Up All Night with One Direction [ON HOLD]

One Direction

"Drop everything now

Meet me in the pouring rain

Kiss me on the sidewalk

Take away the pain

'cause I see sparks fly whenever you smile..."

I danced around the store as I refilled all the candy jars. It was ten a.m. on a Monday morning so I wasn't expecting many people to be stopping by the small sweets shop. I did an arabesque, dancing to the music. I used to take dance lessons when I was younger but stopped so I could focus on my studies. I didn't realize how badly I missed dancing until the second I started again. The music blared throughout the entire store; I couldn't hear anything over it, not even when the bell attached to the door jingled, signaling someone had entered, or more precisely, five someones.

As the song went on, I started to move my body more freely. I moved my hips seductively with my arms above my head. All too soon, the song ended. As the last musical chord faded gently away, someone clearing their throat pulled me out of my blissful little world. "Oh goodness" I whispered breathlessly, whipping my head to the front of the store. Five boys, all around my age stood in a staggered line in front of the door staring at me, each occasionally stealing worried glances over their shoulder to the store front. I rushed over to the counter and pulled my oversized cream cardigan closed, the thin tank top underneath it disappearing. "I'm so sorry; I didn't hear you come in. Can I help you with anything?" I asked, trying to resurrect what was left of my dignity.

The guy standing on the outer left edge of the group, the one with long curly hair stepped behind the counter where I stood with a big smile, "Oh no, we're sorry for interrupting your dance party, love." his alluring English accent drawing me in. I stared at the ground and ran my hand through my long hair, something I did when I was nervous. Before anything else could be said, the sound of screaming girls outside in the street captured everybody's attention. The boys all exchanged nervous looks. One of the other boys pulled down the pull shade on the door, locked the door, and turned to me. "I know this is a weird request, but might you have a back room or something that we could use?" The other boys nodded in agreement. I looked at them all, suddenly suspicious as to why they were here and why they seemed to be hiding. "You guys aren't like, ax murderers on the run or anything, right?" the blond boy of the group spoke now. "No, no, nothing like that..." he had an accent that differed from the others. "We haven't killed anyone. At least not in the past year or so." the cute boy standing next to me chimed in again. "Harry, not now, mate." the boy with the perfectly tousled brown hair spoke in a frustrated tone.

A sudden sharp banging on the front door made me jump. The boys seemed to jump too. "So what about that room?" one of them asked, stepping deeper into the shop. I pointed to the back of the shop where there was a door with a sign on it that read: 'Employees only'. The boys all rushed in as the banging on the door got more aggressive. Once the back door was closed, I ran to the front of the store and opened the door, giving a little smile to the crowd of girls waiting impatiently. "Has One Direction stopped by here?" a girl in the front of the crowd asked. My brow furrowed, "I'm sorry, what?" I asked, genuinely confused. The girl let out a short clipped laugh, "One Direction, the boy band. They were on X Factor in the UK..." I slowly shook my head, "I've never heard of them before." The girl went slack jawed. "Did five guys come in here today?" the girl asked again, trying a different approach. I shook my head. "No, we just opened." I lied. The girl she had been talking to wilted a little. "I could've sworn I saw them come in here...thank you." the girl said politely, heading away from the store with slumped shoulders. "I'm sorry I couldn't be more help." I called after her, feeling bad for lying to someone who seemed to be a perfectly nice girl.

I shut the door and locked it again. "You can come out now." I called, heading back behind the counter and sitting on a stool. One by one, the boys ventured out of the little back room with caution. "So you're a band." I stated. The boys nodded sheepishly. "Do you make a habit out of hiding from your fans?" The guys all looked a little hurt by my assumption. "Of course not, we love our fans. We're just trying to keep a low profile today..." the blond one with the Irish accent explained. "Our...Paul doesn't exactly know where we are and if we make a huge scene here he will kill us." Irish explained. None of the boys really knew Paul's official job title. Security expert? Tour manager? Bodyguard? Friend? One Direction babysitter? He fit in all of those categories so the boys just referred to him by name.