No Control (Book 1)

52. Spaces

May 2015

The next two weeks passed in a miserable blur. I refused to answer my phone to Harry or reply to his texts and voicemails. The more I thought about it, the more it seemed obvious he would have had women waiting in the wings for whenever he was feeling horny. I managed to avoid all forms of social media and barely even checked the Daily Mail for fear of seeing an article about Harry or the other members of One Direction.

I was practically a hermit until the first weekend in May when Callie threatened to come to my flat and drag me out by the hair, regardless of what state I was in (she doesn't say things she doesn't mean) so I agreed to meet her and some mutual friends on Saturday night for a couple of drinks.

I pulled on a pair of black skinny jeans and a loose fitting cami that showed off the last of my LA tan, and wore my hair down and wavy. I grabbed my biker jacket and headed onto the tube to meet Callie in The Rose Garden.

I found her standing at the bar with 2 friends and a girl I didn't know. As I weaved my way towards her she waved at me and then grimaced.

"Fucking hell, Jess. Who died?"

"What do you mean?"

"You look miserable as sin."

"Sorry," I muttered.

"You need to forget about Harry bloody Styles," she declared.

"I know," I sighed. "Get me a drink, will you?"

She gave me a one-armed hug. "That's my girl. We'll find you a new bloke by the end of the night."

"Great," I whispered.

James appeared next to Callie. "Hey Jess... woah, what's up with you?"

"Christ, do I look that bad?" I muttered.

"Well you look like someone just told you Christmas is cancelled," James said, raising an eyebrow at Callie.

"Or that Harry Styles has been shagging Taylor Swift," Callie explained.

"Oh, are you still upset about that?" James asked.

I looked away and didn't answer. My gaze fell on three guys at the end of the bar, and one raised his beer bottle at me and began making his way towards me, grinning. It took me a moment to realise who it was.

"Jessie!" Nick Grimshaw exclaimed as he put his arm around me and gave me a squeeze.

"Hi Grimmy," I said as enthusiastically as I could muster, while my heart sank to my soles of my Louboutins.

"Oh. Was it something I said?" he quipped, studying my face.

"Sorry," I apologised. "Just tired and not in the mood tonight."

"Have you spoken to Harry yet?" he asked.

Wow. No beating around the bush.

"No," I said flatly.

"You should, you know. He's pretty cut up."

"I'm sure he'll get over it," I snapped.

Nick raised his eyebrows and said nothing. Callie placed a large cocktail in front of me, along with a bright blue shot.

I nodded my thanks at her and downed the shot, before taking a long drink of the cocktail. "Uh, Jess, take it easy," she said tentatively.

"I'm fine," I said. I could see Nick was watching me and I wanted to tell him to sod off.

"So, are you coming to the Radio 1 Big Weekend in Norwich?" Nick asked me. (The Big Weekend is a 2-day festival where some of the biggest current bands perform and it is all played live on BBC Radio 1. It's a pretty big deal.)