Burlesque

His eyes are green. They are so incredibly forceful, I feel naked under his gaze. His chest falls heavily and a smile breaks on his lips.

"Who do we have here?" He asks, his eyes not leaving mine.

"This is the star of our little club, and my girlfriend. This is Roxie Heart."

Harry walks past Lucas and I swear at this moment we are the only two in the room. There was no noise but the words falling from his soft lips.

"It's an extreme pleasure to meet you, Roxie." He reaches his hand out for mine. I hesitantly lay min in his, his making mine look minuscule. He wraps his fingers around mine before bringing it to his lips, leaving a light kiss on the top of my hand. My breathe hitches and my eyes fly up to meet lucas's nervously. Even though this wasn't me fault I would pay for this exchange later.

"You - You, t-too." I quickly pull my hand back and go to Lucas's side, hiding myself.

"Roxie, that was just brilliant." I look over to find Zayn smiling at me. His black hair is pushed up perfectly.

I am about to thank him until Lucas cuts in. "Eh, she was alright. She messed up on the last chorus." I cringe. He had noticed.

"Well it was not noticeable in the slightest." Zayn says politely, his warm eyes flashing some sort of apology at me. I smile back.

"You guys really didn't think she was that good, did you? Trained professionals like yourselves." Trained professionals? Who were these guys, a band of some sort?

"She was absolutely flawless." Harry scoffs angrily. The boys seem confused as to why my boss and 'boyfriend,' were talking down to me. But I wasn't. He always did this. It was nothing new.

Lucas shrugs and possessively puts his arm around my shoulder. Harry glares at him fiercely. The other boys give me slightly sad smiles.

"Get out of here. Next number." He demands.

I nod and quickly turn away to the door. Once more before leaving i turn to meet the their gazes.

"It was nice to meet you, I -"

"Go on!" Lucas says a little louder. I quickly scamper away. Not wanting to get in to anymore trouble.

Rushing down the stairs I find Kitty waiting, looking anxious.

"Well, who was it?" she asks, reaching her hand out to me, pulling me with her to the dressing rooms.

"I don't know. Some band of boys." She gives me a look, and crinkles her nose, trying to figure it out.

"Huh, I'll ask one of the waiters once the night is over."

As I dress and stretch out, line up, perform, run, fix my makeup. All I can see and think about are the lips that pressed to the top of my hand and the green eyes that held my own.

Harry's POV

Roxie scurries away quickly and the private balcony seems colder once she leaves.

"Mate, you oughta be nice to her." I snap at him. This jerk was getting on my nerves. He laughs and puts his palms up.

"Whats it to you?" I can tell he thinks i'm playing.

And I'm not.

"She is a lady." Zayn interrupts. His brows quirked at the behavior of this grown man.

"Yeah, yeah. Anyways, lets get on with the show. He sits on the far edge, to the left of Liam. They make small talk but I can tell my mate doesn't like him. I don't think any of us do.

The rest of the show is just as good as the first act. She sings solo in three other songs and completely brings the house down. It was spectacular. The next was just a dance number. She was just as good of a dancer as she was singer and the way she moved her hips and ran her hands through her hair made the front of my jeans a little too tight.

Roxie. Roxie Heart. I'm sure that wasn't her real name. Just a stage one. But it was beautiful none the less.

I figured she didn't recognize us. Which was completely different and refreshing. I have never wished to be recognized but now I wished she did. Because I wanted to impress her.

I felt the strongest urge to speak to her again. Alone. I was incredibly interested and enticed by her.

Once the show is done Lucas stands. "Well you guys want to meet the girls?"

"Yes." I say immediately, standing up. Niall snickers.

"Sure." my mates agree. He escorts us to a hall outside of what I guess is the dressing room. The room is full of laughter and girls squeals. I just want them to hurry up and get out of here. I wanted to speak with her.

After what seems like forever the door opens and the first two girls emerge. When they see Liam they scream and practically pounce. The commotion causes all of them to come out too, joining the screaming and squealing.

We greet them all, taking names, taking photos, signing makeup bags and cellphone cases. I was polite to them all, of course. I mean, I loves my fans. We all loved them. But I would be lying if I didn't say I wasn't waiting for her to come out.

Then she appears. She looks almost timid, most of the girls tower her even though she wears the highest heels. She is dressed in black leggings, a cotton shirt and one of those fluffy circle scarves. Her eyes still coated in stage makeup and her brown hair curled and sprayed high off of her head. She was beautiful. Her eyes meet mine right away and I think she is about to come to me until Her head snaps up at the sound of her name.

Roxie's POV

"Roxie. Here." Lucas calls. My heart sinks. I knew I was about to get yelled at. I look up at Harry one last time. This was probably going to be the last time I was to see him. I shrug and follow Lucas, pushing past all of my friends who were going absolutely berzerk over these guys. They must be far more popular then I predicted.

Inching my way towards Lucas I duck past him and head to his office. Knowing that's where he wants me.

"Guys, I will be back in a moment." He calls to the boys. I don't hear their reply as I hesitantly go in to the dank office and sit on the chair in front of his desk. The door clicks shut as he follows me in, locking it, pulling the shade down over the glass panel. Swallowing the fear I begin to rock myself, as I always did when I was scared and nervous. I was both.

Sometimes his scoldings weren't so bad. Sometimes they would be just yelling. When he was under the influence or I really screwed up he would hurt me really bad. I was not sure what was coming now.

"Oh, Roxie, my baby girl. Why were you so late. You know I hate it when you're late." His voice and pet names make me feel repulsed.

"I-i'm sorry.. I was taking a nap and -" He takes the arms of my chair and drags it roughly so I'm facing him as he kneels on the floor.

"So you were being lazy?" He clicks his tongue and roughly pinches my chin =, forcing our eyes to meet.

"I was tired, Lucas." I plead with him, knowing it was useless. He wouldn't pity or see reason.

"Harry seemed impressed with you." He sneers. I wait, not sure as to what he wanted. "I can't imagine why." He laugh is mean. I hate when he talks down to me and bullied me. I think that hurt more when he hit me.

I quickly gasp and snap my eyes closed as his hand draws back and snaps in to my face, knocking me from my chair. Hot stinging burns my cheek and I bite my lip in order to get myself to stop crying.

His hand takes a clump of my hair before pulling my face up to meet his.

"Don't fucking be late again and don't you ever embarrass me like you did in front of the band." His voice is hot and mean and his breath smells like cheap whiskey. I nod and sniffle as he gets up and leaves.

Opening the door, the squeals of the girls fill the office.

"You're fucking pathetic." He sneers at me before turning and leaving, slamming the office door.

It's only then I let the stray tears loose.

Notes