Unexpected
Chapter 5
Chapter 5
I rolled over and groaned, hanging up the telephone. I stood up and stretched, walking over to the bathroom to brush my hair. I looked in the mirror and gasped. The person looking back at me was like death. I ran a comb through the tangles on my head and shook Tess awake.
“Whaaaat?” She whined and rolled over. “It’s 7 in the morning, what do you want?” She tugged the blankets up over her head and attempted to go back to sleep.
I yanked the blankets off the bed from the bottom so she was completely exposed in her fetal/sleeping position. She quickly turned and glared at me.
“Our chaperone just called and told us our ride is in an hour. You’re not going to believe who it is.” I pulled open the curtains and let the early morning light flood into the room. New York City never rests; there were people walking quickly, talking on cell phones, calling for taxis, and heading to work.
“Who is it?” Tess rolled out of bed and went into the bathroom.
“I’ll tell you when you’re dressed.”
“Okay, I’m too tired to pry it out of you right now.” She shut the door and I heard her gasp at her reflection just as I had done just moments before.
I pulled my suitcase on top of my bed and took out my pre-decided outfit. I had packed it in its own little box so it wouldn’t get all wrinkled. I carefully pulled the clothes out of the box and set them on the bed next to my suitcase. I undressed and threw my pajamas to the side of the room with the television. As I waited for Tess to come out of the bathroom I pulled on my dark jeans and made sure I was careful when I put my shirt on so as not to get it wrinkled. I strapped on my sandals and blindly ran my fingers through my hair, getting any leftover tangles out.
I walked to the bathroom door, which opened just as I raised my fist to pound on it.
“It’s all yours,” Tess said, motioning behind her like the bathroom was some kind of prize.
“Thank you,” I nodded at her. I shut the door behind me and willed myself to look in the full length mirror which hung on the back of it. I was surprised to see that I didn’t look half as bad as I thought it did. I adjusted my shirt, making sure it fit just the way it did the day we bought it. After making sure every miniscule little detail of my appearance was as perfect as possible, I realized it was time to tackle my hair. I gathered it all to the right side of my face and began working on a fishtail braid. After a few failed attempts at getting it to work, I finally managed to make my hair look pretty good. I was proud with my accomplishment and opened the door.
Tess had changed into her stunning outfit and was waiting to join me in the bathroom so we could do our makeup.
“Your hair looks nice, I like it.” She fingered my hair for a moment and smiled.
“Thanks, I messed up a few times, but I got it to cooperate.” I flashed her a smile back and grabbed my makeup bag out of my suitcase and laid the contents out onto the counter in the bathroom.
“What are you going to do with yours? It looks like all you’ve done is brush it.”
“Yeah, I know, that’s because that is all I’ve done to it.” She shuffled through some of the eye-shadow choices and settled on a slightly glittery one that matched her skin tone.
“I thought you were going to curl it?” I remarked as I grabbed a natural eye shadow and started to run it across my eyelids. Tess and I had both decided more natural colors would look much better than something flashy.
“I was going to, but our lovely chauffeur, whom I still do not know the name of, only gave us a one hour notice, so I think maybe I’ll just pull it back.”
“That wouldn’t be too bad, you always look good with your hair up.” I grabbed my light blush and brushed it across my cheeks. As a finishing touch, I brushed my eyelashes with mascara and put on a little shiny lip gloss. I set it aside so I could put it in my purse in case I needed to re-apply it later.
Tess swept some eyeliner around her eyes and pulled her hair back into a tight ponytail. She looked at me and raised her eyebrows in question. I nodded, silently telling her it was working. We put all of the makeup back in the bag and walked out of the bathroom. I stored the lip gloss safely in my purse and checked myself in the little mirror I also had stashed in there.
“By any chance, did you wake my mom up?” I realized we had forgotten about her and I had no idea if Paul had also called my mother to wake her up.
Tess nodded. “I went over there while you were in the bathroom and she was already up. Apparently the mystery guy called her, too.” I laughed, having forgotten to tell Tess who had called this morning.
“You want to know who it is?”
“Yeah, I do. I hate being left in the dark.”
I glanced at the clock hanging above the television: 7:28. “Well, you’ll find out in about half an hour when he picks us up.”
She groaned and pulled on her flowery ballet flats. I couldn’t help but laugh at her annoyed expression but decided it would be worth it to see her face when she sees Paul in the car picking us up.
Once Tess got her shoes on, we walked across the hall and into my mother’s room, where she was sitting on her bed, watching the news and brushing her hair.
When we walked in, she looked up at us and shut off the T.V. “Are you girls ready to go down and get some breakfast?”
We nodded in response, realizing that we would have to eat before we left. Tess and I headed back into the hotel room and grabbed our purses and cell phones and joined my mom in the elevator for the ride down to the lobby.
There was a room to the right of the elevator that had food displayed along one of the walls, chairs and tables in the middle, glass doors and windows along one wall, giving a wonderful view of the pond out back and the sunrise, and bookshelves and two T.V.’s on the wall farthest from the food. We pilled our plates with as much food as we could since we didn’t know when we would be eating again, and chose a seat near the windows. We ate in silence for a while and then talked about the day ahead of us.
“Do you want me to come with you when you meet them?” My mom asked between bites of fruit. I could be wrong, but I think I saw a hint of hope in her eyes.
I shrugged and said, “Sure, Mom, I think they would love to meet you.” I felt really good about my answer when her eyes brightened and her show stopping smile formed. Tess shot me a look from the other side of the table but I ignored her.
We finished our meals and rushed back upstairs to brush our teeth and make sure we still looked approachable. By the time we got back down to the lobby, the clock by the front desk read 8:00 exactly. Almost as soon as we stepped out of the elevator, the front doors opened and Paul walked into the hotel.
From beside me, I heard Tess’s breath catch in her throat. She grabbed my arm and squeezed, letting me know she knew exactly who it was that had called this morning.
“Good morning, girls! You must be Chloe and Tess! I’m proud to introduce myself as Paul Higgins, your chauffeur for this lovely experience. You must be Chloe’s mother.” He turned to my mom and did a small bow. My mother chuckled and held out her hand to shake Paul’s outstretched one.
“How nice to meet you, Paul.”
“The pleasure is all mine, Mrs. Douglas.” He turned his attention back to all three of us and continued, “If you’re wondering why I was sent to collect you so early, it’s because I was instructed to give you a tour of the city and bring you back to the venue a few hours before the concert begins. We have quite a bit of time on our hands, so why don’t we begin by getting to know each other. The driver is waiting outside, if you’re all ready to head out.” He watched us, waiting for our reactions. Tess was still a little shocked at her newfound information so I nodded and smiled, waiting for my mother to say something. She didn’t, so I answered for her.
“I think we’re ready, we’ve got everything we need. Where are we going first?”
Paul smiled and thought for a second before responding. “You know, I think we’ll just drive around the city for a bit and talk and after that we’ll figure out where we want to go. Is that alright with you?” I shrugged and looked at Tess. She nodded, her eyes fixed on Paul.
“Wonderful! Off we go, then.” He turned and headed toward the door, obviously expecting us to follow. We obediently trailed behind him and into the black limousine waiting outside the hotel. We climbed into the back and said hello to the driver who had rolled down the divider. We introduced ourselves and, after Paul told him to drive us around the city wherever he wanted, he rolled the divider back up. Mom was seated beside Paul and Tess and I sat facing them.
“So, which one of you beautiful girls is our contest winner?” Paul looked back and forth between us, clearly not seeing the resemblance between my mother and me.
Before I could say anything, Tess responded, “Well, Mr. Higgins, I suppose that depends on what you mean by ‘contest winner’ because, really, we both won the contest.”
I rolled my eyes, waiting for Paul’s response. Instead, he just let Tess continue.
“Technically, Chloe won the contest, because it was her name on the entry. But, if you think about it in terms of who wanted to enter the contest, I won. Don’t get me wrong, Chloe loves the boys with all of her heart and she would have entered the contest herself if she wasn’t so self conscious and worried about losing, but I was the one who persuaded her to enter, despite her worry of losing.”
I looked at Tess, silently hoping she was finished embarrassing me, and when it was clear she was finished talking, I spoke up, “Mr. Higgins, I’m Chloe. This is Tess, and apparently, she’s gotten over the shock of today.” I shot Tess a don’t-embarrass-me-again-or-you-WILL-regret-it look and smiled at Paul.
“Call me Paul. Mr. Higgins sounds too grown up.”
I smiled and looked out the window, watching the buildings and cars and people zoom by.
“So, Paul, what’s it like hanging with the boys?” Tess jumped right in on asking question.
“It’s great. I couldn’t ask for a better job. It gets quite hectic at times but it’s worth it. I wouldn’t trade them for the world.”
I glanced at my mother, who hadn’t said a word since we exited the hotel, and noticed she was staring intently at Paul and Tess. She looked quite interested in their conversation so I didn’t say anything.
I continued to stare out the window, looking at the buildings and the people entering and leaving. There were cafés and restaurants and barber shops full of people and conversations. I wondered what it would be like to live in a city like this and quickly realized I would much rather live in a small town like the one I live in now.
After about an hour of driving around and asking questions about the boys and Paul’s home life, we pulled into a grocery store parking lot. We were all confused until Paul started talking to the driver through the now half raised divider.
“Where do you want to go, Paul? I think we should get this show on the road soon so we can make it to the venue on time.”
Paul thought for a moment and said, “Let’s take them across the Brooklyn Bridge. Then we can visit Central Park for a bi, grab some lunch, and head off to the arena.” He looked back at us, “Does that sound good to you guys?”
I nodded and Tess gave a thumbs-up. My mother smiled in agreement. Paul nodded at the driver and rolled the divider back up.
We drove around a bit more before we got to the Brooklyn Bridge. I had heard about it but have never been across it. I looked down below and took in the view. When we got across, we drove some more before we stopped at Central Park. The driver told us he was going to be down the street at a café and Paul should call him when we were ready to leave.
My mother, Tess, and I looked around for a moment and took in everything there was to see. People were walking and talking and playing, there were trees and flowers everywhere; it was the nicest – and largest – park I had ever been to. We walked around for a while and Paul told us about what would happen tonight at the concert.
“You will be accompanied by yours truly to your seats to watch the concert. After the concert is over, we’ll head off to the side and wait for everybody to clear out. The reason we aren’t going immediately backstage is to give the guys some time to cool down. Sometimes they get a little moody right after a concert because of all of the adrenaline still in their systems. When the crowd has left we’ll head backstage and wait for the boys if they haven’t already recovered. When someone comes out to get us, we’ll meet the guys in their dressing room, I’ll leave and let you have your time with them, and when they’re ready to go, they’ll wrap it up and come get me. After your time with them, I’ll take you out to get some dinner – on me – and go back to your hotel. Is that all pretty clear?”
While Paul was talking, we had stopped and took a seat on a park bench, listening to what he was saying, making sure we understood what he meant by everything. Tess and I agreed that everything was clear.
We talked a little more in depth about the details of the upcoming night and walked around the park a few times, watching the different behaviors. After an hour or so, Paul called the driver to come pick us up and take us to the arena. We waited by where he had dropped us off and when he arrived, climbed back into the limo. I took the same spot I had before we got out, and so did everyone else.
After a little bit we pulled up to a pizza parlor and spent some time eating, although Tess and I were having trouble since our stomachs were in knots in anticipation. When we finished, we piled back into the limo and drove for almost and hour, circling the city once more and, finally, arriving at the arena; the place where, in just a few hours, my life would change forever.
I rolled over and groaned, hanging up the telephone. I stood up and stretched, walking over to the bathroom to brush my hair. I looked in the mirror and gasped. The person looking back at me was like death. I ran a comb through the tangles on my head and shook Tess awake.
“Whaaaat?” She whined and rolled over. “It’s 7 in the morning, what do you want?” She tugged the blankets up over her head and attempted to go back to sleep.
I yanked the blankets off the bed from the bottom so she was completely exposed in her fetal/sleeping position. She quickly turned and glared at me.
“Our chaperone just called and told us our ride is in an hour. You’re not going to believe who it is.” I pulled open the curtains and let the early morning light flood into the room. New York City never rests; there were people walking quickly, talking on cell phones, calling for taxis, and heading to work.
“Who is it?” Tess rolled out of bed and went into the bathroom.
“I’ll tell you when you’re dressed.”
“Okay, I’m too tired to pry it out of you right now.” She shut the door and I heard her gasp at her reflection just as I had done just moments before.
I pulled my suitcase on top of my bed and took out my pre-decided outfit. I had packed it in its own little box so it wouldn’t get all wrinkled. I carefully pulled the clothes out of the box and set them on the bed next to my suitcase. I undressed and threw my pajamas to the side of the room with the television. As I waited for Tess to come out of the bathroom I pulled on my dark jeans and made sure I was careful when I put my shirt on so as not to get it wrinkled. I strapped on my sandals and blindly ran my fingers through my hair, getting any leftover tangles out.
I walked to the bathroom door, which opened just as I raised my fist to pound on it.
“It’s all yours,” Tess said, motioning behind her like the bathroom was some kind of prize.
“Thank you,” I nodded at her. I shut the door behind me and willed myself to look in the full length mirror which hung on the back of it. I was surprised to see that I didn’t look half as bad as I thought it did. I adjusted my shirt, making sure it fit just the way it did the day we bought it. After making sure every miniscule little detail of my appearance was as perfect as possible, I realized it was time to tackle my hair. I gathered it all to the right side of my face and began working on a fishtail braid. After a few failed attempts at getting it to work, I finally managed to make my hair look pretty good. I was proud with my accomplishment and opened the door.
Tess had changed into her stunning outfit and was waiting to join me in the bathroom so we could do our makeup.
“Your hair looks nice, I like it.” She fingered my hair for a moment and smiled.
“Thanks, I messed up a few times, but I got it to cooperate.” I flashed her a smile back and grabbed my makeup bag out of my suitcase and laid the contents out onto the counter in the bathroom.
“What are you going to do with yours? It looks like all you’ve done is brush it.”
“Yeah, I know, that’s because that is all I’ve done to it.” She shuffled through some of the eye-shadow choices and settled on a slightly glittery one that matched her skin tone.
“I thought you were going to curl it?” I remarked as I grabbed a natural eye shadow and started to run it across my eyelids. Tess and I had both decided more natural colors would look much better than something flashy.
“I was going to, but our lovely chauffeur, whom I still do not know the name of, only gave us a one hour notice, so I think maybe I’ll just pull it back.”
“That wouldn’t be too bad, you always look good with your hair up.” I grabbed my light blush and brushed it across my cheeks. As a finishing touch, I brushed my eyelashes with mascara and put on a little shiny lip gloss. I set it aside so I could put it in my purse in case I needed to re-apply it later.
Tess swept some eyeliner around her eyes and pulled her hair back into a tight ponytail. She looked at me and raised her eyebrows in question. I nodded, silently telling her it was working. We put all of the makeup back in the bag and walked out of the bathroom. I stored the lip gloss safely in my purse and checked myself in the little mirror I also had stashed in there.
“By any chance, did you wake my mom up?” I realized we had forgotten about her and I had no idea if Paul had also called my mother to wake her up.
Tess nodded. “I went over there while you were in the bathroom and she was already up. Apparently the mystery guy called her, too.” I laughed, having forgotten to tell Tess who had called this morning.
“You want to know who it is?”
“Yeah, I do. I hate being left in the dark.”
I glanced at the clock hanging above the television: 7:28. “Well, you’ll find out in about half an hour when he picks us up.”
She groaned and pulled on her flowery ballet flats. I couldn’t help but laugh at her annoyed expression but decided it would be worth it to see her face when she sees Paul in the car picking us up.
Once Tess got her shoes on, we walked across the hall and into my mother’s room, where she was sitting on her bed, watching the news and brushing her hair.
When we walked in, she looked up at us and shut off the T.V. “Are you girls ready to go down and get some breakfast?”
We nodded in response, realizing that we would have to eat before we left. Tess and I headed back into the hotel room and grabbed our purses and cell phones and joined my mom in the elevator for the ride down to the lobby.
There was a room to the right of the elevator that had food displayed along one of the walls, chairs and tables in the middle, glass doors and windows along one wall, giving a wonderful view of the pond out back and the sunrise, and bookshelves and two T.V.’s on the wall farthest from the food. We pilled our plates with as much food as we could since we didn’t know when we would be eating again, and chose a seat near the windows. We ate in silence for a while and then talked about the day ahead of us.
“Do you want me to come with you when you meet them?” My mom asked between bites of fruit. I could be wrong, but I think I saw a hint of hope in her eyes.
I shrugged and said, “Sure, Mom, I think they would love to meet you.” I felt really good about my answer when her eyes brightened and her show stopping smile formed. Tess shot me a look from the other side of the table but I ignored her.
We finished our meals and rushed back upstairs to brush our teeth and make sure we still looked approachable. By the time we got back down to the lobby, the clock by the front desk read 8:00 exactly. Almost as soon as we stepped out of the elevator, the front doors opened and Paul walked into the hotel.
From beside me, I heard Tess’s breath catch in her throat. She grabbed my arm and squeezed, letting me know she knew exactly who it was that had called this morning.
“Good morning, girls! You must be Chloe and Tess! I’m proud to introduce myself as Paul Higgins, your chauffeur for this lovely experience. You must be Chloe’s mother.” He turned to my mom and did a small bow. My mother chuckled and held out her hand to shake Paul’s outstretched one.
“How nice to meet you, Paul.”
“The pleasure is all mine, Mrs. Douglas.” He turned his attention back to all three of us and continued, “If you’re wondering why I was sent to collect you so early, it’s because I was instructed to give you a tour of the city and bring you back to the venue a few hours before the concert begins. We have quite a bit of time on our hands, so why don’t we begin by getting to know each other. The driver is waiting outside, if you’re all ready to head out.” He watched us, waiting for our reactions. Tess was still a little shocked at her newfound information so I nodded and smiled, waiting for my mother to say something. She didn’t, so I answered for her.
“I think we’re ready, we’ve got everything we need. Where are we going first?”
Paul smiled and thought for a second before responding. “You know, I think we’ll just drive around the city for a bit and talk and after that we’ll figure out where we want to go. Is that alright with you?” I shrugged and looked at Tess. She nodded, her eyes fixed on Paul.
“Wonderful! Off we go, then.” He turned and headed toward the door, obviously expecting us to follow. We obediently trailed behind him and into the black limousine waiting outside the hotel. We climbed into the back and said hello to the driver who had rolled down the divider. We introduced ourselves and, after Paul told him to drive us around the city wherever he wanted, he rolled the divider back up. Mom was seated beside Paul and Tess and I sat facing them.
“So, which one of you beautiful girls is our contest winner?” Paul looked back and forth between us, clearly not seeing the resemblance between my mother and me.
Before I could say anything, Tess responded, “Well, Mr. Higgins, I suppose that depends on what you mean by ‘contest winner’ because, really, we both won the contest.”
I rolled my eyes, waiting for Paul’s response. Instead, he just let Tess continue.
“Technically, Chloe won the contest, because it was her name on the entry. But, if you think about it in terms of who wanted to enter the contest, I won. Don’t get me wrong, Chloe loves the boys with all of her heart and she would have entered the contest herself if she wasn’t so self conscious and worried about losing, but I was the one who persuaded her to enter, despite her worry of losing.”
I looked at Tess, silently hoping she was finished embarrassing me, and when it was clear she was finished talking, I spoke up, “Mr. Higgins, I’m Chloe. This is Tess, and apparently, she’s gotten over the shock of today.” I shot Tess a don’t-embarrass-me-again-or-you-WILL-regret-it look and smiled at Paul.
“Call me Paul. Mr. Higgins sounds too grown up.”
I smiled and looked out the window, watching the buildings and cars and people zoom by.
“So, Paul, what’s it like hanging with the boys?” Tess jumped right in on asking question.
“It’s great. I couldn’t ask for a better job. It gets quite hectic at times but it’s worth it. I wouldn’t trade them for the world.”
I glanced at my mother, who hadn’t said a word since we exited the hotel, and noticed she was staring intently at Paul and Tess. She looked quite interested in their conversation so I didn’t say anything.
I continued to stare out the window, looking at the buildings and the people entering and leaving. There were cafés and restaurants and barber shops full of people and conversations. I wondered what it would be like to live in a city like this and quickly realized I would much rather live in a small town like the one I live in now.
After about an hour of driving around and asking questions about the boys and Paul’s home life, we pulled into a grocery store parking lot. We were all confused until Paul started talking to the driver through the now half raised divider.
“Where do you want to go, Paul? I think we should get this show on the road soon so we can make it to the venue on time.”
Paul thought for a moment and said, “Let’s take them across the Brooklyn Bridge. Then we can visit Central Park for a bi, grab some lunch, and head off to the arena.” He looked back at us, “Does that sound good to you guys?”
I nodded and Tess gave a thumbs-up. My mother smiled in agreement. Paul nodded at the driver and rolled the divider back up.
We drove around a bit more before we got to the Brooklyn Bridge. I had heard about it but have never been across it. I looked down below and took in the view. When we got across, we drove some more before we stopped at Central Park. The driver told us he was going to be down the street at a café and Paul should call him when we were ready to leave.
My mother, Tess, and I looked around for a moment and took in everything there was to see. People were walking and talking and playing, there were trees and flowers everywhere; it was the nicest – and largest – park I had ever been to. We walked around for a while and Paul told us about what would happen tonight at the concert.
“You will be accompanied by yours truly to your seats to watch the concert. After the concert is over, we’ll head off to the side and wait for everybody to clear out. The reason we aren’t going immediately backstage is to give the guys some time to cool down. Sometimes they get a little moody right after a concert because of all of the adrenaline still in their systems. When the crowd has left we’ll head backstage and wait for the boys if they haven’t already recovered. When someone comes out to get us, we’ll meet the guys in their dressing room, I’ll leave and let you have your time with them, and when they’re ready to go, they’ll wrap it up and come get me. After your time with them, I’ll take you out to get some dinner – on me – and go back to your hotel. Is that all pretty clear?”
While Paul was talking, we had stopped and took a seat on a park bench, listening to what he was saying, making sure we understood what he meant by everything. Tess and I agreed that everything was clear.
We talked a little more in depth about the details of the upcoming night and walked around the park a few times, watching the different behaviors. After an hour or so, Paul called the driver to come pick us up and take us to the arena. We waited by where he had dropped us off and when he arrived, climbed back into the limo. I took the same spot I had before we got out, and so did everyone else.
After a little bit we pulled up to a pizza parlor and spent some time eating, although Tess and I were having trouble since our stomachs were in knots in anticipation. When we finished, we piled back into the limo and drove for almost and hour, circling the city once more and, finally, arriving at the arena; the place where, in just a few hours, my life would change forever.
6/16/13