Chapter One
-Chapter One-
I slide out of my big bed and walk towards my bedroom door. I pad down the hallway, and turn towards the stairs. I get into the kitchen and see my Dad and Lauren sitting at the table eating breakfast. Lauren looks up at me with a smile.
"Good morning sweetie. I made breakfast, go ahead and grab a plate." She sweetly says. I like Lauren, a lot. She's so nice and caring. Absolutely beautiful as well.
"Thanks Lauren." I say kindly.
"Good Morning Victoria, how are you today?" My father finally asks me, but he doesn't look up from his newspaper. I walk over to the stove with a plate and scoop some eggs, a piece of toast, and some bacon. I grab a fork and the hot sauce and walk to the table.
"I'm good. Thanks Dad." I pour some hot sauce on my eggs, and dig in.
"That's lovely. I need to talk to you later. Come to my office once you're ready." He says, and flips the page in the newspaper. This doesn't sound good. My dad only talks to me in his office if I did something bad. I'm nervous to see what's coming.
"Sure." I say, and I go back to my eggs. I try to keep my panic to myself, what did I do? My mind ponders the possible outcomes of my upcoming meeting. Lauren gets up and walks to the fridge, breaking me from my thoughts. "This really is amazing, Lauren. Thank you."
"Oh, no problem! I'm glad you like it." She says and carries two glasses of orange juice over. She places on in front of me, and one in front of her. I smile at her as a thank you. My dad just looks up and sips his coffee. He returns to his newspaper with no sign of emotion. Fuck.
I finish my breakfast, clean up my dishes, and walk up the stairs to get ready. After he didn't say anything to me while I was eating, I became increasingly nervous. This has to be important. Why couldn't my dad just talk to me like this? I mean I don't look amazing, but he is my father. I guess, if it's important, I wouldn't want to talk to my daughter if she was in pajamas and still supporting bed head and morning breath. Might as well play on his good side.
I get into my bathroom, and turn on the hot water. I pull my hair out of its bun, and slide out of my comfy pajamas. I get into the hot water and calm down. I turn on the radio, yeah, my shower is so fancy it has a radio button. I love it. The beat distracts me and the water washes away my worry.
I sing along as I wash my hair and body. Once I'm done, I get out and the music disappears. I go back into my bedroom, and get dressed. I put on a plain light blue t-shirt, long yoga pants that are tight to my ankles, and my favorite light brown combat boots.
I brush through my knotted brown hair. It falls midway down my back. I don't look anything like my dad. I look more like my mother who died when I was born. I have her hazel eyes, her face shape, her brown hair with a very slight tint of red , and her smile. Since she died, I don't really know much about her. I have one picture of her when she was pregnant with me, and I am told that I look a lot like her.
I put on a little mascara and perfume. I decide not to curl my hair due to my returned angst. I would probably get distracted and burn my hair off.
I brush my teeth and give my hair one last brush before I go downstairs. Lauren is sitting at the table on her laptop. She points down the hallway towards my father's office. I let out a shaky breath and she gives me a nervous smile.
"Good luck Tori." She whispers as I pass her. I hate when she calls me that. I nod and nervously look down as I walk down the hallway that appears to get longer with every step I take. Once I finally reach the closed glass door, I give it a light knock.
"Come in, Victoria." His voice sounds strong, yet muffled through the door. I slowly push the door open, and walk through. My father is sitting at his desk reading many papers in front of him. He looks up at me when I plop down on the couch directly in front of him. "Why do you think you're here?" he asks as he looks up from his papers.
"Let's just cut to the chase, I'm in trouble aren't I?" I ask him, looking toward the floor nervously. "What did I do now?" I ask him, and he surprises me by laughing. I raise my eyebrows as I look up at him. He really is laughing.
"You aren't in trouble, Victoria." He states between laughs. "I just wanted to give you an offer." He says once he is settled again. So I get to talk to work Dad. Lovely. We sit there in silence as he waits for my response.
"I'm listening." I say and look at him, eyebrows still raised. My father lets out a small laugh at my response.
"So, you know that I work with a lot of bands and performers, right?" He asks and I nod. "Well, One Direction are going on tour soon, and they always have three main people accompany them. Paul, their body guard, Lou, their hair and makeup artist, and someone who keeps in touch with me. The person is like me, since I can't travel with them. Like a manager." He pauses and leans forward. "The person who normally goes with them, died last week of a heart attack." I suck in a breath at his words. "And with such short we have nobody to fill his place."
"And where do I come in?" I ask him, though I think I already know the answer.
"You would be that person. I will talk with you, email you, you would attend concerts, and make sure everything runs smoothly. You would be in charge," he says and I get excited, he must really trust me. "with my calls, of course." I lied, he just wants to stay here with Lauren while I do his dirty work. "I would give you a schedule of their concerts, talk shows, radio talks, interviews, and such. I would call you so you would know what to do. I would give you a list of what to do basically." He says and reaches into his desk and pulls out a tan file folder that is the same size as the Bible. He places it in my hands.
I flip through and see information on the boys, a calendar with what I need to do written on each day, where I need to be, and just information. I press my lips together and look up at my father who is looking back at me.
"I will explain everything in there." He says with a smile. "Their tour starts November 1st in Australia. They will be there for a month before they travel to different countries. The rest of where they go and when will be in there, I will show you in a second. But, you will be paid and you will be gone until June 1st for their last concert here, in London. Then you will come home, and based off how you did, we will decide if you want to continue doing this or not." He pauses and leans back in his chair. "I know I am leaving out a bit of information, but it will make sense once I explain the folder, other than that, what do you think?"
"I think that this would sound amazing, if I wasn't going with strangers, in two weeks, for 8 months." I say and my dad looks at me.
"They are on their way here now so they won't be strangers. They are going to stay here for two weeks so you can know what to do and get to know them. They you will travel with them to Australia and start the tour." He is interrupted by a doorbell. "I bet that is them now. What perfect timing? This is why I told you to look nice." He finally answers my question as he walks to the office door.
I timidly follow him as he walks to the front door, where we see five boys standing, uncomfortably. They are all looking around, until their eyes land on me. The one's on the end jaws drop slightly. The one in the middle has wide eyed, and the other two look between Simon and I.
Great.