Publicist | one direction

ch4

ARI

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I struggle to keep tears from falling as I push through others to make my way to the stairwell door. I throw it open, flying down the stairs until I reach the lobby. I pause at the exit of the stairs, and take a deep breath to steady myself. Then I slowly open the door and shuffle across the main lobby, refusing to make eye contact with anyone. But, as I slowly raise my head to reach for the tall, glass doors that lead to the outside world, my gaze settles on four certain people in hushed conversation across the floor. 

In seconds, my sadness shatters, instantly being replaced with boiling anger. Before my brain has the time to catch up to my body, I am already stomping across the room like a bull locked in on its crimson target. I grab the shortest one, Louis, by his vintage t-shirt and drag him into the empty stairwell, not bothering to notice that the others had trailed in after me. Even though he is slightly larger than me, the anger surging through me gives me the energy to slam him against the wall.

"Look, you little rat. Who the hell do you think you are?" I snarl, somehow managing to keep Louis up against the wall, despite his desperate squirming. 

"Security! Liam! Someone!" Louis yelps, still struggling to free himself. Liam tries to interfere, while Harry and Niall stand frozen, unsure of what to do in this particular situation. 

"Please, let him go! Let's just talk this through!" Liam pleads.

I slowly unclench my fist, dropping Louis, who immediately scurries away from me, to the protecting side of his three friends. I can still feel my face contorted in anger, and I have a feeling no amount of deep breathing could calm me now. After several moments of tense silence, Louis mutters:

"Well, someone's a lil' mad that she didn't get an autograph, huh?"

With that, I lose my shit. I jump forward and tackle Louis down to the ground, shaking his shoulders to every syllable with my tiny hands. 

"You. Cost. Me. My. JOB! And you think I'm pissed that I didn't get an autograph? Why, you self-absorbed little piece of -" 

I feel someone's strong arms wrap around my torso, and I'm lifted off of Louis, only to be pinned against Liam's chest. He holds me captive as Niall and Harry rescue Louis from the concrete floor. He sits me down on the stairs to let me calm down, and my breathing slowly returns to normal.

"Ok, now that we're all acting civil, let's try this again. What's this about us getting you fired?" Harry voices, sitting down next to me on the steps. 

"Well, not fired. Technically, I didn't have the job yet. But I was practically a shoe-in, except your little friend over there decided to run me over in the hall and make me late! I didn't even get an interview. This was my last chance in big music, and apparently, you big musicians ruined it." I say bitterly, looking up at all of them in turn.

"Oh," Is all Niall can say, while the rest stay muted, "I am - I mean we - are so sorry."

"Well, sorry won't get me that job." I say with a cold laugh. "Anyways, you guys seem to be so out of whack, one more person's ruined life on your list won't really make much of a difference."

"Excuse me, did you just call me out of whack?" Louis peeps up behind Liam, on his tippy-toes.

"Yeah, I actually did. Let's face it. The amount of shit that goes down between you four, from that other guy leaving to the whole pregnancy thing, is enough to make the drama in Shakespearean  plays seem insignificant!" I retort. I stand up, prepared to be insulted back, but instead, Louis pulls Niall, Liam, and Harry to him into a tight circle, where rushed whispers are exchanged. 

"Um, hello? What the hell's going on here?" I demand, placing my hands on my hips. Louis just puts up a finger, motioning  for another moment. I scoff and tap my foot impatiently. After they all exchange nods, Louis turns to me.

"Okay, love, how 'bout instead of an apology, we give you something better?" He asks.

I raise one eyebrow in puzzlement. "Like what?" 

I swear to God, if he offers to sign anything...

"Like, I dunno, a job?" 

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