The Target (Complete) - Watty Awards 2014

Chapter 3 - Sofitel St. James Hotel

I woke up the next morning to a text message. It was from Aaron. One Direction is doing a press conference for the few local stations at the Sofitel St. James Hotel this afternoon.  He left me a press pass at my door. I rolled out of bed and saw the large tan envelope near my door. Aaron is probably the only guy who’s been to my house as much as I have. Yet, he has never been inside. He just drops care packages for me.

I picked up the envelope and emptied the content onto my bed. A few useful gadgets, a tape, an official press pass and a note. It read:

Thought you might need a few things. Everything is set up for the press conference. Your new name is Raja McCormick from Sky News. The real reporter came down with “the 24hr flu”. Your Welcome Raja. J

P.S. The Company dropped off another part of your assignment. Play the tape, when ready.

Raja McCormick? I thought Raja was a guy’s name. I do not even look like a Raja. Well, if I’m going to blend in with those suits, I’m going to need a suit. I roamed through my closet for a black pant suit. I added a white blouse to it. Simple but classy. Today is all about recon. Nothing more. I can probably ask a few questions about their upcoming concert. That’s all I need. I tied my hair into a simple ponytail and added my favorite reading glasses. A pair of black Ray-Bans, for that librarian look. Perfect. I loaded everything from my care package into a small black purse, and headed out the door.

I arrived at the press room about an hour later. It was being held in a secret location, not too far from the hotel. When I arrived, I attached my press pass to my jacket and walked inside. The room was already loaded with camera crews, reporters, photographs and a few lucky fans. I stood in the back, between two studio cameras. I didn’t want to be noticeable. A guy from BBC did notice and decided to stand next to me.

“Hey, I’m Bruce Brockman from BBC.” He said. “What’s your name?”

I didn’t reply. I merely flashed my name badge.

“Ray-ah. Nice name.” he flirted.

I raised my eyebrow. “It’s Raja.”

“Oh, that’s even better.” He smiled. “Uh, I didn’t know there were pretty girls over at Sky News.”

“I guess you should watch the news more often then.” I snapped.

“If you’re there, I definitely will.” He taunted. “So what are you doing….”  

“No,” I interrupted.

“But I didn’t finished my…”

I shook my head. “No.”

“But…”

“Walk away.” I demanded.

He walked away, confused. I didn’t have time to listen to his so-called pickup lines. I have a mission to complete. But don’t worry about him. Two minutes later, he was talking to another female. I know his type. I didn’t want to have to kill him in the middle of this room. It wasn’t worth it. At least, not now. A few minutes later, there was a small commotion outside the door. The five guys of One Direction walked into the room, followed by an older gentleman. They sat on a few chairs, slightly elevated above the ground. The older guy said he was from their record label and was going to monitor the conference. He started picking people to ask the guys questions. They asked stupid things that I could have found on the internet. I don’t think the guys really cared. They just gave some of the silliest answers I’ve ever heard. Not very professional but everyone else were eating it up. Then someone asked about the upcoming concert.

“What about your concert tomorrow? Is it going to be different from the X-Factor tour?” a stocky woman asked.

“Yah, its defin’tly gonna be diff’rent. Nuthin like the X-Factor tour. I reckon, it’s gonna be massive.” The blonde one said, in a heavy Irish accent. I’m assuming he was Niall.