Chapter 3
Disclaimer: Again, pics are not mine. The gentleman of 1D are not mine. This is my story line. Bex and her friends are mine. Some events are real...some not. No copyright infringement intended.
Enjoy!!!
Boys of Summer
(credit to pic owner; whomever that is)
Niall
After returning from the first show in Johannesburg, each of us headed to our hotel rooms. It was great seeing the world, but my own bed is where I wanted to be each night.
Swiping my key card on the door, I push the it open. Before I can even get in the room, Harry blows past me.
“Don’t even think about it,” I warn knowing what he’s doing.
“Niall! Don’t be like that, bro!” He grabs the guitar and heads straight back out the door.
I follow behind, “Where’d you think you’re goin’ with that, H?”
I vaguely register Ben standing in the corridor with his wife.
“I’m taking it to my room. I have some songs to write,” he says continuing on his merry way. “Ben.”
“Ye won’t be waking me up again with your horrific playin’!” I yell chasing after him. This causes him to laugh as he opens the door to his room. As usual, they’ve put him next to me. If he wakes up before me, he’ll be playing the damn thing...badly.
I have to give him credit, he tries. I just wish he wouldn’t do it while I’m trying to sleep. I like my sleep. Not as much as food, but I like it none the less.
Giving up, I go back to my room and look for a football game to watch while I wind down.
Mar 29, 2015 - Late Morning
“Nialler! Up for some footie?” Louis asks across the table from me. We’ve met Payno in his room for breakfast. Harold is off somewhere planning his next secret mission. He likes to try and get out of the hotel as much as he can without being noticed. He’s succeeded more than you’d think. He could work for MI6 with his skills at planning things.
“Hell yeah,” I agree and quickly finish the rest of my food. Lou finishes his and we leave Liam alone to call his missus.
We get in a few passes down the corridor before Cal shows up. He’s knocking on the door across from H’s and yelling “Oliver”. That’s all we need is another Oli on this tour. Lou’s friend is enough.
Lou kicks the ball and it sails all the way down to the opposite end of the corridor. After stopping it, I figure one good turn for another, right? I give it all I can and it flies past him.
“CAL!” Louis yells just as the ball barely misses the poor man’s head. He’s quick though and ducks before saying something to whoever this Oliver is.
I watch Louis chase after it, not before stopping briefly at Cal’s friend’s room.
“Morning, Love,” he says and smiles. A flash of long brown hair catches my eye before the door closes. That explains him calling them ‘Love’. It was probably Ben’s wife, Meredith.
“You’re two are going to get us kicked out of the hotel!” Cal laughs as he hands Louis back the soccer ball. “We’re meeting in the conference room in an hour. It’s mandatory.”
“Yes, sir,” I say giving him a salute as he turns toward H’s room.
“Hey...Cal...before you go...can I talk to you for a minute?” my partner in crime says leaning against the wall next to H’s door.
“Alright, I’m off. I’ll see you,” I wave and head back into my room.
“Oi Oi,” Louis laughs as Liam continues his rendition of “Dick in a Box”. Payno has taken to entertaining us while we wait for Cal and H.
The door opens and our ever present archivist finally arrives. The three of us take seats at the table and immediately begin messing around. I’m surprised we even know what’s going on half the time.
Paddy starts the meeting handing out the security badges for all backstage personnel.
“Oliver, Bex,” he calls which makes me smile. “Oliver?”
“I played Oliver in school. Please, sir. May I have some more,” I joke with my hands cupping an imaginary bowl and giving Paddy the most pitiful look I could muster.
The scent of spring flowers and a sweet voice stops my laughter.
“Oh, sorry. That’s me,” the brunette says as she passes the table.
“That’s not an Oliver...that’s an Olivia,” I say as I watch her return to Cal’s side.
“Shut it, Niall!” he says giving me a perturbed look. “Everyone, we’ve had some changes in the last few weeks,” he announces. “Ben and I have asked a personal friend for some help with the show. I’d like to introduce Bex Oliver. She’ll be working with me for the next few dates of the tour.”
The woman looks up and scopes out the room. She’s cute. Long dark hair with wide green eyes that look a little nervous until she spots Louis. She gives him a small wave and says hello. He returns her greeting with a smile. Flirt.
Paddy welcomes her and tells her after the meeting she can properly meet everyone. She nods quickly and then leans on the wall.
Once everything else has been taken care of, Cal begins the production side of the meeting. Since Zayn left some of the crew did too. We’re not really sure if it was an allegiance thing since most have been with us since the beginning or if they think we’ll be cancelling the tour. In any case, Cal has been short handed.
“Usually, I’m all over the stage while my crew film from the floor. I carry my camera and a handheld video camera. Keep this in mind when you’re working, Bex. You’ll be handling the still photography while I focus on the footage on screen,” Cal says causing Lou to balk.
“Oh boy,” Lou laughs from the other side of the room.
“It’ll be fine,” Cal reassures her with a chuckle of his own.
“Have you looked at her, Salt?”
“I’m fine wit it!” I say raising my hand in the air enthusiastically. “Boys?”
“It’ll be buzzin’, Lou,” Louis laughs.
“The four of you idiots will be playing to the lens for sure,” she says shaking her head. “Welcome to the world of One Direction, Love.”
“Uh...thanks,” Bex says looking a bit unsure..
“Right then...it’s settled. Meeting adjourned. We’ll be heading to the Cape Town arena tomorrow to check on set up. Have a good day, everyone! Bex, can you stick around for a minute?” Cal asks as everyone else leaves the room.
“Boys meet Rebekah Oliver,” he says walking toward her
“Hello, Love,” Tommo says giving her one of his genuine smiles.
“I remember you,” she smiles and offers her hand. “Louis, right?”
“I think I’d remember if I met you,” I say offering her my hand. “I’m Niall Horan.”
“Rebekah, but everyone calls me Bex.”
“Pleased to meet you, Love. Liam Payne,” Payno smiles. “How do you know Tommo?”
Leave it to Liam to cut right to the chase. The woman explains that she met us not too long after we started out. Apparently, she’d interned for Cal while he did some promo shots for us. Usually I remember everyone we meet. I can’t place her. At all.
“My memories failing,” I whine a little too much for my own liking. “I remember everyone.”
“I wouldn’t be too hard on yourself. It’s been about 3 years since then. We all look a tad bit different,” she assures me. “I honestly didn’t put two and two together until this morning.”
Liam and Louis are holding some unspoken conversation before turning to me.
“It’s her, Niall,” Louis whispers.
“Who?”
“The girl from the photo shoot,” Liam adds.
“Well, she did just say she interned with Cal,” I say shrugging my shoulders.
“No. THE girl,” Liam says as he glances back at her and Cal. He looks troubled.
Before I can ask what in the hell he’s going on about, she asks if we’d like to join them for lunch. Liam politely declines explaining we’ll be heading out to the stadium for tonight’s show. It’s the truth, but not for another hour or so.
She jokingly tells us to just kick her if she gets under foot while we’re performing. Louis tries to reassure her. The two head off to their lunch leaving us in alone in the conference room.
“Alright...what’s the craic?” I ask smacking Liam in the chest.
“Remember when we first met Cal?”
“Of course, we were doing all the shots for Up All Night,” I answer looking at him like he’s lost his mind.
“Don’t you remember Haz went nuts for Cal’s assistant? He wouldn’t shut up about her, but then he didn’t have the guts to go and talk to her either,” Louis tells me.
I rack my brain trying to remember Cal’s assistant that day. All I remember was a fairly nerdier young girl running around checking lighting...
“Oh!” I yell as it dawns on me. “THAT’s her?”
“That’s her,” Louis nods.
“She looks nothing like she did back then. Does H know? I mean he probably won’t care. It’s been so long,” I say looking at the two of them.
“I don’t know if he knows or not. But, we’ll certainly find out,” Liam adds as he rubs his hands nervously together.
“You don’t think...he probably forgot all about her by now,” I add remembering how he mooned over her those couple of days. He couldn’t get up the nerve to actually talk to her and it drove him crazy.
“Well, I’m not going to be the one to tell him,” Liam says raising his hands as he backs his way toward the door. “You two can figure that out.”
“What’s the big deal, Liam? She went back to wherever she came from and he never brought her up to me again,” Louis says shaking his head.
“He’s asked me and Zayn about her on many an occasion. He wondered if we ever thought about people we’d met in the beginning but never knew where they went. When I asked him who he was talking about, he said that girl who helped Cal. He said he couldn’t get up the nerve to ask Cal about her.”
“You know how he is, Payno,” Louis says waving him off. “He’s like that...always wanting to know if people are alright. Always interested in life in general.”
“Nah...this was different, Lou...” Liam says as he leaves the room.
While Louis is right, Harry being one of the kindest souls in the world, I remember just how much of a crush he had on the girl. Louis and Harry lived together at the time in London. They were pretty close so the idea that he didn’t know just how interested he was makes me think they might have never discussed it. It might be one of the only things he never shared with Tommo.
“I’ll talk to him,” I volunteer quickly before I change my mind.
“Alright. Thanks, bro. Like I said, he’ll probably be interested just for the sake of knowing what happened to her,” he says before fist bumping me. “I’ll see you in a bit.”
The thought of bringing her up to Harry suddenly puts a pit in my stomach. It’s an odd feeling. I’ve experienced nerves before but this is worse than any show. I hear guitar playing in his room as I pass it. Deciding to bite the bullet, I knock on his door.
“Nialler!” He smiles. “Come on in.”
I shut the door behind me and take a deep breath before following him.
“I’ve got a great idea for a song,” he starts as he grabs the acoustic he stole from me last night.
“That’s great! Before you show me, can I talk to you about something?” I say nervously.
“Sure, what’s up bro?”
“You remember when we did those promo shots with Cal in the beginning?”
“A little nostalgic, Niall? You alright?” He says laying the guitar on the bed. He strides a few feet over to the chair across from me. Leaning in as he usually does when you have his full and undivided attention he says, “I know we’re all still dealing with Zayn leaving. You know I’m here to listen if you need.”
“Yeah, yeah...I know. Um...” I say rubbing my hands on my jeans. “It’s not about that.”
“Alright.”
“So...yeah...do you remember when we were doing that shoot?”
“I do,” he says as he plays with the ring on his middle finger. “Why?”
“Well, Cal and Ben have asked a friend to come and help out the next few shows,” I say leaning forward on my thighs.
“Yeah, Cal mentioned something about that. Oliver or something?”
“Remember how you had that crush on his assistant?” I ask.
He smiles, remembering and showing that trademark dimple of his that everyone loves, “Yeah, tiny brunette. She was cute. Why?”
I clear my throat a bit, “ Uh...she’s here.”
“Wot?” Harry says, eyes wide. “What do mean she’s here? Does she live in South Africa or something? Did Cal send her tickets to the show?”
I can see the excitement in his eyes.
“Wonder how she’s been...” he says looking past me.
“She’s helping Cal,” I say quickly.
“Helping Cal?”
“Mmmhmmm, she’s the friend. Apparently, she’s a photographer.”
“Huh...” he says standing up.
I can’t figure out if he’s upset or happy about the news. We all knew when he was mad or happy when we first started out, but as the years have progressed, he’s gotten much better at hiding his
true thoughts and feelings. We’re pretty tight and usually he’s open with me but right now, I can’t read him. I watch him gather a few items and throw them in his overnight bag for the show.
“So you said she’s here...will she be at the show tonight?” He asks.
“I don’t know. She’ll definitely be working the Cape Town show. She just arrived last night. I don’t think Ben or Cal would ask her to start tonight. She’s out with Cal having lunch now.”
“Oh,” he turns to me. “So she’s staying in the hotel?”
His line of questioning shows that he’s definitely interested in seeing her. His face is clear of any emotion though.
“Yeah,” I nod as I stand up.
“Maybe we should wait until Cal gets back and see if he needs a ride to the venue?”
Oh...he’s interested alright....
Author Note: Primarily this story will be from Bex's point of view. When I think it's warranted, there will be chapters from other character perspectives.
Next up: Johannesburg, concert #2...
All the Love, Lady H. xo
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