Siren

Chapter Twenty-Six

AS WE GET CLOSER TO THE PREMIERE, I start to panic. I've never been to a movie premiere, I've never been to an event where a million cameras are going to be flashing and people are going to try to ask me questions.  What the hell am I supposed to say?

As a journalist, I know what will be asked.  First, they will ask about my outfit.  Which designer? Then, they will ask about any projects I am working on as if they have been watching my career since I was little even though they've never heard my name until a few weeks ago.  Then, they will pull out the big guns and ask about my date.  They don't care for the other answers, they want to know about Harry. 

And I haven't be trained for this! I don't know what I can say, what I can't say. Are we dating? Are we just friends?

"Harry?" I ask into the silence of the cab.  His hand is on my thigh, his eyes trained on the passing city streets. He turns to me, waiting for me to continue.  "Are we dating?"

"Where did that come from?" He asks.  His lips turn up in an amused smile that I can't help matching.  I'm nervous, so unbelievably nervous.  The Noah in my blog might be used to these events, but real life Noah has no idea what to actually expect. What I know about red carpets is what I have seen on E!News.

"I just..." I start to say but don't even know where to go with this.  I don't really know what he thinks of me, who he thinks I am, and I can't break whatever facade I have created.  I know that everything about me is mysterious, but so is he.  Come to think about it, we never really talk much about ourselves.  We smile and joke, and laugh and play, but we don't know much about one another.  And maybe, its best this way.

"Are we telling people we are dating?" I finally manage. "You know we are going to be asked."

"I was kind of thinking that we could use tonight as that announcement," He says.  He grabs my hand and his thumb brushes over the back of my hand.

"So we are?" I ask, wanting to be sure that we are on the same page.

"We are having fun, and seeing where things go," he says, his dimple showing on his right cheek.  I smile right back.  Now I know one answer to one question and oddly, I feel much better about the impending doom that is my first red carpet appearance.

In my hand, the golden clutch vibrates and I pull out my phone to find a message from Tammy.

*break a leg*

I smile and send back a thumbs up emoji, hoping that covers everything I am feeling now.

I can hear the commotion before I see it.  It's a soft buzzing that starts to grow as we come turn a corner and near the building.  I can see the lights flashing before anything else.  There are no bodies, just flashes that creates an orb of light around what has to be the red carpet.

"Holy fuck," I say under my breath.  Beside me, Harry inhales and exhales as if this is already draining all of his energy.

"Ready?" He asks as the limo pulls to a stop just in front of the carpet.  I nod because there really is no going back now. I'm here. I'm dressed for this and, at the risk of sounding like a cocky bitch, I look damn good. He releases my hand as the door is opened and the back of the limo is illuminated.  A thousand pictures are taken at once and I'm nearly blinded as I reach out and accept Harry's help climbing out of the backseat.  I nearly trip but, thankfully, Harry catches me before it's catastrophic.

I plaster a smile on my face and hold onto Harry as we begin to walk. Pictures are taken from everywhere, reporters calling out our names to get our attention.

"Do we stop?" I ask Harry.  Thank god for these heels or he would never hear me over everything going on around us.

Before he can answer, I find my answer. Up ahead, I see the stars of the movie in front of the movie poster.  There is a cluster of reporters in front of them and each one is talking to one of the stars.

"Up there," Harry points to where they are all now posing together as a cast. I nod in acknowledgement and we stand in line to wait our turn. Harry's bodyguard is behind us, chatting quietly with Harry but I can't be bothered to pay attention to the conversation.  I'm too busy taking this all in.  There are so many people. Reporters, fans, stars, people working the premiere.  Its a never ending sea of movement, lights and noise.

We're up next for the line of pictures and interviews and Harry's arm tightens around my waist, pulling me in closer to him. I take a deep breath as we step in front of the backdrop.

Pictures are taken and I have no idea where to look. My name is being called out from every angle and I try to look everywhere, hoping that my smile isn't my fake one. Because when I smile my fake smile, I look pissed off.

After a few minutes, lights still flash but we walk closer to the reporters to answer a few questions.

"Noah, who are you wearing?" One woman asks as I step up and am greeted by three of them while the other flock to Harry a couple steps away.

"This outfit is actually apart of Freddie Renaldo's upcoming Winter collection," I answer.

"Will you be working with him?" Another one asks.

"We are talking about working together some more, yes." I answer. "We just met a couple of days ago and we just got along so well, we decided we had to work on something."

"Excellent, congratulations," they all say.

"And what about you and Harry?" The third reporter asks. I want to roll my eyes and laugh, the string of questions was exactly what I predicted and it's so funny.

"Harry and I are having a lot of fun together, but we're taking things slow." I repeat what Harry said in the limo. "With our schedules, especially his, we can't really do anything but take things slow."

Just then, an arm wraps around my waist and I look up to see Harry. He kisses my forehead and then turns to the reporters, "I'm going to take her back now." He smiles at the three women and I swear all of them swoon.

"For a girl who hasn't been trained on interviews, you did very well," Harry says as we reach the double doors that are held open to us. We walk in a goosebumps raise on my arms as the AC hits.

"I majored in journalism at University," I tell him. "I knew what questions to expect and I know how to answer them."

"I didn't know you went to University," he says.

"Just graduated in the fall." I say, smiling up at him.

"Smart girl," he laughs and again, kisses my forehead.

As we are taken to our seats, I wonder if it was a good idea to disclose that I'm a journalist as well. Any internet search on my full name will bring up the class roster but I doubt Harry is the type of guy to do such research. Maybe his team is, but he isn't.

We sit down and Harry pulls my hand into his lap. There are so many recognizable faces around me that I want to look everywhere; but I can't. This Noah is accustomed to being surrounded by huge celebrities and wouldn't think anything of it.

I place the clutch into my lap and cross my legs as the movie is introduced by the director and cast before the movie begins.

Harry's eyes are trained on the screen for the entire two hours. His lips turn up at anything funny and a frown wrinkles his forehead when the main characters break it off. He doesn't laugh, doesn't whisper anything. He just watches, giving the piece of work his full attention.

I find myself wanting him to look over at me. I want him to lean over and make a snarky comment or just look over and smile at me. I can't keep my eyes off of him and I catch myself wondering why he can keep his eyes off of me.