It didn't take as much effort as I thought to get past the fans outside the hotel once Harry was out of sight and I'd regained my composure. The most I got was a couple of girls asking if the other boys were inside and if I could ask them to come out, to which I just shook my head and apologised. The paps on the other hand were not as calm. The guy with the video camera, who I learnt was from StupidFamousPeople after he shouted it in my face, insisted on following me three blocks before I managed to lose him by ducking in to a little boutique coffee shop and hiding behind a couple ordering lattes at the counter. He was nothing if not persistent. I text Emily giving her the name of the coffee shop, deciding it was probably a better idea to have her meet me here than risk being harassed by that guy again. Taking a seat at the white washed table in the back, I ordered a pot of green tea and a couple of oatmeal and raisin cookies to pick at whilst I waited for her to arrive.
The coffee shop was one of those cute vintage decorated style ones that I'd seen popping up all over the place back home. There were mismatched chairs and faded pictures on the walls, one long wooden breakfast bar that ran the length of the front window with stools of different heights and colours, and a large farmhouse style table that could easily seat 12 people, positioned in the centre of the room. A small coffee table and single armchair were pushed in to the corner next to the circular table that I was sat at. A magazine rack filled with a mixture of children's books and showbiz magazines slotted against the pale yellow wall in between the two. It reminded me of a little coffee shop back in London, Ginger & White, but on a much larger scale. Here they actually had bathrooms instead of a single toilet next to the staff washroom that had to be shared by customer and staff alike. Ginger & White was one of my fave places to be back home, hidden away in Hampstead, amazing cakes, the best Belgian hot chocolate, and a lovely friendly atmosphere, but it could definitely use an expansion.
I was on my third cup of green tea and half way through my second cookie when Emily finally made an appearance, citing the fact that she had already been waiting for me at Southgate in Central Park when I'd asked her to meet me here instead.
"Why are you being chased by paparazzi anyway?" She asked taking the seat across me and ordering an espresso with double chocolate muffin. Emily had never been one to watch her figure but with the amount of hours she put in at the dance studio she didn't need to.
"Oh god! So I told you the One Direction boys checked in to our hotel last night right?"
She tore off a piece of the muffin that the waiter had placed in front of her and popped it in to her mouth, nodding for me to continue.
"Well Lou, their hair stylist, asked if we wanted to go in to the park with her and her daughter this morning and Harry decided to tag along. Lou had to leave early but Harry decided to stay, and when we got back to the hotel there were fans and paps there so of course we were seen with him."
"And now they all think you're doing the horizontal Hokey Cokey? I saw your twitter."
"I've met the guy like 3 times for god sakes!!" I sighed and took another bite of my cookie.
"You know all it takes with someone like Harry Styles is for you to look in his direction and world war 3 breaks out. Seriously, his fans are insane! Like straight jacket and padded cell insane. Give it a couple of hours and they will know all your personal info and be sending you death threats."
Judging from the quick glance I'd taken at my twitter account whist I was waiting for her she wasn't far wrong. My followers had jumped from the 132 I'd had before I'd left for New York to almost 1200, and it seemed like at least 1000 of those wanted me as far away from Harry as possible. I took a deep breath, not sure how my best friend was going to react to my next revelation. Although it didn't seem like a big deal to me I knew she was a bit of a fan herself.
"He fell asleep in my suite on our first night here," I said, wincing at the sounds of her over dramatically choking on her muffin.
"He what now?!"
