Catching Red Eyes - NYC

Chapter 98

(If you lovely readers comment and vote on CRE, I shall do another update tonight! xoxo)

The next morning I was woken up by an annoying ringing and didn't realize it was the hotel room phone on the opposite side of the bed. I moved on top of Harry to stop the incessant ringing and almost collapsed on him.

"H-hello?"

"Row, what are you doing? We need you down here and we need Harry too. Everyone wants to start."

My stomach dropped when I looked at the time and it said 7:45 AM. Harry was scheduled for a photo shoot for the promotion starting in fifteen minutes and I needed to be there a half hour ago. I slammed down the phone and scrambled out of bed.

"Harry! Come on, we're so late!"

In my haze last night, I had forgotten my alarm and I guessed Harry didn't set one. I ran across the room and dove for my suitcase. I grabbed the first few things I saw, which were my old black jeans, a gray sweater and my black boots. I racked my fingers through my tousled hair and threw it in a messy bun. I quickly brushed my teeth and washed my face. I had zero time for makeup. Thankfully I still had a glow from the night before but my eyes were a little swollen and red.

"Love, don't worry. It's only right down in one of the ballrooms. It takes only a few minutes to get there."

"Harry, that's easy for you to say. I am a half hour late and you still need to get to wardrobe and makeup," I said to him, as I tried to do something with my hair. I eyed his reflection in the mirror behind me in just his black boxers and wanted nothing more than to take him back to bed but that had to wait. I signaled for him to move it and he sighed and laughed at me. I quickly said good bye before dodging out the door. I found the hall easily which was good considering I was so late. The massive room was set up for the shoot with a huge white drop cloth, flash units, extension cords, huge white umbrella reflectors, and of course, the photographer and his team. Music was playing and there were long tables of food. I also saw my bosses and Maddy. I bee lined it to them and tried not to make any eye contact.

"Thank you for joining us, Ms. Emerson," said Marc under his breath.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't set my alarm and Harry-"

"Where is Harry? The other three are ready to go," asked George.

I opened my mouth and took a breath when I saw Harry walk in the huge transformed ballroom. How was it possible that he looked the way he did and got ready with less time than me? He had on tight blue jeans, tan boots, and a loose, long sleeved white shirt. He was pulling his hair back as he walked into the room and he looked perfect. How was he even real?

I realized I was staring as his team came over and started fussing with his hair and his clothes like he even needed it. He was perfect just the way he was. I watched as the other three members of the band took their places and Harry jogged in now with black jeans, a white and black stripped shirt and black boots. Harry stood in the middle as the photographer started snapping. I was pulled from my still staring by Marc calling my name. I looked over at Marc and waited for instruction.

"Rowan, I need you to take these press releases and copy edit them. We need the best one sent out by 10 AM back to the New York office so we can get this whole thing trending."

I nodded and took the MacBook from my boss. I looked around and saw there was nowhere to properly sit and I would need an outlet. I went to question Marc but everyone was busy standing around the photoshoot. I went outside the ballroom and saw a chair with an outlet and table next to it. I felt the pull of being away from Harry but I needed to get this done since I was already late for my first work day. The press releases were huge. There were 11 different ones from various writers back in New York and now it was my job to piece them all together to make a short and sweet one. When I finally looked at the time in the corner of the computer, it was already 9:50 AM. I hated rushing but this was my fault. I should have set my alarm and not been late. I re read the final edit one more time before attaching it in an email and I hit send. I let out a long breath as I heard the familiar whooshing sound of the email sending. I sat back in the chair and let my eyelids fall for a few seconds.

I was instantly startled by the ballroom doors crashing open. I was seated off to the left of the door so the people coming out couldn't exactly see me. I saw the perfect outline of Harry and his face was stretched in a wide seductive grin but he wasn't looking at me with that grin. He was looking at the beautiful blonde draped on his arm. She was breathtaking. Her hair was long and straight and she had on thigh high black boots, black tights and a long black, oversized shirt. Her outfit was decorated with simple gold hardware from her necklace to her rings. Her eyes were dark greenish gray and she also had a smile on and laughing with Harry. I opened my mouth to say something, anything but I couldn't find my words. All I could do was watch the two walk away. The blonde still had her arm interloped with Harry's. I saw red and wanted to storm after them but I remembered I promised Harry I wouldn't assume anything. But where were they going? Why wasn't he looking for me? Who was this blonde? And why did I have to oversleep because I couldn't meet this mysterious girl looking like a mess. Was I even going to meet her? My head was spinning. I needed some air but before I could even find a window or a door, I heard Marc calling my name from inside the ballroom. I took one last look down the hall but Harry and his whatever she was, were gone now. I reluctantly grabbed the computer and walked back inside.

"Did you get it done?"

I nodded to my boss and noticed everything was being packed up. The shoot was clearly over and everyone was almost cleared out. I couldn't imagine the look I had on my face but no one seemed to notice.

"Good. Now sit with the photographer and go through the shots. We need the best one for social media. They are also using this picture for their next tour because it's the first one without the one who quit. So, you'll need to find the best two with them. And Rowan?"

I looked at my boss wondering what else I needed to do. "Don't be late again. That isn't like you. Even when you were going through your depressed phase, you were never late. Don't let this guy cloud your judgement. And please, get some coffee or better, orange juice. You look a little pale."

With that, he was gone and I was left with the camera crew. How funny it was he said this now because all could concentrate on was Harry with the blonde girl. Maybe I could ask someone who she was, maybe someone knew her. I didn't see her when I first walked in earlier but I also wasn't paying attention to much else besides Harry and my bosses. I shook my head. You know what? Marc was right. This is my career and my time to shine. If Harry wanted to forget about me and disappear with his blonde whatever, then I wasn't going to go searching for him. I needed to redeem myself with Marc and George which meant I needed to stay focused and do a good job. Of course, the image was burned into my brain but I also needed to not overwhelm myself with my assumptions of who she was. Harry loved me and wouldn't do anything to hurt me. I was interrupted by the photographer who started talking about the different photos. I zeroed on the photos and tried to concentrate but it was hard when the thing I wanted to forget about right now was staring back at me in every single picture. This was going to be difficult.