Winter Air (Sequel to Night Air)

Chapter 20

*Trigger warning*

Niall and I arrived at Liam's place at precisely 3:14- fourteen minutes after I wanted to arrive, but the Uber driver didn't seem to understand English very well or the fact that I was not okay with his cruising while he casually sang along with the Spanish radio station. We arrived a little bit after everyone else, but nobody seemed to mind other than the Uber driver who didn't receive a very nice tip.

"Oi!" Louis shouted from the other room already knowing who walked through the door although there was a wall separating us. "Save the sex for later and be here on time next time!" Maybe Louis pretended to mind.

Niall and I both chuckled along with the rest of the group as we turned the corner into the living room where everyone sat on Liam's gray couch. All of the ladies sat in elegant dresses while all four of the guys sat in wrinkle-free, black slacks and a button down shirt of varying designs and colors.

Niall was in a navy blue, bottom down while Liam and Harry chose the color gray and Liam chose a burgundy red. My dress was a mid thigh length, black, lace dress with a nude under gown showing beneath it. Eleanor wore gold, floor length dress with sequence hugging every inch of it. Sophia wore a simple but elegant peach-nude colored floor length dress that hugged all of her curves in all of the right spots.

"So now that we're all here," Liam said as he stood to his feet, "how about we all go to that new Chinese buffet before heading to the awards show?" Everyone voiced their agreement and started to stand, but my stomach turned. Since the other night at the party, I hadn't forced myself to get rid of all the crap I was aware I was injecting into my stomach, but as everyone buzzed with excitement over a Chinese buffet, I couldn't help but feel the painful relapse prevail.

I must have zoned out because when my vision left the floor, Eleanor and Sophia were excitedly turning my body around and nudging me towards the entrance I had walked through only a minute prior. I stared at the door in horror knowing that it was the entrance towards pain and there was nothing I was going to or could do about it. Unfortunately, whether I meant to or not, I was placing the welcome mat out and leaving the light on for my demons.

Everyone made light and cheerful banter in the one of two Uber cars I had the luxury of riding in. Niall, Liam, Sophia and I all chatted about random topics and I did my best to at least participate in the conversation more than our driver was. This one, unlike the one Niall and I had on the way over to Liam's, knew English very well and didn't mind showing it off.
It astonished me, though, how one word as innocent as 'buffet' could set me off as much as it did like a trigger. I didn't want to think that I was really that sensitive and I ended up silently convincing myself that it was my hormones and PMS getting to me while the other three people in the car (four if you count the driver) laughed away without noticing my subtle distance. Convincing myself everything I felt could be chalked up to hormones seemed to do the trick in my mind, and soon enough, I was back to acting like I was before and laughing and chatting away with my three friends.

Our Uber arrived about ten minutes before the second Uber holding Eleanor, Louis and Harry did. We found a giant, round table towards the back of the restaurant and decided against waiting for the others. Well, Niall and Liam did, anyways. Sophia and I stayed at the table so the others would know where to sit when they arrived. Sophia and I never really got a lot of one-on-one time so the small bits here and there were always filled with us catching up.

"So how's your modeling going?" Sophia broke the ice once the boys were out of earshot.
I shrugged and channeled my feelings in a disgusted facial expression. "It's going."
Sophia's face also contorted. "Pretty bad, huh?" I shrugged again. "Are the people nice?"
I made a hum through my nose and shook my head. "No." She raised an eyebrow. "Okay, well some are pretty nice, I suppose. The majority seem to have something against me or just seem stuck up."
She still looked a little surprised "Why would they have anything against you? You haven't been there that long, have you?"
I shook my head as Niall walked back over to the table with a cup of coffee. "Only for about 3 months now." Both my eyes and Sophia's eyes widened when Niall placed the coffee in front of me.