Night Air

Chapter 47

*Alyssa's POV*

My eyes lazily blinked a few times at my reflection in the mirror and then at my coffee in front of me. I felt a few tugs on my hair from Lou behind me getting busy with her job,but I only felt the tugs slightly. My eyes slowly closed and it felt like they were closed forever before I heard Lou chuckle behind me.

"Long night?" My eyes jerked open and I looked at Lou's amused reflection. Was she talking to me?

"Hmm?" I was so out of it.

She laughed again. "You're kind of dozing off there. Did you have a long night?"

I nodded my head and stretched out the best I could without messing up Lou. "Yeah. Very long night."

Her reflection gave mine a sympathetic smile. "You look like you had one hell of a night- but don't you worry. It'll look like you just got done hibernating when I'm done with you."

I cracked a small smile at her words and then grabbed my coffee. I needed caffeine. Lou could do what she could to make me look awake and alive, but it'd take more than her to prepare me to see Niall again and force a smile on my face.

Finally, my time rolled around as Haley stormed out of the set room. I furrowed my brows confused. That's the first time I'd ever seen Haley walk out of there ready to kill someone. Usually she was dancing out while giggling to herself because of Niall's charm or just because she got to see Niall. But not this time. I hesitantly stood up from my chair and took my robe off while eyeing Haley as she forcefully pulled her earrings out and laid them on her vanity.

I still didn't much care for Haley, but I couldn't help but want to know what had her in a pissy mood.

She must have felt my eyes on her because she harshly looked up at me. "This is all your fault," she mouthed to me with a small amount of audio.

I just gave her a confused look back and slowly started to walk towards the set.
What's my fault?

I shook it off and wandered into the set room, the door closing loudly behind me. No one was in there at the moment and only a camera and a half drunken bottle of water sat on the table.

Where was Niall?

As weird as it may sound, even though I was beyond pissed at him and didn't want to give him a single word, I still wanted to at least see him. I don't know why. Maybe it was because he became kind of important to me. Maybe it was because I had grown strong feelings for him since I met him that I could no longer deny myself from.

I wasn't sure what the true reason was that made me want to see him, but when a woman walked out of the backroom of the set room, I felt my stomach drop.

Was she just back there with Niall?

She smiled at me and grabbed the camera off of the table. "Hi. I'm Abby and I'm your photographer for at least today."

I looked around the room confused and then looked back at Abby. She had curly ginger hair and light freckles across her face. From the way the red lipstick on her lips mixed with her pale complexion, you could tell she was probably mid to late twenties. She was pretty and seemed nice, but she wasn't Niall.

"Where's Niall?" My voice sounded weak and small and I suddenly felt stupid for asking. Why would any normal model care?

She smiled. "He didn't come into work today. I'm not sure the real reason why, but Tom probably does. All I know is that Tom called me about four this morning asking if I could come in because his photographer called him saying he wasn't coming in." She shrugged as if she was sorry. "That's all I know. I don't know if Niall will be back tomorrow or what's going on. I'm just here until Tom says he doesn't need me anymore."

I nodded my head sadly and climbed up on the set. I noticed a tree prop on the set and walked over to it, posing against it. The tree looked familiar and I was sure they had used this prop on a shoot in LA. Then I looked at it closer and noticed that a piece of it had been picked off.

I did that.

I picked it off and then tried to put it back, but it wouldn't go back on no matter what I did. It was forever changed and never going to be exactly the same. A piece was gone.

I sighed and walked around the set some more, doing different poses for Abby and soon enough, I was done.

As I walked out the door, I immediately felt uneasy and felt the weight of heavy eyes on me. I looked up, and sure enough, there was a group of girls huddled around Haley giving me death glares and all I could do was look back like a deer caught in headlights.

A felt a rough tug on my arm which took me by surprise and almost made me fall. Catching my footing, I kept up with the redhead dragging me away from the other girls and towards the break room. A few other girls were in there chatting among themselves at a table, all holding a coffee or tea in their hands. They didn't seem to notice our presence which I was grateful for considering how everyone else was looking at me.

I looked at the back of the head of the girl that was pulling me and I immediately recognized it as Stephany's dyed red hair.

She looked around the room briefly and then started for the supply closet in the corner of the room. She swung the door open and pushed me in before joining me and shutting the door behind her. I heard her move around a bit for a click was heard and the light for the closet was turned on.

We stood there for a few seconds and she just looked at me sadly and I looked at her confused. She was giving me a sympathetic look and I knew that she knew what was going on.

Without a word, she suddenly brought me in and squeezed my body to hers in a tight hug. I hugged back and I suddenly became scared. What were people saying about me? What was going on?

"Alyssa," she spoke. "Remember that one time when me, you, and a few of my friends went out and we were all shocked when you said you were a virgin?"

We both pulled out of the hug and I looked at her confused. "Yeah?"

She kept a hand on either of my biceps and looked me dead in the eyes. "Were you lying?"

My eyes widened and I suddenldy got a strong feeling what was going on. "No! I swear I wasn't. I still am one!"

She let out a deep breath in relief and pulled me back in for another hug. "So that means you didn't sleep with Niall."

I shook my head and felt hot tears fogging up in my eyes. "No. I promise." What was going on? Are people saying I slept with Niall? Why would she ask that?

"I believe you. I believe you." She held me even closer and rocked from side to side while I quietly let tears flow down my cheeks leaving tear stains on my flesh and Stephany's top.

After a few minutes, I pulled back and wiped away black tears. Luckily Stephany's top was black so you couldn't see the wet make up. "So," I said as I wiped more black away. "I'm going to guess that Haley started spreading a rumor to everyone that I slept with Niall and that's why he's not here and they don't know when he's coming back." Stephany sighed and gave me another sorry look confirming my thoughts to be correct.

"Alyssa, the rumor... it got to Tom," Stephany told me quietly and I gasped while throwing a hand over my mouth. "So now he's suspicious if it's true and if that's why Niall is taking time off and maybe even possibly quitting." I whimpered loudly and closed my eyes as tears leaked out from the bottom of my eyelids. Stephany pulled me in again tight and I was grateful for her embrace. "I know this because I talked to Tom," she whispered. "I told him that I didn't think it was true and that there is no evidence that you two slept together. He doesn't know what to believe."

I sobbed a little louder into her chest. I wasn't sure what was getting me more: Niall quitting, or me maybe losing my job because there's a rumor going around that I slept with Niall.

I pulled away and wiped my eyes again, even though the water I wiped away was quickly replaced with a fresh supply. "I need to talk to him." I hiccuped and Stephany gave me a confused look.

"Who him? Niall or Tom?"

I sniffled a few times. "Well, both. God, I hate Niall!" Stephany rubbed my arm in a comforting way, trying to get me to calm down. "I hate him, I hate him, I hate him! God I hate him!"
God I love him.