Perfect Harmony || l.t.

Chapter One

    "Okay, Jamie. Yes, I'm almost there. No, I won't get their autographs for you!" Max scolded her brother for asking that. She was on her way to her first meeting with the band and their managers, and she was insanely tired. Max had only gotten four hours of sleep the night previous, as her mind wouldn't shut off and when she did finally get to sleep, her brother woke her up. She was cranky and grouchy, and the coffee she was consuming at a incredibly fast rate was not helping her case at all. If anything, she felt even more sleepy.

    Upon entering the modern building - which was complete with a glass floor at the very top - Max immediately rounded on the receptionist calmly sitting at her desk. "I'm here for the Cowell-Jackson meeting." Max didn't mean to sound so harsh, but she did and the poor lady sitting at the desk cowered slightly at the sharp tone Max's voice possessed.

    "Room K10. Go to the elevator on your left, and press the button for the top floor. The conference room should be on your right." Max stiffly nodded at her directions and turned away from the desk and to her left. The metal doors of the elevator stared at her as she approached them and hit the button pointing up. Stepping in the small compartment, Max pressed the button for the top and waited silently as she began to move up the shaft.

    She wasn't looking as the doors opened, so she stepped out of them abd subsequently into someone else. Her eye level was at the person's collarbones, and when Max looked up, she learned that the person was Louis. She moved away from him only because she wasn’t in the mood for one-on-one contact but it seemed like she was about to get a lot of that.

    "Can you move," Max asked him, indicating that he was in her way. Louis wasn't quite in her way - there was enough space for her to go around - but she was too tired to give in even though it was the easiest thing to do. Her clouded conscience and half-sleepy mind caused her to be stubborn.

    "No, I'm fine right here." It was a lie, as they both had to attend the same meeting that was going to start in less than one minute. Louis dropped something on the floor and was heading to go pick it up when she stepped out of the lift.

     He had to admit, seeing her for the first time did send one very miniscule butterfly to his stomach but he ignored it and turned impassive.

    "Miss Anders, Mr. Tomlinson - get in here," the man with graying hair admonished the two as they walked in. Max smiled sheepishly as she walked in, taking a seat in between Liam and Niall. Louis walked in behind her, resuming his seat on the other side of Harry.

    "Okay," the same man started, bringing the meeting officially in to order. "As you all know, Max Anders here is your new opening act for the tour. And since she is steadily climbing the charts, we have made an executive decision and deciding that she will be onstage longer than an opening act should. Instead of the four-five songs and a little 'Twitter Talk,' Max will play about eight or so songs in addition to the talk."

    Max smiled into her hand whilst the guys looked at the man - whose name was, in fact, Grey - in slight horror. Since Max was having a longer time on stage, they would have a shorter time. They hardly thought it was fair that the fans had the two-hours-and-a-half that they already did, but the two hours it'd be cut down to was insane. While four of the boys shared looks, Louis exploded.

    "It's not fair to anyone - the boys and me or our fans - that you cut our stage time down! We," he motioned the the four lads sitting around him, "have practiced for this tour so hard that some nights we could barely even say bye to you! Our fans pay to see us, not her!" Louis finished his rant, his chest moving up in down as he took deep breaths to replenish the oxygen count in his lungs. Offended by his outburst, Max dropped the smile she had been hiding and stared at him. She knew that he wasn’t the kindest person but she didn’t think he would go this far.

    Grey calmly looked at Louis, and motioned for him to sit down, who did it very reluctantly. He cleared his throat before speaking, "Yes, Mr. Tomlinson, that has been taken into account. Which is why you get to sing two more songs and answer two more questions." Now, Louis looked silly for his outburst. His band mates snickered quietly to themselves, being use to his erratic and sometimes idiotic behaviors.

    "Oh," was all that Louis said.

    The rest of the meeting subsisted of reminders for the tour and rules. One such rules, the "No sex in the tour. Period." earned a few snickers, that yes, even Max took part in. One other rule that she was grateful for was one stating that she would get her own room at every hotel and she could ride in the other bus - with Lou and the band. By the end of the meeting, three hours had passed - and four close calls with Max falling asleep. Max had forgotten about what happened in the hallway a long time ago but Louis didn’t.

    Louis was thinking of ways to irritate her. He didn’t understand that she didn’t hate him; he thought that she did and that was that in his mind. He was thinking of pranks; of things that made her tick; what she hated most. Whilst Louis was full of pranks, Max was instead thinking of what life on tour would be. She was thinking about the fans she would meet; the places she would go; the sights she would see. It all sounded such sophisticated in her head, like it was a tour of Europe she had been invited to embark upon.

    When the meeting was over and they all left the room, Liam turned to Max with a grin on his face. "Max, do you want to go get something to eat with us? This way we could learn more about you. After all, we will be spending the next four months together." In her peripheral vision, Max saw a look of annoyance cross Louis' face. Why does he hate me so? She asked herself as the looked stayed on his face. I haven’t done anything besides asked him to move in a hallway; how bad is that?

    "Sure," Max answered, even though she really just wanted to go home and curl up under her blankets and just sleep. Still, getting to know the people she was spending the next four months with was something much more productive to do with her time. He rolled his eyes, tired of her presence already, and turned on his heel, striding down the hall towards the elevator.

    "Sorry about Louis," Harry remarked, coming up beside Max. "He's been in a mood ever since Eleanor broke up with him." Max nodded and looked at Louis, who was impatiently waiting for both the elevator and the others to arrive. His foot was tapping the floor, his converse making a dull thud with each tap. What Harry said made sense to the girl as she studied his cross expression and clear impatience. He seemed like a tightly-wound ball of emotions that could blow at any second and harm those around him. Upon reaching him, the elevator made use of timing and opened, making him step in and everyone following.

    The small compartment was filled with six bodies and a whole lot of tension. Louis was impatient - too impatient and was checking his phone every few seconds as if he was waiting for someone to message him (he really wasn’t - he just wanted to appear busy). Max and the others would have heard if it vibrated or made a noise, so they were wondering why he kept looking at as if he had a new message. This thought was in everyone's head as they stepped out of the elevator and onto the lobby floor. Passing by the receptionist, Max sent her a smile and a wave, leaving the woman to wave back, confused. The last time she had seen Max was when she was cranky and had a cup full of coffee and even though the girl was still as tired as she was those hours previos, her mood seemed to brighten after the cup of coffee.

    The six stepped out of the building and began to make their way to their own separate cars. Max turned and yelled out to Liam, "text me the addresses, will ya?" Liam nodded his head in response and got in his car and started the engine, carefully pulling out with both Niall and Zayn with him. Louis and Harry got in the car they both used that morning with Harry driving. Max waited for the group of boys to leave the lot before she, in turn, did so as well.

    As she turned her head to look out the rear view mirror, Harry's car turned, giving Louis a look at her. She was looking behind her, through the rear windshield as she didn’t trust the rearview mirror all of the time. He smiled at the sight of her even though he told himself in his heart that he hated her. But there wasn’t enough hate in Louis for him to ever truly hate Max.