Night Air

Chapter 27

*Niall's POV*

I awoke the next morning to a buzzing sound and I threw my arm over my face. I felt someone nudging me from beside me. "Niall." Her voice mumbled. "Get your phone. It's annoying me." She grumbled to me in her thick and sleep filled morning voice. I groaned in annoyance and opened my eyes only to be blinded by the morning light that was shining in through her balcony doors. Was this what my models felt when they walked on set? If so, I sincerely am sorry for them.

I ripped my phone off of the floor from where it fell last night when Alyssa caught me standing over her bag after I had read through her first journal entry. I looked at the caller ID and nervously glanced back over to Alyssa who was passed out again on her bed. I answered and held the phone to my ear while walking out to her balcony.

It wasn't until then that I actually responded verbally to the man. The sun felt really hot on my skin and I was suddenly sure that it was already early afternoon. "H- hello?"

"Mr.Horan." He said to me. "What are you doing in Indiana?" Shit. How did he know that?

"Uh, I had some business to take care of."

"With who? You work for nobody in Indiana besides us and I know you aren't here to do business with us, so who is it?"

I scratched the back of my head and looked at Alyssa's sleeping body on her bed through the glass door. "It's complicated." I mumbled.

"Well then let me make it uncomplicated for you, eh Horan? You work for us and you do what we say. Got it? We are well aware you are with Ms.Small and I sure hope that she isn't who you are trying to say you are doing business with, because we made our rules quite clear, did we not?"

"Yes you guys did." I answered with an eyeroll.

"That's what I thought. You are to protect the girl, and that is it. You know why and you know what the consequences are if you happen to fail. This is your warning, Niall, and unless you want me to explain to Mr.Small everything that I know went on last night between the two of you, you will shape up and remember what you're here for and where your place is."

I pressed my tongue roughly into the side of my cheek. "How did you guys find out about last night?" I demanded.

"We're watching you, Niall. We told you why you weren't supposed to do anything like that with her and why you weren't to get attached to her. You won't even be with her in only a few months time anyways, so don't make a habit out of last night. You're lucky I'm not telling the guy who hired you about it, or else your ass would be right back where we pulled you from and we would hire someone else to do the job- someone we wouldn't have to worry about becoming attached or breaking the rules we made about doing anything unprofessional with Alyssa. You understand, Horan? Do your job, and don't get too involved with the girl. You're her protector, not her fuck buddy. You have other models and random girls you can use for that." And with that, the line went dead, and I was tempted to throw my phone across her backyard and into her pool. Instead, I just shoved it into my sweat pant's pocket and stormed back into the room.

My anger diminished into thin air when I walked in and saw Alyssa cuddled up into my spot where I was sleeping and hugging the pillow I was using. I let a small smile overtake my face and I quietly closed the door behind me. I walked over to her and scooped her up and I was happy when she let my pillow go and I could make myself comfy again with her laying on me.

I sat there for probably around an hour with her curled up in my lap while I ran my fingers through her soft, brown waves. She didn't even stir once and that made me happy because, call me a creep, but I loved watching her sleep on me and hide her face in my chest every-so-often.