I'm in utter disbelief when we arrive at the club. There's a line that spans two city blocks to get in this place and there's paparazzi everywhere. I've never seen so many cameras in my life, I don't like it either. Something about the way the paps sit and wait for hours just to snap a few photos of a celebrity seems pathetic and annoying. It takes a special kind of human garbage to make a living off invading the privacy of other people.
"Sam there's too many people here, let's go somewhere else."
Unfortunately for me, she seems to be absorbing this chaos better than I am, the corners of her mouth form into a sinister grin.
"Did I forget to tell you I got us put on the VIP list for tonight? The guys who're recording at the studio hooked us up."
"Shit Sam, are you kidding me? That's awesome!"
My face lights up, it may actually be fun to be one of the "it" people in LA, at least for just one night.
There's a sign directing the VIP's to pull their vehicle up to the valet stand. Thank god, Richard lets me drive his Corvette, it's a fast and sexy car in the color of midnight blue. He originally gave it to me as a company car, but now he lets me drive it anywhere. There's no way we could've pulled up in one of our vehicles to this club without risking utter embarrassment. Even the Vette pales in comparison to the Maserati's, Rolls', and limos lined up at the curb.
Sam looks at me and smirks, she knows what I'm thinking. Neither of us have to say a word, we don't live in this world. Under normal circumstances this is definitely not our crowd. I shift the car into park and take a moment to absorb my surroundings. For the love of me, the valet is even hot as hell.
"What's with this city Will? Do people just become hotter when they cross the borders of the greater Los Angeles area?"
I quietly shrug my shoulders; I'm distracted by the limo that pulls up behind us as the valet politely and efficiently escorts Sam to the curb. Cameras start flashing, the vultures have been awakened and to no surprise they're completely relentless.
The passengers make their way into the fresh night air. Our jaws drop, we look at each other in disbelief, then look back at the hotties who just climbed out of the car. Truthfully, I'm not even star struck; I am just appreciating the beautiful male creatures that happen to be in my sight line.
A bead of sweat drips down the nape of my neck and slides the entire course of my back. I feel Sam's eyes staring straight through me, I can't blink which makes my eyes start to water.
"Will," Sam shouts as I nearly run into the driver's side door of the Vette. "Willow, what the hell was that? Where did you just go?"
"I have no idea, but I think I just eye raped the guys from One Direction."
I inhale a deep breath to compose myself. Lark and Lily fan girl over these guys on the regular which makes me feel ridiculous staring at them like this, but I can't stop myself. They're just that good looking, I'm in awe this entire situation.
"Let's get inside before I make an ass out of myself."
Sam shakes her head at me and giggles to mock my embarrassing moment.
"You sure you're good to walk?"
"Yeah, I'm good now. Just promise me that if that ever happens again, you'll put me out of my misery."
"Anything you say Willow."
I hand the keys to the valet and I try to ignore how all four of the guys graciously stop to shake hands, hug and take photographs with the fans who apparently heard they were attending tonight.
They seem down to earth which is a breath of fresh air. It's hard to find in this city because everyone is completely self-involved. It's a shame we won't get a chance to meet them they seem like they'd be fun to hang out with. It's probably best I push that fantasy out of my mind and move onto something more realistic.
The farther we get away from the chaos surrounding them, the more I'm able to relax. I'm positive I won't be running into them again; this club is huge and I'm pretty sure there's an exclusive area designated for the most famous celebrities who frequent this establishment. This eases my mind, now I'm ready to continue with our evening.
***
It's an odd feeling getting treated like a VIP. I feel like we're literally hijacking someone's "A" List status. LA is a strange place, but I really do love it. People like Sam and I don't get opportunities like this very often, but I figure that it's best to just appreciate it and have a good time.
Sam is soaking up the atmosphere, her eyes are as big as saucers once the reality sets in that this may be the night of our lives.
"This place is lit!"
"Sam, please don't ever say, lit again, you sound like Lark."
I roll my eyes at her ridiculous use of the teenage slang term.
We're taking a lap around the club to get familiar with everything. We find the area we want to congregate for the evening, Sam leads me to the bar on the left side of the dance floor. The background is filled with LED lights illuminating the variety of liquor bottles on its wall. The combination of shapes, sizes, and colors of the glass and the light shining through them makes the display into a work of art.
I order my drink of choice, Crown Royal & ginger ale, and grab a beer for Sam. I give the bartender my credit card to start our tab, but he shakes his head and pushes the card back at me. At this point I'm completely confused, this is normal practice at every club I've been to, give the bartender your card and you get it back when you settle your tab at the end of the night. I have no idea how they do business in a place like this.
I raise my eyebrows in question.
"There's a young man in VIP who's paying for all of your drinks for you and your friend."
He makes fake quotations in the air when he says the word young which I find extremely obnoxious, I'm not that old.
Sam's eyes light up with excitement.
"Hell yes!"
"Wait...what? And what's with the emphasis on the word young?"
I feel like I'm being pranked, and I'm puzzled as to who would think this is a funny joke. This is too premeditated for Sam to orchestrate, it's not her style.
I don't generally drink too much, but I am starting to wonder if I may need more liquor than usual to get through the night. I need something to calm my nerves to navigate through the sea of people without making a fool of myself. This situation is becoming awkward, and I'm beginning to feel out of place. It's making me squirm; I shift my body weight from one foot to the other in some sort of nervous trance.
I try handing him my card again and he pushes it away once more. The bartender lays his large hand over mine to focus my attention.
"When people like this guy make requests, I don't ask questions I just do as I'm told. Don't you wanna know which young man is paying for your drinks?"
I shake my head no, however Sam interrupts.
"Oh yes she does."
I have no idea why I'm surprised that Sam can't keep her mouth shut. I'm not timid but she's even bolder than I am. I really don't want to know who my admirer is because I'll feel obligated to spend my entire evening with him and that's a commitment I'm not willing to accept.
"Take a look over in the back corner."
The bartender points to the back of the club in the far right which is dimly lit.
"You're not seriously talking about the guys from One Direction, are you?"
I'm honestly scared for his answer.
"That's exactly who I'm talking about. He's the one with the long curly hair. I think his name is Harry."
A devious grin slides across his thin lips.
"Have fun in the cub den."
A deep chuckle rises from the bottom of his gut. He's obviously amused with his witty comment about the cub den. What a jackass.
I can hardly utter an insincere thanks as I turn away from the bar.
"What've we gotten ourselves into Sam?"
"Us? Oh no Willow this is all you. You've gotta go over there and at least thank him. Go dance with him, live a little. The girls are gonna freak when you tell them you met their celeb crushes."
"He's paying for you drinks too and you're coming with me. Good god, I feel sick."
"Don't be nervous. Let's go party with the boy band that almost made you do a face plant in the parking lot."
I can feel my stress level rising, and I can't unclench my teeth. I'm trying to decide if I'm annoyed, flattered, or turned on by the thought of dancing with his sweaty body throughout the night because he's simply breathtaking.
I've decided that in fact I'm flattered and slightly turned on, and somewhat intrigued which eases the tension from my shoulders down to my toes. It looks like we've found a younger guy for me to dance with, which Sam so adamantly insisted upon earlier.
"I'm almost embarrassed to admit how sexy he is. I'm hoping you and I can keep that to ourselves."
I rub my sweaty palms on the bar napkin underneath my drink and take in a sharp breath.
"This should be an interesting evening."
"Let's get this party started."
Sam says to me flashing another grin. She clinks the neck of her beer bottle to the rim of my drink and drags me in their direction.
We take purposeful strides in the direction the bartender has sent us. I can't believe I'm getting ready to go hang out with Harry Styles for the night. Despite my initial protest, I'm geared up now, I can't wait to dance with him.
***
Harry's POV
"Harry, did you just offer to pay for all of their drinks?" Of course Niall thinks this is funny and he can't control his laughter. "You're awfully brave tonight."
"Shut up, they look like they would be fun to chill with. It's not that big of a deal."
"Chill with?"
Louis asks me rhetorically.
"Damnit what? The one with the ponytail is hot and I want to dance with her. Seriously, stop giving me shit."
"There's a lot of girls who look like her in this club."
Always being the voice of reason Liam can't resist adding his two cents worth into the conversation.
"But the black leather pants, and the boots..."
Now I'm pouting because I find her outfit super sexy.
"Not to be Captain Obvious here, but you realize she is a bit older than you Harry?" Louis is snickering. "On second thought, older women are your type aren't they Styles."
Louis is an eternal smartass and he has no filter.
"Really?"
I scoff loudly, my tone is becoming increasingly more agitated.
"Who cares, I just want to dance with her."
Everyone is always giving me shit for being attracted to older women, but there's no way she's even close to thirty. They're being ridiculous, why is it so hard for me to have a good time without my intentions or preferences being questioned. I shouldn't let it bother me, maybe I care too much about what people think. I should be used to this by now, the world has been torturing me about this topic for five years.
"We're just messing with you mate. It's your twenty-first birthday and you can legally drink alcohol in the states. Go have some fun."
Niall encourages me while shaking his head, he still can't believe twenty-one is the drinking age in the United States.
"Okay let's not make this awkward. We're here to have a good time."
*** A/N I don't think I will be adding Harry's POV again until later in the story. I felt this was an important addition to the story so added it to put everything in context. Thank you for your continued support!***
All my love ~ Em