Catching A Star (Sequal to Multiple Directions)

Chapter Two

**Liam POV**

"Lads come on! Uncle Si is gonna kill us if we're late!" urged.

Niall slowed to a jog, asking, "I thought that was Paul's job?"

I shoved into a run, "Does it really matter Nialler? I'd really rather not get killed either way."

As we burst through Uncle Si's doors, three pairs of eyes stopped us cold in our tracks. I coughed slightly and walked into the room like a threatened cobra, praying the boys weren't prancing behind me. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Niall struggling to tuck his shirt in. He was doing his best to hide behind Zayn and Louis, occasionally peeking at the eyes, while failing to shove his polo into his trousers. The Irish lad finally gave in and ran to a seat and blushed a cherry red. I made a mental note to have Annie check us before we left the car - every time we left the car.

I decided to steel myself and face the other people in the room. The first was Uncle Si, dressed in his usual white T and jeans. I breathed a sigh of relief as he tapped his watch lazily.

The other two were less heart warming. On Uncle Si's left was Jimmy, our tour manager, who looked like he was constantly sucking on a lemon or had an extreme contempt for his cologne. His nose was scrunched and his eye brows were furrowed together. I figured it was from the lack of oxygen his suit and tie were allowing him. He was sitting in his chair with his porcelain fingers clenched tight. (I'm surprised they didn't turn blue.) His eyes seemed to be bugging out of his head behind his magnifying glasses.

To Uncle Si's right was a lady I had never seen before. Her hair was pulled up into a bun tight enough to give her that Botox look Desperate Housewives adore. She ran her eyes over us, one by one, picking apart our outfits, our demeanors, our souls. Then she snapped back to typing on her phone, ipad, pager, blackberry, and writing in her notebook - all at once. After a few moments, she slammed them all back into her bag and drummed the table rapidly. The lady glared at the door with an increasingly shrinking face: her crayon-colored-in eyebrows smashed into her beady eyes, desperately trying to meet her puckered lips. Next to me, Niall whimpered and slumped into his seat, and I resisted the urge to throw myself under the table and hide.

"I'm very sorry Simon," she snapped at the still closed door, "She's not usually late. It's very disappointing. I let Tina drag her away to eat pointless carbs and fats and they come bac-"

Simon cut her off, "They still have thirty seconds."

The sound of a door creaking open then slamming shut interrupted my concentration on my batman stick figure.

"Did we make it?"

"Tina shhhhh! People are already here...Hi Uncle Simon! Sorry we're late...got it a bit lost in the lobby."

It was her.

Mellie.

Her voice silenced the room as it danced across space. When was the last time I saw her? Five months? Six months? A lifetime?

I wished time had frozen on her. Mell's long locks were chopped and swished around her shoulders, a choppy bob that roughed up her once cascading waves. She lacked her usual rolled up jeans and tank tops - traded them in for jeans torn at the knees and a loose sweater. Her protest against makeup must've ended because her large brown eyes popped through her dark makeup and her lips were colored a serious red. I noticed a silver stud on her nose... must've gotten over her fear of needles while I was away.

Her friend Tina began to lead her to a chair, but Mellid stopped short when she saw us. Her eyes sparked brighter, her cheeks turned redder, her jaw dropped further as she lingered on each boy. Until she got to me. I locked my eyes on hers, and she snapped her jaw tight making her muscle quiver. I watched as she stiffened slightly and her eyes darted to the door. Her eyes darted to the door, then straight back to mine and glistened. I rose slightly in my seat, ready to chase after her if she ran, but plopped back down after she shook her head and dropped into a seat on the far side of the table.