Catching Red Eyes - NYC

Chapter 19

I scrambled to find something sensible to wear to dinner and settled on a black jacket with a white tank top underneath with my dark jeans. I went to grab my normal boots but my eyes caught the heeled black boots I had only worn once before. They had black zippers and ran all the way up my thigh. Laurie begged me to get them after forcing me to try them on. I moved onto my hair and decided to just brush it out and put it in a high ponytail. Now I needed to do something with this leftover makeup from earlier. If only Laurie wasn't occupied, she did amazing eyeliner on anyone who would let her. I did my best with the black goop and fixed the rest of the makeup. I stepped back and looked at myself in the mirror. Not too bad for a girl who has no sense of style and never wears makeup.

I was just about to transfer my wallet into a black clutch when I hear voices from the living room. They sounded like they were arguing. What was going on?

I opened my door to find Harry, Laurie, and Brooklyn dude on the couch talking about, well I had no idea. Laurie saw me first and her jaw dropped. She jumped up and ran over to me.

"Where did this all come from?? You look freaking gorgeous, seriously."

"Uh, thanks. Is um, everything ok over there with them?" I asked pointing towards Harry and her...well whatever he was.

"What? Oh! Yea, totally. They are talking about the Kings of Leon. Harry saw them a couple times. By the way, he is totally not what I expected. He's super chill and knows a shit ton about music."

I just smiled and walked over to where they were sitting.

"Ready."

Harry's eyes racked my body up and down and I thought I was going to melt right there on the floor. I was breathing heavy and was relieved when he got up and said goodbye to Laurie's friend. I waved to Laurie as Harry led the way towards the door.

"Have funnnnnnn," I heard Laurie say as I shut the door behind me.

I followed Harry into the same black SUV from earlier and was welcomed by the same driver as well.

"The usual spot, then?"

"Yes. Thank you, Andy."

What was his usual spot? I guess I was about to find out.

"So, they were nice. Laurie is cool as well. I like her."

"Yea, she is really great."

 I looked out the window and watched as we got closer to the inner city. I felt Harry wrap his hand around mine and interlace our fingers. He brought his lips to my hand and kissed it. He let his lips drag over the sensitive skin there and nipped at it. The blood surged in my thighs and I was instantly hot.

"You look amazing by the way, Rowan. I like those boots...a lot."

"Thank you." I blushed and turned my face back to the window, smiling.

The SUV came to a stop in front of somewhere I couldn't make out. I did, however, see the line of cameras that were waiting outside. How did they always know?

"Just don't let go of my hand."

That was easy. I never wanted to let go. Ever.

Before I could even take another breathe, someone flung open the door and we were being pulled out by security. I was blind for a good 30 seconds with all the flashes popping left and right. We were ushered right to a small table in the dimly lit restaurant. I felt like my ponytail was being whipped back and forth and looked a mess now. I went to get up but Harry pulled me back down.

"Just give it a minute, love. Let things settle."

I had no idea what he meant but then I looked around and saw that people were sitting back down to their dinners and security was going back to their posts and the lights went down even more. Woah.

"It's a bit much for just me but the State photographers are absolutely insane."

I nodded in agreement and just pulled my ponytail tighter. I didn't want to see what would happen if I got up.

"So, what are you hungry for?"

I looked down for a menu but wasn't given one. I looked around and no one really had a menu but they had food.

"They can make whatever you want but usually I get the same thing. I can get you a menu if you'd like?"

"Um, no actually. Just order me what you get." I said with confidence. I needed this. I felt Harry giving me confidence every time I was around him. I hope I did something for him too.

I ordered a glass of white wine while Harry ordered a dark beer.

"So, tell me, what do you do besides work for Marc and George?"

I hadn't realized that he knew very little about me up until this point.

"Oh, well, actually I intern for them. I am a senior at NYU for English and I am graduating this summer."

"Yes, I do recall you telling me this before we...well..."

I looked down and blushed remembering us making out on the balcony.

"And you want to find something here after you graduate?"

"Yes. It's my dream."

He smiled at me. His eyes were bright green tonight and the candle that was our light source was dancing on his facial features. He was breathtaking. Just before I could move my hands to touch that face, two plates of food were placed on the table. It smelled amazing. It was some kind of steak with greens and potatoes. I didn't realize how hungry I was until I smelled the aroma of the food. The last time I ate was this morning with Harry. I could get used to eating with him very fast.

Before I could even comprehend how amazing my dinner was, it was gone. I felt full and happy and warm. I looked around and saw we were seated quite far from other people and I was ok with that. I looked over at Harry and he was finished with his meal too. My stomach flipped wondering where we were going next.