It's Better In Black & White ✎ n.h.

Chapter 2

Paige's POV

40 minutes later I had finally gathered both my suitcases and  had placed my handbag on my shoulder.

Once I thought I could manage all my belongings I started my quest to find whoever had come to pick me up; someone from the contest directors or whatever you wanted to call it. 

My gaze traveled around until it landed on a young man, maybe in his early 20s, with my name on a cardboard sign.

I swiftly walked up to him, pulling my luggage with me until I reached him. 

He looked down at me (he was several inches taller than me) and smiled. 

"Are you Paige Adams?" he asked in a extremely cheerful yet deep voice.

I nodded and his smiled widened.

"Nice to finally find you! I'm Michael, but you can call me Mike. I'm an intern on the Arts Department of the University of London, the ones who created and provided the funds so the winners of the contest could get this trip" he explained quickly as he took my suitcases from my hands. He tried to take my large handbag from me but I clutched it close to my chest. 

The gesture said: No one touches this except me.

He understood and ignored the bag for the rest of the way.

As we walked towards a black SUV I decided I needed more info.

"So where are the other winners?" I asked in a conversational tone.

Mike put both suitcases on the trunk and opened the passenger's door for me. I quickly go in and waited for him to get inside the van too.

"Everyone is in the hotel already. You were the last one to get here" he explained with a shrug.

Silence filled the vehicle until he started the car. After that only the engine's soft purr was all I could hear. This wasn't awkward at all...

I felt eyes on me and I looked at Mike with a question in my eyes.

"Nothing I'm just wondering, where are you from?" he asked timidly.

I arched an eyebrow at him but still replied, "I'm from Arizona".

A startled look crossed his face and then he grinned. "My aunt lives there" he shared and now it was my time to be surprised. 

"You're family lives in America?" I asked stupidly. Of course they do, he practically just said it. It took me this revelation to realize that he didn't have a British accent. Actually his soft chocolate brown eyes seemed familiar. 

That's when I realized I had been staring and he had noticed even though he was driving. I quickly looked away and that's when it hit me. Derek. His eyes reminded me of Derek's.

"Mike?" I called and his attention was divided between me and the road.

"Yeah?" he prompted when I didn't continue.

I crossed my fingers hoping the answer would be no and opened my mouth to speak. "Are you Christie's oldest son?" I asked slowly, almost in a whisper.

His eyes were focused on the road and he didn't look at me when he answered. "Yes, she's my mother".

Oh crap. Mike is none other than Derek's cousin.... the world is smaller than we think.

"How do you know her?" he asked, when he noticed I wasn't going to say anything else.

I hesitated a moment and sighed. "I'm Derek's girlfriend" I said trying to give him a smile.

He stayed quiet for a couple of minutes, and I had no idea what was going on in his mind. "So I finally got to meet the famous Paige" he said grinning.

I let out a relieved breath. He knew who I was, he had heard of me. Well of course he has you dummy, you've been dating his cousin for a year and a half.

Then it hit me.

What if this wasn't a coincidence? Derek is really over-protective of me. It really surprised me when he told me I could come to this trip, I actually thought there would be a horrible argument about it. But there wasn't.... what if he planned for his cousin to keep his eyes on me, and then he would report everything I do back to him. 

The more I thought about it, the more it made sense.

Derek doesn't trust me; no matter how much he tells me he does. He feels the need of sending someone to check on me... 

The thought sent a flaring anger through my body, but I kept it at bay. I wasn't going to let Mike know what's going on, I will just pretend I'm clueless.

Once we got to the hotel I got out of the car and took a deep calming breath. I needed to keep it together.

That's when I saw the monument in front of me. It was the biggest most beautiful building I had ever seen. This is my hotel? It's a good thing I won this trip, I would never be able to afford staying in a place like this.

I pressed my handbag closer to me and walked side to side with Mike, who was carrying my luggage. 

When we were inside I took a look around, everything seemed so fancy and exotic...I kind of felt cheap.

"This is where you'll be staying this whole month. This is your new home away from home" Mike said cheerfully. 

"Okay so you're on floor 5, let me help you get there so you can rest. I bet you're tired from the flight" he looked at me sympathetically and I forced myself to look tired. I really didn't want to spend more time with him, not when I know the real reason why he's here.

"You don't have to take me to my room, I'm sure I can find it by myself" I told him. But he waived my words off with his hand.

"Nonsense! You're my cousin's girl, I have to make sure you get to your room safe and sound" and that was it because the elevator dings and the doors slid open. 

I was stepping inside when I bumped into someone .

"Hey" I heard a familiar Irish accent and I looked up at his blue eyes. Niall.

"Oh it's Miss Sassy" I heard another familiar voice from behind him. Louis.

I looked at Mike who was staring at me confused and I side stepped Niall and got in the elevator. He was with 4 other boys; Zayn and Louis and two others I haven't met. They all walked out but Niall turned around and gave me this hurt look that twisted my insides. But then the doors slid close and his face disappeared from my view.