I slammed my laptop shut and headed into my boss's office. "Hey Dave!" I said, "I'm heading home to get my self ready for the One Direction concert tonight. Being that he was on the phone, he nodded and waved me away.
I really didn't want to go as One Direction was a little out of my demographic, but I had been cooped up in the office for so long, I was stir crazy. I unlocked my apartment door and threw my keys into the bowl beside the front door. I set my purse down, locked the front door and headed for the shower.
I picked my outfit carefully, knowing that I was going to have to interview them after the concert. I wanted to look like I was going to a concert and yet, mature enough to be interviewing them for the newspaper I worked for. I chose a simple short black dress. I added black heels and a pair of silver earrings, a gift from my grandmother. She always said they'd bring me luck.
I brushed my thick curly black hair and paid attention to my makeup. When I left to go, I thought I looked pretty good. I grabbed a light jacket and put my keys, ticket and backstage pass in my purse and headed to the concert.
When I got there, there were millions of screaming girls waiting for the doors to open. I waited for my photographer, Hal Sherman to show up. When he got there, we went to the security officer, showed them our press passes and they took us to the room where other press people were waiting to be briefed. The quiet in the room was almost deafening after the screaming girls outside. A woman stepped up and briefed us on questions that were permissible and others that were not. Once we were briefed, we were given wristbands of purple to wear that identified us as press and we headed into the concert to find our seats. Hal started snapping pictures, I started scribbling in my notebook, describing what I was seeing.
Soon, the opening act came on stage and the girls went wild. I'd not heard of them, but they weren't bad. I found myself on my feet dancing to the music. I made a mental note to download their album. It would be a good workout album for the gym.
Then came One Direction. I had only seen pictures of them. Seeing them in concert was different. Harry was tall and handsome and came close to the stage often. I had not realized what a handsome young man he was. He smiled down at me and I smiled and waved to him. I felt myself being drawn into the excitement of the evening...
After the concert, Hal and I went back to the meet and greet with them. Hal and I were put in a group of young girls who were so excited to se Harry and Niall headed our way that they couldn't stop crying. Harry and Niall were perfect gentlemen and gave the girls hugs, pictures and selfies. They were so sweet and the girls ate it up.
When the girls left, they turned their attention to me. At that point, I wasn't sure what to say. Harry's eyes were the most beautiful shade of green and his hair fell on his shoulders in soft waves. He smiled at me and I turned to shake Niall's hand. Instead, Niall gave me a big hug and invited me to sit down and talk. I sat down carefully on the folding chair and the three of us began to talk. Niall was called over to meet a group of fans and Harry and I began to talk about other things besides One Direction.
I was surprised to hear how knowledgable he was on politics, religion and other things. I was really sorry when our conversation ended. Hal snapped several photos of me with Harry and then we got ready to leave. As I headed out, Harry stopped me. "Can I have your phone number?" he asked. "Sure," I replied, surprised that he would want it. I gave it to him and he put it in his phone. My cell rang then, and as I went to answer it, he stopped me. "Promise me you won't give it out." he said. I promised.
I figured I'd never hear from him again. I put him in my contact list and headed home with Hal.
Over the next few days, I was so busy putting my story together and proofing pictures that I completely and totally forgot that Harry might call me. So I was really surprised when my phone rang one afternoon. "Bad time?" he asked with a lilt in his voice. He has such a beautiful accent and I love listening to him talk, hell, I love listening to all of them talk! "Of course not!" I assured him, "What's up?" We talked for almost an hour before he had to go. He asked me if I would be be at the concert that they were going to be doing that was about four hours from where I was. I was sad when I told him I wasn't going to be there. "Why?" he asked. "I don't have a press pass this time." I said, "plus it's four hours from here! I could drive there and back, but I can't afford a ticket." "I'll leave you one at the security office. Please come, I really want to see you again." He said. I was flattered. It had been a long time since someone wanted me around. "I'll be there." I promised.
