Starstruck [H.S.]

2.The Proposal

"Sorry for being so mysterious about all of this, I just can't afford to lose the small amount of privacy I have at the moment," Anne explains quickly, waiting for her drink order. "This holiday is important to me. I never get real quality time with both of my children anymore since one is now..uh...successful I guess you could say."

I can't tell if I should scared by how cloak-and-dagger-esque she is being or intrigued. I decide I should probably wait to hear her out before I bolt for the door.

"It's doesn't matter where my son goes, the press follows however unwelcome they may be. If I am to hire you for our trip, I am going to need to know that you will have the utmost discretion. You will have to sign a non-disclosure agreement though before I tell you any of the details," she says as she pulls out a stack of papers from her purse and a pen, placing them on the table between us.

"Um, you don't even know me, why would you trust a total stranger with this?" I ask, trying not to choke on my latte. "I mean, no offense, but if you need as much privacy as you say, why bother with hiring someone? Why not take a relative or friend you trust? I'm not saying you can't trust me, I'm just baffled why you would take the risk."

Anne seems to think over what I just said before pulling out another stack of papers from her purse, laying them on top of the NDA. Why is my name at the top?

Picking up the papers quickly, I see it has pretty much all of my personal information on it. This is beyond creepy, who the hell is this woman?

"Why do you have this?"

"My son's team did a background check on you. I may not know you personally but they believe you can be trusted based on what they found. They even called a few of the people you listed as references on previous job applications. They were quite thorough," she answered, as if she were discussing something as simple as the weather rather than the complete violation of my own privacy.

I keep opening my mouth, to say what I don't know. This is too much. The feeling that is should run for the door is growing, my eyes scanning over the shop to find a clear path out the door and away from the crazy woman across from me.

Next thing I know, Anne places a small folded paper down in front of me. When I look up at her curiously, she is staring out the window, sipping her tea.

My curiosity gets the better of me. I pick up the small paper, unfolding it. The contents made me drop my almost empty drink on the floor.

"OH MY GOD," jumping up, I grab napkins off the table and start trying to dry up the mess I just made.

"What the hell is that?" Coming off ruder than is meant for it to sound. Oops.

"That is how much I will be writing a check for if you accept this job and sign the NDA right now. At the end of the trip I will give you another check for the same amount. If you do this, you will make twenty thousand pounds."

"You still haven't even told me anything about the trip!"

"Well then I guess you better sign the NDA so I can," she retorts, sipping her tea once more.

I'm torn but knowing just how much I could make if I did this is the driving force behind my hand when it grabbed the pen. I flip through the stack of legal papers, signing everywhere I saw one of those "sign here" sticky tabs.

"Explain. Now."

Before saying another word, Anne picked up the documents and stuck them back in her purse and stood up.

"Come along Jane, we have a lot to talk about," she says with a coy little smirk on her face as she led us towards the door.

A black SUV pulled up in front of us. Anne waited as the driver got out and opened the rear door for us, ushering us in out of the cool London air.

Once we were speeding away going god knows where, she finally spoke.

"Have you heard of One Direction?"

Fighting back a snort, I look at her to see if she's joking. Her face looks deadly serious and possibly a bit offended at my reaction.

"Um I mean, yeah, who hasn't? "

"Well my son is Harry Styles. I'm sure now you understand why the need for secrecy," she says, studying my face to see if it will offend her further I'm sure.

When she said his name I felt as if my jaw was gonna fall through the floor of this car. I mean of course I'd heard of them, their faces and music are everywhere. Even if you don't listen to them, you know who they are.

"Ye-yeah I could understand that," I mumble.

"Good. Now this holiday we are taking is going to be on a private island in the south pacific. That is all I am telling you about it. I know you signed the NDA but I cannot afford for any of this to be leaked. His band has just begun their break and the paparazzi won't leave him alone. He just wants a relaxing trip with his family and I will do what ever I have to to make it happen," she says going into mama bear mode. Her love for her son shines through her every word.

"I completely understand," I assure her. This will be one hell of an opportunity. Not only do I get to travel somewhere I've never been before but I get to do it with a celebrity and his family. Not to sound shallow but....GOALS. I am screaming on the inside from pure excitement now, all apprehension I had has vanished.

"If one word about this trip is leaked to the press we will trace it back to the source. If that source is found then you should know we will sue to the full extent of the law, understand?" Geeze this woman I thought was so sweet can be intimidating.

"Yes, yes, I understand. You have nothing to worry about from me."

"Good. Your job on this trip will be to take pictures obviously, but I want a lot of candids. I noticed that was a bit of a speciality for you," she smirked at me. "My son has to pose for pictures all day everyday, I want ones that capture his true spirit in the moment. These pictures are for our family only and I expect them to stay that way even once our transaction is concluded. As much as I love his fans, I don't want to share the pictures from this trip with them. Think you can do it?"

"You can count on me."