mouth only. To make matters worse, the heating was turned up to its fullest. How the driver hadn’t passed out was beyond them. had resorted to placing her jacket sleeve over her mouth and nose as a makeshift gas mask as she placed her seat belt in its clip, silently cursing at the driver and hoping that they didn’t stink of B.O when they got out. tried to buckle herself in only to find that it didn’t click into place. She groaned. She’d have to make do with holding it into place. If this was what they were going to put up then it was going to be one long journey.
Around ten minutes into their ride, the girls exchanged yet another look. They had realised the driver was not taking a familiar route and was instead driving down endless streets of a neighbourhood they were not familiar with. They had previously done a dummy run of the route to find the quickest way of getting there and this was definitely not it. They had even made a point of requesting it when they had put their order through.
“This isn’t the way to the hotel.”
There was no response. Unsatisfied, learned forward and tapped him on the shoulder, immediately regretting so when he swatted her hand away causing him to expose his arm pits and a new waft of stench hit her in the face. She almost fell back into her seat, spluttering. just looked on in disbelief. They were late enough as it was and she had a feeling they would be even later.
“Look, mate,” she had gone past angry and was making sure it was known, “This isn’t the way to the hotel.”
“Yes way to hotel.”
“No; it’s not. You’re purposely taking the longest route to get there. Either get back on the main road or you won’t be getting paid. Understand?”
He grumbled at her.
“I said; do you understand?”
He shot her a side glance in the rear view mirror, “Yes.”
“Good,” she straightened herself out, “now get back on route and for Christ’s sake; crack open a window.”
He shot her another look as his hand slowly crept to a button on his door. The switch whirred into action as the window painstakingly moved down an inch or so.
“Thank you.”
The women sat in silence as the driver made his way back to the main road to take them to the motorway. looked out of her window as played on her phone, no doubt texting Emma, the events coordinator and head of seating arrangements, to let her know that they were going to be even later than planned. Within about five minutes they were flying down the motorway, the girls silently thanking the powers that be for the incoming breeze allowing them a few minutes of relief from the gag-inducing smell the driver’s sweat glands were releasing. The drive was relatively uneventful until the car started juddering again and the driver slowed down.
“What’s going on?” the girls blurted out in unison, clutching onto ’s arm as she fought to keep her seatbelt round her.
The driver pulled over onto a grass verge and got out, ignoring his passengers.
looked at before taking off her belt.
The man opened ’s door, demanding; “Women: out.”
She grimaced as a new smell hit her: he clearly hadn’t brushed his teeth in at least a week.
held onto her friend’s elbow, “Why?”
The driver’s eyes turned dark, “OUT! Car not working. Stupid women.”
They cautiously shuffled over the seats and got out of the vehicle, making sure that she still had her phone in her pocket. They walked around the car out of traffic’s way and turned back to the driver. He had shut the door after they had vacated the car and was now returning to his own which had been left open. They looked on as he scrambled for his phone, bending over the seat to give them a full view of his perspiring backside, sweat having made his light grey jogging bottoms turn darker as they sculpted the outline of it. The women looked away in disgust, resisting the urge to vomit. It seemed like an eternity had passed before he finally found the handset. He heaved himself down onto the seat, his pot belly proving difficult to do so in a timely manner. He dialled a number on his phone, his passengers the least of his concerns.
looked at him, raising an eyebrow. She stepped forward to ask him a question.
He swatted at her, just like he had previously done inside the car, before closing the door to void him of any future annoyance. Sensing she was not going to go away, he muttered “AA” as he pointed to his phone.
She rolled her eyes. She stepped back and began to air her grievances to her companion who had taken to sitting on a broken cement post. listened to her tentatively; her feelings towards their chauffeur mutual. was always the one to air her opinions – especially if something had annoyed or upset her. As she let ramble on, she watched the driver, trying to tune into his conversation. She couldn’t make out a word of it and it wasn’t for trying. Although she was too far to tell word for word, some of his words were loud and pronounced harshly. He was speaking in what she understood to be Arabic. She furrowed her brow in confusion. Something wasn’t right.
“…” she tried to gain her friend’s attention but she was too deep into moaning about the man to notice. She continued to watch him whilst still trying to get her friend to be quiet.
“!”
shook her head, “Sorry. What did you say?”
“I was about to…” she turned to her friend but was cut off by the sound of a car engine – their Uber’s engine. Her eyes widened as she cottoned on to the driver’s motives. He smirked at her wickedly. She grabbed ’s arm as she shot up and ran towards the car but she was too late. The driver sped off, taking their belongings with them. She dropped her friend’s arm and threw her hands up to her head.
“That fucking bastard!”
She continued to stare after the car until it was too small in the distance to keep track of.
patted herself down, “The bastard’s way with my phone and my bag!”
’s eyes glazed over as she replied quietly, “And our clothes. And our shoes.”
“Have you got your phone on you?”
slid her hand into her pocket and produced her mobile. She twisted her hand for to take it. searched for the number of a taxi company – a reliable one. She dialled it and pressed “call”. As she waited to be connected with someone, continued to stare ahead. She was in as much disbelief as she was in shock. Right now all she wanted was to go home, put on her pyjamas and blast out some Westlife. That always seemed to calm her nerves. They had always had a soothing effect on her, even when she was in physical pain. A honking sound soon shook her out of her somewhat daydream and she was met with the sight of a Range Rover pulled over in front of her.
She furrowed her brow again as the window wound down and a familiar Doncaster accent asked;
“Need a lift?”
She nudged who had since turned her back to shield the phone from traffic noise, forcing her to turn around. Her face lit up as she took in the sight of the man who leant forward to reveal that he was not alone. The passenger waved at the pair. smiled and waved back, standing up.
spoke back into the phone, “Never mind. Our friends have just turned up.” She handed the phone back to its rightful owner and got into the vehicle, her smile getting wider as she realised that she wouldn’t have to suffer another car journey choking on body odour fumes. Surely things had to be getting better?
“I’m sorry, ladies, but I can’t find either of your names on our systems,” the receptionist shook her head as she double checked both surnames. They had been dropped off around twenty minutes ago and had spent most of their time in the crumbling establishment arguing with the receptionist.
turned away from the desk and began to pace around, clearly agitated. Her anxiety levels were through the roof as it were. This was the last thing that she needed.
“But I have all the details here!” ’s voice could be heard from just feet away.
looked over to find her thrusting a wad of paper under the nose of the female receptionist who looked to be as old as the hotel which had been built around 1920.
“Well, if you had called ahead or checked in earlier then maybe this wouldn’t be an issue.”
was absolutely fuming, “We did call ahead. Maybe if you did your job properly then there wouldn’t be an issue!”
The receptionist rolled her eyes to an extent that thought her eyes were going to roll out of her head.
put an arm on her friend’s shoulder knowing that with every passing second she was getting closer to slapping the life out of the older woman, “We wish to speak to your manager.”
The woman muttered to herself but got up anyway and made her way over to the manager’s office. She knocked and then disappeared inside.
The two women waited impatiently for her to reappear. Five minutes passed, the receptionist taking her time.
groaned, frustrated; “I swear she’s just making us wait on purpose. They’ve probably snuck out the back for a cigarette.” She scuffed her shoe along the dirty linoleum, a habit she had developed when she was bored or angered.
The manager finally graced them with his presence a few minutes later; a bad move. Whilst they had been waiting had grown more anxious whereas was past the point of being furious. As soon as she clapped eyes on him she launched a tirade of abuse at him, completely losing it. This was the last thing they needed.
The manager, only identified by his nametag as “Alex”, held his hands up, “Let me see what I can do for you ladies.” He began to type at the keyboard; “Can I see your confirmation email, please?”
slid the papers across the desk at him, a tad less wound up now that someone with some type of authority was finally doing something about the fact that they had taken their money yet had no record of their impending visit. The pair watched him curiously as he searched through the system. His face started to turn red as his eyes came across some vital information. They looked at him intently as he appeared to become somewhat angry himself.
He cleared his throat, addressing the receptionist, “Muriel, can I speak to you in my office, please?”
whispered into ’s ear, “Oooh, shit’s about to go down.”
The pair disappeared into a side room. The blinds hadn’t been drawn, allowing the two women to get a good view at them as the manager’s face grew redder by the second before he exploded in a fit of rage and began yelling at the ancient receptionist. Luckily, the walls were soundproof and the only thing they could hear was the ticking of an old, worn-out clock that was close to falling off of the wall, hanging precariously by its remaining hook.
The door to the hotel swung open to reveal a familiar Irishman who, no more than half an hour ago, had rescued them from the side of the road with his friend. He had changed into a suit ahead of the night’s events.
He cautiously looked around the building as if setting his eyes on the walls would cause them to crack even further, “Well this… interesting.”
“Don’t start,” mumbled. She wasn’t up for discussing how they had come to end up in this hell hole. Let’s just say she wouldn’t trust a certain events coordinator by the name of “Emma” for hotel recommendations ever again. She walked away to give the pair some space… and to spy a little more on the –one-sided – argument still going on.
’s brow furrowed, “Niall? What are you doing here?”
“Oh,” he dug into his right pocket, “You left your phone in the car. I wanted to make sure you had it in case of…” he gestured to the interior of the hotel, “emergencies.” He handed it to her and she gave him a grateful smile.
“You’re a lifesaver, Niall.”
“What’s going on? Why aren’t you on your way to the venue?”
She sighed, “They’ve lost our reservations, apparently. ’s been having a go at the receptionist – and the manager – and now the manager is blowing up at the receptionist.”
“So… you don’t have anywhere to stay tonight?”
She shook her head, the realisation kicking in. They had nowhere to go after the awards ceremony and, with no clothes or money, no way home. Tears pricked at the eyes. She blinked a few times, trying to suppress them.
Niall immediately pulled her in for a hug, “It’s OK. We’ll sort something out. I’ll get you a room where we’re staying and we’ll drop you off tomorrow.”
She looked up at him, “Are you sure?”
He nodded down at her as he rubbed her back, “Only if you save me a dance at the after party?”
She grinned, “I think I can manage that.” She had to admit that he did look rather dashing.
Their moment was cut off by a cough and a door slamming shut. The manager had seemed to regain his composure. The receptionist trailed behind him, dabbing her eyes with a handkerchief and making her way out of the front door. The trio looked after her, watching as she left.
He slipped behind the desk, “Ladies; I cannot apologise enough for inconvenience and for someone’s failure to book you into our system. Unfortunately we don’t have any rooms available for tonight but we can offer you a free three-night stay here any time you wish to come back.”
glanced at Niall catching his eye, “You might want to cover your ears…”
’s face turned a shade of maroon that had never seen before; convinced that she was going to burst a blood vessel or have an aneurysm of some sort.
“What are we supposed to do tonight then, eh? Sleep on the streets dressed as prom queen rejects? I know you’re barely even a three-star hotel and we didn’t have the highest of expectations but we at least expect you to keep your end of the deal – especially AFTER we’ve paid for our stay. You’re quick to take our money but don’t even keep to our late check-in agreement. It’s a hotel policy for Christ’s sake!” The next part of her speech was littered with expletives and rude gestures. studied Niall from the corner of her eye, watching as he winced at the words her best friend was using. He had never witnessed anything quite as terrifying as a woman scorned.
“I’m sorry but there really is nothing I can do.”
put her hand on ’s shoulder, trying to defuse the situation. She pulled her away from the man, scared she was going to physically launch herself at him, and pushed her towards Niall.
She looked the manger dead in the eye; warning him that she was not in the mood to be challenged any further:
“We expect a full refund by the end of this next working week otherwise we will see you in court and I can guarantee it will not be pretty. Do I make myself clear?”
He gulped visibly, nodding.
“Good,” she turned on her sarcastic charm, “Have a nice night!” She turned away, rolling her eyes. Niall just stared at her. He wasn’t sure whether he was scared or turned on.
made her over to them; “?” Her friend looked a bit worse for wear despite having her hair and make-up still intact.
“Hmm?”
“Niall’s offered to get a room at his hotel.”
breathed a sigh of relief, her face slowly returning to its natural colour, “Thank fuck for Irishmen in suits.” She walked towards the exit, too mentally tired to continue a conversation. All she wanted to do was get the night over with. Niall followed with trailing behind.
She sighed, “This is going to be one long-ass night.”
The door to the hotel slammed shut behind as she tried to keep up with ’s fast pace. As she walked away from the hotel she felt a tugging at the bottom of her dress followed by a loud ripping sound before she even had time to process what was happening. The sound alerted Niall, being too far ahead to notice, and he immediately turned around to find the source.
“Oh fuck!” yelled as she caught onto what was happening. She eagerly tried to pull the material from the grips of the door immediately resulting in creating an even larger rip. Niall jogged over to see the damage. He had to give the door a good, hard shove to get it to release the fabric. surveyed the damage. Two layers of her dress were badly ripped from the floor up to her hip. She couldn’t even rectify it and turn it into a high thigh-split, the jagged and frayed material too fragile, falling apart in her hands. There was barely enough left to cover her modesty.
“Niall; jacket. Now!” she desperately tried to keep herself covered from the cold air.
Niall hurriedly slipped his suit jacket off, handing it to her. She took it gratefully, tying it around her waist, his jacket being just big enough to cover both her front and back with no gaps. She apologised for being so abrupt. He shook it off, telling her that he understood. He stood in front of her;
“Ready?”
She nodded. Her cheeks had turned a deep crimson out of sheer embarrassment.
He turned around, grabbing onto her hand and pulling her closely behind him.
Catching sight of the limo, on doubt filled with the three other members of One Direction and her rage-filled friend.
“Are you kidding me? I can’t get in a bloody limousine with the rest of your friends!” she stopped, pulling him back to face her.
“They’re your friends too,” he argued back calmly.
“They’ll rip the piss out of me!” she let go of his hand and crossed her arms over her chest.
Niall gave her a sympathetic smile, “Of course they will; that’s what real friends do but you can sit next to me and hide behind me if it’ll make you feel any better.”
She gave him frown, “I want to revise our “save a dance” deal.”
“OK…”
“I want two dances and if anyone so much as mentions anything about my dress then they automatically forfeit their hotel room to me and .”
He sighed with a laugh, opening the door; “Deal. Now get up in the car.”
“Everyone cover your eyes!” she yelled as she ducked her head into the car, “Niall; cover my ass!”
Her pleas were met with laughed filled with confusion.
“Harry-Mother-Fucking-Styles! Close your Goddamn eyes! I swear if you see anything you shouldn’t then I will not hesitate to stab you in the eyes with a pair of heels when I get a chance to find some at the venue!” This just caused everyone to burst out laughing again. She sat down before lifting her right leg into the vehicle.
“Budge up,” she felt Niall tap her right knee. She looked around; there was no room to move.
“Bit of a problem there, bud,” she gestured to the crowd of people crammed inside, standing up and awkwardly hovering in the middle of the floor to let him in. Harry was sat with his back to the driver next to their manager, and Louis were sat upon a seat opposite the built-in bar that ran along the right-hand side of the vehicle and Liam was sat near the other door to her left.
“I have no problem if you want to sit on my lap,” Harry winked at her from across the way. He was only playing but she really wasn’t in the mood. took the opportunity to slap his leg hard causing him to cry out, turning to give her friend an encouraging smile.
She glared at him, “So you want your eyes and balls punctured by my heels, then? Got it.”
He turned white.
“I’m just kidding,” she grinned, “for now.” She suddenly felt herself being pushed forward slightly and put her hand on Louis’ shoulder to steady herself. She really didn’t need to add ‘flashed my privates to a car full of people as I face-planted into Harry’s crotch” to her list of disastrous events.
“You can sit on my lap instead,” Niall said from behind her. He put his hands on her waist, guiding her backwards. She nodded as she sat down.
Pulling his jacket down over her knees to make sure that she was covered, she sighed to herself, mentally adding; “This is starting to look like a really cliché fan fiction…”
The commotion and chaos surrounding the red carpet at the front entrance of the venue had made the girls glad that they were being dropped off at the back. It had taken some convincing for the manager to let the driver to make the detour but once threatened to snap the aerial off the roof and ram it so far down his throat that she could make a puppet out his balls, it was decided that it was best to let them out at the back of the venue. clambered out first, covering from the front to make sure that she wouldn’t be flashing anyone as she got out whilst Niall stood up behind her, covering her rear. He had told her to keep his jacket until they met up later when, hopefully, she had found an alternative outfit to wear. They said their “see you later”s, hurriedly making their way to the door. They were already a half hour late to set up and they were still trying to tell the events coordinator that they couldn’t exactly do their job given that their equipment had been stolen by the driver she had hired. She was not going to happy.
As they entered the back corridor, passing the hubbub of backstage workers, a familiar face whizzed past belonging to their friend, Dan, calling out them as he sped-walked past them;
“Emma’s on the warpath! I’d hide if I were you! Nice skirt, by the way!”
“Cheers, Dan!” called after him, mentally reminding herself to kill him later.
“Well; we’re fucked then, aren’t we?” mumbled as they continued down the corridor.
Somehow, in the ten or so minutes they had been in the building they had managed not to come into contact with Emma so far and were hoping for it to stay that way as they followed the signs on the walls to find the room in which they were to be interviewing various attendees of The Brit Awards.
They had had a few close calls – one resulting in them being squished together in a supply cupboard when they had needed somewhere to hide from the bleached-blonde head bobbing in their direction. They had precisely eight minutes left to get situated and Emma was not making it easy to sneak past her; she was everywhere they turned. They highly doubted they would be invited back next year as they had with previous years seeing as they had no equipment anymore given that it had been stolen and they certainly weren’t going to be management’s good books when they were more than likely going to have to reschedule the photoshoot.
Finding the room they were supposed to conduct the interview in, the two women sighed with relief. Their relief was short lived when a shock of peroxide-blonde hair bobbed through the door way.
“There you two are!” Emma cried out exasperatedly, throwing her arms in the air. She looked over their outfits, horrified to discover them in converse and that appeared to be wearing nothing but a men’s suit jacket on her lower half; “I’ve been looking everywhere for you! You’re late and you’re not even dressed appropriately! What the hell happened?”
“We – we can explain,” stuttered before she was cut off by the wild blonde.
“And where is your equipment? You’re supposed to be professionals, not turn up like some hopeless interns without a brain cell between them!”
, who had been silently fuming suddenly bolted towards her. had to hold her back;
“Well forgive us for having our stuff stolen by the driver YOU hired! As for her dress; there was an accident involving a hotel door – a hotel that YOU recommended that we won’t be staying in because they lost our reservation even though we phoned ahead earlier! Do you see a pattern forming, yet?”
That shut her up. Still agitated and unwilling to give in although she was clearly intimidated, she rolled her eyes, “Just finish setting up the chairs. I’ll go get you some notepads and pens seeing as you’re incapable of doing so yourself.” As she turned on her heels made a bee-line for her, breaking out of ’s grasp, and raising her fist high above her head.
lunged after her, pulling her back sharply by the shoulder, “Let her go; she’s not worth it.”
yelled after her, “Oh, and expect a bill for the thousands of pounds worth of equipment that YOUR driver stole! Also expect one for the cost of the hotel room we’ve been billed for yet they have no record of and the replacement hotel room we’re going to have to get! And don’t worry; you’ll also be billed for all other expenses that we shouldn’t have to pay for because YOU fucked up!”
“Good luck with that!” Emma called out, not even bothering to turn around, “You have no proof it was ME who dealt with the bookings!”
tried to break free from ’s grasp. She was, however, too strong for her – having learned from the previous times she had held her friend back – , and resolved to stay put.
let her go, “You; sit. I’ll set up the chairs and deal with her. We really don’t need assault charges added to the long list of everything that’s gone wrong today – however much the bitch deserves to be kicked into the middle of next week.” She firmly but gently pushed her friend down onto the nearest chair. folded her arms across her chest, returning to not-so-silently fuming by airing her frustrations out loud – mainly to herself. unhooked a chair from the top of a pile of at least five others. They were only interviewing a handful of people before the main ceremony with the most at any one given time being a couple bands boasting four members.
’s eyes flickered to the door just in time to see Harry stepping over the threshold followed momentarily by his bandmates. In his hands were a couple of notebooks and some pens. stood up to greet the others.
“Hello again. Emma said to give you these,” he handed them over to her.
laughed before gesturing to as she spoke, “This one seems to have frighteners on her.”
His furrowed in confusion .
“Emma was being a bitch so called her out on it and she seemed pretty intimidated by it.”
“Oh,” he nodded slowly, “not changed then?”
She shook her head placing the stationary on her vacated chair before addressing the group, “Shall we get started, then?”
When all of their interviews were over and the girls were packing the chairs away there was a knock on the door. Randy, one of the costume designers for the dancers, poked his head around the door.
“Sorry to disturb you but I have the items that you requested here.”
The women just stared at him confused; they hadn’t asked for anything. A pair of familiar faces soon appeared behind him, making their way into the room and opening the door as wide as possible. Randy followed in after them walking backwards as he pulled a hanging rail into the room.
The two looked at their friends; what was going on?
Niall decided to explain, “Ladies; meet your saviour, Randy, the man with the dresses.”
The pair shook his hand in turn, slightly too stunned to speak.
“I have a couple of dresses here for you,” he told before moving onto , “and I have some different shoe options for the pair of you should you want to ditch the Converse, but I have to say; with the options I have for you, I think we can make them work.”
The women nodded at him.
“Let me know if you need any help or other sizes; I’ll be backstage with the dancers if you need me but I’m sure your knights in shining armour here will be more than happy to help you,” he sent a wink their way, waving as he left.
They called out a “thank you” after him but he was already too far away to hear them.
put her hands on her hips, “What have you two done now?”
Louis threw up his hands, “Don’t look at me; this was all Niall. I happen to think you look pretty amazing as it is.”
’s eyes lit up as she looked at Niall, “Seriously? This was your doing?”
He nodded, “You needed something to wear and I wasn’t going to let this little mishap ruin your night so I called in a favour. I hope that’s ok. I can send them back if you don’t want them.”
“Don’t you dare,” , who had already started sifting through the items, warned; “Of course she wants something else to wear; she’s not going to walk out there flashing her underwear to everyone. And I really, really want to at least try on some of these shoes. We’re both very grateful.” She buried her head in amongst the taffeta and silk, almost inhaling the experience of being around clothing that cost more than their rent.
Niall turned his attention to ; she was always the more reserved of the two, often holding back what she was feeling. He made his way over to her;
“What do you think?”
She suddenly found herself throwing her arms around him, placing her head on his chest; “If I look at you I’m going to cry. You’re far too sweet.”
He let out his infamous giggle, squeezing her tightly, “Did I do good?”
“You did great.”
Another head poked itself around the door. It was Emma.
“Time for you to get to the red carpet for press shots and interviews.” She barely looked at anyone as she left, causing to laugh.
She looked up at Niall glad the sappiness had been taken out of the moment for fear that she might cry; “Looks like someone’s still scared.”
laughed with her, “Serves her right! Cheeky cow.”
Louis cleared his throat, “We’ll leave you to it then.” He hugged first before moving onto to have a private word with her.
Niall gave a final squeeze, “See you out there?”
“Definitely. You owe me two dances, remember? Save us a seat at the after party?”
He gave her a wide grin, “Only if you’ll do the same. Knowing us; we’ll be running late.”
She nodded, giving a sweet smile as the lads left, shutting the door behind them to give the girls some privacy.
sighed dramatically, “We’re gonna owe them big time.”
Standing just behind in the full length mirror, studied herself. She had chosen a knee-length, black lace dress from the rack that Randy brought in and teamed it with her high top classic Converse shoes. The underdress was a simple strapless number that fell to mid-thigh with a long-sleeved, high collared over dress made of black lace that fell slightly lower to her knees. Smoothing it down, she had to admit that she preferred it to the now-tattered dress she had originally been sporting. had gone for a navy blue dress of a similar length and style, only with mid-length sleeves and the under dress having thick straps with a lower neckline. She had found the most gorgeous pair of silvery-white stilettos with silver spikes to match the bag she had also managed to find underneath the layers and layers of chiffon on the clothing rail.
caught her eye in the mirror, “Ready?”
She nodded, turning to pick up the silver clutch she had borrowed for the night. This was it. Exiting the room, they made their way down the hallway and through the numerous corridors to a side entrance to the main sound stage. They vaguely knew from the various packs they had received that they were to be seated to the far-left of the stage – on the other side of the vast room – and since they had had their equipment stolen, they had no work-related reason to attend the red carpet. They trekked their way over quite quickly, the room still being fairly empty of celebrities and fans who had managed to secure tickets in the lower and upper tiers of the venue. They weaved through the tables, getting further and further away from the stage. They found themselves in a far off corner where the lighting barely reached. They had been ostracised, shunned away.
Taking their seats, they surveyed the names of the people they were to be sat with. picked up the card with the name of the person she was supposed to be seated beside. She wrinkled her nose in disgust; “Chris Gillespie? What a prick. I can’t believe that I have to sit beside him. Who did you get?”
reached over, grabbing the white card. She didn’t look too impressed either; “Cara Jenkins.”
“Why are we seated with such awful people?” complained. Then she remembered a minor detail, “Emma arranged this, didn’t she?”
raised her eyebrows, “I’m sure that’s what she said on the phone.”
threw her hands up, shaking her head, “Well she’s going to get such a kick out of this, isn’t she?”
“If she isn’t already.”
They sat in a comfortable silence for a while, the kind of silence that could only come from years of friendship. thought back to the previous year’s event and to the couple before that that the two had worked together. Some of the hosts hadn’t been worth the fee, in her opinion. Even some of the presenters had been a bit of a hit or a miss. She only hoped that this year things would run a lot smoother. The only sound coming from the stage was a technician doing mic checks and the crew making sure the autocue system worked. This was, after all, a live event and even the slightest error in the timing of how each line was delivered could be vital. This year’s host, James Corden, stood on stage running over his lines and various entrances at the last minute. He squinted at them before waving their way. They were surprised he had even seen them but waved back. Now he was a top class host, she thought. They had been briefly introduced to him on one of the occasions when they had been working with One Direction and he had been nearby for a presenting gig of some sort, and although it had only been a minute or so, he had remembered the two women the next time they had bumped into each other and a few times since. As far as she was concerned he was worth his weight in gold.
looked at her watch, wondering how long it would until the main doors opened. Her face lit up when she realised that there was only a few minutes left.
She signalled at , “Drink?”
She nodded.
stood up; making sure her dress was pulled down to the right level and began to walk over to the bar. Once there she flashed her press pass that Emma had slipped in between the notepads she had handed Harry. Out of the corner of her eye saw a flash blonde; it was Emma walking over, determination written over every inch of her body and anger plastered across her face. She looked over at in a bid to catch her eye but failed. She stopped just in front of their table.
“Where’s your partner?” she voice was gruff.
brought her eyes up to meet the blonde’s, “Why?”
“I need you to come with me.”
“Again; why?”
“You’re being removed from here.”
“I’m not leaving without her. You can wait until she comes back from the bar – unless we’re not allowed to even get a drink now?”
Emma rolled her eyes and fought the urge to slap her right there and then. She was getting really tired of this bitch – and she was the more patient of the two. Her attitude towards them had gone on for too long.
“Just get up and bring your things,” she reached over and removed their place cards. That was it. She had had enough; “You can ditch the attitude, Emma. We’ve remained rather professional up until now, unlike some people, even though we’re the ones who have had everything go wrong for them from the get go. You’re acting like a power-mad bitch whose only passion in life is to see others suffer and it’s getting rather cumbersome. Now I suggest you play nicely otherwise I’ll make sure that a call will be made not just by me, but by the many people attending tonight, to your boss to make sure that you never work in this industry again. Do we have an understanding?”
Emma stood there rather taken aback. She had expected this from given the way that she had gone off on her earlier, but not from . She never usually had anything bad to say about anyone, much less called anyone out on their behaviour. She slowly nodded.
“Good. Now you can wait – silently – for to come back.”
She looked over to see that her friend was speed-walking over them, drinks sloshing about in their glasses. She seemed to be acutely aware that something was going on.
stopped in her tracks as she reached the table. She looked ready to throw the drinks right in Emma’s face; “What’s going on here?” She eyed her suspiciously.
“Emma here is removing us from this table.”
Her face contorted, “Why?”
“That’s what I’d like to know.”
Emma put her arms by her sides, “I’ve been told from higher up to remove you. Now follow me.”
The two women looked at each other. They were half tempted to dig their heels in but it had already been such a long day and neither of them could be bothered to deal with her anymore.
stood up from the table, pushing the chair out from under her and tucking it back under the table once she had moved out from under it. They followed behind the slightly older woman, curious as to why – and where – they were moving. She took them over to a table placed roughly in the centre of the floor section. Her face had twisted with every step they had taken and they had wondered how her face hadn’t stuck that way. She face only seemed to twist more when she next spoke:
“You’re to sit here.”
“Why?” asked. Were they being Punk’d?
She sighed heavily and rather angrily. shot her a look.
“Your presence has been requested by your friends. For whatever reason; they want you to be at their table with their team. Don’t ask me anymore questions; I don’t know anything else,” with that she turned and left them awestruck. What had just happened?
A look of relief mixed with confusion fell over the faces of the women as they took their prospective seats. They hadn’t expected to be invited to sit with their friends in One Direction – although it certainly wasn’t the strangest, yet sweetest, thing the lads had done for them in the last six hours or so. They were grateful that they were still sitting together and weren’t actually being removed from the building. They looked at the name tags of who would be sitting on the other side of them.
smirked, “Looks like I’m sat next to the Tommo.”
lifted up the card next to her, turning it so her friend could read the name on it.
squinted slightly, rolling her eyes playfully as she saw Niall’s name on the card, “Surprise, surprise. The lad is smitten with you.”
felt a blush creep across her cheeks, “I could say the same about Lou.”
The house lights lit up a little brighter signalling that the start of people entering. They watched as fans that had purchased tickets swarmed in and were directed by stewards to their seats. Around half an hour and another drink in; celebrities began filing in from the main door having being brought there by the lengthy red carpet.
looked at her watch before placing her hand on the nearest wooden object: a card holder, “It’s been an hour and nothing bad has happened; touch wood.”
’s eyes widened, “Don’t say that; you’ll jinx us!”
raised an eyebrow at her and gestured at her hand that was still on the card holder, “That’s what the wood is for; to cancel it out.”
rolled her eyes, “If anything goes wrong then I am personally blaming you.”
made a face at her causing her to laugh. A tap on ’s shoulder alerted them to the fact they were no longer alone at their table. They looked up to find four pairs of eyes staring back at them.
“Fancy bumping into you lot here,” quipped standing up to greet half of them for the third time that night and the other half for a mere fifth. followed suit. They took turns hugging each guy before sitting down again. A waitress came over to take their drink orders before scuttling off and bobbing in and out of the other tables surrounding them. took a deep breath; they were practically the centre of attention and the show hadn’t even started yet. She felt a hand being placed on her arm, squeezing it gently. She tilted her head upwards spying Niall. She gave him a small smile and his lips tugged upwards reassuringly. She gave a barely visible nod. She felt content. She felt safe.
The lights had long dimmed and the awards ceremony was close to being over with only one last performance left to close the show. sighed inwardly, glad that the end was in sight. Whilst she had grown accustomed to sitting next to the most sought-after band in the room and, indeed, the room over the course of the night, a badly timed Twitter search had attached a smothering feeling of uneasiness over her. She should’ve known better than to check Twitter when in the presence of her famous friends on a live television show that was, undoubtedly, being streamed across the world by millions of fans. A few unsavoury comments had caught her somewhat off-guard about the “bitches that are sitting next to Louis and Niall” and as much as she tried to not let it interfere with her first night out in a long time, it was proving hard to do. The lads had had to leave before the penultimate act had ascended the stage due to crowds already starting to form outside the venue to get a glimpse of them vacating the building. They had promised to meet them at the after party as they were whisked away by a smug Emma. The final act was announced – someone that the two girls weren’t that thrilled about.
“Shall we leave?” asked. She had sensed that something was wrong with her friend around half way into the show and no amount of responses assuring her that she was fine; she knew when her friend was putting on her front. Her suspicions were confirmed when she was met with a flurry of nods as stood up, grabbing her bag from the floor as she did so. raised a hand to her forehead. She hadn’t realised how quickly she had stood up until she was met with a dizzy spell lasting a few seconds. pushed her out chair out from under with the force of her legs to join her, leading the way to the “talent” exit; the same one they had used to enter the vast room. They had one final job to do before they made their way to the after party: get their paychecks from the ever pleasant Emma.
groaned, stopping mid-stride about a third way down the corridor; “Do we really have to do this?” She was ready to take off and never deal with the woman again – or, at least, for another year on the assumption that they would be invited back – even if it meant going out with the basic necessities that their cheques would pay for.
gave her a pained look, “You need to have an internet connection, don’t you?”
She gulped; she hadn’t thought about that. An internet connection was more vital to her than food or air. It was how she conversed with the world and made a living. She rolled her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest; “fine.”
put an arm around her shoulder as she guided her towards the backstage area where Emma would no doubt be lurking in the shadows, “Come on. I’ll even do all the talking.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of,” she tried to sound serious but failed, giggling away to herself. The uneasiness fading a little as the numerous drinks she had consumed during the show began to take effect in the chilly, concrete passage.
“Hey!” she bumped her own hip into ’s, laughing away “I’m not that bad!”
“I beg to differ!”
They traded off friendly bumps of the hip as they rounded the corner, stopping dead in their tracks as they came face-to-face with the she-devil herself. Their laughter subsided.
“I’m glad you find being unprofessional so damn funny,” she scolded.
“Need I remind you of our earlier conversations? Just give us the bloody cheques and we’ll be on our way.”
Emma turned her back. They followed her to her makeshift office; a port-o-cabin that stood soundly in amongst all the chaos of the backstage shenanigans. She stepped over the threshold and immediately turned her attention to a letter tray balanced precariously on the top of a filing cabinet. She began rummaging through it, muttering to herself until she came across their names. Well, they assumed she had found their names for she had rolled her eyes ever so dramatically, scowling at the print on the paper. She plucked them out almost in a fury, thrusting them at them;
“Not that you deserve –,” she was cut off as sharply tore them out of her hands. The two women bolted for the back exit, acting like a pair of naughty school children.
“Bye bitch!” called out, her voice echoing off the walls as the backstage area quickly turned into the familiar brick scenery of the vast corridors that snaked through the back of the building as they ran.
To their relief the door was wide open and they sprinted towards it as if they were competing in a race, occasionally running into each other and causing them to laugh even more. As soon as the cold night air hit their faces they slowed down, breathing heavily as they verged on being dangerously unfit and winded from the hilarity that had ensued. looked up from her feet at who was doubled over trying to catch her breath. She was ready for her next challenge; getting her friend to stay at the after party long enough to take a certain someone up on their deal of saving a dance – or two – for her.
Nominees, winners and various big wigs breezed through the double doors of the hotel that the particular after party that the two women were attending was being held in. and took in the details of vast events room as they stood in the doorway in amongst a throng of people who were eagerly waiting to be let in. It was clad floor to ceiling in a gorgeous white-gold marble with a massive golden chandelier hanging centrally above them with several smaller ones placed throughout the room to create an atmosphere of opulence. Two brilliantly hand-crafted pillars of the same expensive marble stood halfway between the main light source and the entrance with a further two placed nearer the back of the room where the DJ was set up in a mirror image. Once their passes had been cleared by security they walked further into the room, stopping to collect a glass of champagne each from a passing server.
“So: business as usual?” enquired.
nodded, her champagne tickling the back of her mouth before she swallowed it, “Yep. We go around the winners first then people like Simon and finally the nominees and presenters.”
They had a fine technique down when it came to getting interviews and exclusives. would interview the winners first because everybody loves a winner. Don’t they? Then she would question the more famous managers and executives before talking to other nominees as part of the deal they had with promoters. She would then talk to the better known presenters and then the minor celebrities who had also scored an invite for smaller articles. They would have to get creative though given that they only had one iPhone between them to document the tales of the night.
Once had saved all the recordings of interviews onto her phone she had given her phone to those she had spoken with and asked them to take a selfie with it to accompany the articles. She then sent them ’s way where she could take some more photos of them. would usually take candid shots during the after parties and social events on her professional camera but as it had been stolen she had had to come up with a new tactic for the evening. There were a couple of photo booths that she had been hovering outside of, asking those who had entered if they would mind printing out an extra copy – or take a few shots of photos they didn’t mind being posted in newspapers, magazines and online – and give them to her. She had even managed to get herself and in on a few of the sessions with some of their A-List pals just for the memories.
As had stood watch over those coming and going out of the booths, had been plying her with alcohol provided by the free bar – a complete 180 twist from their usual set up where it would be doing all the ordering and making herself known in social situations. had begun to relax during the show and even though it had been ruined by Twitter comments, as soon as they had left the building her anxiety had start to evaporate and she felt better than she had done in a while. She didn’t know whether it was because she had actually managed to wait out her anxiety and stay at the event even though she had still felt uncomfortable or if it was the mix of champagne and her weakness at being in the presence of a certain Irish friend of hers but she was glad she had overcome her urge to run away. The more she thought about it, the more she was convinced it was because Niall had been careful not to let his hand leave her knee the entire night and had been giving her reassuring nods and squeezes every now and then when he was talking to other people at the table to let her know that he was still there for her if she needed him. Speaking of a certain pop group; where were they? She had received a text message about an hour ago from the man himself saying they were being mobbed and were running late to the party – something they would be even later for given that they had to go to a last minute performance for some TV show that would be airing later that week. She sighed. She hadn’t heard from him since and although she understood the demands of his lifestyle, she was kind of sad that he wasn’t there to keep her company. She had had to keep a steady flow of drinks just to keep her courage up and it was becoming tiresome.
When their work was completed for the time being – they still had their friends to interview and snap pictures of – the pair found themselves more or less doing their own thing after had decided to take a break from the various moves they had been making on the dance floor. She wasn’t usually one for being in the throes of things, often opting to stay on the side lines and have as little contact with other people as possible but the alcohol and adrenaline had given her an almost false sense of confidence. It wasn’t out of being rude that she did so; she just suffered so badly with anxiety that it had shattered her self-esteem and she barely had any confidence in herself at doing anything other than her job – something she knew for certain she was good at. She took a seat at the bar where she would probably remain for the remainder of the night – if she could handle how close some people were getting to her in order to get a dribble of drink.
By the end of the night ’s anxiety was getting the better of her. Although the room was open-plan and large and giving off an airy atmosphere she felt suffocated and claustrophobic. Her mouth was only getting drier with every drink and she had long lost in a sea of people. Niall had since called to say they were running even later due to having to make yet another appearance elsewhere – their third of the evening. Feeling her heart start to beat faster, she pushed herself off of the bar stool she had been sitting on for the past hour or so and downed her drink. She almost subconsciously made her way to the exit, having first clocked it on the way in, in case she wanted to make a hasty escape. Her pace quickened as she practically ran out of it and through the lobby, exiting the venue and out into the cold night’s air, her bag occasionally slapping against her leg. She carried on running as far as her legs would take her, settling herself against a wall a few buildings down from the hotel in which the after party was being held. Her hand flew to her chest as her breathing became more erratic. She tried hard to get the cool, clean air into her lungs but failed. Her vision was starting to blur, the commotion of the street in front of her a crazy haze.
“There you are!” a figure swarmed into view but through the blurred vision and the weird, colourful shapes that had started to form before her eyes, she couldn’t tell who it was. She felt like she recognised the voice but she couldn’t place it, her panic making it sound almost robotic. Her breathing seemed to be focused in her chest causing her to hyperventilate.
“?” the figure reached out their hands, placing them on her shoulders. All she could make out was that the person was a male, “Deeps breaths in through your nose, babe. In with the good air and out with the bad air through your mouth.”
She had become hysterical, her chest heaving. She held onto the man’s forearms as he kept her steady.
“Good girl. Just focus on getting the bad air out. I’m here.”
She still couldn’t figure out who the man was; it was as if there was a fog over her brain and the wiring of it was short-circuiting. Her head was swarming.
As if reading her mind the figure spoke again, rubbing his thumbs reassuringly across her shoulders, “It’s OK; Nialler’s here.”
She felt herself collapse into his arms and she felt them wrap tightly around her, fully supporting her whole weight now. Despite the rain and the (no doubt) dirty street, he allowed himself to sink to the ground, taking her gently down with him and pulling her onto his lap. In that second he didn’t care if he too got soaked or if there were going to be a thousand and one pictures of them circling the media within the hour. All he cared about was that his friend was safe and was going to be fine. Even though he didn’t really know what to do in this particular situation, he knew that even just being there with her was a source of comfort and sanity. His arms only briefly unsupported her when he took off his suit jacket and placed it over their heads in order to give them shelter and to stop them from getting pneumonia.
He cradled her on the floor in the pouring rain until her breathing slowed and had almost returned to normal.
couldn’t bear to look at him. She felt so embarrassed that she had had such a public meltdown and all because she hadn’t been able to keep herself from having a full blown panic attack.
Niall held her head close to his as she rested it on his shoulder, “You’re shaking, love.”
She was barely making any sound now, just a quiet whimper. She hadn’t noticed she had been crying until she had begun to calm down. The rain had done most of her crying for her.
“Y-you should be in-inside and not out here worrying about m-me. You-you’re getting soaked” she gulped furiously as she struggled to talk.
He turned his face to whisper in her ear, “Don’t you worry about me. I want t’ be here. I would never let you be on your own in the state I found you in.”
“Sorry,” she felt her lips tremble, a sign she was going to cry again.
He stroked her hair; “You have nothing t’ be sorry for. You just got overwhelmed and it’s perfectly alright to be feeling the way that you are. It’s a lot for one night.”
He felt her nod slowly.
“I’m really proud of you though.”
“You are?” her voice was quiet.
She felt him nod this time.
“Why?”
“You made it through the whole thing with the Uber driver and your dress getting ripped – not to mention dealing with that Emma and still going through with your work duties even though you didn’t have any of your equipment because it was stolen. You did all that without breaking and it’s only natural to slightly fall apart when things finally catch up to you.”
“Hmmm…” she turned silent again. She yawned; she was suddenly feeling very tired and heavy.
Niall moved, indicating for her to stand up and she did so. He stood up with her.
“We should get you into the warm.”
Her face paled again despite only having just turned pink from embarrassment.
Niall reached out and squeezed her hand, “We don’t have to go back in. I should probably get a message to , though.”
She pulled his hand back, “I don’t want to ruin her night by making her feel like she has to leave early because you know she will, but I also don’t want her panicking when she can’t find me.”
Niall thought for a second. He took out his phone and dialled a number. dried off her face with the back of her hand, although it proved to be pointless as the rain continued to pour over them.
“Lou, mate; it’s Niall. Listen; have a look around for will ya?”
She studied him as he awaited an answer, averting her gaze when his eyes almost met hers a series of times.
He made a point of looking at her in a way that suggested she was going to want to hear what he had to say next:
“Oh, she’s right beside you, is she? Should’ve known,” he pulled a face at her causing her to giggle.
looked down at her shoe and scuffed it on the ground.
“Tell her I have with me and I’m going to take her back to the hotel…”
She knew Louis would be making comical comments such as “Oh are you?” When she saw Niall roll his eyes, she knew for certain he had.
“She’s had a panic attack but she’s safe with me,” he squeezed her hand, “No… no… tell her not to worry; we’re gonna go get some food and some dry clothes back at the hotel, and she can just come up to my room when she’s ready – if you’ve not had your wicked way with he by then.”
He heard his phone away as Louis laughed down the phone.
tugged his hand and he looked at her, covering the mouth piece, “What’s wrong?”
“ has my phone so she won’t be able to get a hold of me.”
His mouth formed an “O” and he turned his attention back to the receiver; “’s got ’s phone so if she wants to get a hold of her she’ll need to call me.” He gave her a smile. Everything was going to be OK.
She waited for him to finish up his conversation as she stood there awkwardly in the rain, her borrowed dress clinging to her. He squeezed her hand again alerting her that he had hung up.
“That’s that sorted then,” he put his phone back in his pocket and guided her to the main road, “Are you OK to come back to the hotel with me? Sorry; I should’ve asked first instead of just assuming and taking over.”
It was her turn to squeeze his hand; “It’s fine. I know I’m safe with you.”
His grin widened. Something about hearing that made his heart swell. He stuck his hand out to flag down a taxi and, after a few failed attempts, successfully managed to do so.
He held the door open for her, “After you.”
Before long they were in the warmth of Niall’s hotel room. When he had said it was a room, she had expected just that; not a suite that could pass as a small apartment. took off the sodden jacket he had loaned her and placed in on the first radiator in sight. They both took off their shoes, ’s Converse waterlogged and in desperate need of a wringing out. Niall picked them up and watched with amusement as he put them in the dryer and turned it on.
Feeling her eyes on him, he turned his face to her, “Do you want to use the shower first?”
“If you don’t mind.”
“Not at all,” he padded past her and across the floor to his unopened suitcase and pulled the zipper around until it was undone. He scoured through his clothes until he found something suitable.
He held up a pair of grey jogging bottoms and a white cotton t-shirt; “Will this do?”
She nodded, “That’s perfect, Niall. Thanks.” She walked over to him and took the items out of his hand. She made her way over to the bathroom but then came to a sudden realisation, stopping in her tracks;
“Niall?”
“Yeah?”
She had already begun to flush bright red, and felt a bit hot despite still feeling numb from being out in the rain; “Would you mind unzipping me? I kind of can’t reach.”
“Oh… uh…” he cleared his throat, “Sure.” His cheeks also had a tinge of red about them but she didn’t notice. She just couldn’t look him in the eye. He bashfully strolled across to her, placing one hand over her shoulder and the fabric of the dress to pull it taut. placed her hand over her chest to keep the dress from falling to the floor. With his free hand he slid the zip down with ease and dropped it quickly as if it was hot to the touch.
“All done.”
“Thanks,” she whispered as she felt herself grow shy, “I best go get showered.” Without another word she pushed open the bathroom door and shut herself inside. As soon as the door clicked over she felt her shoulders drop. Aside from the anxiety building all night she had been getting a strong vibe from him that he saw her as more than a friend. It wasn’t like he had been making sexual remarks towards her or making it out right obvious – no; that wasn’t Niall. It is more so of the fact that he seemed to be very attentive and eager to do anything he could for her even though there were about a million cameras recording his every move. His hand hadn’t once left her thigh except for once briefly when he managed to catch a glass seconds before it had fallen over and splashed champagne all down her. He had quickly wiped his hand clean of a few droplets, returning his hand to her leg with a reassuring smile sent her way. She set his clothes on top of the radiator and started the shower, waiting for it to heat up. She turned back to the heated towel rack to ensure that it was on and something struck her as being off. Clutching the top of the dress or her skin, she unlocked the door and poked her head out:
“Niall?”
“Hmm?” she could hear his voice coming from the spot where she had left him.
“You don’t have any towels,” she couldn’t bring herself to look at him. She felt exposed.
His head snapped up from his suitcase where he had been looking for something decent to wear having given her the last of his clean clothes; “Oh…”
“Yeah…” her eyes briefly looked in his direction; he was staring at her.
He stood up and brushed some imaginary dust off of his dress trousers which were still wet, “I’ll call down to reception and order some.”
“Thank you,” she hugged the fabric closer to her gradually warming body.
He picked up the phone and dialled the code for the front desk. From where he stood he couldn’t see her but she could see him as she waited patiently for him, the water from the shower raining down against the frosted glass from behind her acting as hold music. His cheeks were still pink and she finally noticed just how soaking wet he had gotten whilst trying to shelter her from the elements. She could’ve sworn she’d heard him sniff a few times, no doubt the warmth from the room causing his nose to run. That or he was getting sick.
She heard the phone click onto the base and she straightened up.
Niall walked to the corner of the wall that separated the shower from the rest of the room and peaked around it at her, “They should be up soon. Do you want to go ahead and shower and I’ll let you know when they’re here?
She nodded quickly but suddenly felt a flicker of bravery; “I’ll leave the door unlocked and you can just leave them on the rack.”
He didn’t have time to even think of how to respond because she had already closed the door and, true to her word, he hadn’t heard the lock turn. He rested his head against the cold wall, the sound of her closing over the shower door, the only noise in the suit bar the running water. He let out a heavy sigh; he was in deep.
Around twenty minutes later resurfaced fully clothed and rubbing her newly-washed hair with a pristine white towel that Niall had placed somewhat nervously in the bathroom as she showered not even a foot away, barely covered by the pane of frosted glass that wrapped around the middle of the plain glass of the shower cubicle. His clothing hung loose on her and she had had to upturn the bottoms of his joggers so that she didn’t trip over them. Despite him being the shortest in the band, at 5ft 1, she was even shorter.
They felt their faces flush again as their eyes briefly met – stood in the middle of the room and him on the bed with a pile of clothes beside him.
“You know, you didn’t have to do that,” she asked as she placed the towel over the only radiator in the room. She felt the warmth rising from it as she did so and she held her hands open above it for a few seconds later, grateful for the added heat and that, in the steam of the hot water in the shower, she had thawed out and was now feeling rather toasty.
“Do what?” He was confused.
“Put the towels on the heated rack. You could’ve just left them on the floor.”
His cheeks seemed to be permanently tinged a deep shade of pink, “I… err…. I just thought it’d be nice for you to come out to warm towels.”
“It was. It was very nice, thanks.”
Silence fell between them.
Niall suddenly shot up from the bed, grabbing the clothing from the turned-down bed along with a towel, “I guess I should shower then.”
“Yeah…” she remained in the middle of the room as he breezed past her, inches barely between them momentarily.
When he reached the door, he suddenly remembered something, “I ordered pizza for us, by the way.”
“Oh, OK. I’ll keep an ear out for the door then.”
He stopped for a second, reminded of her earlier panic attack, “I can stay until it gets here if you want so you don’t have to talk to anyone.”
Her heart melted and she turned around to address him; “That’s OK. I think I’ll be fine.“
He nodded and proceeded inside the small room.
As the door closed, sighed. She sat herself at the head of the bed, crossing her legs underneath her. She looked up at the flat screen on the wall in front of her, mindlessly watching whatever programme he had left on the TV. During her shower she had time to think over the night’s events. She had had to stop herself before she thought about her panic attack, afraid that reliving it in her mind may cause her to physically have another one. Her mind had wandered to the recently banked memories of the awards show where Niall had been the perfect gentleman. She had also had her own feelings confirmed, that she did indeed see him as more than a friend. She had put her feelings for him aside over the few years she had known him, figuring that he would never feel the same and that she was just being silly for thinking that maybe he had been flirting with her during almost every conversation they’d ever had. Wishful thinking as she had put it.
A series of knocks caught her off guard and she jumped, her body still firmly planted to the bed. She rose from it when she realised that it had come from the door they had walked through together some thirty-odd minutes ago. Walking over to the door, she stood on her tiptoes to be able to look out of the peephole. When she recognised the uniform of the staff in the hotel she unlocked the door and opened it.
The male on the other side lifted his head from the cart to look at her with a smile, “Room service.”
She opened the door wider and allowed him to enter. He wheeled the cart over to the table in the far corner, taking a few trays off of it along with a couple of bottles; one that she believed to be of champagne and the other two of a dark-coloured fizzy drink. He also set a jug of water on the table before straightening it up. He removed the tray covers to reveal a large pizza and a few side dishes. laughed to herself; only Niall would order the most common of foods in a fancy hotel.
She heard the water shut off and decided to wait until he returned to begin eating. It would be rude, after all, considering how kind he had been in taking care of her and giving her shelter from the ongoing storm. She sat back down on the bed.
Minutes later, the bathroom door unlocked and a fine mist of stream floated out of the room along with the man himself clad in similar attire to that he had given her.
His eyes lit up when he saw that food on the table; “Shall we tuck in?”
An echo of giggles from a female trickled through the wall separating Niall’s room from the next, breaking the pair from enjoying their late night snack. It was soon followed by deeper, lustful moans. The couple looked up at each other, slightly startled and growing ever bashful in the presence of one and other.
“Sounds like Louis has some company…” Niall remarked as the groans became louder.
They were soon joined by a female tone of similar passion. They stared at each other with wide eyes of realisation:
“Is that…?”
’s face paled, “Yep. That’s .”
Niall raised his eyebrows at her.
Her cheeks tinged pink, “Please don’t ask me how I know that and anyway; you’re the one who asked if it was her.”
“Touche.”
giggled, then continued the conversation to try and mask the sounds of their friends’ good time; “I wonder what would’ve happened tonight had things gone the way they were supposed to.”
“Well, for one; you wouldn’t have had your belongings stolen.”
She gestured to him with her half eaten slice of pizza, “but then we wouldn’t have been saved by our knights in shining armour.”
“True. What about the hotel you’d booked? If that hadn’t have fallen through then we wouldn’t be sat here – “
“Or if our bookings had been legit then we would likely be trying to hitchhike back to it in the rain.”
Niall shook his head; “You know I’d never let you do that.”
“You’re far too -” her words were cut off by the antics of next door getting louder by the second. They shared a look before bursting out laughing.
Niall raised his voice slightly, “What?”
“I was just saying that you’re – “
Again the volume went up, high pitched shrieks bouncing off the walls.
started again, “I think you’re far too sw–”
Suddenly it was like they were being treated to a surround sound version of their best friends’ private show.
Niall leaned into her ear, “Do you wanna get out of here?”
“Please!”
He grabbed the essentials; his phone, wallet and key card -but most importantly – the box of pizza. laughed as if it was the funniest thing in the world other than his typical behaviour. She covered her mouth: she had no idea she why found it so funny but, truth be told, everything was funnier with him, it was lighter and she felt like she could breathe.
They ran down the corridor hand in hand as he guided her far from the zealous moaning of their friends that seemed to ring down the hallway, following them. Neither of them had bothered to put on shoes, their bare feet thumping on the deep green carpeted ground as they headed towards the elevator. Thankfully the door was open on their floor so they sprinted to it. Niall, being much faster than , made it in first and kept the doors open for her to enter not even seconds later. The doors glided shut and Niall eyed the keypad trying to decide where he should take her. He looked at her for a suggestion and she gazed over at the buttons. Her eyes lit up when she found the perfect one. She leaned over him slightly to press it and he ducked his head to see where they were going. They were going up to the enclosed pool.
When they reached the pool area, they set their things down on the nearest table that happened to be across from some sun loungers – something found weird to have around a pool that had a glass roof over the top of it. The rain beat down on the panes above them and ran down the three glass walls surrounding them (the last wall being made of brick), the patter of raindrops a comforting sound. Light fragments shone in from decking outside, reflecting off of the pool and casting swirling patterns around them. The smell of chlorine filled their lungs but wasn’t overpowering. Everything was rather serene and still; just how the pair liked it. Touring and promotion barely left Niall with any time to relax and when he did he couldn’t even go outside to enjoy whatever city he was in without the fear of being mobbed. For it was a welcomed break from her mind always whirring at 100mph, a clearing in the forest of her mind when she couldn’t see anything for the trees. They sat down across from each other, the pizza box in the middle of them. They shared a smile; their earlier nervousness around each other had seemingly melted away like the time. I was now nearing 2am but they had never felt more awake. They chatted away for a little while, the room mostly silent save for the hum of the pool’s internal pump system working away.
After a while, found herself just staring into the pool. There was always something so peaceful at looking at such a vast, contained amount of water. She found herself being drawn to it, standing up and walking over to the edge.
Niall cleared his throat, bringing her back to reality;
“You know; I’ve really enjoyed tonight.”
The corners of her mouth turned up at him, “Me too. Thanks again for saving me earlier. I swear if you hadn’t been there then would’ve ended up having me committed – or we’d still be on the side of the road awaiting death.”
“Any time.”
“And I promise I will have the dress dry cleaned and sent back as soon as I get home.”
He shook his head, “Just keep it.”
“I can’t do that; it has to go back to Randy.”
“I may have… sort of… kinda… paid for it already.”
She looked at him in shock, “Why would you do that?”
He chuckled as he stood up and made his way over to her, “Maybe because I like you.”
Her cheeks flushed, “Even so; I can’t accept it. It’s far too expensive and you shouldn’t be wasting your money on me.”
He put his hand over her shoulder and squeezed it just like he had done with her hand at the awards, “Yes you can. It’s a gift.”
“But why?”
He grinned at her naivety, “I wanted to see you smile. I like making you smile and I want to keep on doing so for a really long time – if you’ll let me.”
She just stared at him and he couldn’t figure out whether that was good thing or not.
She looked back into the deep water, speaking quietly; “I’m scared you’ll get bored; you deserve so much better and I don’t want you to feel like you have to look after me.”
“I’ve known you for a few years now and trust me; I’m never going to get bored of you. I want to be with you and if it means making sure you’re OK every second of every day then sign me up because I’m not going anywhere.”
She grew silent again.
“So we just jump in?”
“Just jump in,” he offered her his hand and she accepted, curling her fingers tightly around his.
They nodded at each other before leaping off of the edge, their hands gripping tighter around each others as they fell feet first into the deep water, the liquid washing them of their worries and doubts.