Chapter 30         Charlotte POV            Day 52 of Tour: New York City

“I need better lighting over here.”

“What colors: green and white or red and black?”

“Someone get the ladder to Bill!”

 “Where are my stools?”

It felt like the first day of the tour all over again. People ran around me aimlessly while I stood in the center of the room twiddling my thumbs. Someone came barreling past carrying a ladder (probably for Bill). I jumped from his path and stumbled back into a camera tripod.

“Hey, watch it!”

“Sorry,” I said. “It was an accident…”

“JUST KIDDING!” Louis popped out from behind the bulky camera. He smiled at me with a pointed finger. “I got you again.”

“No you didn’t. I knew it was you.”

“Yeah… I’m pretty sure I tricked you.”

“No you didn’t.”

“Yes I did.”

“Nope.”

“Yeah.”

“Not this time.”

“Suuuure.”

I rolled my eyes. “What are you doing over here anyway? Aren’t you guys supposed to be getting prettied?”

“I came to get you. They want you.”

“They?”

I prayed he meant Liam and the others and not the photographers.

“Seventeen. They want to get you pretty so they can take pictures.” Of course. “Well come on then,” Louis said with a grab of my hand. “LEGGO!” He drug me off into the distance.

We wound our way behind cameras and crew in that busy warehouse. Sets of green screens and random Ikea looking rooms were everywhere with bright shiny lights directed to them.

Louis finally stopped jogging, throwing me in front of a small closed door. He knocked seven times with the tips of his fingers. I raised a brow.

The door was cracked open. “Password.”

I shook my head and let a little smile play on my lips.

Louis leaned into the door and whispered, “Oreo… Cookies…”

Zayn’s thick browed eyes peered at us suspiciously. “Correct.” He swung open the door and walked away, suddenly no longer interested in us.

“You must be Charlotte,” A woman said to me. She was wearing her dark hair up in a tall ponytail. A fabric tape measure hung from her neck.

“Yeah that’s me.”

“I’m Valerie. I’ll be getting your outfits.”

“Okay…” I glanced up at Louis. He had abandoned me to get his hair done. I sighed.

Valerie started to walk into another little room. I assumed I was meant to follow. I shuffled after her high heels and into a small closet. Racks of dresses hung from the ceiling and walls. My jaw dropped just a bit.

“What size are you?” Her hands drew out the tape around my waist.

I swallowed a gulp of nerves. “I don’t know…”

She nodded like she already knew that. Valerie turned back to the dresses and started to pull out a few things. She would look at it halfheartedly and then toss it into my arms. I just stood there patiently with my hands positioned to catch any clothes she chucked at me.

“We’re done.”

“Okay…” I looked down at the things in my arms. “Do I have to wear all of this?”

“No. But you have to try it on.”

I sighed.

This was going to be a long day.

Niall POV         

I stared at my reflection in the mirror. The brown leather jacket they had stuffed me into was squeezing my upper arms. I made some sort of pained face before shrugging the sleeves off of me. Underneath was just a plain white and navy blue shirt. I smiled with a glance down at my funky red shoes. Those I would be happy to keep.

“You ready, Mr. Horan?”

I nodded.

“Go ahead and head to stage three. The rest of the band is waiting for you.”

I walked out into the warehouse. People were running around like crazy while some random music played overhead. I ran a hand along my chin and threw my thumb into my pocket. I saw a flash of Harry’s head somewhere to the right so I followed that.

“There’s Niall” Lou screamed as I came closer.

“Yep. The one and only.” I took a little bow.

A photographer wearing a snap back looked at all of us standing there in our designer shirts and tight pants. “We’re still missing Ms. Hemming.”

“She’s in this shot with us?”

“Yeah Niall. They announced that like two hours ago.”

I laughed. “Oh. Sorry.”

The photographer looked to his left and then to his right. He must have spotted her somewhere because he said, “And there they are.”

A tall woman wearing even taller heels clicked over. Her hair was up in a tail. “Sorry we’re late,” She reached behind her and pulled Charlotte by her shoulders. “We had some issues in cosmetics, but it was eventually resolved.”

Charlotte smiled at me shyly.

My heart sped up.

Her dark eyes were lightly dusted with a light coffee powder that sparkled like the gloss that painted her smiling lips. Straight dark chocolate hair ran down past her waist in soft, touchable locks. The high rise dark burgundy shorts she was wearing had a big red bow at the front where her blush colored high collared shirt was tucked in. She had on a pair of black flats and some white earrings.

She was stunning.

“Okay! Let’s get started!”

Charlotte hugged her arms across her chest. We made eye contact and I tried to smile at her. But before I could I was jostled onto the set. Someone plopped me down on a fancy tan couch. Louis was positioned next to me. “Can we get Liam over here behind Niall?” The photographer asked. I yawned. “That’s perfect.”

“Charlotte you can go here,” she was guided the hand to a spot in the center.

She looked petrified.

I smiled at her reassuringly.

When we were all sitting up on stage the camera started to click and flash. I smiled like I always did, but every so often I would look over at Charlotte. She always saw me staring and would blush.

“Niall keep your eyes on the prize, buddy.” The photographer eventually sighed at me.

I grinned before replying, “They are.”

Charlotte stared into my eyes lovingly. And then stuck out her tongue. I laughed, making everyone else giggle as well. Pretty soon we were all cracking up at practically nothing, clutching out sides and wiping our eyes. The camera flashed off at the same time.

After the couch pictures we were guided back to our dressing rooms. I was quickly thrown into a pair of tight jeans and a blue button up. They snapped on some black suspenders just for looks and then messed with my hair.

Liam and I were told to head to set seven. It was white walls and white floors. Nothing fancy.

“Does your shirt itch?” Liam scratched at his nipples.

“Nope.”

“Lucky,” He sighed. His blue and white plaid shirt was already getting wrinkled from his excessive scratching. “This sucks.”

“Do I look hot?” I heard Hazza say from behind me.

I turned to look at him. “Hell yeah,” I purred jokingly.

He kept his hips thrust and ran a hand through his curls. He was wearing a grey jacket and very dark blue pants.

“I think I like this,” Zayn told me. He was staring down at his soft leather jacket. “I might have to keep it.” His dark blue shirt underneath was calling my name.

“Can I keep the shirt then?” I asked him.

“Go for it, lad.”

Louis wandered in with Charlotte on his arm. They skipped over, giggles rolling out of Charlotte’s bright red lips.

They halted to a stop.

“Doesn’t she look pretty?” Louis twirled her around in a circle. Her navy blue white polka dotted dress flew out around her. She giggled some more.

When she came to a stop she smiled at me. Her long curled pony tail whipped around and rested on her shoulder. The ends of her soft hair fell into her strapless heart shaped torso.

“Hey you do look pretty!” Harry tickled her sides. She jumped back and squealed.

I caught her in my arms. “Yeah, you do.”

“Are we ready?” The photographer (I think his name was Phil) asked. We shook our heads up and down. “Let’s get this started then, hmm?”

Some music started to play loud. We were all pushed onto the white set. We all knew what to do. We lined up shoulder to shoulder to look seriously into the camera lenses.

After about twenty minutes of this we were excused for another outfit change. This one was much more casual. We all wore the same white shirt with the v neck and a pair of skinny jeans. Even Charlotte came out of the dressing room with the matching clothes. Her hair was in a simple braid down the curve of her narrow back.

“This one’s outside I think,” Liam told me and her as we all climbed upstairs.

He was right.

We found ourselves on the top of a very tall building overlooking almost all of New York. We could see the Statue of Liberty and the waterfront in the distance. Cloudless skies were painted above us. There was a rooftop pool and some patio furniture scattered on the stone ground.

Some loud playful music started to sound off from the speakers. I smiled over at Charlotte.

“Here we go!” Louis came swooping in behind us. He picked up Charlotte and threw him over his shoulder. She laughed and hung onto his neck with all of her might. He twirled around in circles as the rest of us shook our heads and laughed.

Louis set her down on one of the chairs. I came over and sat down next to her. Pretty soon every one of them was at our side. The camera flashed like mad as we all started to casually interact with each other. I pulled Charlotte up onto my lap and then everyone else piled on top of her. She made strained giggling noises as they crushed us.

“Your butt is way too big, Tommo!” Harry groaned as we all sat there in a big pile.

Charlotte rolled out of the mess and stood to her feet. She caught my eye and smiled prettily.

How could she look so damn good in a white t shirt?

Next we were all lined up in front of a brick wall. I had Charlotte on my shoulders. She threw her hands up in the air and smiled. This was so adorable until Louis and Harry decided to try it out for themselves. Then Liam and Zayn. Eventually the cameras were taking shots of the six of us stacked up like circus performers.

“No no no no no no no no no,” Harry started to lose his hold on Louis’s shoulders. He fell to the ground with a thud. I couldn’t help but cackle.

Phil the Photographer helped him to his feet. “That’ll be all for the group shots I think. Boys can go and move onto the band pictures. Charlotte we’ll have you do a few singles then you can be done, okay?” She nodded. “Perfect. Let’s get going then.”

As I was shoved downstairs with the guys I glanced back at her. She was being seated on a chair to have her makeup fixed. Her dark eyes wandered to mine; freezing on my gaze. Her lips parted in a shy smile. Her fingers gave me a cute little wave before the door was closed and I was staring at a piece of white steel.

Louis nudged me as we walked back downstairs to the stuffy warehouse. “You ready Horan?”

“Yeah… when’s lunch again?”

“Haha- not for another four hours or something.”

I sighed.

This was going to be a long day.