The Replacement || h.s.

20. Sophie {Harry}

20. Sophie {Harry}

The hangover isn’t really that bad, but I feel like I could stay in bed all day. But because there’s Tanya and Sheila, who reminded us that there a few more things we have to prepare before tonight’s show, we all had to wake up. I think it’s already nine in the morning, which is a good time to wake up because I hate waking up early with a hangover.

“You should take this,” Franz said, handing us small white tablets at the breakfast table. “It makes the pain a bit more bearable.”

“You’ve had a hangover before?” I asked, not quite imagining her as someone who drinks.

“No,” she replied, looking a bit amused. She looked at Sheila, “But she did. One of the most horrible ones I’ve seen in my life – she was pretty useless for a whole day and she just stayed in bed.”

Zayn looked at his girlfriend, a bit bemused. “What did you get drunk for?”

Sheila gave me a look and sighed. “I did it for my old job. Someone said we all had to taste first how the drinks were, and there were over 45 different brewed beers in the room. It was horrendous.”

Franz picked up her muffin and nibbled at the side. “No, it wasn’t,” she said. “It was quite hilarious. Someone even had to drag her all the way to the infirmary before I drove her back to her place.”

“That wasn’t very memorable,” Sheila mumbled, eating her own muffin.

“Guys,” someone suddenly said behind us. We turned around and saw Tanya. “We’ll be going to Foro Sol three hours before this – so more or less noonday. You can spend your time in the hotel for now, but please don’t go outside.”

Nobody’s daring to go outside with hangovers like ours.

“OK?” Tanya asked and we gave her nods. She nodded and walked away, probably going back to her own room.

“Tell me if your hangovers are gone,” Franz said. “Sheila and I have something to tell you.”

“Why can’t you tell us now?” Louis asked.

“You’d probably get surprised, which is not good to your brains for this moment,” Sheila answered. “Get some rest, and take the meds Franz gave to you. It works like a miracle.”

-:-:-:-

Thankfully, the meds did work like a miracle and the pain wasn’t so bad anymore. I didn’t spend the whole day inside the bedroom but I walked around the hotel, looking around. I felt a bit hyper and restless – I don’t know if this is a side effect or something, but I’d definitely ask Franz later.

“Oh, hey, Mr. Styles,” someone suddenly said when I was in the kids’ playground floor (it’s pretty huge and tempting). “We meet again.”

I was watching a few kids playing dodge ball quite too harshly but they were laughing, so I think it wasn’t anything serious. It was more like the fruit fight we used to have that Louis would start. Looking up from my secluded seat (nobody seemed to notice me here, which is a good sign), I saw a familiar blonde girl.

“Oh,” I said, realization dawning at me. “You’re that American girl in Starbucks.” Who ate a bubble gum and shoot it at the bin like in some diner in a movie, I added in my mind.

She smiled at me, her eyes twinkling and I had this feeling in my gut. “Well, I’m happy you’ve made a rather nice preference of remembering me,” she said, sitting down on the empty space in the bench beside me. “What are you doing in Mexico?”

“We’re in the midst of our tour,” I replied, pursing my lips. “How about you? Don’t you have a job to report to?”

She shrugged. “I’m taking a vacation,” she said. “And I won’t be really surprised if I come back to London without a job.”

My eyebrows went up. “Didn’t you tell them you were taking a vacation?”

“If I did, they wouldn’t let me,” she said, looking at the kids who were chasing each other. “It’s better that I made no announcement about it. Losing a job is the least of my cares anyway. I can always find another one.”

I frown, confused at her attitude. Why wouldn’t she care? There were a lot of people in this world who wants to land a proper job, where the salary is just enough for them to spend for their needs. Maybe she’s one of those other people who are extremely confident at their skills that they think they can do any job they’re going to interview in.

She laughed a bit, catching the look on my face. “Hey, don’t look like that,” she said. “You look old with that frown.”

My face softened, and my lips turned into a lopsided smile.

She abruptly held her hand. “I’m Sophie Churchill, by the way,” she said, and I took my hand in hers. “And everyone on earth knows you’re Harry Styles.”

I laugh. “Well, that saves me an introduction.”

Sophie nods her head, her blonde curls bouncing a bit. “And may I offer the popstar the special coffee this hotel makes every breakfast and brunch?” she asked when we brought our hands down. “They brew it on the spot and it tastes amazing.”

She stood up and I did, after a second. “Why not?”

She  leads the way going to the lift, her blonde curls bouncing like they had elastic springs (and she wasn’t even jumping). We went inside the lift, which already had an elderly Mexican couple inside. As it went down, I started to wonder what Franz is going to tell us.