Love and Fame (Harry Styles)

Chapter 1

I had just returned to my two-room apartment in West Village after an acoustic gig at a local bar down the street. It was raining and I had forgotten my raincoat at home, so naturally I was soaking wet.

The minute I came inside, I dropped my tattered guitar case on the floor and tore off the layers of wet, clingy clothes. I wanted to take a hot shower to wash of the struggles of the day.

It was late and I was tired, so when my black iPhone 4 vibrated to tell me that I had an incoming call, I sort of just wanted to let it go straight to voicemail. I was assuming that it was one of my friends wanting me to join them at some club, but when I glanced at the screen and realized that it was a blocked number calling, my curiosity took the better of me.

I quickly reached for the phone to answer it before the unknown caller would hang up on me.

"Hello?"

"Hi, is this Talia Thompson?" a woman with an unfamiliar voice asked, and I confirmed that it was. "This is Lisa Wolfe, I'm a management consultant from Modest! Management," she continued and my jaw dropped.

What did a management consultant want with me? Was someone finally recognizing my music? Could this be the big break I had been waiting for for seven years?

That was my first conversation with Modest! Management. And there would be more. Because Lisa wanted me to come into her office in the morning for a little chat, and I jumped at the opportunity.

I had been working on my music since the age of twelve, and I had always wanted to make it big. So to have a management consultant calling me was, of course, a huge deal.

When I hung up the phone after my brief conversation with Lisa, I was too excited to sleep. So I ended up cooking dinner before I cleaned up the apartment and took a long bath in my lion legged bathtub.

When the water in the tub had almost gone cold, I stepped out and wrapped a soft towel around me. I removed my contact lenses before I made my way to the bedroom. I changed into my soft pajamas and collected the Moleskine notebook and Ray Ban reading glasses from my brown leather bag before I positioned myself on the bed.

I flipped through the inked pages of my almost finished notebook and reviewed the lyrics I had written in the last couple of weeks. Lisa had requested to see some of my work at the meeting and I wanted to make sure that everything was perfect. I made a few corrections and changes before I put the notebook away.

Before I turned off the lights to get a few hours sleep before the big day, I made sure to set several alarms. I was well known for being a deep sleeper and I wanted to make sure that I would wake up in time.

-

I usually sported skinny jeans, boots, plain tops and knitted sweaters or checkered shirts, but I felt like I had to step it up a little for the meeting with Modest! Management.

I rummaged through my closet to find presentable clothes, but I had to dig deep because it had been a while since I had dressed up. I ended up with a casual, army green dress and boots with high heels.

I loved my medium height because it allowed me to wear heels without looking like a giant, and still I didn't look like a midget when I didn't. Also, most boys were taller than me, just like I preferred.

After deciding on the outfit, I moved into the bathroom to apply subtle makeup and to straighten my unruly brown hair.

Though I wasn't good at the dressing up thing, I looked all right and presentable when I grabbed my bag, made sure that my Moleskin was with me and left to take the subway to the meeting.