"There you are!" Mike, Niall's agent huffed as Niall stepped out of his black Range Rover and onto the set. Mike's face showed a hint of irritation, his dark brows furrowed making wrinkles across his middle-aged forehead.
"Sorry, totally slipped my mind," Niall apologized heavily, following Mike towards the large warehouse that would be the set for his latest music video. It wasn't like Niall to forget things like this, especially things that dealt with his music. Part of that, however, was likely because this wasn't HIS music. He'd penned the lyrics, he'd lived the story, but the creative process behind the music video, the story this shoot would tell- well that was all up to his label. He supposed his lack of remorse for arriving late also had something to do with the fact that he had to leave a beautiful girl in his bed this morning, right when he was on the cusp of coming clean on this whole situation.
Niall tried to tell himself that Kelsey would likely take the whole situation well, because there was plenty of evidence that proved that his relationship with Krystal was nothing more than one in front of the cameras. But if Niall wasn't concerned about how Kelsey would react, why had he been holding onto the secret for so long?
"Good morning," Krystal said cheerfully as Niall rounded the corner, interrupting his internal monologue. She was seated in a black fabric director chair with her hair freshly curled and a makeup artist quickly dabbling to apply a thin coat of lipstick.
"Mornin'" Niall responded politely, before sliding into his seat next to her for his hair dresser to begin doing her magic.
"Rough start to the morning?" Krystal smiled. Niall wonders just how late he was to this shoot.
"Just slipped my mind if I'm being honest, sorry to keep ya waiting."
"The star can never be late to their own shoot can they?" Krystal laughed.
"Right," Niall nodded, before grabbing his cellphone and snapping a quick snapchat to send to Kelsey. He hoped she wouldn't be too upset with him for rushing out this morning.
When Niall's hair is properly styled and his first outfit for the music video is put together, Krystal and him begin shooting. The day was long and tedious, and Niall couldn't help but feel a little disconnected from the creative process as a whole. He had never been one to showcase a leading lady in his videos, and here he was, shooting one with Krystal. He found the whole thing to be slightly uncomfortable, especially considering he was starting to develop feelings for another woman.
Krystal, however, seemed totally in her element. Any signs of insecurity that may have been present during their first dinner date seemed to have vanished into thin air. Krystal wasn't afraid to stare Niall down like he was the only one in the room, and with every touch the two shared Krystal seemed to be exude affection. Niall began to grow tired of the number of times the director would shout "Excellent job Krystal, Niall show me how much you are attracted to this girl, I know you are." On the breaks in between shots, Niall snapped a few pictures of the set to Kelsey, making sure, however, to exclude any photos of Krystal in the background.
"I love the song, by the way," Krystal said on one of the breaks, taking a seat beside Niall and taking a long exaggerated sip out of a can of La Croix water.
"Thank you," Niall responded.
"What inspired it?" She continued, looking Niall straight in the eyes.
"It's kind of just about that moment that you first meet someone," Niall began, his mind traveling back to the place where he first penned down the beginnings of the lyrics. "You know when you just meet someone and you know. You know that this is someone that you want to know better. You know that this person has the potential to be someone in your life."
His mind flashes back to the night in the Manhattan weeks ago, when he'd bumped into Kelsey with his beer. Her brown hair tied back, with pieces coming loose on the edges, her face flustered and hurried, but her eyes familiar, as if Niall had stared into them many times before. He hadn't known Kelsey when he'd written the song. In fact the song had been written more about the idea of that moment than an actual person, but somehow his recent experience matched it perfectly.
"I like that," Krystal replied, her eyes lingering a little too long on Niall's face. Niall moved his gaze quickly.
*******
On day three of the shoot, Niall felt exhausted. He'd barely had a moment to himself over the past seventy-two hours, and though he knew that it was just a part of the job, he couldn't wait for it to all be over. When the director calls, "That's a wrap!", Niall assumed he was done for the day. He took a seat and grabbed his phone finding a sweet message from Kelsey asking how the final day of shooting had went.
"Who has got you so smitten?"
"What?" Niall brings his head up sharply, looking at Krystal who has a smirk across her lips.
"Your phone. You're smiling at your phone." Krystal gestured.
"Oh, just reading a text message."
"What's her name?" Krystal inquired.
Niall glanced in the area around them, careful to be sure no members of management were within earshot. "Kelsey."
"Well, tell Kelsey your girlfriend says hello," Krystal laughed, her tone a mix of joking and seriousness.
Before Niall has the chance to come up with a witty reply, his agent rushed over, the look on his face suggesting that Niall's acting for the day was not yet over.
"Niall, Krystal," Mike looked from Niall to his co-star sitting just a few feet away. "It appears we have a few extra visitors on the grounds today."
Niall felt a strong urge to let out a dramatic groan. He knew what kind of 'visitors' waited outside the warehouse doors, and they weren't welcomed ones.
"Photographers?" Krystal asked, trying to catch on to what Mike was letting on. Niall figured she had yet to truly experience the annoyance that was the Los Angeles area paparazzi, who seemed to lurk in the most inconvenient of places.
Niall gave a quick nod.
"We were really hoping to avoid any leakage of our filming here today to the press, but it appears they've somehow found out. PR is trying their best right now to negotiate with the photographers about holding off the release images, in order to avoid any mess ups to our timeline but for now..."
"You need us to put on a show," Niall sighed.
"Exactly." Mike replied. "We'll send you out the main doors were they are standing. Just look like you are leaving set for the day, no answering questions, no posing for pictures, just get around the corner to your cars and you'll be done for the day."
"I think we can handle that," Krystal smiled looking over at Niall, who was still uncompelled to remove the frown from his face. Niall was beginning to think that she found this whole thing to be quite fun. He supposed that was a good thing considering it was her job.
"If you'll grab your things and follow me," Mike commanded. Niall grudgingly complied, grabbing his key and phone and stuffing them in his pocket. Krystal grabbed her purse from its place beside her chair and followed closely behind, her high heels clicking against the concrete floor.
As they reach the main entrance, Mike stopped, looking towards the pair. "Ready?"
Krystal grabbed Niall's hand in her own, then wrapped her other arm around his, her head settling near his shoulder. He nodded and Mike opened up the door, releasing a variety of shouts and camera flashes in their direction.
"Niall!"
"Krystal!" Paps shouted right and left, but Niall kept his head down and pulled Krystal alongside him, making their way towards cover and their vehicles on the side of the building. The 100 yards or so jaunt seemed like an eternity, but as soon as Niall and Krystal turned the corner and the paps were no longer in sight, Niall dropped his hand from Krystal's grip.
"Well that was fun," Niall sighs.
"It really was. The whole shoot," Krystal responds, not catching the hint of sarcasm in Niall's voice. "Thank you." Krystal wrapped her arms around Niall in a hug before he has a moment to react, then places a kiss on his cheek.
"See you later?" She asked, as Niall began to make his way towards his car.
"Yep," Niall replied shortly, ready to get home and put on some golf. He slanged the door to his Rover open with a little too much force, sliding across the black leather seats. "Fucking paps," he muttered to himself, before pressing the button to start it. The only thing on Niall's mind as he drove home was how much time he had before the pictures were released and disaster struck.