Ms. Novak and I were standing side-stage after the boys were done with the interview. I watched the four boys pile into their respective changing rooms and I offered each one of them a smile. Wait….FOUR. One of them was missing. I saw Zayn and Louis before, and Harry & Niall had been with Ms. Novak…LIAM! Where had Liam gone?! I could’ve sworn he had gotten on the bus before!

“Niall!” I called out to him as he walked out of his changing room.

“Hm?” He muttered, walking over to me.

“I couldn’t help but notice that only four lovely boys walked off that stage.” I said.

He nodded for me to continue.

“Where’s Liam?” I continued.

“You barely noticed?” He asked, chuckling.

I slightly nodded, ashamed of my lack of observance.

Niall noticed and wrapped an arm around my shoulder.

“He was taken back home cos he was feelin’ a bit ill.” He said.

I furrowed my eyebrows.

“But he looked fine at breakfast!” I countered.

Niall shrugged. “Must’ve had some bad eggs.”

We both laughed, only to be interrupted by someone clearing their throat.

I saw Niall’s smile fade and I turned around to see Ms. Novak standing in her signature pose, looking tall and with her arms crossed under her chest.

“Ms. Novak.” Niall nods in a “sup” motion and she smiles, looking at me next.

“Do you need me, Ms. Novak?” I asked.

“Nooo, you’re just here to have fun with the boys, not to work.” She said sarcastically. “OF COURSE I need you, otherwise I wouldn’t be talking to you right now, don’t you think?”

I bit the inside of my cheek and she nodded, uncrossing her arms, walking closer to us. She could tell that she was making me uncomfortable and she loved it. It’s like she was feeding off of my fear for her. Like some sort of witch or something.

“Niall, the boys are looking for you.” Ms. Novak spat.

Niall furrowed his eyebrows, creating a small crease on his forehead.

“But they’re right over there.” He said, pointing over to the rest of the guys who were in sight but a fair distance away.

She nodded. “Yes, and they were asking for you. I suggest you go over there, I need to speak to my assistant.”

Niall finally got the hint and started walking away. He looked over his shoulder and gave me a reassuring nod before joining the rest of the guys.

I waited for Ms. Novak to continue while she made sure Niall wasn’t near us anymore. When she was satisfied with his distance, she turned to look at me and crossed her arms again.

“What did I tell you?!” She spat.

I knew exactly what she was talking about, it was a huge misunderstanding.

Sighing, I said, “I wasn’t flirting with Niall.”

Then why was his arm around you?!”

I groaned. “You know what Ms. Novak?!”

“What?” She asked, clearly not interested in what I had to say. In her mind I was flirting with Niall and that was that. She was never wrong in her eyes, oh nooo. Ms. Novak was always right. Haha, NO. Not in this case! Ugh, she makes me mad.

“Niall was just being friendly, alright? Nothing more.” I spat out.

“Nothing more, huh?” She asked, clearly not convinced.

“That’s right, nothing more.”

“You know, it’s kind of hard to believe you right now, seeing as how you’re always flirting with one of the boys.” She snarled, getting closer to me.

“WELL, Ms. Novak. It’s kind of hard to believe you would know of any sign of affection seeing as how you’re one cold-hearted bitch.” I spat out, mocking her.

Ms. Novak just stood there, mouth wide open in shock. Hell, I was shocked myself. Sure, I hated her with a passion but I didn’t think I would bite back this soon. I could tell she was definitely surprised by my words, I mean, who wouldn’t be? But honestly, those words were a bit overdue. She’d been having her way with me ever since I got hired to be her assistant. She had no right to treat me like one of her dogs, actually, I’m pretty sure she treats her dogs better than she treats me. I turned my attention back to Ms. Novak and she was fuming. I could almost see smoke blowing out of her ears and her face was all scrunched up and red with anger, but I could tell she was trying to somewhat control her anger, not because of me, but because she didn’t want her clients to see her at her worst. HA! Tooooo laaaaaate. All the boys could tell she was a bitch, at least towards me. But it wasn’t in their power to do anything about her. Ms. Novak was one of the best stylists in the U.S. and management knew that, that’s why they kept her around. Besides, she kissed up to management so they had no clue how much of a bitch she really was.

“Listen, you little prick.” She fumed.

I stood there, wide-eyed. I knew she was capable of breaking, just not this soon.

“You disrespect me in my practice?” She continued when I didn’t say anything.

I can make or break your career, honey.” She said, emphasizing the break, making sure I got her point.

“I’m going to talk to my boss, if I were you I’d be on my knees all night praying that I keep this job and not doing OTHER things.” She snarled, winking.

She made her way out of the room and out to the van, leaving me standing there, mouth agape. How could she say that?! That bitch just hit a new low, she really thinks I’m a slut, but why?!

I looked at an empty couch and Niall approaching me with a worried face. The boys must’ve headed out to the van already.

“The lads are in the car now.” Yup.

I nodded and he continued.

“I just wanted to make sure you were ok, it looked like Ms. Novak was bitchin’ at ya?” He chuckled.

I pouted and looked away, grabbing my bag and slinging it over my shoulder. When I looked at Niall his smile had turned into a frown and he was no longer chuckling.

“I’m sorry.” He apologized.

I shook my head and sighed. “It’s just..”

I stopped myself briefly then continued. “It’s fine, I’m fine.”

“Are ya sure?” Niall asked, not quite convinced.

“Fine…I’m….not fine.” I confessed, frowning.

HONK HONK

“We should just go, I’ll tell you later.” I said.

“Promise?” He asked. I nodded.

Niall nodded back and we went out to the van where everyone was waiting on us.

**Later That Day**

I looked at the clock on my phone and decided I should call my best friend, Stephanie, since it seemed like a decent time to call and the time difference wouldn’t matter. I dialed her number and she answered on the third ring.

“HEEEY SISTA FROM ANOTHA MISTA!” The always loud Stephanie yelled.

“Shh.” I muttered, trying to calm her down.

“What’s wrong?!” She asked, instantly catching on to my dampened mood.

“Headache,” I simply said.

Stephanie, being the observant person that she always is and knowing me better than I know myself, could tell that I was lying.

“Ok, I’m going to ask you one more time..” Geez, she sounds like my mother. “and this time, you’re gonna tell me what’s really going on that’s making you sound so upset.”

I nodded, even though she couldn’t see me and muttered a “Yes.”

I took a deep breath then told her everything, excluding the Zayn bit.

“Hm…Louis.” I groaned and she immediately changed the subject to what she knew was REALLY bothering me. “But what a BITCH. Ugh, I bet she’s ratchet-looking.”

I started laughing and she joined me.

“Ohh, how I was that were the case.” I sighed.

“Yeah, why does she have to be all pretty and mean?” It’s true, as much as I didn’t want to admit, Ms. Novak was actually really good-looking and I could tell why the boys, Harry, didn’t mind having her around. “I mean, come on, I’m not a mean person.” Stephanie said.

I started laughing once more. “Yeah, you’re not pretty either.”

Stephanie gasped loudly which made me laugh even more.

“You’ve been spending too much time with Nokia, stay away from her!”

“Novak,” I corrected her.

“Well I want to call her Nokia!” Stephanie countered.

I let out a softer laugh when Stephanie sighed.

“I miss you, Kay.”

My smile faltered a bit and I replied, “Well, maybe you’ll see me sooner than expected.”

Those words tasted nasty coming out of my mouth. But I kind of had a feeling they would be true. I mean, let’s face it. Ms. Novak is a bitch and doesn’t like me. You do the math, she will stop at nothing to get rid of me and this was her grand opportunity. Of course I would be gone in a matter of days. No doubt about it.

“Ugh. Don’t be stupid, Kayla, Nokia is not going to fire you, it’s not her call.”

“Yeah, but she was going to talk to her boss later tonight, she said, and-“

I was interrupted by Stephanie. ‘And tell him WHAT?! That she’s been bitching to you since before the whole trip even started and you finally got the nerve to bitch back?! Yeah, I DON’T THINK SO. So as much as I would loooove for you to come back home, I really want you to live out your dream. You’ve been wanting this and you finally got it. You’re a STYLIST.” Assistant stylist, I corrected her in my mind. “I really want you to enjoy this opportunity because, honestly, how many people can say they’ve worked with One Direction, huh?!”

I smiled, playing with the hem of my shirt.

Stephanie continued, “Now. Ms. Nokia or whatever isn’t going to take that away from you so just chill. Ok? I’ve gotta go now cause I’m gonna go party with the girls. Ta ta!”

“Goodbye, thanks for listening!”

“Always! I’ll text you tomorrow!” Stephanie sang before hanging up.

I chuckled knowing damn well she wouldn’t be texting me due to the killer hangover she would have the next day.

I settled into my bed only to be startled by Niall knocking ferociously on the door then popping his head in.

“You decent?” He asked.

“You know, Niall, knocking and asking if I’m decent once you’re halfway in here has no purpose.” I chuckled.

He shrugged.

“I could’ve been naked!!!!!!”

He shrugged again and I rolled my eyes at him as he continued.

“Tonight’s our last night in Los Angeles and we want you to come clubbin’ with us!”

“Uh..” I thought it over. Tomorrow we had a scheduled trip to Disneyland in Anaheim as a treat to start off the tour. If we went out how would we manage to go through tomorrow morning?

“Sure.” I said against my instincts.

Niall gleamed and he smiled the biggest smile I’d ever seen.

“This is going to be great! You’ve never been clubbin’ with us, can you be ready in an hour?!”

I nodded and he gave me a thumbs-up, running out of my room, I’m assuming, to tell the others I had agreed to go. Oh shit. Ms. Novak, I hadn’t thought about what her reaction would be. But Stephanie was right, not everyone gets to spend time with the members of One Direction, let alone go clubbing with them. I mean, Ms. Novak didn’t even have to find out, right?