Capturing Memories (NH)

Chapter 2: New York City

Update April 2021: Just a reminder that I am going through each of the chapters and adding in more details and hopefully adding in more character development as I go! :) 

Hello Everyone! I hope you are all doing good! Here is the next chapter! I will try to edit and post the third chapter before I go to bed tonight, so you finally have content with the boys in it! Right now, its just starter stuff! But I hope you still enjoy it!

Stay Safe!

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I can feel the tires of the plane hit the asphalt and the nerves begin to set it. My stomach begins to turn and I have a huge urge to go to the bathroom. I take a deep breath and push through the sensation knowing it is just my nerves and anxiety getting the best of me. I have always wanted to visit New York City, visit times square, see a Broadway performance, but I was here for a different reason. The seatbelt sign turns off, and everyone begins to get up, grab their luggage and head towards the exits.

I am seated at the back of the plane, which gives me the opportunity to slowly make my way off the plane. I am getting really anxious; the fact that I had no clue who I was going to be working with is stressing me out and knowing that it was a very well known celebrity worried me even more. I am not the most social person. While having my own business has provided me with opportunities to improve my social skills, when I first meet someone, especially someone I distinguish as important, I have a hard time communicating with them. The other issue was this would be my first time meeting a big-time celebrity, and the thing that worries me the most is that I am not going to be able to control my emotions. When I get overwhelmed, my heart races and I get shakey, so if I can hold myself together long enough to get past the fact that I have met a big celebrity, it will be worth it. 

I grab my backpack from below my seat and finally stand up to leave the plane. Step after step I can feel my heart beating through my chest and my palms getting sweaty holding onto my phone. Each step I take leads me towards whatever is going to happen over the next few hours. Good or bad, I am going to have to experience it. While I am stressing on the inside, I do my best to keep it under control. I have made it this far, I am not turning around now.

The second I reached the end of the gate, I am met by a security guard who swiftly leads me in the correct direction where I am supposed to be meeting this Simon person. The security guard informs me that someone will be dropping my luggage off at the hotel later that night, and I did not need to worry about going to get it.

As we walked, I could feel my heart pounding even harder in my chest, it felt like it was going to explode. I need to calm down, "take deep breathes Charlotte," I say to myself, "everything is going to be okay!"

"Charlotte, I have been expecting you!" A tall, older-looking man with dark hair said as he approached me in a back hallway, I immediately noticed his thick British accent. "I am Simon, and I will be working with you during this final stage of the contest," he explains as I shake his hand, strangely he looked very familiar. Then it clicked, Simon Cowell. THE Simon Cowell. While this did not aid me in figuring out which band I would be working with over the next 2 weeks it did help me narrow it down a bit. I am not sure how I feel about working this closely with Simon Cowell however after everything that has happened over the past few years with him, but I am going to give him the benefit of the doubt and hope for the best. 

"It is nice to meet you, Simon, I am excited about this opportunity!" I exclaim with a big smile on my face, heart still racing. My palms were a sweaty mess as I quickly whipped them off before reaching my hand out to shake his. No more handshakes for me.

"Follow me to the car where I will introduce you to the other remaining contestant," he motions for me to follow him out the set of doors to the right of us and into the limousine parked in the back alleyway. He opens the door for me, as I slide in to the vehicle I am met by a beautiful blonde-haired girl sitting at the other end of the limo. "Charlotte, this is Mia."

"Hello, nice to meet you," I say, quickly whipping my hand on my leg again and sticking my hand out to shake hers, she ignores me and just says hello.

"Girls, let's not start off with drama, please. This is going to be a friendly competition with no problems, please." Simon insists as the limo driver starts the car and begins, I assume, to drive to the hotel.

Mia rolls her eyes and fixes her already perfect hair, "Pardon me, it is nice to meet you too, Charlotte," correcting herself and finally sticking out her hand to shake mine; I caught her giving me a slight side-eye, this is going to be a long 2 weeks.

"Now that we have introduced ourselves, you two are probably eager to discover who you will be photographing," Simon mentions slyly and makes himself laugh, I just sit there smiling and nodding at him, laughing a bit. "Well, as you two may know, there was a recent reunion of a boy band, who has decided to tour their 2015 album." He starts hinting at who we will be working with.

My heart starts to race rapidly. No. He can not be talking about... No, it's not possible. Is it?

"You two will be following One Direction around for the next 2 weeks on their Made in the AM tour." Simon finally reveals and waits to see how we are going to react.

Mia lets out a huge shriek, "You are kidding me, right?!" she exclaims, pulling her phone out to check herself in her camera.

"Did we hear you correctly, did you say One Direction?" I stutter, looking over at Simon. I was obsessed with One Direction back in 2012-2013 and have remained a fan of theirs since. This is going to be an interesting next few minutes while I mentally prepare myself to meet boys who I have been in love with for years. I take another deep breath, and it's not possible for someone my age to have a heart attack right? because that is exactly how I was feeling. 

"That is correct. Now before you go telling people. Please notes; one of the rules of the contest is you are not allowed to leak any of your pictures taken during the next 2 weeks. You can tell people who you are working with, and once the contest is over and a winner is chosen, you can release your pictures, but no sooner." Simon begins explaining more of the rules as he hands out the contract that we need to sign. It is different than the previous one because we are doing something different than the original one. "Do you two fully understand what is expected of you?"I nodded and Mia smiles and aggressively nods her head in agreeance. "Good, now over the next 2 weeks you will be given different challenges to get the best picture. Your first challenge is going to be Portraits." He explains as we drive through Times Square, the signs are so bright I noticed a more red ting to Simons skin as we pass a vibrate sign. "I will let you know when each challenge begins, and you will be given time to edit your pictures to make sure they are perfect before submitting them to me who will review them and choose a winner. Do you have any questions as of right now?"

"How much time are we allowed to edit the pictures?" I ask as it is important to me to have enough time to edit a picture, I am incredibly picky, and I need it to be perfect.

"You will be given at most 3 hours."

"Seriously, what if I need more time?" Mia groans as the limo stops outside of The Carlyle, which I noticed happens to be one street from Central Park, so I hope I get a chance to go walk around there before we move onto the next location. It would be even better if I could take pictures of One Direction there.

"If you need more time we can talk about it later, we have arrived at the hotel," Simon says getting out of the limo and helps myself and Mia out. "Paul please take these girls up to the lad's room, and I will meet you there," he says, handing us over to who I recognize as One Direction's old bodyguard.

This is where it all begins. I take a deep breath and introduce myself.