He could see it was futile, she had turned her attention to the guy sitting in the chair next to her who was trying to chat her up. Huffing loudly, he shot out of the door and in the direction the girl had gone.
He found her at the water fountain just around the first corner, cursing to herself under her breath as she paced back and forth.
“Hey, I just wanted to say sorry if I embarrassed you. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. Sorry.” He smiled genuinely at the girl. With the colour in her cheeks now faded he could truly appreciate her beauty.
“I think they’re ready for you now, Alex. Do you want to follow me? It’s just this way.”
Holding out his arm, he indicated for her to lead the way, following closely behind her but not so close that he couldn’t truly appreciate her. Her shoulder length sandy coloured hair swished in unison with her hips as she walked purposefully in front of him. His eyes were settled on her denim clad behind when she abruptly came to a halt, causing him to career into her. He held out his arm to steady her as she looked less than impressed that he had nearly sent her flying onto the studio floor.
“If you just want to wait here, I’ll take you across to the sofa when they cut to the ad break. Maybe you could try to watch where you’re walking then too.” Raising one eyebrow as she spoke, she managed to stop her face from flushing as she looked into two very dark, very sexy eyes.
Alex smirked at her attempt to tell him off. “So what should I call you? I’ve just realised that you know my name and yet here I am still in the dark as to how to address you.”
“Grace. Grace Harris.” She didn’t look at him as she spoke; instead her eyes were transfixed on the studio floor, watching everyone’s movements like a hawk, leaving Alex feeling a little unimportant.
Leaning forward so he could speak in a hushed tone he whispered in her ear, conscious of notdisturbing the live broadcast that was going on a few feet away. “It’s nice to meet you,Grace.”
He chuckled as she visibly shuddered from his nearness before she quickly placed her hand on his arm to guide him across the floor. After briefly introducing him to the two presenters who were about to inflict torture on him, she wished him luck and scurried back across the studio, taking up her place just behind camera one, where she remained the whole time he was on air.
The interview wasn’t as bad as he had expected it to be; they had tried hard to avoid the inane questions he was usually asked, instead sticking to asking him about his music or for his impressions of the city so far. He shook their hands as they drew the interview to a close, linking into yet another ad break. After a few pleasant exchanges Grace was by his side again, ready to guide him back to the green room where Izzie awaited him. To avoid any further embarrassing situations, Alex unhooked his own mic, shoving it back down beneath his shirt before pulling out the battery pack and handing it over. Izzie tossed him his leather jacket before steering him out of the building. Glancing back over his shoulder as they left, he was certain that the girl had been checking him out.
As they sat in the car his thoughts drifted back toGrace. He still felt uneasy about the way she had acted around him. He hated it when people came over all star struck around him. He didn’t think of himself as being any different to the next person, his job just meant he was in the public eye. Strangers either thought they knew you personally or that you owed them some sort of debt. There were generally two camps; the ones who would run up to you no matter what you were in the middle of, demanding your full attention, or the group that would shout your name or some abuse at you. He missed being able to blend into the scenery.
As the car headed back to the hotel, he sat staring out of the window watching the shops whizz past them when inspiration hit him smack in the face.
“Stop the car!”
Izzie slid forward on her seat as the car came to an abrupt stop before Alex opened the door, jumping out on to the pavement. He sprinted into the shop they were parked outside of, leaving his sister unsure whether she should follow or just sit tight. Taking in the surroundings she figured it was best if she went after him. The last thing she needed was for him to be swamped by some crazy fans.
As she pushed open the door the aroma that filled the air brought on a sneezing fit. Rummaging in herpocket for a tissue she headed across to the counter where her brother was filling in a small card. Peering over his shoulder she saw he had written a phone number before signing his name; not his flourishing autograph as she would have expected, but just his first name in his normal scribble. Smiling broadly at the assistant behind the counter, he grinned as he spoke. “Make it big. Something really amazing, not just the usual garage forecourt crap.” He pointed to a huge display that sat atop the counter. “Something similar to that, but a lot bigger. Please.” He pulled his wallet from his front pocket, handing over his credit card as Izzie peered at the cash register. Jesus, how much!
“Are they for Mum? That’s kinda expensive, Alex. She’ll go mad at you spending all that on her. You know what she’s like!”
Smirking, he tucked his wallet back in his pocket before placing his hands on Izzie’s shoulders, steering her back out of the shop. “You go first; check the coast is clear. I don’t want to get papped coming out of the florists.” Doing as she was told, she checked out the street before opening the door and allowing him to run full pelt straight into the back of the awaiting car.
Walking into the office on Monday morning Grace was confused by the crowd that had gathered around her desk. She never usually drew that much attention. After all, she had only worked for the station for a little over a year, joining the workforce more or less straight out of college. Grabbing a coffee from the machine, she made her way across the floor towards her desk, craning her neck as she tried to see what all the commotion was.
“What the...? Who are they for? They are beautiful!” She gasped as she took in the large oversized basket of flowers that sat on her desk; it stood almost a metre tall and was just as wide, filled with roses, orchids and lilies, with fronds of greenery framing the riot of colour. The scent was amazing as she leant forward, inhaling deeply. The girls flanking her giggled as one of them handed her the small handwrittenenvelope that had arrived with the delivery, her name emblazoned across it. Her heart began to pound as her mind raced. Who had sent her flowers? Well, they weren’t just flowers really, that was doing them somewhat of an injustice. Sasha nudged her, urging her to open the card. They too were as desperate as she was to see who had sent the overblown gesture.
Turning the small white card over she took in the phone number and name that had been scrawled at a jaunty angle across the back. Accompanied by a single x.
“Who’s Alex? Have you got someone tucked away that you’ve been keeping secret from us?” The girls erupted into loud cackles of laughter as the colour rose freely in Grace’s cheeks. She was confused.
“I don’t know anyone called Ale.....oh. No! No way!” She gasped as she fanned herself with the small card, blocking out the chat that was going on around her. Sasha moved to her side noticing the less than impressed look that was now plastered on Grace’s face.
“Hey, you okay? Who’s the mystery guy?”
Grace stared blankly forward. How could she tell her friend that the lead singer of one of the most popular rock bands of recent years had just sent her flowers? She had no idea why he had felt it necessary either but she knew that Sasha wouldn’t let it dropunless she filled her in with some details. Grabbing her friend by the arm she headed back across the room and out into the corridor where she filled the overexcited woman in.
“Oh my God! You have to call him! Call him now, here use my phone. He left his number on the card, didn’t he?”
Staring at the phone Sasha thrust toward her, Grace couldn’t understand why the girl was so hyped. “No way am I calling him! Why would I call him? I’ll just send a thank you note to his management company. It will just be his PA’s number. He probably sends everyone he comes into contact with flowers or gifts or whatever.”
“Are you for real? The guy chased you through the corridor on Friday! Believe me, I have met loads of celebrities doing this job and not one of them has sent anything like that to anyone I know just to say,‘Hey thanks for shoving my mic on for me!’He gave you a freakin’ number to call him. Why would he give you a number if he didn’t want you to call?” Sasha threw her hands in the air in exasperation.
“Look, just keep it to yourself. Last thing I need is to be the centre of the office gossip, okay?” she pleaded with Sasha, wanting to just get back to her work and forget the whole thing. She’d drop the flowers down atreception later; there was no way she was taking them home on the bus.
Returning to her desk following the afternoon production meeting she had to endure with the less than perfect anchor couple of the morning show she worked as a runner/dogsbody for, she rested her head in her hands trying to massage away the tension that had formed at her temples. Her mind began wandering to the evening she had planned. Bottle of wine, movie and her best comfy sweats. Bliss. What more could a girl want after the day she was having?
