video credit: youtube.com/watch?v=f2mKv7gD77w
I open my eyes and am instantly hit with a scent of coffee. Harry is missing from the bed, so I can only assume he's up and making coffee. In the last month I've spent most of my time at Harry's house but I rarely see him in the morning since often he's out working, so this is unexpected. He's hellbent on not making me live his busy reunion schedule too, so often I just spend the days doing work or writing a blog post from home. That's what he wants me to do, and since he's my boss I don't really have an option. Before I realise what I'm doing, I'm out of bed and standing in the middle of the kitchen.
'One day to go..' I smile at Harry, while he kisses me good morning. Harry's record player is playing Van Morrison this morning, and the morning sun is streaming through the windows.
'..are you doing anything today? There isn't anything in your calendar as far as I know' I add in, pouring myself a cup of coffee.
'Yeah..yeah I am. We're filming the video again.' He says. Since the band hasn't had time to record any new music, they decided to just announce the reunion on Twitter. The fans have been guessing for months what will happen on the big day, and the boys agreed on the idea of a compilation video being posted, of all the times they said 'Hi, we're One Direction!'. The plan was to trick everyone into thinking it was just a video of old moments, but then at the end there would be a final clip of them now, saying the exact same thing. Louis actually came up with the idea, thinking it would be funny to announce it in such a low key way.
'You're filming it again? I thought that was done two weeks ago? It's being posted tomorrow, I hope they can have it edited by then.' I ask, grabbing an apple from the fruit bowl and taking a bite.
'Yeah..they want to film it again because my nails were painted.' He answers, and my glaze shifts to his bare nails. I'm so used to seeing Harry with various colours and patterns on his nails, that he almost looks bare without it. What the fuck? This is exactly the type of shit that used to happen in the band.
'Seriously? That's not okay Harry, this is what happened last time. Nobody even told me about this, and as your assistant I should know.' I'm starting to lose my calm, which may be a slight overreaction but I can't bear the thought of Harry not being able to do what he wants with his fashion because their management won't let him. Harry has found himself in the last 5 years, and I refuse to watch that be forced away now that he's back in the band.
'It's okay. Really, it's fine. It was chipped anyway and probably looked unprofessional. They called me this morning and asked me to come in.' He responds, and wraps his arms around me. Is this why he was up so early? To answer a phone call from his management? It's only 7:30 now, and it's clear he's been awake for a while. He doesn't sound bothered by this sudden schedule change, but I am. It's the little things like this that just rub me the wrong way.
'I feel terrible that they're making everyone come back in, just because of me.' He adds in, and I can tell how upset he is.
'Harry, that's not on you. It's not even fair in the first place to not let you wear the nail polish, but if it was such an issue it should've been resolved when you first shot the clip.' I reassure him. It's not fair that Harry has to feel this guilt.
'Do you want to come with us to the set today? Louis said Eleanor is going to come. They want to start at 8:30, so we should probably leave in like half an hour..if you want to come.' Harry says, changing the topic while kissing the top of my head. I'm surprised by his offer. In reality, he shouldn't be offering because it should be assumed that I'll be there. Of course I want to go as his girlfriend, but I should be there as his assistant, and that hasn't been happening much lately.
'Do you want me there?' I ask, hesitant after a month of barely ever working with him in person.
'Of course I want you there. I always want you there, but I don't want you to feel like you're just following me around.' He says.
'It's my job to follow you around..' I laugh and reach up to kiss his cheek. I push away the small concern that my working for him isn't going to work for us in the long term if he feels bad making me do my job.
'..I'll be ready in half an hour.' I add in and stroll out of the kitchen, steaming coffee and apple in hand.
Since I spend so much time at Harry's house, I have nearly half my closet here. Soon after the tour ended, Harry cleared a space in his closet and told me that that's where I would be putting my clothes. He said it as though it was just assumed.
I take a quick shower, and opt for light makeup today. I don't usually wear much makeup anyway, but I don't have any spare time to spend on some advanced eyeshadow look today. I dry my hair and keep it down, leaving it natural with my waves.
I change into a pair of slim fitting black business pants, and tuck a white lace cami into the waist. I finish off the look by pairing it with a pair of nude pumps. While I change, Harry appears by the doorway and changes into a pair of houndstooth cigarette pants and a white tshirt. Despite the fact he entered the room after me, he walks out before I even have my cami slipped over my head, yet he always manages to look so effortlessly good. I can't help but notice the missing nail polish, but Harry seems okay with the fact it's missing, and that means that it shouldn't bother me either.
On my way to the front door I grab my bag with all my Harry related paraphernalia, and spot Harry in the living room strumming his guitar. I don't say anything and just watch and listen for a few seconds, taking the sight in.
'Were you watching me?' He teases, spotting me standing in the hallway. Harry puts the guitar down and walks over to me, quickly kissing me before opening the door for me to walk out.
'Maybe.' I laugh, slightly embarrassed, and he responds by kissing me again.
'Do you think this outfit is alright? They said we can wear whatever, but I don't want to wear anything that they might think is too out there.' Harry asks while putting the keys into the ignition. Since when did Harry take instruction regarding his fashion choices? Since he's not allowed to wear nail polish, apparently. He still doesn't seem phased, but the Harry I know doesn't take direction from anyone when it comes to this type of thing.
'It's perfect Harry. What you choose to wear is up to you, and if they're not styling you or even if they are, they don't have a say in what you wear. Ultimately, you're the one wearing it.' I affirm as he drives through the front gates, and I hope that he listens to me.
'Yeah..I guess you're right. You should see the set they had built. It's so accurate that I reckon Liam nearly teared up. He turned away and Niall burst into laughter.' Harry says, changing the topic. It was decided that a replica of the X Factor video diary staircase would be built, and the boys would sit in their original positions to say their line. Since I've been an absent assistant, I haven't seen the set in person yet.
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'This is so much like the real thing..wow' I say to Eleanor, who walks up beside me the second I spot the staircase sitting in the middle of the all white studio room. The staircase has been built into its own shape, so the stairs lead to nothing but a wall made of a thin, painted piece of wood. Through a screen, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference.
'Yeah..it's crazy how real it looks.' She agrees with me. I plan to continue our conversation, but Liam and Niall walk through the door and a woman interrupts us by shouting to everyone in the studio.
'Alright everyone! Listen up! I want all the boys in makeup now, except Harry..' she says, looking directly at Harry.
'..there's a lot that needs to be done today so I don't have time for any tomfoolery from anybody here. If you are not crew or one of the boys, I need you to get away from the set now.' This lady is either stressed beyond belief or she's just not a very nice person, because she shouts at the whole room as if she has legal ownership over everyone here. More specifically, why did she feel the need to call Harry out?
Once she finishes her announcement, I watch Harry walk over to her, and I instinctively walk over too.
'Did you get rid of the nail polish?' She says, grabbing his hands to look at his nails.
'Uh..yeah..yeah I did.' Harry quietly says, and I step closer to him. I would be more than happy to yell at this woman right now on behalf of Harry, who is being way too nice.
'Good. I hope you know that you've caused quite an inconvenience for all of us here. Go get your makeup done.' She condescendingly says to Harry, waving her hand around the room. Without saying another word, Harry walks off to go to makeup. I can't believe this woman. Is she for real?
'If it was an issue, I think it should have been discussed the first time they filmed the scene.' I say to the woman as respectfully as possible. I don't know who she thinks she is, but I'm not going to let her push Harry around.
'Sorry, who are you?' She half snaps at me.
'I'm Sophie. Harry's assistant' I supply, doing my very best to plaster on a fake smile.
'Oh..the one he's dating.' She says, as though she just took a bite of a lemon. Before I even have a second to respond, she's stalking off with her red hair flowing behind her. What was that? This woman is a tyrant. Before I can get more heated, Eleanor comes up beside me and touches me on my arm, taking me out of my trance.
'What was that all about?' She queries, looking at the woman in distaste.
'I don't even know. She was just being rude and asking about Harry's nail polish. She looked at me like scum when I told her I was Harry's assistant.' I laugh, slowly calming down in Eleanor's presence.
'She's a bitch. Probably stressed for tomorrow.' Eleanor whispers, and we laugh together.
Eleanor and I continue in conversation, getting into a discussion about her outfit. I've only seen her in person a few times, but her Instagram account is very telling of her fashion expertise. Today she's wearing a white sleeveless dress with chunky black ankle boots, and it's an understatement to say that I'm jealous of how effortlessly stylish she looks. Our conversation is cut short when Eleanor gets a phone call, and leaves to answer whoever is on the end of the line. For a minute I'm momentarily left to stand alone, awkwardly hiding behind the light and the camera crew, but Harry quickly comes to my rescue.
'Hey, I'm back.' He says, walking over to me. I quickly hurry closer to him, eager to get an explanation on this red headed authoritarian.
'Are you okay..with what she said to you?' I ask. I know Harry feels bad enough already, and this woman's words surely would have upset him.
'I'm fine..don't worry about it. It's fine' he responds, not making full eye contact.
'Who is she?' I quietly ask, gesturing to the tall frame standing beside the camera men barking instructions.
'Oh..that's Leslie. She's just part of management. She's the only one who transitioned from the old management to the new one..'
'She's from the old management? Why didn't you tell me?' I cut him off. What the hell? I'm not angry at him, but I'm angry nonetheless.
'No..it's fine. She knows how everything worked last time and is just here to help out the new management for the next few months. She's not..it's not what you think, I'm pretty sure she was just an observer last time..she barely ever even said anything.' He tries to justify her presence here, but I'm just shocked at the whole situation. How could this happen? I hate myself for being so absent and not knowing about this earlier.
'Harry, don't let this be like last time. She was talking to you like a child!' I have to bite back tears at the thought of how Harry looked when he told me everything he went through last time.
'It's not like that Sophie. She's just..stressed.' He runs his hands through his perfectly styled hair, and I can tell he's more agitated than he's letting on.
'Just promise me you'll shut it down if she goes too far' I say, sounding far less authoritarian than I had hoped. I touch his arm to try to calm his moving hands.
'Harry! This is work time not girlfriend time. Get over to the stairs please. Your bandmates are waiting for you. Liam, you too.' Leslie says, cutting our conversation short. She spits the word 'girlfriend', adding extra stress to make sure everyone in the large room can hear. Harry instantly pulls his arm away from my hand as though I'm diseased, and walks over to the set and sits down in his place in silence.