How It's Going To Be [h.s.]

Chapter 93

{Kate's Point of View}

The Cuckoo Club by day was very underwhelming. The ceiling of LED lights wasn't illuminated. No house music thundered through the walls. None of the tables were occupied. No one was at the bar. The dance floor was vacant. As I stood surveying the location for Zayn's launch party, I was having a difficult time envisioning everything coming together.

"Any questions yet?" Adam, the club manager, asked.

"Not yet," I shook my head. "Still just waiting on my client."

Adam and I lingered by the back entrance to the club. I had instructed Zayn to meet me at the back entrance at eleven in the morning to minimize the risk of him being spotted at the club. For publicity purposes, we didn't want the location of his launch party to be revealed. Choosing eleven in the morning for a meeting time had been my mistake; I knew Zayn wasn't a morning person.

A black SUV pulled up out back and Zayn climbed out. He was looked chic in skinny black jeans and white linen shirt unbuttoned enough to see the tattoos on his chest. His black wool peacoat was unmistakably expensive. Zayn walked up to the back entrance with an ashamed smile on his face.

"Hi, Zayn," I smiled.

Zayn stepped up to me and wrapped an arm around my shoulders in a friendly embrace. He kissed my cheek politely. "Really sorry about being late, Kate. You know mornings aren't great for me."

"You aren't great for mornings, more like," I teased. "Zayn, this is Adam. He's the club manager."

"Nice to meet you, man," Zayn said.

"Adam," I turned to the manager, "Thank you for waiting with me for Zayn. Do you think I could show him around myself? I'll get you if I have any questions."

Adam looked uncomfortable. He probably wasn't supposed to let me wander around alone, but my smile sweetened the deal. "Sure. I'll be by the offices. You remember where that is?"

"I do," I nodded.

I took Zayn down to the basement level of the club where the actual bar and dance floor were located. Tables typically reserved for club members, high paying guests, and celebrities were arranged around the perimeter. I picked one of the tables and sat down with Zayn across from me.

"I want to talk over some of the details before we do the tour. Is that okay?"

"Fine by me," Zayn shrugged.

"The idea is the guests arrive upstairs and you'll be there to greet them. We have your friends and family coming so it's obvious they're going to want to congratulate you. But there will also be a lot of people from the industry and it will be important that you see them. This is your big night."

"Right," he nodded.

"When guests walk in, they'll greet you and have a chance to mingle on that top level. There will be passed appetizers and a small bar. Then, they'll move down to the club level. More liquor will be served at this bar down here. We have a DJ handling the music. Then you'll take the stage and thank everyone for coming. We have thirty minutes for an open mic for people to come up and congratulate you. There will be an opening performance where you sing with The Weeknd. He'll start the song, then you join for the second verse. After, you sing three songs from your album. You thank everyone for coming once again. Then some of the guests can leave while others stay to dance and mingle."

"You've got it all figured out, haven't you?" he smirked.

"Isn't it my job to?"

"I'm glad you do."