Stare Like You'll Stay [h.s.]

Chapter 2: Teeth ready for sinking

Present - March 2017 - Rachel's P.O.V.

"Are you almost ready to go?" Jeff's voice and his soft knock on the door broke me from my thoughts, startling me. I frantically began packing up the makeup and other items thrown around the counter in the hotel bathroom, cleaning up the mess I had made.

"Yeah, just a minute." I said over the noise of me throwing stuff back into their rightful bags. I had spent as much time possible getting ready - I took the world's longest shower and took the time to make sure my makeup was applied perfectly even though my nerves caused me to smudge my mascara more than once.

Exiting the bathroom, I took a deep breath and gave Jeff a small smile as I dug through my already unorganized luggage for a pair of shoes. Usually, Jeff would be poking fun at how long it was taking for me to get ready, but instead, he said nothing and focused his attention on the phone in his hand.

Tucking a loose piece of my dark hair behind my ear, I sat on the edge of the bed and laced up my shoes, my mind buzzing with possible excuses I could use to avoid going tonight, the thought of room service while lay in bed sounding more like heaven each minute.

"Who is this party for again?" I directed my attention towards Jeff who finally looked me in the eyes for one of the first times today. Standing up from his spot on the arm chair located in the corner of the room, he reached for the keys on the nearby table, slipping his phone into his pocket.

"It's this guy Mitch, he worked on the record with Harry and I think is going to tour with him. It's his birthday today." I nodded as I stood from the edge of the bed and looked in the mirror one last time. Everything just felt off and not even the bold red color on my lips could hide the dullness in my eyes. 

I adjusted my high waisted jeans that I thought made me look wider than I already was before sighing quietly and reaching for my leather jacket, slipping my arms through the holes. It'll do, I guess.

Without another word, I followed Jeff out the hotel room door, silence filling the space between us until we got into the elevator.

"He's a cool guy, you'll really like him. He can be pretty quiet, but he has his moments." Jeff spoke of Mitch, trying to grasp onto any topic we could possibly talk about, dancing around the one subject I knew he wanted to address.

"Do you know if there is anyone there I am going to know? I would hate to just follow you around all night." I tried to add a laugh at the end of the sentence to break the tension, but it came out as more of a loud sigh, none of which caused Jeff's blank face to change.

"I think Lou will be there, she flew out a few days ago to style a shoot H was doing and I think Gems flew a few days ago as well. Have you seen either of them since-"

"-I see Gemma all the time, we don't live too far from each other in London. Anne, too." Harry probably doesn't know because I asked Gemma and Anne not to say anything, but I still spend a great amount of time with the two of them when I am home, which is now more often than ever before.

The elevator doors dinged open as Jeff and I walked in sync to his car parked in the front of the hotel. Grabbing the keys from the valet attendant, I climbed into the passenger seat as my phone dinged in my jacket pocket.

Pulling it out, a brief smile appeared on my face as Gemma's name popped up on the screen.

Are you coming tonight? I need someone to save me from these bizarre Hollywood socialites.

I just left the hotel with Jeff so we should be there soon unfortunately.

The more we drove on, the more my stomach began to turn with uneasiness, my gut telling me to get the fuck out of this car and back to the hotel room. But my mind told me I had to face this, well him, at some point. My phone dinged again as Jeff took a right and began merging onto the freeway.