In Other Words (Niall Fanfic)

Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine 

Roxy’s POV

Jetlag was kicking my ass. It’s four in the morning, and the of three channels on the TV in my hotel room, two are showing infomercials and the other is scrolling through the TV Guide of shit I could be watching if I had more than four channels. So, I peeled myself off the couch to go over my materials for the conference, which starts up in two days. By eight a.m. I was dying to get out of my hotel room, so I grabbed a newspaper out of the lobby, and headed to the nearest Starbucks to kill the hour before the shops opened up.

Niall’s phone call came in the late morning. We’re both free today, so he wanted to try to get together before both of our schedules became more hectic. He was going to pick me up in a few hours to start the first segment of my tour of LA. As I stared at my new purchases laid out on the spare bed in my room, I contemplated the day’s outfit. He said to dress comfortably, and when I asked him to be more specific, he simply said “jeans”.  Typical. 

My phone rang. “Hi Niall, you stuck in traffic?” I asked, pinching the phone to my ear with my shoulder as I slipped on my shoes.

“No, I’m here. At your hotel. I was going to come up to get you, but there are a lot of people outside here, and I don’t want to…well..you know. Do you think you can just come down when you’re ready? No rush.” He said.

“Sure thing. I will be down in five.” I said, picking up the random clothing items that landed on the floor as I had second and third guessed my outfit.

“I can’t wait to see you. Oh hey Rox, throw your swim suit in your bag. You might need it.” He ended the call without giving me a chance to question him further. I took the elevator down and weaved through the lobby, which really was quite busy. I stood out front for a moment, looking around to figure out which car Niall was in, when I heard a cat-call whistle. I spun around expecting to have to tell someone off, to find Niall perched at the corner of the building, his hands in his pockets.

“What are you doing over there?” I asked, and walked up and greeted him with a hug. “I almost didn’t recognize you on this continent. Which car are we in?”

“We aren’t.” He said as he took my hand and pulled me to the side of the hotel.Parked there was a black and red Ducati sport bike. “I rented this for us.” He said, handing me one of the two fancy-looking helmets that were sitting on the seat of the bike. “We’ll need to do something about those shoes.” He said as he placed his helmet on and lifted the visor, so I could see his face.

“I don’t know about this, Ni. I am scared. I’ve never been on one of these things.” I said nervously, looking down at the helmet in my hands. I didn’t want to be a wet blanket, but my pulse was rising for all the wrong reasons.

“There’s nothing to be nervous about. I’ve been riding these things forever. My brother and I had one growing up. I promise I won’t do anything crazy.” He said as he helped me with the helmet and on to the bike. He took his place in front of me, and wrapped my arms around his waist. “You have to hold on, and lean with me as I’m driving.” He flipped my visor down and gave me a thumbs up. Once I returned the gesture, he started up the engine, and we took off.

We stopped a short while later at store specializing in motorcycle gear. I hopped off the seat, still feeling the vibration in my legs. I was still slightly on-edge, but Niall was a good driver, and it was hard not to enjoy being so close to him with my life in his hands. I am normally so in-control, that sometimes it can be refreshing to be forced to let it go.

We made our way to the shoe section of the store. Everything was so pricey. “Sit here.” He said, leading me to a bench. “I will go grab some options while you try on. We’ll be here for days if I turn you loose. What size?”