p class="MsoNormal"I watched as the smoke drifted upwards from my mouth and disappeared into the air. Taking out my phone, I noticed I had around five missed calls and ten new messages. I ignored them and looked at the clock at the top right corner. Ten past one. I was officially late. But to tell you the truth, I was in no great hurry to get in there. They could wait for another five minutes./p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanLast night I thought I could get through this interview. I mean, it was an easy one. The guys were one of the best bands to question. They didn't have a massive list of prohibited questions; you could pretty much ask them anything and they'd answer. Whether or not the replies were printable was a completely different story, mind you. Neither were they demanding. Some artists asked for a full rider before they'd even set foot in the building, then glance at it when they came in and then never give it a second thought. And I'm talking food that would feed a small family for a whole day. At least sometimes we got free pizza out of the deal./p
p class="MsoNormal"But these guys, well they were pretty much perfect. Ordinarily I'd have been sitting at the table fifteen minutes early, eager to get going as soon as they were in the door. But here I was, still sitting outside smoking and thinking of excuses to delay the inevitable for a little while longer./p
p class="MsoNormal"The thought of seeing my ex fiancé sitting there was making me feel a little sick, if I'm honest. The last time I'd seen him was-/p
p class="MsoNormal""You got a light?" A familiar voice interrupted my thoughts, and absently picked up the lighter from the step beside me and handed it to my right./p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"I thought you'd given up." I muttered, glancing at him out the corner of my eye. He smiled that same smile that I remembered from almost two years before./p
p class="MsoNormal""I did. For a week and a half." I stifled a laugh./p
p class="MsoNormal""A whole ten days?! You must be very proud." I teased. It was his turn to laugh. "I missed you, Dan." I admitted. He had been one of my best friends down here in London before I'd split up with his best mate (not that he had given me any option)./p
p class="MsoNormal""I missed you too." He slung his arm around my shoulder and pulled me in tight. We sat in silence for a moment. "So, our interviewer hasn't arrived yet. You got any idea about that?" He eventually asked./p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"I know, I know. I just…I couldn't bring myself to…"/p
p class="MsoNormal""See him again?" He finished and I nodded. "You know now that you're back, you're going to bump into him at some point. You did well to avoid him this long to be fair."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Well it's a big city and you're not in this building that often. And I get the schedule weeks in advance so really, I could go months, maybe years before seeing him again. And by that time, I might have gotten my life together and found myself a younger, richer man…"/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"Yeah, but then you'd go years without seeing the rest of us. And I dunno about the others, but I've missed you too." He smiled. "Look, I wish things hadn't ended the way they did, and I wish you hadn't left without saying goodbye, but I understand why you had to. But you could have called when you knew you were doing this interview. The only reason I found out was because I saw your name on the schedule." Crap, I'd forgotten about the schedule. Usually it was just the manager that had it and the guys were sent wherever they were told, but I knew the guys sometimes sneaked a peek of it. Tom always moaned when he got someone boring or annoying./p
p class="MsoNormal""You knew?" He nodded. "Do you all know?"/p
p class="MsoNormal""He doesn't know. The other two do." He replied. "If he knew, he wouldn't have come."/p
p class="MsoNormal"I opened my mouth to speak, and I'd got "Bu…" out when another voice came from my right./p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"I thought you were coming to find out what was happening, not sneak out for a smo-oh." I couldn't turn around, I couldn't look. Which was stupid because I knew exactly what he looked like these days thanks to last month's Hello! magazine. "Tom and his fiancée Gemma discuss wedding plans, the future and more!" It had screamed out at me from across the supermarket aisle. I hated to admit it, but he looked amazing. His silly movie t-shirt had been replaced with a suit and tie, he had lost a ton of weight, his hair looked so much more manageable than it had been before. Shorter, but styled in a way that suited him. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding and glanced at Dan./p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"Sorry, I'm running late, just coming." My voice wobbled, and I prayed that he hadn't noticed./p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"I'll get you inside." Dan practically ran away, presumably to meet the others and to spy on us./p
p class="MsoNormal""Just as subtle as ever then?" I murmured./p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"Of course." He moved so that he was standing in front of me, his hand extended towards mine. Taking it, I let him help me up off the cold step. "You look…I mean, you, um, hi."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Hi. We better get in. I'm sure I'm keeping you from something really important." I was determined not to engage in small talk./p
p class="MsoNormal""Nothing else in the schedule til 5." He replied. "Look, the guys didn't tell me you were here. Probably because I'd have phoned in sick if I'd known. I'm…I'm sorry about everything. About what happened between us."/p
p class="MsoNormal""It's in the past." I replied coldly. Nuh uh. No way was he going to make me cry, I'd run out of waterproof mascara and he was not going make me have black streaks down my face. "You seem to be doing well for yourself anyway."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Well, looks can be deceiving." Huh? I wanted to ask what he meant, but he was way off in front of me before I could even get a syllable out. I followed him to the conference room. I watched as he took a seat at the table. I took a step inside and was almost knocked over by Dougie running at me full force./p
p class="MsoNormal""Rach!" He yelled as he wrapped his arms around me. "Is it really you? Oh my God, you look amazing!" He pulled away and looked me up and down. "I swear if I weren't gay, I'd totally sleep with you." I giggled, and the abruptly stopped when I saw Tom staring in our direction./p
p class="MsoNormal""Oh, shush. Now come on, we need to get started. My fault, I apologise. I was kind of feeling a bit apprehensive about this to be honest…Hang on, where's Harry?"/p
p class="MsoNormal""Sorry, I'm here." His voice came from behind me and I spun around, and it was his turn to hug me. "I know, I know. But I was feeling left out." I laughed./p
p class="MsoNormal""Alright, we really need to get this done now. I know you've got the afternoon free, but some of us have work to do! Now sit down and shut up until I tell you to speak."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Yes, miss!" Dougie chanted, school-boy like, as he slid into an empty seat and winked at me./p
p class="MsoNormal"I'm glad to say that the interview went well. Unusually, Tom didn't talk much, just interjected every now and again. And amazingly, I didn't have to edit out anything that Doug said. He had grown up in the past couple of years. Either that or he'd been warned too many times to behave. Knowing him, it was probably the latter. The half hour went by so quick that I had to look back over the questions three times to make sure I hadn't missed any. As soon as I'd stopped the recording, three of the guys silently stood up and walked out, leaving Tom and I still sat at the table. He got up to follow them, but Harry shook his head./p
p class="MsoNormal""You two, talk. We'll get you downstairs in 10?" Tom nodded and we both could tell it was more of a command than a question. Facing him, we sat in silence for a what seemed like forever before he cleared his throat./p
p class="MsoNormal""So, how have you been?"/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanLast night I thought I could get through this interview. I mean, it was an easy one. The guys were one of the best bands to question. They didn't have a massive list of prohibited questions; you could pretty much ask them anything and they'd answer. Whether or not the replies were printable was a completely different story, mind you. Neither were they demanding. Some artists asked for a full rider before they'd even set foot in the building, then glance at it when they came in and then never give it a second thought. And I'm talking food that would feed a small family for a whole day. At least sometimes we got free pizza out of the deal./p
p class="MsoNormal"But these guys, well they were pretty much perfect. Ordinarily I'd have been sitting at the table fifteen minutes early, eager to get going as soon as they were in the door. But here I was, still sitting outside smoking and thinking of excuses to delay the inevitable for a little while longer./p
p class="MsoNormal"The thought of seeing my ex fiancé sitting there was making me feel a little sick, if I'm honest. The last time I'd seen him was-/p
p class="MsoNormal""You got a light?" A familiar voice interrupted my thoughts, and absently picked up the lighter from the step beside me and handed it to my right./p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"I thought you'd given up." I muttered, glancing at him out the corner of my eye. He smiled that same smile that I remembered from almost two years before./p
p class="MsoNormal""I did. For a week and a half." I stifled a laugh./p
p class="MsoNormal""A whole ten days?! You must be very proud." I teased. It was his turn to laugh. "I missed you, Dan." I admitted. He had been one of my best friends down here in London before I'd split up with his best mate (not that he had given me any option)./p
p class="MsoNormal""I missed you too." He slung his arm around my shoulder and pulled me in tight. We sat in silence for a moment. "So, our interviewer hasn't arrived yet. You got any idea about that?" He eventually asked./p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"I know, I know. I just…I couldn't bring myself to…"/p
p class="MsoNormal""See him again?" He finished and I nodded. "You know now that you're back, you're going to bump into him at some point. You did well to avoid him this long to be fair."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Well it's a big city and you're not in this building that often. And I get the schedule weeks in advance so really, I could go months, maybe years before seeing him again. And by that time, I might have gotten my life together and found myself a younger, richer man…"/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"Yeah, but then you'd go years without seeing the rest of us. And I dunno about the others, but I've missed you too." He smiled. "Look, I wish things hadn't ended the way they did, and I wish you hadn't left without saying goodbye, but I understand why you had to. But you could have called when you knew you were doing this interview. The only reason I found out was because I saw your name on the schedule." Crap, I'd forgotten about the schedule. Usually it was just the manager that had it and the guys were sent wherever they were told, but I knew the guys sometimes sneaked a peek of it. Tom always moaned when he got someone boring or annoying./p
p class="MsoNormal""You knew?" He nodded. "Do you all know?"/p
p class="MsoNormal""He doesn't know. The other two do." He replied. "If he knew, he wouldn't have come."/p
p class="MsoNormal"I opened my mouth to speak, and I'd got "Bu…" out when another voice came from my right./p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"I thought you were coming to find out what was happening, not sneak out for a smo-oh." I couldn't turn around, I couldn't look. Which was stupid because I knew exactly what he looked like these days thanks to last month's Hello! magazine. "Tom and his fiancée Gemma discuss wedding plans, the future and more!" It had screamed out at me from across the supermarket aisle. I hated to admit it, but he looked amazing. His silly movie t-shirt had been replaced with a suit and tie, he had lost a ton of weight, his hair looked so much more manageable than it had been before. Shorter, but styled in a way that suited him. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding and glanced at Dan./p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"Sorry, I'm running late, just coming." My voice wobbled, and I prayed that he hadn't noticed./p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"I'll get you inside." Dan practically ran away, presumably to meet the others and to spy on us./p
p class="MsoNormal""Just as subtle as ever then?" I murmured./p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"Of course." He moved so that he was standing in front of me, his hand extended towards mine. Taking it, I let him help me up off the cold step. "You look…I mean, you, um, hi."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Hi. We better get in. I'm sure I'm keeping you from something really important." I was determined not to engage in small talk./p
p class="MsoNormal""Nothing else in the schedule til 5." He replied. "Look, the guys didn't tell me you were here. Probably because I'd have phoned in sick if I'd known. I'm…I'm sorry about everything. About what happened between us."/p
p class="MsoNormal""It's in the past." I replied coldly. Nuh uh. No way was he going to make me cry, I'd run out of waterproof mascara and he was not going make me have black streaks down my face. "You seem to be doing well for yourself anyway."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Well, looks can be deceiving." Huh? I wanted to ask what he meant, but he was way off in front of me before I could even get a syllable out. I followed him to the conference room. I watched as he took a seat at the table. I took a step inside and was almost knocked over by Dougie running at me full force./p
p class="MsoNormal""Rach!" He yelled as he wrapped his arms around me. "Is it really you? Oh my God, you look amazing!" He pulled away and looked me up and down. "I swear if I weren't gay, I'd totally sleep with you." I giggled, and the abruptly stopped when I saw Tom staring in our direction./p
p class="MsoNormal""Oh, shush. Now come on, we need to get started. My fault, I apologise. I was kind of feeling a bit apprehensive about this to be honest…Hang on, where's Harry?"/p
p class="MsoNormal""Sorry, I'm here." His voice came from behind me and I spun around, and it was his turn to hug me. "I know, I know. But I was feeling left out." I laughed./p
p class="MsoNormal""Alright, we really need to get this done now. I know you've got the afternoon free, but some of us have work to do! Now sit down and shut up until I tell you to speak."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Yes, miss!" Dougie chanted, school-boy like, as he slid into an empty seat and winked at me./p
p class="MsoNormal"I'm glad to say that the interview went well. Unusually, Tom didn't talk much, just interjected every now and again. And amazingly, I didn't have to edit out anything that Doug said. He had grown up in the past couple of years. Either that or he'd been warned too many times to behave. Knowing him, it was probably the latter. The half hour went by so quick that I had to look back over the questions three times to make sure I hadn't missed any. As soon as I'd stopped the recording, three of the guys silently stood up and walked out, leaving Tom and I still sat at the table. He got up to follow them, but Harry shook his head./p
p class="MsoNormal""You two, talk. We'll get you downstairs in 10?" Tom nodded and we both could tell it was more of a command than a question. Facing him, we sat in silence for a what seemed like forever before he cleared his throat./p
p class="MsoNormal""So, how have you been?"/p