Lilian O'Brien has learned three things since becoming one of Hollywood's hottest actresses:
1. Don't give people the satisfaction of knowing their words got to you
2. The opinions of fans can make or break you
3. NEVER trust a popstar
So what happe...
Dinner is long, four courses, and full of performances from different artists. The gala itself is fun, but it's more of a technicality. The real fun is about to begin. As soon as the gala wraps up it's a race to the cars to drive to the hotel and change for the after party at Up&Down, a club in Manhattan. There are instantly several hands on me when I enter the room, and while Annabelle helps me strip from the Cher dress, Mario begins undoing the adhesive on my wig. I'm completely naked in a room full of people, but I don't even have time to think about it.
Annabelle sits on her knees and helps me into a pair of black tights while Mario shakes out my hair, trying to make it presentable. "It's a good thing you can pull off the messy look because I don't have enough time to make this perfect," he pants, his voice filled with stress. I don't mind it not being perfect, I'm just excited to be a blonde without an itchy wig off of my head.
I slip the black dress over my head and Annabelle fastens the belt for me while Josh touches up my lips and powders my face. Someone even puts my shoes on my feet while I go through my clutch to make sure I have everything I need. I hardly get a glance at the final look before we rush to the lobby where Harry is already waiting to load into the car.
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Up&Down is insane, and there's hardly any room to walk. Harry keeps close, his hand on my lower back leading me through the crowd. I thought I had already talked to everyone I knew at the Gala, but it feels like there are even more people here that I have yet to see.
I take a cocktail off the tray as the waiter walks by and make my rounds, trying to catch up with just about everyone. The waiters are good, making sure my glass never gets empty while I wander around chatting. I'm bonding with Jennifer Lawrence over grilled cheese when Panoramic begins playing over the loud speakers. Jenn lets out a scream before grabbing my hand and dragging me to the dance floor, immediately starting to grind on me. We both get into it, cracking up while we dance. Suddenly we're surrounded by sweaty bodied, dancing like nobody is watching.
I begin to overheat and I think I might pee my pants, so I leave Jenn on the dance floor and head to the bathroom. As I wait in line it finally hits me how much I've had to drink. I lean against the tile wall letting it cool my back until a stall opens. While I sit down the entire room spins and it brings me flashbacks to being at a fraternity party in college. I quietly laugh to myself about how different yet similar this situation is.
Once I wash my hands and pretend not to see the amount of people doing drugs on the counter, I go back into the crowd in search of Harry. I finally spot him across the room, and his eyes are searching for me. Once he sees me I rush up to him and we meet in the middle, "Harry this is an emergency," I rush.
Concern immediately flashes over his face, his brows furrowing, "is everything okay? I lost you for awhile there... Did something happen?" He touches his hand to my face, inspecting closely.
"No, it's not. You know those one dollar pizza places? Where the pizza is really greasy and only one dollar?" I fight to pronounce my words, trying not to slur, "we need to go there right now."
