Red Balloon [Liam Payne AU]

v. Suppressing Memories

Juliette

Remember earlier when I said I didn’t understand why people disliked mornings so much? After waking up to the bright sun and a pounding headache, I suddenly felt sympathy.

Turning over, I glanced subconsciously at my antique alarm clock, only to literally jump out of bed, cursing as I grabbed my towel and darted into the bathroom. It was 8:30, and my first appointment was at 9! This was a new client, a very famous model, and I couldn’t let her down.

After taking a fast, hot shower and swallowing three Advil, I opened my closet and scanned briefly before grabbing my everyday work outfit- black pencil skirt, loose-fitting white shirt, black blazer, and (for a pop of color) my bright red necklace.

Clasping the necklace around my neck, I turned to the mirror, pulling my hair into a loose updo. My phone beeped- probably a text from Claire wondering where I was- and as I turned to get it, I spied my red dress laying in a crumpled heap on the floor.

Shit.

The memories from last night unfolded in my head as I tried my best to shake them off, running out the door and into the subway station. But, even as I sat down on the dirty seats and opened my tablet (trying to read), they persisted, until I had no choice but to give in and relive the previous night’s events.

Dancing at the club.

Dancing with Liam. Oh, God.

Freaking out when I realized it was Liam and then running away like a coward.

I, Juliette, am many things, but a coward is not one of them. Why was this time so different?

“Juliette, your new client is here, I already walked her back to your office and got her some water. Is there anything else I can d-“

“That will be all, Claire,” I said over my shoulder as I breezed past her, not even bothering to hand her my coat and handbag like I normally did. I glanced at my watch as I approached my office door, grimacing slightly at the time. I was already more than ten minutes late. For someone who prided herself on making good first impressions, I had been severely lacking in that department as of late.

Smoothing my skirt and turning my gold bangle just so, I walked through my office door with all the assumed confidence I could muster. Katya, my newest client, was already sitting in her chair, studying the fresh red balloon on my desk. I made a quick mental note to thank Claire later for getting the balloon and tipping the delivery boy later as I folded my coat and scarf over my desk chair.

Sitting down, facing Katya with my clipboard in hand, I gave her my warmest smile and most sincere apologies.

“I’m so sorry I was late, Ms. Reid, but you understand that even I can’t make Brooklyn traffic move any faster.”

She stood, nodding her head and gesturing towards my balloon. "Is it someone's birthday?" 

I suppressed a small sigh, people always had to ask about the balloon. "No, it's a reminder of soemthing improtant." Sitting down in my chair and asking her do the same, I restated, "I'm so sorry; the traffic was horrendous."

She smiled back at me, accepting my white lie, and added, “I totally get it. I was stuck in an awful jam for 45 minutes last week! My driver nearly lost his mind, and my phone battery was so low. I forgot the charger, and my car didn’t have any outlets. We were lucky the windows had just been tinted, or otherwise the paparazzi would’ve had a field day with my non-makeup wearing self. I was heading to a shoot for this new article about models from the Midwest, and they asked me the day before if it was alright that they dye my hair red. Red! I’m a natural brunette, but I’m really liking this dirty blonde so naturally I was upset about it…”

I nodded and smiled, pretending to follow her pointless story as I mentally jotted down the notes I had already assembled about her character.

Katya Reid. Age 24. Famous model born and raised in St. Louis. Full on girl-next door charm, excessive rambler. Tall. Russian descent judging from her name, but not on her father’s side, judging from her last name. Reid. English, maybe?

“…and so after that I remembered that I had missed my mom’s birthday. How awful is that? I’m her only daughter and I completely forgot. I felt terrible, let me just tell you, so I sent her a huge bouquet of roses. She’s always liked white roses…”

Forgetful. Only child. What other client was an only child? He may work for her. Who was it…? Liam Love, ugh.

“I’m sorry, I must be boring you.” Katya’s clear voice cut into my thoughts, stopping my train of thought.

“Oh, not Ms. Reid, that was wonderful. It really helped me understand about your life and the hectic schedule you keep.” Tucking a loose strand of hair behind my ear, I began the questionnaire part of my interview.

“So, Ms. Reid, how did you find us here at Love Connections? I’m honored that you chose us over all the top matchmaking agencies in Manhattan. Competition is quite fierce over there.”

Katya uncrossed her legs and relaxed her posture slightly, showing me that she was no longer nervous or on guard. “My makeup artist was raving about you at one of my shoots. Said her cousin’s wedding was beautiful, thanks to you, so I thought I’d give it a go.”

Name: Katya Elizabeth Beatrice Rose Reid. Occupation: professional supermodel. Favorite city: probably a tie between Paris and Berlin (the fashion week there is insane!) Favorite hobbies: watching black and white films, gardening, and painting, and so on.

The rest of the appointment went well, and it seemed like time had run away from us, because then her appointment was over, and her driver was outside and she was kissing both my cheeks promising to “call and reschedule my results. I’m excited to meet my soul mate!”

And just like that, she was gone, and I was left feeling that had all been a dream, that one of the most famous models in the world had not just stopped in my little office for half an hour to find her soul mate.

Feeling slightly dazed, swiveled my chair over to my computer to enter her information into the database. Of course, I already had a mental list of at least five possible candidates (from the likes of senator’s sons to social media creators), but my clients liked to have something physical to look at, telling them their potential forever’s.

Katya’s information now entered, it would take a maximum of 24 hours to sort through the list of potential matches.

Remembering a thought plaguing my mind since yesterday, I re-opened the database and clicked the search bar, looking for one client in particular, and one whose matches should be ready by now. I knew I shouldn’t look ahead of time, it only ruined the running bet I had with myself to see if I could guess correctly, but I couldn’t help it. It was like my fingers were no longer taking orders from my brain as I typed in slowly one name, watching as the name, his name, appeared on screen.

But what happened next caused me to do a double, triple, quadruple take. Seeing this on the computer only reaffirmed exactly what I had been thinking yesterday during our interview, but I had to double-check.

Database Match Results for: LIAM PAYNE

Potential Matches: 0

I shook my head, blinking, hoping that the number on the screen was a mistake. But it couldn’t be-we had the best technology available. What was I going to do?

For the first time ever, I had a client with no match. 

_______Oh no Liam has no matches what is Juliette going to do? Ha I had fun with this chapter, and Red Balloon is up to 200 reads! That's massvely cool, like gosh. 

Ok so dealing with the recent Liam drama, I personally think that everyone is taking it waayyyy too far and we all just need to calm down, and take a breath. That's all I have to say :) 

Um, you can expect the next update to be when the story meets 250 reads? I'd love that, so.

Before I forget, Katya is played by Karlie Kloss :) Ok bye