All Again

CHAPTER SEVEN
BECCA
Then
It had to be a joke.
Any minute now my mom would spin me around and the customers with laptops would revel themselves as actors and camera crews would rush in. There would be some confetti thrown in the air blanketing the floors and Harry would walk back in and it would all be revealed as one big joke.
He was on some new reality show I was certain and I was his lucky victim.
I counted down and inwardly scorned myself that I hadn't worn makeup. If I was
going to be on prime time television and hundreds of Youtube clips- because lets face it, he was Harry Styles- I should have looked better.
Was my hair done?
Was there a stain on my shirt?
Would the thousands of viewers make fun of me or hate me because I had gotten close to him?
Would I be on that silly site Sugarscape and be an article attached to Harry Styles Google profile?
Would I be remembered for years to come because of the joke?
Oh, maybe. That would be cool.
Maybe somehow I would get noticed and this 'stint' would change my life.
But.
It didn't happen.
At least not that way.
For five minutes I stood in disbelief waiting for my moment, the moment, when it would all be revealed to be a joke.
But.
It wasn't.
I looked down at the brown napkin and the smeared pen showcasing the ten numbers that probably led me to Harry Styles.
I. Had. His. Phone. Number.
Becca 'could care less' Johnson.
But I did care.
As it dawned on me it wasn’t a joke, I quickly stuffed the number in my back pocket and ran to the employee bathroom.
I stared back at myself.
Shit. You look horrible.
My face was bare and I looked like a lifeless rag doll in my opinion. My hair, which sat a little on my chest, was limp and I had on the least attractive shirt ever. I had chose to wear a plain white long-sleeve shirt and jeans. I didn't exactly scream sexy.
Luckily my skin appeared tan- half due to the California sun and the other half my ancestry- so I didn't look washed out.
But I didn't get it.
I honestly and truly didn't.
Where was the attraction?
Why the hell had he given me his phone number?
I wasn’t even that interesting.
But.
Then it dawned on me.
He had a girlfriend. A pretty blonde supermodel girlfriend.
He was definitely not trying to ask me out.
So…again….why did he want my number?
A knock on the bathroom door interrupted my thoughts.
"Becca? It's Mom."
I opened the door and faced my Mother.
She was the one who was stunning.
Half Ecuadorian and Italian, she had rich and exotic features.
Sometimes customers would stop in just to look and talk to her. They wouldn’t even order.
"Hey, I’m heading to lunch. Can you hold down the fort a little while?"
I nodded and reached to turn off the bathroom light behind me. I started to follow her out of the back hallway until she turned and looked at me with a mischievous smile.
"What did the Styles kid want?" she asked.
"Styles kid?" I repeated. "How do you even know who that is?"
She shrugged. "Your sister told me. He's in a famous band or something right?"
I chuckled. She had no clue.
"One Direction Mom." I said, quickly cueing her in.
"Oh." She shrugged again. "I don't think I know him. But he's a cutie."
"Story of My Life." I quickly reminded her. "That's his song."
"Oh." she said. "Cool." She said.
She probably still didn’t know what I was talking about.
She gave a quick wave, completely unfazed, and then left. Maybe that was where I got it from.
I had met Michael Jackson when I was younger, and even that hadn’t impressed me.
I wondered how she would react if I told her he had given me his number.
The exact number that was burning a hole through my jeans.
"When will you be back?" I called behind her.
"An hour. You'll be fine!" she called before walking out of the front door.
**********************
I was fine AND I was busy. After she left, I held down the fort as she called it, and worked until my sister arrived from school.
Then I headed home to pack.
My parents had a modest four bedroom home in the Sherman Oaks area. They had both been born and raised in California so it was home.
As I packed my last minute items, and texted back and forth with Kelsey, I found myself thinking of Harry.
I wondered where he was and what he was doing.
I wondered if I was on his mind and if he was waiting to hear from me.
I didn't know what he wanted or why he had even given me his number, but I wasn't in a rush to find out.
Don't get me wrong, I was definitely curious; but I was leaving town and I didn't have a clue what to say to him anyway.
My Mother, Father and Sister all made it home by eight to have a final family dinner and then I was headed to the airport. Kelsey was already in New York.
As my father drove me, we discussed my Great Grandma and plans for the future. The next time I would be home would be in March on my Spring Break and my Father wanted to plan a nice trip for the four of us.
"Sounds good." I said with a smile as I gathered my things. By then we were at the drop off area.
"Let me help." My dad said turning on his flashers and hopping out of the car.
He helped grab my suitcase out of the trunk and I slung my carry on over my shoulder.
"See ya later kiddo." he said giving me a final hug before we were interrupted.
Behind us, a person in a Mercedes Benz was honking at my father to move his car.
My father rolled his eyes playfully and ran back to the driver seat giving me a
wave.
The Mercedes obnoxiously honked again and I just shook my head walking away.
I couldn't wait to get back to New York. I had grown up in California and could say
the people were definitely different.
There was a sense of 'entitlement' that was in the air that couldn't be found as much in New York.
I quickly made it through the security checks and check-ins and found my seat at my gate.
By now Harry's number was saved in my phone and I found myself scrolling over it.
Should I...
Could I...
I switched screens and went to Youtube instead.
I quickly typed in Harry Styles and saw various news articles about him and the model chick. I scrolled past and clicked on a video that was promised to show his ‘Funny and Cute Moments'
And then I fangirled.
Before I knew it, I was on another video, and then another falling quickly in love with his quirky habits.
My fingers began the itch again and before I could talk myself out of it, I was composing a message to him.
It was simple and totally vague.
But I sent it.
*Hi, this is Becca.*
And then I regretted it. It was so stupid. And the wait felt like minutes. Hours.
In reality, it was only seconds.
*Hi, this is Harry.*
And before I could even comprehend he texted me back, he said,
*It's late.*
I quickly looked at the clock on my phone and saw it was 11:34pm.
What a fucking idiot I was.
*I'm at the airport.* I quickly typed. *I'm sorry.*
*No worries. Where are you going?* he replied back instantly.
He must have been glued to his phone and the fastest typer in the west.
*New York. Back to School.* I said.
*Cool. So how do you like my autograph?*
I smiled. By now I could picture the cheeky grin he probably wore on his face as he
typed.
*It was horrible. Complete Rubbish. You should learn to write more clear.* I teased back, smiling to myself.
*Not my fault. I didn't exactly finish school ya know.* he said.
But I didn't. I knew nothing about how his band had been formed.
*That's too bad.* I said. *Well don't worry. I'm sure you still have time to find an amazing career*
*Not likely. I have no talents. It's pretty much over for me.*
I laughed. I liked this kid. He was quick witted.
But, was I even sure I was talking to Harry?
It was still quite possible this was all some kind of joke. I decided to dig in and get more information.
*So what are you doing?* I typed.
*I'm at home, watching mindless television.*
*Fun. What's on?*
*I don't even know the name. How's the airport? Busy at 11pm?*
*Actually a little bit. And don't scold me.*
*What do you mean?*
*You make me feel bad about texting you so late. I really didn't look at the clock. I feel bad.*
*You should. All I wanted to do tonight was kick back and watch this show and you
have completely ruined that. You should be ashamed.*
I laughed again and prepared a response. I needed to write something clever.
My phone buzzed.
*I'm joking by the way. It's totally fine.*
*Got it. Good. I do have a question though.*
*Ask me anything.*
*Why did you give me your number?*
I waited for the response for 10 seconds. 20.30.
I waited until a whole minute passed.
And then another.
And then another.
By then I started to get nervous.
I quickly started to write out a response apologizing for being forward when my phone finally buzzed.
*Honestly I don't know.*
And then,
*Is it okay?*
I paused and looked up from my phone. Was it okay?
I wasn't sure at this point.
As I thought of an answer, my flight was suddenly called to board.
Damn.
I quickly texted Harry.
*Completely. But I've got to go. We're boarding.*
He texted back quickly.
*Oh sure, leave me alone with this stupid TV! There goes me thinking you're a nice
girl...But, t was nice talking to you. Have a safe flight!*
*You too Harry. Try not to fall asleep.*
*I make no promises.*
I didn't respond back and stood to board my plane. My mind was flustered at the
thought that I had maybe just been talking to him. A man, who was virtually
inaccessible to thousands of people.
It seemed surreal.
As I walked the tarmac to get to the plane, I reread our messages and then I reread
them again.
I had decided I liked him and his personality.
He seemed like a nice guy and though I still didn't know why we were talking, I was welcome to more conversation.
It could be fun.
For now I would keep everything between us private and respect the moment.
I was sure he didn't just give his number to anybody so I didn't want to betray his trust.
Still, I wasn't incredibly naive and knew whatever this was was temporary.
I was going to just go with the flow.
After all, who knew what could happen.

Notes