December 2010
"Ariana, you need to go now!" My mom shouts up the stairs. "Okay Mom, I'm almost done packing everything!" I yell back down towards her. My family all put money together to provide me with a taxi, this way no one would have to take off work to drive me to the airport. Hearing the taxi honk one more time, I realize that need to make my way out of the door. Tumbling down the stairs, I make sure to give my mother a hug before sprinting to the taxi. Apologizing to the driver, I give him the address of the airport.
I arrive to the airport around fifteen minutes before my flight. Thanking the driver, I give him a good tip for all his troubles. Walking inside the airport I notice multiple families waiting in line. Watching their children run around, I daydream about having a family of mine one day. The line took a few minutes, but I soon made my way to the front. Handing my ticket over, I receive a weird look. "Is something wrong with my ticket?" I ask towards the woman that took it. "No, but are you that girl from One Direction?" She asks me. "Yeah I am. I'm actually headed to reunite with them actually." I stammer out to her. She lets me know how she would watch our performance on her days off. Ending our conversation, she asks me to tell the boys she said hello and told me her name.
After waiting for the plane to accept passengers, I search for my seat labeled on the ticket in my hand. Locating my seat, I realize that I have a window seat, it is then that I decide on taking a nap for the couple hour flight. Once the plane take off, I get as comfortable as I can, put my headphones in and drift off into sleep. Feeling a slight shake on my shoulder, I wake up to see the elderly couple sitting next to me staring towards me. "Sorry dear. Thought I should wake you up since we will be landing in a few minutes." The older woman mentions to me. I thank them and prepare for our landing. Finding my way after collecting my luggage, I run into someone holding a sign with my name. Making my way to them, they ask to see my ID. We then make our way to a small van waiting outside. Standing outside, I wait as the driver loads my luggage into the back. I hear two familiar voices. The door opens and inside was Niall and Louis. They both smile towards me, and we all hug upon my entrance of the vehicle. The two explain that the other three boys were sent to a different airport and will meet us at Syco Records.
The van comes to a stop, making Louis, Niall, and myself step outside into the London air. Looking up, scanning the whole building I notice the huge sign at the top. "Syco" it read. We each grab our bags and thank the driver. Walking up the stairs we are greeted by a receptionist. She mentions that the rest of the band arrived a few minutes earlier and directs us to Simon's main office. Louis reaches out to open the door, but a subject inside the room opens it for us. We are greeted by Simon and the rest of the boys. Simon has a quick conversation about all of our flights and the ride over here, and then begins to talk business with us. Trying to understand every detail he throws towards us. I can't help but get confused by all of his business talk.
Finishing, he mentions that he is only looking out for us and wants the best for One Direction. His assistant begins to hand us each a folder filled with paperwork. There's no way we will be able to read all of that. Simon then introduces a representative from Modest Management. More business talk starts and my head begins to hurt. It makes me wonder what the boys are thinking. "So," Simon begins. "What do you guys and gal think?" The boys began to talk about agreement. But I can't help but get a strange vibe from the terms of Modest agreements. I turn towards the boys. "Shouldn't we at least talk about this before saying yes?" I ask them. I receive some strange looks before Harry speaks up. "Ariana, this is our chance, and you're going to ruin it due to being worried?" I sighed, deciding to agree with them for the band. More paperwork is tossed towards us and we begin signing. We go from oldest to youngest, meaning Louis signs first. Standing in line behind Harry, I ask him if he's one hundred percent sure about this. "How bad could it be Ariana?" He mentions to me. "Think about all the money and fame we will be getting. This is only the beginning for us." I look down and mumble. "I hope you're right Harry." Once if is my turn to sign, I spin around to see the boys looking at me. I send them each a look, forcing them all to smile and nod towards me. Taking a deep breath, I pick up the pen. I begin to sign where the finger points me to. The last signature line is staring back towards me. Closing my eyes for a slight minute, I think of my nonna. Her voice. Her smile. And her laugh. I quickly sign and date the papers. Cheers begin and food is provided towards us. I feel happy for the band. But I can't help the feeling at the pit of my stomach. Turning down the food, I think to myself on the couch by Niall and Liam. "Ariana Grande, what did you just do?" I ask myself as I look outside. After the celebration Simon sends us a rental property about twenty minutes from the record label. He mentions that we each get a room. This excites us, since having to share one huge room on the X Factor.