Incognito (One Direction)

Chapter 6

Of course, Eleanor had to be a person who couldn’t stop talking, just like the rest of them. She looked demure and quiet in photos, but when she opened her mouth, she just wouldn’t stop. Her queries also didn’t stop. It was a wonder how this girl could even keep a secret if she really did have a contract to pretend to be Louis’ girlfriend.

“No instructions this time?” she finally ended up saying, getting down to business. “It’s usually Amanda that picks me up. Is something wrong with her?”

Eliza awakened from her bout of sleepiness when Eleanor called for her attention.

“What was that, sorry?”

“Amanda? Isn’t she here?” Eleanor asked.

Amanda was that woman in those photos with Eleanor and Louis that the fans had caught. “No. Amanda couldn’t be here now. She’s a little ill and they sent me instead.”

“It’s the first time I caught your name, Amy. Are you new, by the way? Sorry. I’ve been talking all this time and I didn’t even give you a chance to talk much about yourself!”

“It’s okay,” Eliza said, genuinely happier with her talking more about Eleanor than of herself. “I’m fine with listening.”

“So no instructions this time? Me and Louis will just do as we please?”

“I’m not particularly sure how Amanda handles your situation. What does she do usually?”

“Well, she’ll usually tell me the schedule of where we’ll end up going. There are usually photographers already on the scene. I’m not sure who notifies them, but I don’t really worry. I just follow orders. I like hanging out with Louis anyway,” Eleanor said, confirming what Eliza already knew. Now it was the time to try getting information on Louis. What was the motive of having a random girl pretend to date him?

“But how is your relationship with Louis?” Eliza said, hoping that her cover as part of management didn’t need for her to be subtle. This was just better than blatantly asking. “Not too awkward though?”

“It’s just like how actors and actresses do it, isn’t it?” Eleanor said, shrugging. “And besides, I do love Louis. If he wants to keep everything as it is, then I’ll be here. It didn’t seem to start out like it at first, and I genuinely thought that he was interested in me. But then, it seemed like management found it a good opportunity to pluck me out, since they seemed to like me. I guess getting paid is just a bonus. I’d do it as a favor for Lou, but management likes to keep people bound by contract, and you would probably know that already.”

“Yeah, they kind of do,” Eliza said, not really knowing what she was talking about. “But isn’t he coming out anytime soon?”

Eleanor looked at her, raising her eyebrow. “I don’t think that’s something we should be talking about, with you being part of management and all.”

“Why not? I have to be concerned, don’t I? If possible, I don’t want this news to come out at all,” Eliza said, bluffing. She didn’t know what the hell she was talking about, but she figured that if management hired Eleanor, then they sure didn’t want news of Louis getting out.

“Look, it’s a sensitive topic altogether, for your management and Louis. I mean, I’m here, so there must be something wrong to that with you guys.”

“Not to me,” Eliza said. “Have you voiced this out with anyone else?”

Eleanor seemed to gain control of herself. “No. I’m sorry. I guess I just felt a little bad for Louis just now. I’m not usually much trouble for them.”

“I’m a bit new, so I wouldn’t know that much, to be honest,” Eliza said, so that she would stop fishing for answers that she didn’t know yet.

“But you have things sorted, right?” Eleanor said kindly. “I mean, you guys always seem to, despite the boys being a handful sometimes.”

“Sorted. Yeah,” Eliza said, hoping that what she was saying wasn’t a lie this time.

“Where are you from, by the way? I can’t quite place your accent.”

This was the problem with the English. Unlike Americans, who thought the English only had one accent, the English in their different regions in the country had different accents and they could tell where a person was from based on it sometimes.

“I travel a lot, but I’m from Yorkshire originally,” Eliza lied. She had adopted what she remembered as a Northern English accent, but she had a vague sense of what it really sounded like, since she wasn’t actually English and nor did she live in the UK. It was the first time she actually mentioned any sort of place or part of the North. “I sort of adopted a bit of a few accents and it’s a bit mixed now.”

“I wonder how you get into this management business though, like handling people,” Eleanor said aloud, her forehead wrinkling slightly. “I mean, that’s probably not what you wanted to be when you grew up. Sorry. I’m a bit thrown off by how young you are, and it’s probably why I’m more comfortable.”

“I get that a lot,” Eliza smiled, genuinely this time. It was even more difficult back when she was eighteen and her colleagues, who were usually big burly men in their late twenties or early thirties, would find it strange to have a tiny girl leading them. Then again, she could hold her own then and gained their respect without much difficulty. Her youth and seemingly innocent features sometimes got the job done and made things easier for her clients. Nobody ever suspected a young girl to do anything too dangerous or threatening. The best trouble girls could seem to do was get pregnant, and that could either be a good or bad thing, depending on who you are, if you have a significant other or not, or how old one was.

It was like Charlie’s Angels, Kill Bill. Lara Croft and other femme fatales only existed on television and the movies. They couldn’t possible really be true.

“Well?” Eleanor said expectantly.

She asked more questions than the One Direction boys’ interviewers. Her acting had to extend to this girl though, so she went ahead and answered her question without giving much names. It was pretty generic.

“A bit of early networking at university and internships, I guess,” Eliza said. “I was studying Communication Arts and Literature. I’m more publicity and representation stuff, which sort of makes sense, since I had public speaking classes at my old university.”

“You’ve worked with other celebrities before?”

“Yeah.”

Eleanor squealed loudly, making Eliza tilt to the opposite side, so that she could get away from her voice slightly. For someone who was friends with a famous boy band, she was acting way too excited. “Who?”

“Contract. Can’t say,” Eliza said. It was one of the few truths she said during her stay with One Direction so far. If she were really just a normal publicity specialist or whatever she was, she probably could say. But since her real profession required more discretion, she couldn’t be linked to any of them, even in passing. Eleanor didn’t know that though. “You understand. Big names though, so I’ll leave it up to your imagination.”

Right at that moment, they pulled up near the arena, which was already swarming with girls. The car headed toward the back entrance, where there were still a swarm of girls, but at least there was a closed-off space where they would be able to walk.

“Leave the things in the car please, Chaz. I think they’ll be bringing that car to the hotel later anyway,” Eliza said, stepping out of the car.