Dream A Little Dream of Me

Chapter Two

  I woke up bright and early that morning, eager to hear from Syco. It had been two painfully slow weeks of anxious waiting to hear whether or not I had gotten the job. But today, June 14th, I would find out.

                The bed creaked as I rolled over to the side of my bed where my phone was. 2 new messages, it read. Both were from my best friend Avery, wishing me good luck and demanding to call her right after receiving the news. I smiled at the excessive amount of exclamation points. She was almost as excited as me. Almost.

                I brushed my teeth, and strolled downstairs, still in my pajama shorts and t-shirt. I never cared what I looked like in the apartment. I lived by myself after all. I walked into the kitchen and began fixing myself some breakfast.

                I had just finished my 4 years in university. I had majored in art, singing specifically. My parents were kind enough to buy me this little apartment in England, which only an hour away from them. Most summers I’d be with my friends, traveling, running around and partying. But this summer was dedicated to work. Hopefully Syco Records was willing to be a part of it.

                That’s when my cell phone began to ring. I jumped, startled, and almost dropped the glass of juice in my hand. I was still in a daze thinking about the potentials of this summer. I looked down at the caller ID. Hmm. An unknown number flashed on the screen.

                Oh my God. Wait, was this the company? My head jerked upwards to look at the analog clock on the wall. It was 10’o clock. The exact time when they were supposed to call. How could I have forgotten?!

                I quickly reverted my attention back to the ringing phone. I clicked the accept button and brought it to my ear.

                “Hello?” I said, hoping the other end would not hear the shakiness of my breath. My hand was wobbling.

                “Hi Carey. I am speaking to you about the audition you had for Syco Records earlier this month,” the voice said.

                “Yes?” I squeaked, my anticipation reaching its height.

                “You’ve been chosen to be a backup singer. Please—“

I cut him off with a high-pitched shriek. I was jumping around in the kitchen, screaming gleefully. This continued for a bit until a now worried voice coming from my phone brought me back to reality.

                “Carey? Carey? CAREY!”

                “Oh, hello sorry.” I said sheepishly, still breathing rapidly. I wasn’t sure if my face was pink from blushing or from all the dancing. Nice one Carey. Now they think you’re a mentally unstable teenage girl.

                “Yes, well, congrats, I suppose. As I was saying, please be at the offices at 11:30. You’ll be meeting the artist you’re working with.”

                My mouth formed the shape of a small O. Today? Now? Meeting?

                “Ok,” I managed to get out. “I’ll be there.”

                “Good day.” There was a click, and we were disconnected.

I glanced up at the clock again. An hour and half to get ready for another momentous day. I got this.

                I ate a quick breakfast of fruit and gulped down the rest of my orange juice. Then I ran upstairs into my room. I searched wildly through my closet. I needed to look professional, but nothing too over the top. After throwing most of my clothes onto my bed and floor in frustration, I finally found the perfect outfit. A royal blue sleeveless top, a white blazer and black shorts. My favorite shorts. The ones that made my short legs look long and thin. (Outfit) I ruffled my dark brown hair and combed my fingers through it a couple of times. It was too wavy and too long to ever look polished. So I threw it into a messy bun, with a couple of the shorter strands framing my face. Finally, I added some foundation, a few swipes of mascara, and black eyeliner to outline my hazel eyes.

                I stormed downstairs and ran outside to my car. I shot a quick text to Avery about the good news and silenced my phone. I knew she’d be a bit mad for not calling, but right now I had no choice.

                I jumped into my car and drove like a madman to the building. I arrived promptly at 11:20. Sighing with relief, I realized I was going to be on time. I stood outside the doors, taking in the huge, white, structure looming over me. Standing up straight with my shoulders back, I confidently marched towards the wide glass doors. Thank God I had chosen to wear flats today. I probably would have broken a leg along the way if I had gone with my platforms. Then all of a sudden, while I was taking my first step through the doors, I ran head on into someone. We crashed into each other, and fell onto the ground together.

                “Ouch,” I said, my voice muffled. That’s when I noticed that I was sprawled on top of him, our limbs entangled. I pushed myself up on my hands and looked down at him. He was smiling cheekily back up at me.

                “Oh my God, I’m so sorry,” I said, thoroughly embarrassed. I quickly got off him and stood up while brushing myself off. 

                “It’s ok. I’m used to cute girls like you launching themselves at me.” He replied in a naturally deep voice, while looking up and down at my tan legs and smiling.

                If I wasn’t so frazzled I probably would have sauntered off. Or hit him with my purse. Usually, these kinds of guys annoyed me. But the effect he had on me was undeniably different. Instead, my cheeks turned pink at his comment, and I was able to ignore the fact that he was not-so-discreetly checking me out. I wasn’t the one to usually flirt back either, but I decided to play along.

                “Launching myself at you? I don’t think so babe.” I replied with a wink. He grinned at me. And that’s when I finally realized that this was the guy at the audition the other day. Here I was, looking down at Harry Styles and his dazzling smile. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t noticed who it was before. 

                “Aren’t you going to help me up?” he asked, jolting me out of my dazed state. I was still processing what had just happened.

                But I managed to nod and reach a hand down. He took it and got up.

                He was even more breathtaking in person. Green eyes, messy curls, pink lips and a sonorous voice. It seemed as if he was a good foot taller than me, and I felt like a little girl next to his towering presence. He was still holding my hand, his thumb gently grazing back and forth over my bracelet. I inhaled a sharp breath at his soft touch.

                “Nice bracelet,” he said with a smirk. Smirk? Why was he smirking? Oh. Right. I hadn’t said a word since I realized who I had ran into.

“Thanks, I’m Carey by the way.” I managed choked out. Ugh. What happened to that smooth persona I was channeling just moments before?

“I know, I saw your audition, remember?” Of course I remember, I thought. How could I forget that he was the one to practically save my performance?  “And you were the girl screaming after our management called you.” He continued. Oh God, he knew that? Wonderful. Now Harry would know me as a crazy idiot. But then my thoughts quickly changed as I realized what he had just said.

“So wait…I’m working for your management? As in…I’m singing with you guys?” Slowly, my brain was turning and it was all starting to sink in. My eyes grew wide.

“Yep. I’m Har—,”

“Harry Styles.” I interrupted reflexively, and then immediately regretted it. I just couldn’t help myself. This was amazing. Working with THE One Direction. The band I had spent years fangirling over. 

He laughed. I thought I couldn’t be more infatuated with him, but I was wrong. His laugh was beautiful and deep and it was enough to make me want to giggle along with him. But I didn’t. One of the few good moves I had made during our entire encounter.

“So Carey, I guess we should finally go inside?” he asked. 

“Yeah,” I nodded. Finally, I stepped through the doors of Syco Records. I sneaked a glance at Harry trailing behind me, who seemed to be smirking again, looking at my backside. Was he checking me out for the second time? I shook my head in disbelief, but inwardly smiled.

This was going to be a wild ride.