Be Your Everything

e i g h t

Someone Like You: Bad Guy

I fidgeted with my dress for probably the hundredth time that night before walking into the restaurant. While packing for this weekend, I accidentally packed the wrong dress, opting for a much more form-fitting option than I was planning on wearing to a business dinner. Unfortunately, by the time I had realized my mistake, I only had an hour to get ready for dinner after my meet up that afternoon. Thankfully the dress wasn't too scandalous, but it also wasn't anything I'd want to meet someone's grandparents in. So now there I was, constantly pulling the scoop neck up to conceal my cleavage and scolding myself for packing such an unprofessional looking dress, noting that its bubblegum pink color only drew more attention to my ensemble.

I walked into the dark restaurant and scanned the room for Ian, but he was nowhere to be seen. Giving up on trying to locate my dinner party on my own, I decided to ask the hostess that was stationed in the corner.

"Hi, I'm here for a dinner with Modest Management?" I wasn't sure how to phrase my statement, so it ended up sounding more like a question. The tall brunette woman scanned the book of reservations, but looked back at me with a frown on her face.

"I don't see it on here." She shrugged, unsure of what to tell me. I scrolled through the email itinerary on my phone for any information about tonight's dinner, and saw that it was under Luke's name instead.

"What about Luke Hemmings?" This time, the girl nodded with a smile on her face.

"Mr. Hemmings is in the back room. I'll show you to the table." She turned briskly on her heels and made a beeline for the back of the dimly lit restaurant. I ducked between the cramped tables as I followed her to the back of the restaurant and behind a curtain, revealing Luke sitting by himself in an otherwise empty room.

He stood from the table, pulling out the seat across from him as I approached the table. He cleaned up well for a grungy rocker. His white shirt was free of wrinkles and his signature black pants were free of holes this time, accented with some black boots. I thanked him for pulling out my chair before peeking through the curtain to see if anyone else was on their way over.

"Where's the rest of your band?" I asked casually, trying not to be too obviously disappointed that Calum wasn't here for dinner.

"Well, uh, I guess this meeting doesn't really concern the rest of the band as much as me." He mumbled like a child being forced to confess to misbehaving. I racked my brain for something to say that could lighten the mood, figuring if we were going to be hanging out from now on, I wanted to try and be friends with him for real.

Before I could think of anything to say to Luke, a woman with a stern face and her dark hair perfectly styled walked through the curtain and gave Luke a sinister smile once she saw him. Luke did his best to smile back at her, but it was obvious that this woman's presence made him uncomfortable.

"It's nice to see you, Luke." The woman said while taking the seat next to Luke, despite the lack of sincerity behind her words. Her tan skin had a radiant glow underneath the dim lighting of the restaurant, but her blue eyes held no twinkle of friendliness as she sized up the poor guy sitting awkwardly in his chair beside her.

"You too, Ms. Baker." He mumbled, nervously picking at a cuticle while he waited for her to speak. Whoever this woman was, she clearly scared Luke (and probably the rest of 5SOS) shitless.

"Luke sweetheart, how many times do I have to tell you to call me Lauren?" She mused with sickly-sweetness before her expression returned to one that lacked the capability for any positive emotion to be shown. I, too, began to grow uncomfortable in her presence. "Anyways, I'm glad you're both here so that we can get started." She spoke with a Northern accent, but she definitely wasn't from New York; Pennsylvania perhaps?