English Rose - liam gallagher fic

36. the way things are

Now that Graham was set to be home for a while, we were actually able to make time to see each other - even if that was just a 20 minute coffee on a morning. Even though we were both still really busy, it was at least easier to make a plan when you only live up the road. I was excited to actually have the chance to see how things go, seeing as this is the first chance we've had in the year that we've known each other.

I was thanking my lucky stars that he was coming to the party tonight, as it meant I would actually maybe be able to have some fun and have some company that isn't a boring and slightly pervy middle-aged man.

Rob had called me into the studio around 10am to get ready, so here I sat in my hair and make-up chair seven hours before the event was supposed to start. I hated coming in early for parties that didn't start till the night but it had to be done due to meetings between Rob, my new agent, and potential clients, during which I would drink wine and listen.

"Holly," I heard Rob shout as I returned to my chair in front of the dressing table with my hairdresser, Karina, and I could feel the water dripping down my salon cape from my hair.

"Yeah?" I asked, looking at him through the mirror as Karina pulled my hair back with a fine toothed comb as she began parting it in the middle ready to be put into a sleek updo.

"Have you seen who's going tonight?" He said, coming inside and sitting on the edge of the dressing table.

"Who?" I asked, my eyebrows raising in excitement.

"Blur," He said, stretching his hands out as if he were revealing a huge surprise.

"Oh yeah, I know," I smiled at him, the excitement not leaving my brain as I was actually looking forward to spending the night with a friendly face.

"How do you know?" He said, with a rising intonation that told me I shouldn't know that, which then reminded me he didn't know about mine and Graham's little thing. "I only just found out through their manager."

"I know them," I said, smiling blankly. I knew better by now, even with my limited experience of the limelight, not to reveal too much to the wrong people. Don't get me wrong, I loved Rob like a brother at this point, but the last thing Graham and I would want is the pressure of a high profile relationship, or worse, our management exploiting a relationship between us for publicity.

"Who?" Rob shot back, his eyebrows quirked slightly.

"Blur," I shrugged, maintaining his eye contact through the mirror. The atmosphere was growing tense with my unwillingness to submit, sharpened only by the act of Karina scraping my hair away from my scalp, forcing my eyes to focus on him while my features were being physically maneuvred.

"Which one?"

"All of them. I just know them."

"Okay," He said and he rubbed his chin. "How do you know them?"

"Just around. Am I not allowed to know people now?" I challenged, admittedly biting a little too harshly to be nothing noticeable.

"Holl, I know you're not stupid," he sighed. "We don't want the wrong stories getting out there."

"Rob," I mirrored his tone defensively and I saw his face scrunch as I was beginning to get under his skin. "You're worrying about nothing."

"I honestly can't believe I have to spell this out to you. Look at the big picture Holly!" Rob snapped, and although I had finished my sentence I couldn't help but feel cut off. His tone made it feel as if a rope had been pierced through my tongue, connecting it to my bottom jaw. I couldn't speak if I wanted to. "You want a glamorous rock-star romance? That's fine. But you need to know what you're getting into."