Behind the Mic (Liam Payne fanfic)

Chapter Seven

       My phone ringing awoke me from my sleep, and I groaned in annoyance. I slapped my hand down on my bedside table and tried to grab my phone, but hit the answer call button.

      "Rose? Rose!" I heard a deep voice through my phone and pulled it to my pace.

      "Hmmm?" I rubbed my eyes and cleared my throat. "I'm sorry, I just woke up. Who is this?"

      "It's Mr. Roberts! You need to be here in thirty minutes." I bolted up in my bed.

     "Thirty minutes?! I'm not called until one, I thought?" I looked at my alarm clock. It was only ten.

      "You were, but we need you here sooner. Louis, the small one, from the band is requesting you. Who am I to say no? Get here in thirty minutes or sooner!" He hung up. Louis? Why would Louis request me? I remembered the conversation we had yesterday and face palmed. He was setting me up. I wasn't going to go. I laid back down in bed, but then bolted back up. What if he was just joking, and I actually had to be there? If I didn't go, would Mr. Roberts fire me? Ugh. 

     I rolled out of bed and took a ridiculously quick and cold shower. Cold showers always force me to go quicker. Of course, all my nice clothes were dirty. Or at Riley's. I had forgotten that we officially broke up yesterday. My eyes started to water and I shook it off. He was gone, and out of my life. I had blocked and deleted his number and I could always buy new clothes. I didn't want to go back to his apartment. I wouldn't talk to my sister until I settled down about it. I'm sure she has a reasonable excuse as to why she had sex with my boyfriend, but it was obviously still too soon for me to be over him. I threw on a pair of probably dirty black leggings and a sports bra and looked around for any sweater. I wasn't going to have time to do any makeup. Fuck. I found my old college sweater with holes in the elbows and rushed to the kitchen, grabbing my bag, phone, and phone charger on the way out. 

     I pushed in an instant coffee in my Keurig and placed my coffee mug under to fill up. I rushed around, grabbing keys and a water bottle and put them in my bag. The Keurig dinged and I mixed in three sugars and a splash of milk into my coffee. I pulled up the Uber app and requested a ride. Luckily, someone was in the neighborhood and would be outside of my apartment in five minutes. I grabbed my bag and my coffee and locked the door behind me. The elevator at the end of the hall opened and I froze as Riley emerged. 

      "Rose! Thank God you're still here. We need to talk," he started towards me, but I held up a hand to stop him.

      "Riley, don't you dare. We're over, and I have to get to work." I shoved past him. 

      "No, Rose, please! Listen to me," He grabbed my arm to whirl me around but I jerked out of his grasp. 

      "No way, Riley. There's nothing you can say to me that would change my mind at all. You did something unforgivable and we're through." I yelled at him and stormed to the elevator. He stood there in shock, and as the doors closed, he whirled around and tried to make it in with me. The doors closed before he could get to me. I took a deep breath and tried to contain the tears that were threatening to fall down my face. I did love him at one point, and even though this was the worst thing he's ever done, he wasn't the ideal boyfriend to begin with. I wiped my tears away and felt my phone vibrate. My Uber ride was here. Thank God, then I can bolt out of here and not chance running into Riley again. 

       I saw the car immediately and climbed in the backseat. I told the driver the address of the Hollywood Bowl and he started to drive. My phone vibrated from an unknown number and I answered it.

      "Rose! Where did you go?" It was Riley's voice. I forgot I deleted his number, but didn't block it yesterday. I simply hung up and blocked his number right away. I had to completely cut him out. I looked at the clock on my phone and saw that I was going to be late if the Uber driver didn't drive faster. I leaned forward and gently tapped him on the shoulder.

     "Excuse me, sir, I'm going to be late to work, could you please drive a little faster?" He glared at me through the mirror.

      "I am not going to get a ticket for speeding for you, no matter how pretty you are or sad you look," He shook his head. "Just call your boss." I leaned back and debated. I really didn't want Mr. Roberts to yell at me again, but I really should let him know. I decided to text Brandon.

     Are we both called at 1030? or is roberts  messing with me? He was probably still asleep, but I sent it anyway. Surprisingly, he sent me a text back right away.

     I'm not, I'm called @1. Why would he call you in so early? 

     Not sure. c u @1:) He didn't reply after that. I just sat and looked out the window and hoped that the traffic on the highway wasn't too bad. 

    

    When we finally got to the Hollywood Bowl, I thanked the driver and paid him with a small tip. He started to complain and yell at me, but I bolted out of there. He's lucky he got a tip in the first place. He wasn't great. I swiped my ID card to unlock the front doors and made my way to Mr. Roberts' office. He didn't tell me what I was going to be doing today, so I figured I'd ask him.  I knocked on his door and he called for me to come in. 

     "Hi," I greeted him timidly. I knew I was a few minutes late, but I really hoped he didn't care that much. "What did you want me to do, two and a half hours early?"

     "Don't sass me, kid," He waved his finger at me. "Louis called and wanted you to be here early. Said there was a mic issue last night and he didn't want it to happen again. I know you're on mics, so go fix it."

     "Is he backstage?"

     "As far as I know." He shooed me out of his office and I gently closed the door behind me. One of the first things Mr. Roberts told his employees when we start working is to never slam doors. I don't know why, it was an odd request, but we all respected it. I walked to the backstage area and saw a figure sitting on a stool in front of the piano, plunking a few chords out. I figured it was Louis, as he was the one who called me.

      "Hey," I greeted him warmly. "You requested me?" He turned around and I gasped. 

     Liam?!