Chapter 2 ~ The Interview
[Harry]
"Harry, get up!" Paul, my manager called from outside my hotel room.
I rolled around on the bed, annoyed by the noise Paul's fist gave out by knocking on the door. "Shut up," I grumbled sleepily, so low that Paul almost didn't hear me.
"Son, you've got an interview in half an hour. Get out of bed now, or else I'm getting in there and pulling you out of that bed. Is that understood?"
I snapped my eyes open. Shit. I had totally forgotten about the interview. How the hell would I possibly be ready on time? Thirty minutes were like five minutes when it came to me. There was no way I would ever be out there when I was supposed to.
Nonetheless, I got out of the bed and sprinted into the bathroom, stripping off my boxers and turning on the water in the shower as quickly as possible before jumping in. I shampooed and cleaned my body faster than I had ever done before, then finally stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around my waist.
Jogging over to the mirror - almost tripping in the process - I ran a hand through my damp curls. They were a mess, standing in every direction and just looking awful. Of all days, I just had to have a bad hair day today when I was late?
With a sigh, I examined my eyes, noticing that they looked tired as ever. It wasn't hard to tell that I was not ready for this interview at all.
Once I had dried my hair the best I could, ignoring the mess for now, I made my way out of the bathroom and over to my suitcase that was placed beside the bed. I bent down to pick up a fresh pair of boxers and pulled them on. After a few seconds of deciding what to wear, I pulled on a white plain t-shirt and a pair of black, skinny jeans. An outfit I usually wore nowadays together with different button-ups.
Walking over to the mirror in the bathroom again, I finally decided to try and fix my curls so they at least looked a little less messy. I ran my fingers through them a couple of times until they looked good enough.
The last thing I did before exiting the room was to snatch my phone from my nightstand. I couldn't go anywhere without my device, that was just a fact. To my surprise, I was met by a brown-eyed boy when I opened the door, scaring the hell out of me. "Liam, what the hell?" I gasped, making my boyfriend chuckle.
Liam and I had met only a few months ago when I was out shopping with one of my friends. We had stumbled into each other in a store, almost knocking the other to the floor when we were looking for clothes to ourselves. We had hit it off pretty much right away, Liam asking for my number and all. It didn't take more than a day until he had even asked me out.
To be honest, I had been a little hesitant at first because I knew my management didn't like the idea of me settling with someone, but I had agreed eventually seeing as I decided that they couldn't make my decisions. It turned out to be one of the best choices I had ever made because Liam was a great guy. The only reason we weren't sharing a room right now was that Paul thought it was too early in our relationship for us to do so.
"Good morning to you too, babe."
I rolled my eyes crossing my arms over my chest. "What are you doing out here? I thought you said you'd stay in bed until we leave in the afternoon."
He shrugged his shoulders, watching me shut the door to my hotel room behind me. "Well, I woke up early, so I decided to accompany you if it's okay?" he smiled innocently.
I let out a soft laugh. "Nah, I don't think I want my boyfriend to join me to this interview. You'd better head back to your room," I said trying to sound serious, which made Liam roll his eyes.
"Funny, aren't you, Harry?"
I flipped my hair nonchalantly. "I know right? My mom has always said my jokes are the best," I winked.
He just shook his head with a fond smile on his lips. "Yeah right... Either your mom is a liar or she was just trying to make you feel better because your jokes are the worst."
I pouted my lips, my bottom one sticking out. "You're mean, Liam. My mom has always been honest with me, so don't think you can come here and tell me otherwise," I said, crossing my arms over my chest stubbornly.
The brown-eyed boy chuckled, wrapping his arms around my waist. "I bet you didn't even have friends back then just because of your crappy jokes," he joked, leaning in to kiss me on the cheek.
My smile faltered at the mention of 'friends' in past tense, and I instantly thought of my ex-best friend and boyfriend Louis. I hated thinking about him because it only made me frustrated whenever I did so. He was in the past, and the past was the past. That was also why no one in my 'new' life knew about him, and I wanted it to stay that way.
"Yeah, whatever," I breathed, trying to make it seem like I was still joking and that Liam's words hadn't affected me, but judging by the worried look on the older boy's face, I knew I hadn't done a great job at it.
However, he didn't say anything, and I was thankful for that because the least I wanted was for him to start interrogating me about my past. So, in silence, we got into the lift and went down to the lobby in hopes of grabbing a quick breakfast before we had to go to the studio.
Unfortunately, we weren't that lucky though because when the doors of the lift opened, an impatient Paul was sitting on a chair nearby, tapping his foot against the wooden floor as he stared in the direction of us with an angry look on his face.
I swallowed thickly, glancing at my watch that was on my left wrist. I was ten minutes late.
"No breakfast for you, boys," he said, standing up to place a hand on my lower back to pull me forward.
Paul and another guard showed us the way of the hotel and practically tossed us into the SUV before driving off towards where the interview was taking place.
-
"Hello everybody, and please welcome our next guest, Harry Styles!"
I took this as my cue to go out on stage and walk over to the woman who had just introduced me; Mariah. The audience erupted with loud screams and shouts of my name, causing my face to break out into a wide smile. I absolutely loved my fans, more than anything else in my life.
"Hello, Harry. I'm Mariah," she smiled, extending a hand to me.
I took it, shaking her hand. "It's very nice to meet you. I'm glad to be here."
I sat down in the armchair that was meant for me to sit in while Mariah sat down in the other one in front of me. "So, let's head to the questions already, shall we?" she asked, picking up her cards from the small table beside her.
I nodded, smiling at the audience that was still screaming my name.
"Here's the first one... Okay, this girl named Emelie is wondering if the rumors about you canceling your shows until February are true?"
I inhaled a deep breath. "Yeah, I'm afraid they are. My singing instructor has told me that I am not allowed to sing for at least eight weeks," I explained, looking down at my lap, biting my bottom lip in concern because this was something that really bothered me.
I loved to sing and I loved to make my fans happy. Now though, I had gotten an affection in my throat which meant I had to let my fans down if I wanted to be able to sing again. I hated it. My fans were probably disappointed about the news, and I couldn't do anything about it.
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. I hope the fans won't get too disappointed about it and that your voice gets better soon," Mariah smiled warmly, looking down at her cards to find another question. "Okay, here's another one. Are you planning on releasing a second album?"
I let out a small laugh, reaching up to muffle it with the back of my hand. "Well, seeing as I just released my first one, I don't know about that yet."
Mariah's cheeks turned a pink-red. "Oh, I see. Well, it wasn't my question," she mumbled, going through her cards again. "I think I've found a good one now actually," she said after a few seconds.
I shifted in my seat, furrowing my eyebrows in concentration. "Okay, shoot."
"How do you feel about not being able to visit your family very often now that you're famous?" Mariah asked, looking up at me.
I swallowed thickly, avoiding her gaze. I really didn't want to reply to this one, but seeing as this was a live interview, I had no other choice. "Um, I actually haven't had time to visit my family ever since I attended boot camp," I admitted, biting my bottom lip.
"Oh, and how do you feel about that?" Mariah pushed.
"Actually, I feel quite terrible. I miss them so much, and I would love to just get off from work a week or so just to go and pay them a visit, but my schedule is so busy that I just can't."
She looked deep in thought for a while before speaking up; "But, haven't you got some free time now, though? What did you say? That you had to stay away from singing until February?"
My eyes widened in realization. Mariah was right. I did have time now, for the first time in two years. "I can't believe I haven't thought about that. Thanks a lot for the recommendation. I'll definitely think about it," I smiled appreciatively.
"Great," Mariah squealed, probably happy that she'd done something great for a celebrity. "Let's move on to the next question."
I ran a hand through my curls, nodding my head. "Sure."
"Hmm, this one is quite personal. Would you mind answering it?" She asked hesitantly.
I thought for a while. What if it was something really out the question that I wouldn't want to answer? Oh, what the hell. "Of course not."
"Great. So, this person who'd like to stay anonymous is asking if you have a girlfriend at the moment?"
I practically let out a sigh of relief. It wasn't that bad. "No, I don't," I smiled sweetly, giving her a flirtatious look.
Ever since I got famous, I'd had the rumor of being a player who preferably dated older women. I mean, I did find older women attractive so it wasn't like it was a lie or anything. I had been flirting with women over 25 many times during my years of being a celebrity and girls my own age as well, but I was with Liam now and had decided to settle with him.
However, my management didn't want me to come out, and I understood them. It could lead to me losing a big amount of my fans, and I didn't want that myself either. So, for now, I was fine with dating Liam behind the scenes. Just as long as I could still be with him.
They said that if I kept flirting with girls and women, it would be no problem, just as long as Liam and I stayed a secret. That was why I still flirted with other people other than Liam. Not that I wasn't the flirty-type-of-guy anyway. I liked flirting with people.
Mariah put on a flirty look on her face as well, tilting her head to the side. "So, what do you say. You and me tonight at seven?"
I eyed her. She had brown hair with hazel eyes and wasn't very tall, but not short either. Her skin was olive colored, and she had almost invisible wrinkles on her face, which told me she was approximately in her late thirties. Although she wasn't exactly my type, I went along with the joke and gave her another wink. "Of course, babe. Just tell me where and I'll be there."
Mariah burst out laughing, clutching her stomach. "You're a cheeky little man, aren't you?"
I shrugged, playing innocent. "Well, I wouldn't say I'm a little man, nor that I'm very cheeky either," I smiled.
She rolled her eyes. "Okay, so how would you describe yourself?"
This question made me smile even wider, making my dimples appear on my cheeks. "Well, I would say I'm a sexy, charming young man who knows how to make a woman like you fall for me," I winked, causing the audience to break out in laughter.
"Of course. Not cheeky at all," Mariah said, shaking her head in amusement.
After that, she continued asking a few questions, but it didn't take long until the interview finished. I went off the stage, thanking Mariah for the invite and all of my fans for watching the show.
The first thing I was met with as soon as I came backstage was a smiling Paul. "Well done, son," he said, patting me on the shoulder. "And I think the interviewer came up with an amazing idea. Let's pack your bags and head home to Holmes Chapel."
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There you have chapter 2. Harry and Louis are going to meet soon, I promise! On another note, I'm going to the Dominican Republic on Monday and will be there for two weeks, so if I don't update next weekend, you know why. See you soon, love you!
Pauline .xx