Right Place, Right Time

Once In A Lifetime

My heart was thumping so loudly in my ears I could barely hear what Harry was saying to me.

"I was just wondering..." he paused, and rubbed a hand across his chin. "Would you like to come to the show tonight?"

For a moment I thought I hadn't heard him correctly. Then his words sank in. "Really?"

"Yup. Only if you want to. Don't feel you have to or anything. I mean, you might have other plans..."

"Yeah, well I'd planned to stay in and pluck my eyebrows tonight," I joked. "But I suppose I could do them tomorrow."

He played along, folding his arms and cocking his head to one side while he checked out my eyebrows.

"Hmmm, actually... now you come to mention it, I don't know if you can come with unplucked eyebrows. It's one of the rules - no guests with messy eyebrows. Although I have to say, yours look pretty perfect to me."

I could feel myself blushing at that, so I said the first thing that came to mind.

"I could always pop to the bathroom for an emergency tweezing session now," I told him. "Then I'd be free to come to the show."

"So is that a yes?" he asked. "You'll come?"

"Oh yes," I said, unable to suppress a huge grin. I did manage to resist the urge to throw my arms around him though. "I would love to, thank you Harry. But I thought all the tickets were sold out."

"They are, but you won't need a ticket. You can sit with Gem and other family and special guests in a reserved area just by the stage. They'll look after you. Is that OK?"

I could only nod. This was better than I could ever have imagined. Ha, Bianca was going to be so jealous when I told her.

Harry smiled back at me, seeming to get pleasure from my delight. Then his expression became serious.

"Is there someone else you want to invite along? A sister, a friend, your, um, boyfriend?"

"My sister's too young and I don't have a boyfriend." Was it my imagination or did his mouth just turn up into the merest hint of a smile when I said I was single?

I thought about my friends. My best friend Abby was a mad keen fan but she was at university in Scotland - and there was no way she could get down in time for the show. In fact most of my friends who were into One Direction had gone away to university and my closest friends who were still in town weren't huge 1D fans.

"Uh, no, there's nobody else."

"If you're sure. And another thing..."

"Yes?"

"If you'd like to hang out here with us until the show starts, I'd like that."

Now I really had died and gone to heaven. I was going to get to spend time with Harry Styles and One Direction. They weren't on stage for at least another three and a half hours. THREE AND A HALF HOURS with Harry.

Oh. My. God. Talk about a once in a lifetime opportunity.

"I'd like that too," I said, and this time I definitely wasn't imagining the spark that ignited when our eyes met. Something was happening between me and Harry Styles.

"Fantastic," he smiled. "We've got the sound check in about 10 minutes, so you can come to that, if you'd like. Oh... do you need to go home and get changed though?" He scanned my costume.

"Actually, I don't," I said. "I've got jeans and a T-shirt in my bag so I can change into those."

Thank God I had packed a change of clothes, which I had been planning to put on before I left work. And then I remembered something.