Sapphire *One Direction* [Liam Payne]

Chapter 7

Lexi's POV:

My heart pounded as I lifted up the bottom half of my navy dress so I wouldn't trip down the stairs. My hair was pulled into a neat up do with one stray curl framing my face. My coral, suede heels firmly planted each step as I descended slowly. The dress was a halter that exposed almost all of my back; the rippled cloth sat perfectly above my bum. My back felt completely vulnerable and every breeze raised chill bumps up and down my spine. I pulled open the door after my long trip down the stairs and saw Liam in dark navy dress pants, a white oxford polo, and a turquoise tie that acquired thin purple lines that ran diagonally down it.

His eyes trailed me up and down 2 or 3 times, savoring my appearance before he spoke. "You ready to go beautiful?" For some reason his comment made me blush. And I carefully put my hand in front of my face trying not to smudge my makeup - I had already accidently rubbed my eye before Liam arrived smudging black mascara under my bottom lashes, and it was a pain to fix.

"Yes," I told him after I quickly removed my hand that was serving as a barrier. Luckily, he hadn't noticed my pink cheeks, or pinker cheeks, I had applied some blush to maintain a youthful appearance.

Liam held out his hand, and after some hesitation, I took it. We walked hand-in-hand to his shiny black Audi. This reminded me of a scene that would be in batman. I pictured Liam's car turning into the batmobile and a smile flashed across my face.

"What are you smiling for?" Liam asked as he opened the passenger door for me.

I slid into the seat making sure my dress was fully in the car before allowing him to close the door. When he got in the driver's side, he had not forgotten his question and looked to me for an answer. "I just imagined... nevermind its stupid," I concluded.

"No, I want to hear"

"But," I began to protest. He remained silent and I realized he was more stubborn than I was. "I just imagined your car turning into the batmobile. Go ahead and laugh." I was prepared for him to break out into laughter, but oddly he didn't.

"That'd be mad! I wish my car did that." He put the keys in the ignition and started up the engine. His reaction surprised me, any other in fact every other guy would have laughed at me.

The car sped down the London roads and the only noise was the hum of the engine.

We arrived a fancy building that was all white and had large white columns in front of the entrance. They connected to a deck that appeared to be on the third floor. I pictured this to be some government building, or a place that almost everyone got married at.

Liam walked up to a man in a tux and stated his last name. The guard motioned for us to enter through the grand doors into a cleared ball area that contained round tables covered in white linen off to the far right side. He led me to a table and instructed me to stay in the seat.

Liam came back with two plates full of salmon and risotto, "For the lady," he placed one of the plates in front of me and the other at his place before going to retrieve a bottle of wine ant two long-stemmed glasses. I didn't drink. I was only 18 and in America the law was you had to be 21. Without telling Liam this, I thanked him and took a sip. The alcohol was strong going down my throat. I moved to the seared salmon and the fish glided down my throat, and each bite tasted magnificent. I ate every last bit without even realizing I was with company.

"Good?" he asked as I wiped my mouth with the cloth napkin that no longer occupied my lap.

Realizing I had inhaled my meal, I glanced over at Liam's plate to see if I had unattractively finished before him. Thankfully he was done. "Delicious," I answered.