I woke up pretty early the next morning, because we had to be at some studio where the boys were going to do rehearsals and an interview.
I showered quickly and got dressed, and headed out of my hotel room. Harry met me in the hall, and greeted me with a good morning hug.
“Hello there Miss Macintosh, how is the U.S. of A treating you?” Harry asked.
“It’s alright.” I said with a slight giggle.
Harry smiled, and grabbed my waist as we walked down the hall to meet with the rest of the boys in the lobby.
Harry was a really sweet boy, and he was quite flirtatious, but it was all in good fun.
We got to the lobby, and greeted the rest of the boys, Lou, and Paul. We were all going to go to breakfast before the day began, just so we wouldn’t have to order out while in the middle of a busy day.
When Harry and I got there, Louis looked quite angry, and he walked away with Niall. Lou came over to me, and pulled me away from Harry. Lou and I were going to take a separate car from the boys, so they could meet some fans and sign some things.
“You and Harry now?” Lou joked as we left the hotel.
“Harry’s a sweetheart, but not really my type.” I laughed.
Lou laughed with me, and we piled into the car.
“So Louis came to your room last night when we got to the hotel, and he just didn’t leave until some random hour of the morning?” Lou asked.
“Yeah, we watched a movie, and just chilled out for a bit.” I said with a slight shrug.
Lou raised an eyebrow at me.
“What have I done now?” I asked.
“Nothing.” Lou said.
“Look, I’m glad you’re looking out, but it’s really not necessary. Louis and I are just really good friends. We have loads in common and we really hit it off from the start. There is no romance between us.” I said.
“Do you want there to be though?” Lou asked.
“What do you mean?” I questioned.
“Do you want Louis to have feelings for you? Do you want something to happen between yourselves?” She clarified.
“I don’t know, maybe?” I stated.
“How could you say that?” Lou asked.
“I don’t know what you mean.” I stated.
“You have worked so hard at such a young age to get to where you are, and you are seriously going to throw it all away because you want to romance it up with a member of a boy band that you just met.” Lou said.
“I don’t look at it like that.” I stated.
“Clearly.” Lou said.
“We just really hit it off, and like got close really fast, and like I may have a few tiny feelings for him, but so what? I’m not going to do anything about it.” I said.
“Well good, because I would hate to see you get fired over canoodling with Louis.” Lou said smiling.
I smiled back at her. I was glad she was around to help me out. She was like an older sister to me who gave me the advice I needed to keep me on track.
We arrived shortly after at the little breakfast diner, and got out of the car to go and reserve a few tables.
We had a table for all the boys and the security, and then Lou and I had our own table. We waited around, and ordered for everyone, so we weren’t doing nothing when waiting for the boys.
They finally came, followed by some loud shrieking. Lou laughed hearing the screams for the girls, and I took in a deep breath. I never got accustomed to the prepubescent screams.
The boys filed back to us, and took a seat at their table. Louis didn’t even look over at me, and it hurt a little bit, seeing as I thought that we were friends.
I shrugged it off, and sat at the table with Lou.
“This is why you shouldn’t fall for boys like him. They’ve got it all, and need to take it all in. He doesn’t want to settle down just yet.” Lou said.
I nodded slowly, and dropped the subject as we ate. We then got back into the car, and headed to the studio.
Once we got there, we set straight to work on getting the boys ready. This was my job. This was my career. I didn’t have time to flirt around with the boys, and be all cutesy and cuddly. They didn’t want that, and I shouldn’t either. I am a professional in this industry, and Lou was right, I needed to act like it.
I did the boys make-up fairly quickly. It was nothing like Lady Gaga with all her eyeliner and mascara and what not. All the boys needed was cover-up and depending on the lighting foundation.
As I did Harry’s face, he kept scrunching his nose, and sneezed on my hands twice.
“You are so strange.” I laughed.
“That brush tickles my face.” Harry said.
Louis walked over to us, and gave me a tart smile.
“Are you getting your period?” I asked.
He cocked an eyebrow at me.
“Well yesterday you were mister fun, and now you just seem like you are absolutely pissed.” I said.
“Can I talk to you after the show is over?” Louis asked, totally avoiding everything I had just said.
“I guess.” I replied.
“Meet me at the coffee shop down the street.” He stated, and walked away.
“You have a date with the Tommo, way to go Mac.” Harry said smiling.
“It’s clearly not a date.” I said laughing.
“Then what is it?” Harry said.
“A conversation?” I suggested.
“So when people are like ‘Do you have plans tonight?’ you’re going to say, ‘Well actually I’m going to have a conversation.’ Come on Macintosh that’s totally ridiculous.” Harry laughed.
“It does doesn’t it.” I giggled.
Harry burst out laughing, and I couldn’t contain myself. The two of us just howled with laughter for a bit, and my professional guard just collapsed.
I finished up with Harry, and then the boys ran off to do whatever it was they were doing. To be honest I never really concerned myself in their business, because I was just here to do the make-up aspect of the job.
Lou walked over to me, and we began cleaning up the stations.
“Louis is dying inside.” Lou laughed.
I gave her a questioning look.
“While I was getting him dressed he poured his heart out to me.” Lou said.
“Oh yeah? What did he say?” I asked.
“You’ll find out tonight.” Lou said.
“You’re really going to not tell me?” I asked.
“It wouldn’t be fair to Louis if I did.” Lou said.
I nodded, and shrugged it off. This waiting game was eating me alive.
The boys were hard at work all day, and I just sat around doing touch up when they scratched their eyes, and smudged their make-up.
It was a pretty laid back job, the only bad part about it was the constant travel, and lack of sleep due to jet lag and what not.
The day eventually came to a close though, and I wanted to find out what Louis needed to talk about, so when I packed up all my stuff, and said my goodbyes, I headed straight for the coffee shop.
Louis was already there when I walked in, and at seeing me, he jumped from his seat and rushed to the door to help me with my bags.
“Thanks.” I said with a small smile.
It had begun raining out, so I was dying to get inside, and get warmed up.
Louis led me to a table in the back, and put all my stuff down.
“Do you drink coffee?” He asked.
“I prefer tea.” I replied.
“That’s my girl.” Louis said smiling.
I laughed a little.
“How do you take it?” He asked.
“Two creams three sugars.” I stated.
“You like it sweet then?” He asked.
“You got that straight.” I smiled.
Louis grinned, and got up to order us our drinks. He came back to the table shortly after, and handed me a cup.
“Here you go.” He said.
“Why thank you.” I smiled.
Louis grinned, and sipped from his cup. He was really fidgety, more than usual.
“So, you wanted to talk?” I asked.
Louis nodded.
“What about?” I said, trying to get him started.
“Do you and Harry have like a thing? Because if you do, I totally get it, Harry’s a great lad, and like I could see why you would be into him.” Louis said.
I laughed a little, at how flustered he was, and how his face was so flushed.
“Why are you laughing?” He asked nervously.
“There is nothing going on with me and Harry.” I stated.
Louis nodded, clearly not believing me.
“What’s gotten into you?” I asked.
Louis shrugged.
“You don’t have to be all nervous around me Louis; I’m not like sitting here judging you. You can say whatever need be.” I stated.
Louis looked up at me, and I gave him a small smile.
“I really like hanging out with you Macintosh, you’re one of the coolest girls I have ever met.” Louis said.
“Thanks, I like hanging out with you too. You can actually say my name with a straight face.” I joked.
Louis laughed, and I took a sip from my tea.
“That can’t be all you needed to talk to me about.” I stated.
“Right you are.” Louis said.
“So speak then Louis, I’m listening.” I said.
“Right, well, I don’t really know how to say it.” Louis said flatly.
“Write it down.” I joked.
“Cute.” Louis said, and his face grew red once more.
“Stop being all bashful and just talk to me. You never acted like this before, granted I’ve known you like two days, but still.” I stated.
“It’s going to sound weird though.” Louis said.
“I won’t laugh, I promise.” I said.
Louis nodded.
“Do you believe in love at first sight?” He asked.
I cocked my head, and contemplated the question.
“Well, I mean I guess, depending on the circumstances.” I stated.
“Like what?” Louis asked.
“Well, depends on like what you mean by sight. If you mean like sight as in ‘Wow that one hot mama,’ then not really but if you mean sight as in like you had a deep conversation with someone and like you saw into their heart for example, then yeah I believe it is possible.” I stated.
“How do you know if you saw into someone’s heart?” Louis asked.
“Like if you are with a person, and things are just like good. Like you can talk to someone and even in silence things aren’t awkward, and like you can talk about and everything, and you listen to each other, and things are simple, yet very intricate in only a way the two experiencing it can understand.” I said.
“So would it be like an esoteric love?” Louis asked.
“Exactly like an esoteric love.” I stated with a smile.
“What if I told you that I think I’m experiencing that with someone?” Louis asked.
My heart sunk a little, and I realized Louis was asking me for advice on his relationship with someone who wasn’t me.
“Well, then she is probably a very special girl.” I said, trying to keep a smile on my face.
“You are.” Louis said.
“Excuse me?” I asked.
Louis smiled down at his feet, and slowly returned his gaze to mine.
“I really like you Macintosh.” Louis said.
It was my turn to blush now. Louis laughed at the sight of me, and scooted his chair closer to mine.
“By the looks of things, is it safe to assume you like me too?” Louis asked.
I nodded slightly.
“But we can’t be together.” I said softly.
Louis looked at me, and his face was saddened.
“I work for you.” I whispered.
“You work for my management.” Louis corrected.
“It doesn’t matter.” I said.
“We can’t just not be together.” Louis stated.
“I can get fired, and I need this job, and you could get in so much trouble Louis, and I don’t want to ruin your career.” I said, not meeting Louis’ eyes.
Louis took my hand in his under the table.
“Please look at me.” He whispered gently.
I brought my eyes up to meet his, and nearly melted under his gaze.
“I won’t let anything bad happen to you, or me. If you just give us a shot, I can show how much I really care about you. We’ll never know what we are if we don’t try.” Louis said.
I nodded slowly, and my head sunk down slowly. Louis tilted his head under mine, and brushed his lips over mine gently. I shivered a little, and Louis pressed his lips more firmly to mine. I smiled against his lips, and his grip on my hand tightened a little.
We pulled away slowly, and I rested my head in the crook of his neck.
“We need to take it slow Louis.” I said.
“We will.” He stated.
I smiled against his neck, and he kissed the top of my head.
“I think we should keep this on like the down low for a little bit.” I stated.
“Yeah, let people warm up to you a little bit more.” Louis said.
I nodded, and Louis hugged me.
“It’s going to be good my esoteric lover.” Louis whispered.
I jumped up and smiled.
“It’s like a special code.” I squealed excitedly.
Louis laughed, and pulled me back into my chair.
“You are going to need to work on being subtle.” Louis laughed.
I nodded, and laughed, burying my face in my hands.