Halfway through the show, I had followed Niall backstage to his assigned dressing room, where he could prepare for his performance. I was leaned against the wall, barefoot with my heels in hand, whilst Niall changed his clothes.
I tried not to stare, though that was a struggle. He was well built. Not fat, but there wasn't a sixpack underneath his clothes either. I thought it was rather refreshing, considering half the other male artists took steroids to look puffed. Niall gained those without taking any of those.
When he dropped his pants, I decided it was safe enough for him to stay alone in his dressing room, and walked out to give him some privacy.
It was busy in the hallways where all the celebrity dressing rooms were located. People were walking on and off with cameras, food, and drinks. Even celebrities passed me as I guarded the door.
A strange world, this one was. Niall was quite ordinary, demanding only plain, whatever brand of bottles of water. When I caught a glimpse of some of the dressing rooms on our way to this one, I had seen enough weird things to last me a lifetime. Some of the white walls had been covered with drapes, as had chairs and sofas and tables were loaded with the most luxury foods such as water bottles that'd normally cost around twelve pounds and expensive Belgian chocolates.
I thanked God for raising me as a normal human being. Or well, at least not a spoiled one.
" Mercer?" I turned around at hearing my name and was shocked to see who was standing behind me.
And old classmate from high school named Gregory Carr was stood there. He wore clothing I had seen other security guards wear on my way in.
His skin was sun-kissed, and his muscles were well shaped. His blond locks were still styled in the same way he wore them when he was fifteen. And those perfect, dark blue eyes were the reason he had become my first boyfriend.
All I could hope for was that my face did not betray me as I was shocked to see him standing there. I tried to look at him as if I had no clue who he was.
" Mercer?" I said, " I don't know a Mercer." My accent had slipped into a Manchester accent any Mancunian would have been proud of. " I'm Sadie. Sadie Iverson. And uh, who are you?"
His face twisted, visibly confused but not buying my act. " Oh please, Mercer. It's me, Gregory!"
I shook my head and took a step back. " I have no clue who you're talking about."
I felt two big hands on my shoulders. Before I could throw him over my shoulder, I recognized the cologne he wore a lot. Mark.
" Everything alright?" Behind him stood Niall with a surprised look on his face.
" Mercer? What's going on?" Gregory asked, still extremely confused.
Niall's gaze went from my face to Gregory's, as he walked towards me and stood in front of me. " May I ask what's wrong?" Niall asked calmly, though a little protective.
" Mercer, out of all people, I would always recognize you," Gregory said as he looked past Niall and completely ignored him.
" You must confuse her with someone else mate because this is Sadie, my girlfriend," Niall said and took my hand as he turned towards me. " Are you coming, pet? I've to get on stage in a second."
I nodded quickly, desperate to get the hell out of here. I put my heels back on and left the flabbergasted Gregory behind us.
" What the hell was that?" Niall hissed in my ear as we were out of Gregory's sight. I ignored him as my brain tried to work out what the hell just happened.
Gregory Carr had recognized me. Gregory. Fucking Carr. My ex-boyfriend had recognized me and I had just been standing there, at a loss of words and not knowing what to do.
How was it even possible he got in here? Kellan had cross-checked every single person twice, to make sure our mission would not get in danger. And yet, there was one person who had recognized me. I was going to kill Kellan for this big mistake, which could possibly endanger our whole mission.
Niall had grabbed my wrist and had pushed me into an empty dressing room. He closed the door behind me, locked it and remained standing in front of it. Niall was only the tiniest bit taller than me, but when he was angry he resembled the hulk. I wouldn't let him intimidate me, and stared back at him with the same, intense anger etched on my face.
" What the fuck, Mercer? He recognized you!" Niall tried not to shout at me, knowing people outside would be able to hear. People other than Mark.
I stared at him, angry. " Oh really? I had no clue," I replied, sarcasm dripping off of it.
" Who was that? Why was he even here?" Niall pushed his finger between my ribs. Angrily, I slapped his hand away.
" Gregory Carr, my first boyfriend. You know, that one I had for three months?" Niall didn't respond and just kept staring at me.
" So, yes. That was Gregory. I don't understand either why he was here," I turned away from Niall and started pacing across the room, my heels loud on the floor.
" I'm going to kill Kellan. If I get close to him, I will make sure he will lose every inch of that prettiness that people walk away from him with disgust."
Niall grabbed me by my shoulders as I wanted to pace back again. " Stop that. You're making me nervous." So I did and looked up at his face.
" It's not my fault he's here, it's Kellan's," I said with all honesty as I looked him in the eyes. It seemed to calm him down a little.
" Can't you just- you know... Get rid of him?" He stammered. I looked at him, my eyebrows raised in disbelief. " Are you insane? If I were to do that, I would be thrown in jail for murder!" I hissed.
" I thought you liked to kill for money," Niall replied. I looked at him in disbelief. " There's no such thing as liking to kill someone for money, not even terrorists! Not even the people who are after you! " I hissed. " And killing an innocent citizen who is in the wrong place at the wrong time, is not even in my book. I do have a conscience, in case you were wondering."
Niall dropped his hands off my shoulders as he squeezed the bridge of his nose.
" Well, what now?" Niall asked. I swallowed. " I will call Kellan. He better make sure this get's fixed, right away." I looked at Niall. " Don't you have to be on stage in what, two minutes?"
Niall unlocked the door and opened it. We stared right into the surprised faces of Niall's band and team.
" Come on, we've got a song to sing," he muttered to his bandmates and left the dressing room before I could. With a little reluctance, I followed them, as I took my phone out of my bag.
I had never heard so many apologies in one phone call. Kellan asked me to keep this from my bosses. I told him what I wanted to do with his pretty face of his if he didn't make sure this problem would be fixed tonight before Gregory could tell anyone else, and if he didn't succeed in any of that, I would tell them every little detail of his screw up.
Kellan had apologized again - and again and told me he would fix it. After four thousand sorrys later, I hung up on him and had joined Niall and his team again. Niall was backstage, with his guitar hanging around his neck. He had visibly calmed down a little when I walked towards him.
" And?" He asked, his voice still a little irritated.
" It'll get fixed. Today. If not, Kellan knows he'll get sacked and will get a facelift by yours truly."
Niall sighed. His annoyed face turned into his normal, friendly face again.
" Are you wearing your protection gear?" I asked him, while I fixed his collar without even thinking of it. Niall looked at me, visibly amused as he nodded. " We don't want any babies, do we?" He winked.
I gave him a playful push as I shook my head with a grin on my face. A tiny man with big glasses told Niall he would have to get on stage for their set.
" Well, what is it they say in your world? Break a leg?"
Niall gave me a thumbs up, as he turned toward the stairs. I noticed he swallowed, to which I suspected he was a little nervous.
I was left behind with Mark. I wore my in-ear and had a brooch attached on my chest, which doubled as a microphone.
" How's everything in the arena?" I asked quietly. We weren't alone, and I did not want the people to think I was an insane woman talking to herself, despite having Mark standing next to me. Even cameras swooped by.
" Uniform 1. All clear from the balcony," the first voice replied.
" Uniform five. All clear outside," Uniform five responded. " Uniform three, deaf with all the screaming at the screaming at standing. Other than that, all clear." I smirked and heard others respond with laughter too. Mark grinned at me.
" Uniform two. Same as Uniform three at the lower seating area."
All other uniforms responded with an all clear. " Lovely. Let's get operation Horan on the road. Keep your eyes open, and respond immediately when there's something wrong." Seven replies by seven Uniforms. I gave the clear sign, to which the lights flared and the band started playing. I turned off the microphone brooch, and let out a nervous sigh.
The nerves right now were ten times worse than with his x-factor performance.
He did so well. He played better than I've ever heard before. His playing was on point, and I could swear to hear the joy in his voice. It made me smile unconsciously.
" He's doing well," Mark stated, as he shot me an amused glance. I noticed what his eyes tried to tell me, and I rolled my eyes. " Oh Mark, come on," I muttered with bright red cheeks. Thank God for the darkness backstage. " You know he's technically my boss. Or rather, I am his."
Mark shrugged. " Who even cares? The world things you're together anyway. Oh, and by the way, I think Niall likes you too."
I looked at Mark and shook my head. " Don't be daft," I said with clenched jaws. Mark laughed in response. " I can't believe you're not seeing it."
I elbowed Mark in the ribs. " There's nothing going on between us. Absolutely nothing."
Mark just smiled ahead of himself. I decided not to give it any more attention, as there was nothing going on between Niall and me anyway.
After two-and-a-half minutes of nerve wrecking and trying to fight the urge to run on stage, the performance was over. I let out a relieved sigh when after his bandmates, Niall came walking off the stairs. A big smile was etched on his face as he walked towards us.
" That was amazing," I said to him and smiled broadly. " Like usual."
Niall laughed and wrapped his arms around me. " I'm glad that's over," he whispered in my ear.
" I'm not sure who's more relieved, me or you," I muttered as I sniffed his amazing cologne. Niall let go of me, and behind that big smile of his, I could see the concern. I put my hand on his cheek, trying to say that I knew what he felt and that we'd catch the bastard who was behind all this. Niall nodded ever so slightly.
" You have to get dressed Niall, or you'll miss the awards."
Niall nodded, and took a reluctant step back. " Let's go," Niall said and grabbed my hand, as we walked back to his dressing room.