The Official Boyband Handbook

[08] The Meeting

---

After every night,

comes a new morning.

---

Chapter Eight - The Meeting

Louis woke up with a groan. His head, although in the absence of hospital wrap, remained somewhat wounded. This was not physical pain, however, but a striking discomfort on the inside. He could not put his finger on it, but something last Saturday, at the X Factor arena, had altered a substantial part of his memory. The gears inside his mind, although rusty, turned and willed for him to remember. What, exactly, he still did not know.

It was morning now and Louis knew he would eventually have to shift from his warm bed to meet his family downstairs. They were waiting for him, eagerly. They wished to hear of the things he had encountered on his trip they had not had the chance to discuss before since they had not been permitted to travel with him. Johannah wanted to keep as much of Louis' memory of the audition alive as possible, and having his sisters present was not the way to go.

While Louis dressed himself, running a single hand through his brown locks, the telephone rang. The melodies of Fur Elise jingled throughout the Tomlinson dwelling forcing Johannah to leave her nest at the breakfast table and tend to the caller. The identification read the name of a girl who Johannah had been waiting to hear from since dawn. She hastily picked the phone off its base, placing it next to her ear and greeting the person at the other end of the line.

"I'm lovely, dear, thank you." Johannah replied happily to her greeting. "How are you?"

"Just the same," Frankie answered. "Listen, Jo, I was hoping I could speak with Louis for a minute. Is he up?"

"Not yet, love. But when he comes down, I'll..." Johannah stopped midsentence, her unoccupied ear catching the voice of her son. "Actually, he just arrived. I'll get him for you."

Johannah headed back in the direction of the kitchen, where she had heard Louis' voice venture. She found him pouring cold milk into a bowl of cereal and bowing his head every so often to ensure Lottie he was listening to her every word. When his mother called for him, Louis snapped his head up with a smile, always content to see her. She gestured for him and after apologizing twice to Lottie, he stood up and met with his mother who handed him the phone.

"Who is it?" Louis whispered, covering the bottom of the phone with his large palm.

"Frankie. She wants to talk to you."

Louis' face dropped. "Do I have to? It's too early in the morning for this."

Johannah gently squeezed his shoulder. "She only needs a minute or two."

And with that, she departed Louis side, leaving him to make his final decision. In complete honesty, he wanted to speak with her. Somehow, someway, she made things simpler for him. Everything was not always so blurry when she was around. But with Frankie came a truckload of other things the lad had to worry about. First and foremost: her inquisitive ways. She loved questions and seemed to live in her own of world full of them. She loved asking questions and she adored receiving answers to them. She also spoke in a strange tone...as if she knew something far greater than Louis himself could ever understand and she did not trust him yet to reveal it. This was, of course, rather mindboggling for him. He did not appreciate surprises and out of everyone he knew Frankie seemed to be holding onto the largest one.

"Uh, hello?"

"Louis!" Frankie exclaimed. Following so long a wait, she was seconds away from admitting defeat. "How are you?"

"I'm okay." He returned. "You wanted to talk to me?"

"I did actually." She said. "We, as in me, Genevieve, you and the others, have exactly two weeks to prepare for the Judge's House performance. It's being held in a secret location, so I can't tell you where it is just yet. We're meant to have a band meeting today at my flat. If Johannah's not too busy, she knows where it is and she can drop you off. But if she is busy, I'd be happy to come pick you up."