Ever Since New York // H.S. - ON HOLD

CHAPTER 3 - HARRY EDWARD STYLES

A/N - Hehe...The king has arrived, everybody! :)

. . .

It's 10:15 and I spent the last 45 minutes sitting in bed, giving myself a mental pep talk to survive this night. It's just Cara. I love Cara. She's sweet and I am comfortable around her. She befriends celebrities more than I do. Some of them have run off once they found out that she is high up in THEMEGA. They're afraid of the power she has to expose them. Except the thing is, when you're genuinely friends with a celebrity, you're not going to publish anything that will risk losing that friendship. Unless you're a two faced bitch, which neither Cara or I are. I stay on the surface with celebrities. I've gotten to know a few of them, even been out to brunch and things like that, but it still just doesn't feel like a place I want to be in. I do my job and I do it well. Utilize tactics I know work, so I can get info I need to make a great story.

I keep telling myself that this isn't going to be any different than the events I have been to before. Except I just need to be myself. There's no pressure to dig into people's personal lives or make fake conversation to find details I need. I can relax and just live. I think I can do that.

Emma arrives right on time and I give her the camera monitor as usual. This is going to be easy for her since Ginny's already been asleep for a few hours and I don't expect she'll wake up anytime soon. She really is a good sleeper.

"You look stunning, Ev." She gives me a smile and a soft touch on the shoulder as I grab my clutch and slip on my black strappy heels.

"You don't think it's too much?" I question, raising my eyebrows and frowning slightly.

"No, oh my gosh, it's perfect! Please tell me you're going to talk to at least a couple hot young men tonight?" She raises one of her brows poking me in the arm. She is always trying to set me up with her friends, but I always refuse. I have Ginny to worry about and I do not have any time or energy to put into a relationship right now.

"Ha, yeah. I don't think so!" I chime as I apply a little bit more lipstick in the mirror in our front hall.

"Ev...you gotta start somewhere." Her voice is a bit more soft, but encouraging. Emma is only two years older than me, and definitely feels like a sister if I ever had one. My brother introduced me to her, as he had with many people. Her fiance has known Jonah since his first deployment 6 years ago. Emma knows a few things about my past, but not much. Just that my ex is in jail and I escaped a very toxic, abusive situation and am doing what I can to protect myself. That is about all anyone needs to know about that anyway.

My phone pings and I see a text from Cara saying she's outfront in the Uber and to hurry my ass up. I make sure I have all of my things in my clutch before heading toward the door.

"You know the drill, Emma. And don't hesitate to call me if something goes wrong!" I whisper yell as I walk out the door.

"Nothing will happen. Go have fun!" She also whisper yells, being careful not to wake up Ginny.

I hop into the Uber with Cara as the driver speeds off toward downtown. I have absolutely no clue where this thing is going to be at or really what kind of event it is.

"So, what's this thing anyway?" I question.

"Well, all I know is that a few A-listers are sponsoring it and really it's just a big party for the celebs and insiders. It's just at a big VIP club downtown and I don't expect it to be any different than a normal night out on the town, so can you stop having a complex?" She pats her hand on my knee, reassuring me a little bit. I guess she is right. If it's just at a club, it's just like a normal night out. Except I haven't had a normal night out in nearly four years. And back then things were so different.