Show Me Your Heart [Niall Horan AU]

Chapter 31

Question:
do I publish the next two chapters now?

CRC

Tonight's gala was only a few hours away. Hadley was coming to my house, to help me get ready while she got ready as well.

Since she was my assistant she immediately became my plus one. I needed her there to help me out.

"Ciara, Hey!" She said and came in for a hug. I hugged her back with a smile.

"Hello!" I said cheerfully and let her into my house.

"Nice place," she commented and I thanked her.

"So what's your outfit?" I asked and she pulled out this dress out of a massive bag. It was a simple knee length black dress with a full skirt.

"This is beautiful," I said, running my hand over the dress.

"Liam helped me pick it," she said with a wide smile.

"Oh yeah. How's everything back home?" I asked as I led her upstairs.

"He proposed!" She squealed and I turned to look at her in shock.

"He What? Really? Oh my god!" I said in excitement for my friend. "Show me."

She stuck her left hand out where a beautiful ring was on her finger.

"Oh my goodness. Wow. Congrats!" I cheered, feeling extremely happy for the girl.

"How'd he do it?" I asked while we entered my room.

"It was our anniversary and he proposed to me when we got back home. It was beautiful," she sighed happily.

"Lucky girl," I chuckled and pulled my dress out of my closet.

She took my room while I went into my washroom and changed out of my clothes.

"What do you think I should do with my hair?" She asked as she fixed her clothes.

"Mmm... straighten it. I think it'll look perfect," I said.

"Good idea. Unfortunately I forgot my straightener," she huffed.

"You can use mine. What should I do with mine?" I asked.

"Curl it. Loose curls would look stunning," she suggested.

"Aight, thanks," I said, digging around my vanity for my curling iron.

We both shared the mirror while doing our hair. Once that was over with, we moved on to doing our make up.

"What're you going to do?" I asked.

"I was thinking smokey eyes and a dark lip would do this dress some justice. I'm thinking... uh... dark red," she said.

"Do you think baby pink eyes and light pink lipstick would look good?" I asked.

"Try red lipstick. Makes you look bolder," she said.

"Alright. Can you do my eyes? I suck at it," I chuckled.

"Of course," She giggled, "I'll finish mine first yeah?"

"Yeah yeah. I'm going to play on my phone," I said and sat down.

"And by play, you mean, call Micah and ask about the company right?" She asked and I laughed as I put the phone up to my ear.

"Micah Jones," He said into the phone.

"Hi Micah. It's Ciara. How's everything there?" I asked.

"Ah, Ms. Crawford! Everything's going great ma'am. There was a little dispute between legal and media but Luca and I managed," He said.

"Alright. Don't hesitate to call me if anything goes wrong yeah?" I said and he hummed a yes.

"Everything's going fine right?" She asked with an amused smile.

"Yeah yeah. I know," I scoffed and waved my hand around, "I worry a lot. We get it."

"A lot is an understatement," she chuckled.

After almost half an hour both of us were ready to leave. I had called one of my drivers to help me out today. I usually never used drivers but if I needed them, they were always there and ready to help me out.

"Hey Mark!" I waved when I saw my trusted driver pull up in front of my house. Mark had been with me for the longest time, unlike the other two, who I hired recently.

"Hello ma'am. You're looking beautiful," He said.

I laughed heartily and thanked him.

"This is Hadley, my friend. Hadley this is Mark, my amazing chauffeur," I said and she greeted him.

Hadley, Mark and I had a nice conversation on the way to the gala venue.

I could see the bright flashing lights of the news reporters outside.

"Brace yourself," I said and Hadley nodded.

The second I stepped out the cheering and flashes went wild. I maintained a smile on my face while waving ever so often to different cameras.

"You have to talk to a couple people," Hadley commented.

"That one is good enough?" I asked and she nodded.

"Ms. Crawford! Ms. Crawford!" I heard them call. I walked over to them with Hadley beside me.

"Hi," I waved to the woman.

"Hello Ms. Crawford. How are ya?" She asked.

"I'm doing great. How about you?" I asked and she replied with a nod of her head.

"How's the company's businesses going?" She asked.

"Oh, they're going wonderfully. Better than last year. Thanks for asking," I said.

"Isn't that great to hear?" She said and continued with a couple more questions regarding my company.

After all the necessary formalities were over Hadley and I finally went into the building and took our places.

"You want something to drink?" She asked and I nodded.

"If I don't get alcohol in my system I'm going to lose it," I said and she chuckled.

Hadley got up and left, leaving me all alone. I tried concentrating on the speeches the concerned people were giving but it was getting too boring too fast. Since I was still in my late 20's, I very much find these boring.

I heard some rustling in the seat next to me, making my head snap towards that direction.

Next to me was a well dressed man. His black hair was styled to perfection. His hazel eyes complimented his dark hair perfectly. His cheekbones were sharp and chiselled.

"Hola Malik," I said once I noticed the man.

"Crawford. Hey!" He waved joyfully, "Enjoying this?"

I let out a groan of annoyance. "Not one bit. It's so boring. Why do I even agree to come to these?"

"Uh maaaybe because you're a well renowned architectural magnate and maaaybe that this is YOUR trust but I'm not sure," he said in a sassy tone.

"Oh hush," I laughed.

Zayn approached me a few years ago to help him build his current company. He had a small interior designing company at that time. He was so shy and timid in asking me for help. We struck a good deal which wouldn't put him in a debt but neither would it put me in loss.

From then on he's been my go to interior designer. So much so that he and I worked on my house. He even gave me a couple of his paintings for me to hang up on my corridor walls. We've always remained good buddies since then.

Well at least this whole day hasn't gone to hell.