the silver lining playbook// a. irwin

chapter six

Flashing lights surrounded us, people chattered loudly and acted as if they hadn't seen each other in years. Some people I recognized, and others I knew too well. You see, Ashton has always had a thing where he would screw around with all of his employees and then he would fire them. Turns out, there were a lot of these employees.

Calum stuck by my side, but due to the fact that the people wanted a picture of two of the three most eligible young bachelors alive, he had to leave me all by myself quite a few times.

But then, people started to scream at me to get in the picture. So, I was pushed and shoved until I was in Calum's arms, almost falling over. He chuckled and placed his arm around my waist as we smiled for the cameras. A few times, I felt him look at me, so I turned and surely enough, he was smiling down at me, so I grinned back at him.

Ashton chose to get in these shots, standing behind me so that I was sandwiched between the two. You could say I was living every woman's dream right now.

Eventually, Calum was called over and then only Ashton and I remained. His shots with me were a bit more professional. All of the time, I was looking straight a head with a poker face as I stared deep into the cameras. Ashton's gaze was on me one or two times, but he was never smiling like Calum.

All too soon, we ran out of carpet to pose on and I was called over by an overly-enthusiastic lady with a microphone. I looked up at Ashton for permission to go to her, and he just looked down, and nodded me off.

Walking rapidly towards her, she smiled up at me, due to her small size and my huge heels. "Hello, I am here with?"

"My name is Layla Collins," I grinned and stared at the interviewer instead of the camera. In that moment, a microphone was given to me so that my answers were a bit more clear.

The interviewer nodded and her overly- excited tone came back. There was no doubt in my mind that this whole preppy thing was all an act. "Before we get into anything, do you realize that you are the first girl that has been photographed with Ashton Irwin?"

"What?" Furrowing my eyebrows, I muttered into the microphone. There was no way that Ashton would waste his one opportunity to be photographed for the first time with a girl on me. I'm just a secretary.

"You heard me," she lightly punched my shoulder and continued,"now, who are you wearing?"

Just as the words were about to spill from my mouth, a hand was on my waist and someone spoke from behind me,"She's wearing a custom Balmain,"

I turned around and saw Ashton facing straight ahead into the camera. The interviewer was clearly intimidated by Ashton's loud and booming, egotistical personality, so she scurried us off and turned to look for another celebrity.

The doors to the fashion show were exceedingly huge and once we stepped in, there were rows and rows of seats that surrounded the catwalk. Most people were already sitting down and the announcer spoke through the loud speaker and announced that the show would begin in five minutes.

Due to our social status, we (Ashton, Calum, and I) would be sitting on the front row. Our seats were a bit to the side, but nonetheless, we were front and center. Ashton looked for the chairs with our names on it and once he found these, he sat and dragged me down. I noticed that the seat next to me just said reserved, and there was no name on it, and then on Ashton's other side was Calum. He was separating us.

I broke the ice,"Is this seriously a custom Balmain?"

"Yes," Ashton spoke nonchalantly, as if it was absolutely nothing. Rolling my eyes, I crossed my legs and sat back on the seat, looking straight ahead.

Muttering, I looked forward and covered my mouth lightly with my hand so that he could hear what I was saying, but no one could read my lips,"We don't have the resources for a dress like this."

"You mean the team doesn't have the money, but I do," he spoke all laid back, as if this meant nothing to him. People began to settle down, the lights dimmed, and the show began.

--/--

The night soon came to an end and all too soon, we were back at the hotel. Calum had stayed behind for the after-party and he warned us that he might not come back until tomorrow. But in reality, who can blame him, we are in Paris after all.

The hotel suite was dead silent. Not one sound, peep, squeak- just silence. I had gone to bed early after watching a few episodes of Bob's Burgers. Then, I fell right asleep.

But I awoke at around 2:40 AM. It was way too quiet. This worried me. If Ashton was here, you'd at least hear a movement or water running. However there was just dead silence.

Since I was living in the busy part of Baltimore, I was used to rustling and honking and various noises here and there. So in this quietness, I could never just fall asleep. Due to this, I began to walk around.

Opening my door slightly, I walked out and began to pace the suite. There was only an extremely dim, golden lighting that allowed me to move through the apartment. Calum's door was open, and Ashton's was just slightly creaked, enough for me to peek inside.

Even though I may not act like it, with all my sass talk and rebellious attitude (oh, who am I joking?) I deeply care for Ashton. I really worry when he doesn't get any sleep at all due to the stress he's under. It just somehow hurts my heart to see the bags under his eyes and the smile he tries to cover them up with.

Once I looked inside, I saw a bed- well a crumpled up ball of sheets- and a lamp on. Ashton's clothes were thrown on a chair to the side of the room. Only he would under-appreciate such a fancy suit. By the looks of it, it seemed as if Ashton tried to fall asleep, for his sake, but there was no way that that occurred, so he left.

As I shifted out of his room, I saw a person standing outside sliding doors. Perhaps I was fantasizing this, because I never notices a balcony in that spot when we first got here. But as I stepped closer I saw that the door was unlocked, and that there was someone standing outside.

-/-

guys

ily

thats all

xoxo

gossip girl