Right Place, Right Time

One Way Or Another

There was a very small gap in the busy stream of traffic, and no time to hesitate. I put my foot down on the accelerator and pulled out on to the road, merging into the fast-moving line of cars and leaving the shrieking girls standing behind on the footpath.

"Go Emma!" cheered Harry. "Hey Mum, I'll ring you later," he said, and ended the call.

Then he turned to me. "So as well as having lots of other talents, you also drive like Lewis Hamilton," he grinned.

"Yep," I smiled back at him. "Or at least I do when there's a chance of being pursued by a bunch of rabid Directioners."

"So I take it you're not a rabid Directioner then?" he asked.

"Ahh..." What was I meant to say to that? Should I let on that I was actually a huge fan, or try to play it cool?

Before I could give him an answer he asked, "Are you coming to the show tonight?"

"No," I told him. "I mean, I wanted to. But I, um, I had to spend the money for my ticket on something else. This car, in fact, when it broke down. It's my mum's car, and she just couldn't manage without it."

"Well, you've got to get your priorities sorted," he said. "Having a working car is far more important than coming to see us. And I'm glad you got it fixed, or you couldn't have come to my rescue today."

He was quiet for a moment and when I took my eyes off the road to look at him, I saw that he was watching me. The intense look in his lovely green eyes made my stomach flip over.

I quickly looked back at the road, unnerved by his gaze.

"Glad to be of service," I mumbled.

There was a moment of awkward silence, during which I made sure to keep my eyes forward, then Harry spoke.

"Do you mind if I use your phone to call Preston before I forget the number my mum just gave me?" he asked.

"Go for it," I told him. I listened as he explained to Preston what had happened and felt myself blushing as he sang my praises.

"Emma's been brilliant," he said. "If it wasn't for her I would probably still be hiding in a cupboard full of mops and brooms. I'm very, very lucky to have run into her."

He asked Preston how he was and they chatted for a few minutes about Preston's health. It sounded like he was going to be OK, thank goodness. Harry ended the call just as I turned into the road that led to the back entrance of the stadium. It quickly became evident that I wasn't the only one who'd had the bright idea to come this way to see if I could see One Direction arriving for the concert, judging by all the teenage girls milling around on the footpaths. They were still there, even though the rest of the group were obviously inside, at the meeting Harry was late for.

"You might need to put Susie's head back on in case you get spotted," I said.

"Yeah, I guess so," he said, starting to pull it on. "How do other people manage to see when they are wearing this thing? Or is it just me? "

"I think it's just you," I said. "Nobody else has problems."

"My eyes are nowhere near the eye holes," he said. "My head must be a funny shape."

"I'm not going to comment on that, on the grounds I might incriminate myself," I told him.

Harry had a little chuckle over that.

"Zayn teases me about having an enormous forehead," he said. "But you know what they say - big forehead, big...."

He paused and bent his neck forward, as if he was looking down between his legs.